Suggestions for commuter car (short commute) (vehicle, turning radius, buy, selling)
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Gah, picking a Brand or a Model is a plan for disaster when shopping used on a budget. You can buy clapped out, POS Camry, Corolla and Civics that wouldn't be reliable enough to get you out of your driveway.... and Porsches that'll go a hundred thousand miles without needing more than consumables in that price range (I did just that with a Porsche, and then sold it for $2k more than I'd paid).
Shop for the single best vehicle. It can be any make or model, seriously. There are stunningly maintained examples of EVERY car and complete piles of trash of every make/model. I'm scared of the "common suggestions" precisely because they have the reputation of being an appliance. They don't tend to be cared for and little things that are $100 to correct when they start, turn into $1000+ jobs once ignored and that's when the vehicles end up being sold.
Look for one owner (maybe not too common in that price range), or at the very least the same owner for ~5 years. As close to full records as you can find will up your chances of finding something with verifiable maintenance. And find a good mechanic, you'll probably want to find 2 with one doing domestics and one asians, and ask them if they have customers who are looking to sell anything. You can get the FULL service records for the recent past that way, and often times those vehicles are priced better than things advertised.
The bottom line is you need to learn more about How to buy a used car than worry about a specific make or model. It's simply a different story when buying used.
This is true, but, one thing you need to disclose you are a pretty damn good mechanic, so you are both well equipped to evaluate a used car and to DIY whatever it needs, beyond what the average Joe or Jane on here is.
Secondly I think there are some models if not brands outright that are better bets than others. *Most* Toyota cars, most, not all, if they are in decent shape when you buy them, if you take care of them, which is mostly just fluid changes, will serve well for a long time. It's not tough to find an indy shop that will be glad to work on your Toy. But, for example, (and I have never owned one) a Neon - most people have problems with them. Later model Chrysler in general, I hear about things like body computers going haywire, having to take it to a dealer to get the replacement computer "initialized" or some such crap. In general you can take a look in the April issues of Consumer Reports, take a look at their recommended and recommend to avoid car lists.
Your suggestion of asking a good shop if they have a customer wanting to sell is a very good idea, repped.
After having been locked in payments for a couple of years I decided I no longer want a car payment.
I sold my car this week with the intent of buying something much cheaper to just use to commute to and from work. My commute is currently about 7 miles each way. I can't bike it (dangerous and hot in the summer) or else I'd try.
So after selling my car I have about $8,000 to buy a car. It only needs to take me to and from work. 14 miles per day max. I want to find something that will not require a ton of maintenance, though at this price I realize it's bound to have some things needed from time to time. I'll be saving in insurance and a monthly payment (paid $400/mo previously) so I'll have leftover for saving for repairs but obviously would like to keep them to a minimum.
Is it possible to find a decent used car in this range that I can use to commute for 3-5 years or so?
If so, what make / model do you recommend I focus on?
If you have reliable public transportation, save that 8000. . You ll be saving a min of 1200 on insurance and 100 on registration annually. So in 5 years you could double your saving. You could use the gas costs for the public transport.
I made a mistake of spending so much on used car, could have saved that amount.
I would look at a Volt. The other EVs are just too ugly and ungainly. IMO. (Except Tesla which will never be in your price range). I am pretty sure you can find Volts for $8K.
I would look at a Volt. The other EVs are just too ugly and ungainly. IMO. (Except Tesla which will never be in your price range). I am pretty sure you can find Volts for $8K.
Several people around work have Volts, and like them. The main point on the Volt is that with the gas engine, you have effectively unlimited range, so all that stuff about keeping an eye on the battery I posted before, you can ignore all that and just drive.
I don't know how well the Volt works as a plug-in hybrid, that may vary by model year. For the OP's postulated drive to/from work, a straight EV would work fine, and he does have another gas-powered car. That said, for the OP's commute, I think a Volt would default to electric-only.
If you can get a Volt in similar shape to a Leaf for about the same money, me, I would go for the Volt. It is a somewhat bigger car, with all the good and bad that comes with that.
As of Leef. Word is they have to have battery replaced at 5-7 years to the tune of $5K or so. Research that. Maybe that's why they start showing on the market.
Nissan skimped a bit on the thermal management on Leaf batteries. IMO, that's no place to skimp on a EV.
Even so, TrueDelta lists the 2012 and newer Leaf as one of the most reliable cars you can buy.
I would be hoping it would chuck a battery at 5-7 years.
The warranty is 8/100, so that battery would be free.
A used 2012-2013 Fiat 500e. In OR a 3 year old 500e with 15k miles goes for <$7k. Low maintenance, cheap to run, fun to drive, 80 mile range. Honestly your commute is the poster child for a small EV. OR and CA are the only 2 states that you can get the 500e, but I suspect used ones are slipping into other states now.
Leaf is bigger than the fiat. If you need space, and a cheap commute, that's your car. No maintenance and you drive for free if you charge at work. I've driven one, it's not fast on the freeway but otherwise acceptable.
Nissan skimped a bit on the thermal management on Leaf batteries. IMO, that's no place to skimp on a EV.
Even so, TrueDelta lists the 2012 and newer Leaf as one of the most reliable cars you can buy.
I would be hoping it would chuck a battery at 5-7 years.
The warranty is 8/100, so that battery would be free.
Do you know about the battery thermal management on the FIAT?
I can see how people might look askance at the Leaf. Although I have a few co-workers with them as well, if any of them have had to replace a battery, they didn't tell me about it. Although probably they wouldn't tell me about it.
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