NA: car suggestions for my mom

Huckster79

Huckster79

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Huckster79
my mom is 84, you wud think shes 60 at best... she got T boned Friday, she’s ok but her 07 Buick Lucern that could have been sold on the new lot if you zeroed put the odometer didn’t fair so well.

The Buick was tight in her garage, hoping to find her something smaller maybe even a crossover... nothing new, something that can be had for 7-10k, good shape, some mileage is ok as she doesn’t rack many up...

Any thoughts? Value and reliability are important to her.
 
What’s she doing with it? When I was looking recently a used Honda Fit seemed like a good cheap option.
 
skier said:
What’s she doing with it? When I was looking recently a used Honda Fit seemed like a good cheap option.
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From a land-yacht into a brasilian econobox. All the airbags in the world don't make up for the mass and crumple-zone that surrounds you in a full size car.
 
Man, $7-10k is shopping in the bargain basement. Hard to find anything recent or under 100kmi in that price segment.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Man, $7-10k is shopping in the bargain basement. Hard to find anything recent or under 100kmi in that price segment.
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Nah, the Nissan Sentra can be had with 50k miles for under $10k. In fact, that would be my recommendation.
 
genna said:
Lots of early 2010s Camrys with less than 100Kmi in that range. I don't think it can be beat on reliability. Avalon is a nicer option
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Or one can get a Lexus ES. Which is a fancier Camry for about the same money as a 6 cyl Camry of the same vintage
 
Subaru’s are a great value and easy to work on

Toyota’s and Honda’s are also pretty hard to ignore, and a good choice if you don’t need a Subaru

If she likes old people cars, get her a Toyota Avalon, good car and old people love them some avalon, used to call it the geaser pleaser.
 
Plenty of crossovers to choose from, one's as good as the other. Nissan Murano, Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, etc. Might be able to find some decent examples toward the top of your price range.
 
BMW M5, Mercedes CLK Black, Supercharged XJS. All will keep the older driver awake and alert.
 
James331 said:
Subaru’s are a great value and easy to work on.
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As partial as I am to Subarus, they are often overpriced for what you really get unless you buy new. I've found the AWD Audis to offer a superior value in the used market and seem to be an overall better car when comparing the two.

If my parents didn't already have a fairly new Subaru and were due for a replacement I'd probably be looking for a used Allroad or a Q5 for them.
 
mondtster said:
As partial as I am to Subarus, they are often overpriced for what you really get unless you buy new. I've found the AWD Audis to offer a superior value in the used market and seem to be an overall better car when comparing the two.

If my parents didn't already have a fairly new Subaru and were due for a replacement I'd probably be looking for a used Allroad or a Q5 for them.
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Unless you drive in deep snow or mud or something. Their AWD and overall layout is far superior to many, but if you’re not asking much of the car you just won’t get the value out of it
 
Fiveslide said:
Nah, the Nissan Sentra can be had with 50k miles for under $10k. In fact, that would be my recommendation.
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I concur. A current generation Sentra is comfy, handles well, gets great mileage, and is about the size of a third generation Maxima and even the current Altima is only marginally larger. Tons of internal space, including the trunk. I got a new one for $16K and some change.
 
James331 said:
Unless you drive in deep snow or mud or something. Their AWD and overall layout is far superior to many, but if you’re not asking much of the car you just won’t get the value out of it
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Not sure what you're trying to suggest. I've been far more successful in getting my Audis through deeper snow than I've ever gotten a Subaru through.

The Audi is what a Subaru should be.
 
mondtster said:
Not sure what you're trying to suggest. I've been far more successful in getting my Audis through deeper snow than I've ever gotten a Subaru through.

The Audi is what a Subaru should be.
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Huh, I’ve had VERY good luck with Subaru in the tundra my house is in, also as a kid romping fire trails, they’ve done very well for me, but I will add I haven’t driven any of their new CVT cars, I’d also waaay rather have a used and out of warranty Subaru compared to a audi.
 
Quality in Subarus has come up tremendously in recent years. The '70's models were garbage, barely ran, failed constantly and were worthless off road. The modern ones seem to be pretty decent quality and reliability wise, but then again I'm of the opinion that you are either driving an off-road vehicle, or a sedan or station wagon. The only mission I see for a Subaru and the various and sundry crossover AWD vehicles is the ski bunny trips to the resorts. No deep snow or mud, but limited traction. Being able to cruise through without having to chain up is huge, even though back in the day we made it anyway in 2WD vehicles.
 
James331 said:
Huh, I’ve had VERY good luck with Subaru in the tundra my house is in, also as a kid romping fire trails, they’ve done very well for me, but I will add I haven’t driven any of their new CVT cars.
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Like I said in my first post, I like my Subarus. Our family has owned a ton of them. But they are expensive so I went looking for an alternative car that retained all the qualities I like about Subarus. I found the Audi and likely won't be switching back after my last Forester dies. The Audis have as much, if not more rally heritage bred into them than Subaru does and it really shows. If you want a predictable handling AWD car with any road condition I'd take the Audi any day of the week over a Subaru.

This winter should be fun. I've got a 4:1 center diff, snow tires, and plenty of power in my daily driver A4 now.
 
mondtster said:
Like I said in my first post, I like my Subarus. Our family has owned a ton of them. But they are expensive so I went looking for an alternative car that retained all the qualities I like about Subarus. I found the Audi and likely won't be switching back after my last Forester dies. The Audis have as much, if not more rally heritage bred into them than Subaru does and it really shows. If you want a predictable handling AWD car with any road condition I'd take the Audi any day of the week over a Subaru.

This winter should be fun. I've got a 4:1 center diff, snow tires, and plenty of power in my daily driver A4 now.
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Subarus are expensive compared to a used Audi? There is a reason used out of warranty Audis are cheap, well till you have to fix them.

I’ve also found them heavy and low compared to a Subaru, the 70s-80s one had some iffy engines, new ones are so so, think the sweet spot was the non interference EJs, but no matter how you swing it they are easy and cheap to work on.
 
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skier said:
What’s she doing with it? When I was looking recently a used Honda Fit seemed like a good cheap option.
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I agree. How's her mobility? A unibox vehicle like the Fit, with bigger door openings and a little higher seating position than the typical sedan, makes for easy ingress/egress and just might be the ticket.

Also, super reliable, easy on gas, crazy good interior volume for the footprint, lots of them to choose from.
 
mryan75 said:
BMW M5, Mercedes CLK Black, Supercharged XJS. All will keep the older driver awake and alert.
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Those are really bad options if you want something cheap to own.
 
Depending on her mission, a Nissan Leaf might be a choice. No gas station visits, no oil or filter changes, etc. The downside is size and range, but maybe those aren't important for her mission.
 
One that hasn't been mentioned is the Ford Fusion, I think you could find one from the early 2010s in that budget.

Honestly though for that use case its probably easier to just figure out which cars suck and should be avoided. Today's appliance cars are boring and predictable.
 
Any car in that price range will have significant mileage and will require repairs from time to time. An American-made car will likely have less expensive parts. I'd look for something like a well-maintained Merc or Buick with ~ 75k to 100k on the clock.

OTOH, my grandmother loved driving her Mustang when she was in her 90s. Neat lady and I miss her dearly.

And ev'rybody's sayin' that there's nobody meaner than
The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.
She drives real fast and she drives real hard,
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard.
It's The Little Old Lady From Pasadena!
If you see her on the strip, don't try to choose her,
(Go Granny, go, Granny, go, Granny, go)
You might have a go-er, but you'll never lose her;​
 
James331 said:
Subarus are expensive compared to a used Audi? There is a reason used out of warranty Audis are cheap, well till you have to fix them.

I’ve also found them heavy and low compared to a Subaru, the 70s-80s one had some iffy engines, new ones are so so, think the sweet spot was the non interference EJs, but no matter how you swing it they are easy and cheap to work on.
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Another myth, lol. Audis don't seem to require any more work than anything else and parts are almost always cheaper than the comparable Subaru part in my experience. The Subarus are easy to work on but the Audis aren't hard. I've done plenty of work on both marques for myself and others, including some major rebuilds. I know what the parts cost and know that one hasn't cost me more to own than the other, other than initial purchase price.

I've never weighed any of the Audis but I expect both my A4s are in the same ballpark for weight as my Forester and my former Legacy are.

This discussion is no different than why the Cessna 172 costs more to buy than the Piper Cherokee. They essentially do everything equally, one just has a higher value than the other. If being hung up about owning a certain brand isn't a concern you get more for your money in the Cherokee than you do in the Cessna.
 
mondtster said:
Another myth, lol. Audis don't seem to require any more work than anything else and parts are almost always cheaper than the comparable Subaru part in my experience. The Subarus are easy to work on but the Audis aren't hard. I've done plenty of work on both marques for myself and others, including some major rebuilds. I know what the parts cost and know that one hasn't cost me more to own than the other, other than initial purchase price.

I've never weighed any of the Audis but I expect both my A4s are in the same ballpark for weight as my Forester and my former Legacy are.

This discussion is no different than why the Cessna 172 costs more to buy than the Piper Cherokee. They essentially do everything equally, one just has a higher value than the other. If being hung up about owning a certain brand isn't a concern you get more for your money in the Cherokee than you do in the Cessna.
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There is a reason the market smites out of warranty audis and not subarus
 
James331 said:
There is a reason the market smites out of warranty audis and not subarus
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Because of misconceptions. Subarus have plenty of things that go wrong with them that could and should give them a significant black eye, yet people overlook those problems because they think they're getting a quality vehicle. EJ headgaskets or cracked ringlands and spun bearings on the turbos ring a bell?

It's fine with me, I'll keep buying the better car at a significantly discounted price and hope people never catch on.
 
My n=1 experience for VAG and Fuji respectively points toward the Subaru as the far more reliable and economical to repair. I drove both from 25k to 225k and even with a head gasket job in the Subi, it came out ahead. Sold the VW last week, the only possible buyer was a young VW mechanic.
 
Oh, here is a revolutionary idea: ask her what she wants !






You may be shopping for one of the small Buick SUVs
 
ChemGuy said:
Bonanza!

Oh wait.
Sorry wrong thread
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Tesla!!

(Model 3, short range plus.)

Okay, hear me out. No, it's not $10K. But, she won't have to worry about maintenance, you can put it in "chill mode" to keep it from getting away from her...

... And the big reason: Hopefully by the time she's no longer able to drive, they'll have full self-driving activated and she can still keep her mobility without being dangerous. And even before that, Autopilot will take some of the load off of her when driving, and if she does drive herself the safety features will help. It's the safest car on the road right now.
 
mondtster said:
Because of misconceptions. Subarus have plenty of things that go wrong with them that could and should give them a significant black eye, yet people overlook those problems because they think they're getting a quality vehicle. EJ headgaskets or cracked ringlands and spun bearings on the turbos ring a bell?

It's fine with me, I'll keep buying the better car at a significantly discounted price and hope people never catch on.
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The EJ22 didn’t have those issues, you’re thinking a 25

But maybe you’re right and all of the industry has it wrong, personally I wouldn’t want to touch a Audi/mbz/bwm/caddy/porsh out of warranty shy of some rare vintage stuff. But to each their own, I’d be game for dealing with all that for a R8 or a old legit ralley car with some provenance :)
 
I wish I could find more Saab’s, I’ve had fantastic experience with two in a row. Easiest car I’ve ever worked on- it’s designed to be able to be repaired when needed- but not many available anymore...

Thank you for all the suggestions! We won’t be going tiny but a bit smaller than the Lacerne as it had every bell n whistle a caddy has but she can only clear her condos garage door by about 4” split between both side mirrors...
 
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