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The rabid decontenting of Detroit’s pre-bankruptcy compact cars had made them as unpopular as George W Bush by the time the Great Recession took hold. History has remained unkind to any of the compact cars that were sold by the then Big 3: Caliber, Focus, Cobalt, Aveo, PT Cruiser. All of these excretions were rightfully doomed to extinction. Not a single model Detroit offered back in 2010 would survive by the end of the decade.
Fast forward to today and all of these now orphaned eight year old models can be had for around $3,500 or less with no more than 120,000 miles on them. Is that the sweet spot of the used car market? Close, real close, but not quite.
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So given this driving reality, what’s the sweet spot for the suburbanite? An economical high quality car that can go for another 100,000 miles that cost $3500 or less and gets north of 35 miles per gallon. Open road fun in 21st century Valhalla has become an accounting exercise where car owners trade in their fun for a savings account. If it remains this way, autonomous vehicles can’t come soon enough. Hammer Time: The Cheater Beater - Dashboard Light
What would be some cars under $3500 that could go for another 100,000 miles and get north of 35 miles per gallon?
What would be some cars under $3500 that could go for another 100,000 miles and get north of 35 miles per gallon?
You won't get 35MPG but low mileage used Buick's are usually quite cheap. 18/29 with the 3800.....on flat ground cruising along 60 or 65 I've been able to get about 33+ according to the car and I believe that to be pretty accurate.
You won't get 35MPG but low mileage used Buick's are usually quite cheap. 18/29 with the 3800.....on flat ground cruising along 60 or 65 I've been able to get about 33+ according to the car and I believe that to be pretty accurate.
In cars such as this at used car dealers. PAY for a Carfax.
Yes, Carfax is not perfect.
At this price for a Buick with this amount of miles on odometer, very advantageous to PAY for a mechanic to view the car.
I've obtained cars like this privately from older people I knew.
They were cheap... not 3500 bucks cheap but newer, lower mileage and under $10K.
All of them were great cars.
At this price for a Buick with this amount of miles on odometer, very advantageous to PAY for a mechanic to view the car.
I'm not saying you shouldn't have it looked over but that's not a lowball price for a car like that, least not where I live. It's a 2003, it is 15 years old. Someone probably used it to get groceries and the weekly trip to Bingo.
You have everything going for you buying used Buick. Typically they have lots of options, someone old owns it that was first owner and probably took good care of it and very few people set out to buy a used Buick.
Won't meet the mpg requirement but the Honda Element can be had around that price range and there are plenty of examples of those going over 300,000 miles relatively problem free.
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