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[SIZE=3][/SIZE][SIZE=3]Let me state right up front, I know very little about cars,and am asking what you folk will probably think a rather dumb basic question. I donot currently own a car, but, will be retiring and relocating to St. Pete, FL atthe end of this year, and intend on buying a car. Some friends and relatives of mine,suggested that a Toyota Camry or Corolla would be a good fit for my wife and I.The purpose of the car is what I call “get me from point A to point B, suchthings as grocery shopping, going from home to the mall, weekend trips, etc.nothing long distance.” [/SIZE][SIZE=3]I just want acar that is easy to handle, not hard to maintain, and of reasonable quality andreliability. And of course reasonable price. Is a Camry or Corolla a goodchoice for someone like me? Thanks for sharing your expertise and for yourtime.[/SIZE]
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With proper maintenance you will have no problem driving a Camry/Corolla 300K miles ,also give it a wax job once or twice a year .
My Toyota Yaris that i bought new in 98 still looks like new at 275K miles,its made the Montreal/St Pete trip at least 15 times and to date no problems. heres a pic taken 6 months ago in Pine Island parking lot = DSCF1455.jpg Photo by jambo101 | Photobucket
I agree. Can't go wrong with either, or any Toyota for that matter. My advice is to drive different cars and see what you like and is most comfortable for you. Just because people recommend something, it doesn't mean it's a perfect fit for you. About ten years ago, my wife had her heart set on a Corolla and I was going along with her wishes. We went and test drove it, and it was just too darn small and I could not get comfortable no matter how I adjusted the seat and steering wheel. She just didn't like the seat.We ended up with a Honda Accord after doing a fair amount of test drives and shopping around. Now, the Corolla of today is larger both inside and out compared to the Corolla of a decade ago.
Today, I drive an Avalon, because I like being comfortable and have never really been a fan of small cars. And before anyone chimes in, I know the Camry isn't small. But, the Avalon has a better ride.
As much as I am a fan of Toyota, it would be very remiss of me if I didn't recommend checking out Honda, Nissan, or even Hyundai and Kia. There are a ton of them on the roads down here. I see more retired folks driving around Kia Souls than anything else it seems. Also, crossover type vehicles (RAV4, CRV, SantaFe) are becoming more popular with the retired crowd due to the easier entry and egress as compared to a sedan.
However, once you see how people drive down here, you may want to purchase an armored vehicle of some sort.
Either would be extremely reliable and durable. The Camry is a bit bigger, so you may find it more comfortable.
Definitely figure out what's more comfortable. Especially as we age we may find that it's not comfortable or easy to get into a car with a low seating position, so try it out.
With proper maintenance you will have no problem driving a Camry/Corolla 300K miles ,also give it a wax job once or twice a year .
My Toyota Yaris that i bought new in 98 still looks like new at 275K miles,its made the Montreal/St Pete trip at least 15 times and to date no problems. heres a pic taken 6 months ago in Pine Island parking lot = DSCF1455.jpg Photo by jambo101 | Photobucket
I agree. Can't go wrong with either, or any Toyota for that matter. My advice is to drive different cars and see what you like and is most comfortable for you. Just because people recommend something, it doesn't mean it's a perfect fit for you. About ten years ago, my wife had her heart set on a Corolla and I was going along with her wishes. We went and test drove it, and it was just too darn small and I could not get comfortable no matter how I adjusted the seat and steering wheel. She just didn't like the seat.We ended up with a Honda Accord after doing a fair amount of test drives and shopping around. Now, the Corolla of today is larger both inside and out compared to the Corolla of a decade ago.
Today, I drive an Avalon, because I like being comfortable and have never really been a fan of small cars. And before anyone chimes in, I know the Camry isn't small. But, the Avalon has a better ride.
As much as I am a fan of Toyota, it would be very remiss of me if I didn't recommend checking out Honda, Nissan, or even Hyundai and Kia. There are a ton of them on the roads down here. I see more retired folks driving around Kia Souls than anything else it seems. Also, crossover type vehicles (RAV4, CRV, SantaFe) are becoming more popular with the retired crowd due to the easier entry and egress as compared to a sedan.
As my daily drive is a 2007 Toyota Corolla, I would agree that the 2017 Corolla is much more comfortable and has a lot more interior space. In addition to our vehicle, we drive a 2004 and a 2018 Toyota Avalon as we drive around a lot of our older neighbors to their medical appointments. For my tastes, it is a bit larger than I like and the 2004 Avalon only gets 22 mpg. The 2018 Avalon is in the "break in" period so I don't know what the MPG will be later on.
Many of my neighbors like the Kia Soul. The two things that they really like about it is that it is very affordable. Also, that vehicle is a lot easier to get in and out of than the Corolla. It sits a lot higher than your standard car. My wife likes that.
On the other hand, we have both found that it is more difficult to get into the Hyundai Sonata than any of the Toyotas. Hy head hits the rook on the way in.
However, it is hard NOT to buy another Toyota since I have never had a breakdown of any sort in 12 years in my vehicles. Prior to that, I was calling AAA 3-4 times a year every year.
I might wait for next year's Camry since this was the 1st model year...manufacturers often make a few tweaks to second year vehicles ironing out things that can be improved. Really buy whatever works for your lifestyle. I would think you could anticipate some decent end of year deals on the outgoing rav4 possibly as well.
I might wait for next year's Camry since this was the 1st model year...manufacturers often make a few tweaks to second year vehicles ironing out things that can be improved. Really buy whatever works for your lifestyle. I would think you could anticipate some decent end of year deals on the outgoing rav4 possibly as well.
I think it would be worth the wait for the 3-year mark to see the mid cycle refresh. Gives you a bigger bang for the buck if you like this generation's Camry and want the refined version of it rather than a few tweaks.
This is a very open-ended question. Corollas and Camrys are entirely reasonable choices, and as others have noted, there are plenty of alternatives from other manufacturers. That said, I can not agree that mere "proper maintenance" is enough to extra "300K miles" from a Camry/Corolla (or whatever else). My 2007 Camry is already struggling, with just over 100K miles. The water pump failed 10K miles ago - not a trivial repair in these cars. Now the transmission is dying (I have a thread on that topic). The transmission of this particular model is sealed; there is no dipstick for the fluid-level. Neither is it clear how the electronic control of the transmission interfaces with the engine control module. I don't mean to single out the Camry as some particular offender in these regards; many modern cars are similar, with sealed components. This means that there is no factory-recommended maintenance for the component in question, but when it does fail, there's a great mystery and frustration.
Overall, I would recommend an older car, bought cheaply from a private party. And by "older", I mean one where 80% or 90% of its new-car value has already been erased by depreciation. The only maintenance for such a car would be fluid-changes (such as engine oil) and consumables like brake-pads. If any major component fails (blown head gasket, busted automatic transmission), the car would simply be thrown away... towed to the metal recycling yard. In that regard, I had excellent luck with a 1990 Corolla. I bought it for around $1800, with maybe 150K miles... drove it to around 230K miles, before I decided that its proper future home is the junkyard.
Overall, I would recommend an older car, bought cheaply from a private party. And by "older", I mean one where 80% or 90% of its new-car value has already been erased by depreciation. The only maintenance for such a car would be fluid-changes (such as engine oil) and consumables like brake-pads. If any major component fails (blown head gasket, busted automatic transmission), the car would simply be thrown away... towed to the metal recycling yard. In that regard, I had excellent luck with a 1990 Corolla. I bought it for around $1800, with maybe 150K miles... drove it to around 230K miles, before I decided that its proper future home is the junkyard.
The problem with that approach is that sometimes you win and get a vehicle that still has some life. And sometimes you get the worst car you have ever had.
There is some presumption that when you deal with a private party, that that party is going to be really honest with you. Some of the worst cars I have been offered have been by private parties. Like the guy who tries to sell me a Mazda 626 with a failing engine. Unfortunately for him, I knew the service manager at the dealer who told him that the engine was ready to fail.
(I might make an exception and buy a high mileage used car off a friend who I knew took care of his vehicles. There are a couple people in my neighborhood who are "aging out" of driving and will need to sell their cars fairly soon.)
Right now, if I had to buy another vehicle, I would venture down to the local Hertz sales and pick up a 2016 or 2017 Toyota Corolla with 36k miles for about $12k using their rent2buy (3 day rental) feature. I would test drive the car over to my favorite dealership and have him do a full analysis on the car. After he had the car for a day, I would take the other two days and put it through a very thorough road test to make sure that it is adequate for the type of driving that I do. After 72 hours, I would have a very good idea of what I am getting into and then I would decide whether to keep the car or return it.
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