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I've never owned a car before, thanks to an awesome public transit system I've never felt the need to own one. And if I did need a ride, I had Zip car and other car sharing services at my disposal. BUT, I'm getting married and it'd be really awkward if the future wife were driving us around all the time.
My budget is anywhere from 20-40K and it's a wide range b/c I've been looking at everything from a Mazda 6 and a Prius to a C Class/Lexus/Audi. Basically what I'm looking for in a car is this: a sporty look with good reliability and good gas mileage. I love the Prius because of the mileage but I don't like the way it looks, if that makes sense? I've read good reports on the Mazda 6, I'm a huge fan of the Honda Accord Sport and that's my front runner. However, I took a drive in a C class and enjoyed the hell out of it but the maintenance costs are probably going to be big. I haven't test driven an Audi or a Lexus but in the case of an Audi, things like leather seating and a roof are their standard options rather than add ons like the C class.
Your Honda Accord idea is the way to go. Very reliable and not outrageous maintenance costs like Audi, MBs. Only look at the German cars if you plan on trading them off when the warranty expires.
Your Honda Accord idea is the way to go. Very reliable and not outrageous maintenance costs like Audi, MBs. Only look at the German cars if you plan on trading them off when the warranty expires.
Yep, my idea if I went higher end would be to trade it in as soon as the warranty expires and move onto something else. Regardless of what kind of car I got, I don't plan on driving it every day. So I may be naive when I say I'd be shocked if I got 10K miles per year on it.
Can I ask your ballpark age and vicinity of where you live (State is close enough).
Being as you don't have a driving or vehicle insurance history, you're probably going to get slammed on insurance. More so if you're young. The more valuable the car, the higher the premium.
Also, being inexperienced and depending on where you live (e.g. snow or frequent rain), I'd say you can plan on banging up or totaling your first vehicle, maybe the first couple vehicles.
I'd run your current vehicle choices through some insurance agents to get quotes. It may be a deciding factor on which to select.
If I were in your shoes, I'd avoid the premium vehicles and actually select a used Accord or similar for under $10K and pocket/hold the remaining $ until you have some miles under your belt.
Can I ask your ballpark age and vicinity of where you live (State is close enough).
Being as you don't have a driving or vehicle insurance history, you're probably going to get slammed on insurance. More so if you're young. The more valuable the car, the higher the premium.
Also, being inexperienced and depending on where you live (e.g. snow or frequent rain), I'd say you can plan on banging up or totaling your first vehicle, maybe the first couple vehicles.
I'd run your current vehicle choices through some insurance agents to get quotes. It may be a deciding factor on which to select.
If I were in your shoes, I'd avoid the premium vehicles and actually select a used Accord or similar for under $10K and pocket/hold the remaining $ until you have some miles under your belt.
31 and live in DC. We don't get a lot of snow. I mean last year we got like 28 inches total, but the year before that we had a couple of inches all winter so the weather here varies. My fiance has a Wrangler, and she does understand regardless of make and model, my car probably won't be used to drive in the snow. I've been driving on a regular basis the last few years but I didn't take into account how much insurance would be.
My initial thought was to go used, but some of the cars I'm interested in go anywhere between 15-20K (dependent on miles really) and I figured for an extra 5 to 6K, I may as well buy new. Bad line of thinking?
I would go with the Honda Accord idea also. It will be more practical and reliable. With it being your first car, you don't want to overwhelm yourself with higher maintenance and insurance cost.
31 and live in DC. We don't get a lot of snow. I mean last year we got like 28 inches total, but the year before that we had a couple of inches all winter so the weather here varies. My fiance has a Wrangler, and she does understand regardless of make and model, my car probably won't be used to drive in the snow. I've been driving on a regular basis the last few years but I didn't take into account how much insurance would be.
My initial thought was to go used, but some of the cars I'm interested in go anywhere between 15-20K (dependent on miles really) and I figured for an extra 5 to 6K, I may as well buy new. Bad line of thinking?
Being in DC, you can probably scratch "some" of the weather factor but due to pure volume of traffic in that metro area, I wouldn't reduce the # of fender benders related to daily driving.
I'd still suggest you check with an insurance agent before making any purchase. Not sure when you plan on getting married but insurance will probably go up on the Wrangler as well. We just added our daughter to our auto ins and said which vehicle she'll be driving. I got the bill and they have her driving that vehicle but also added her to our 2 most expensive vehicles since they're at the same place and she theoretically could drive them (although we won't let her).
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