New car question

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JOhnH

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My brother's car has broken down and needs a new one.
I plan to give my SUV to him and buy something new (or almost new) for myself.

I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.

I want it to have a nice "techie" panel. Fuel mileage isn't all that important as I don't put many miles on a car. We fly to most out of town trips and usually use my wife's BMW when we go out together or take friends out.

What do you suggest? Remember, I am 60 yrs old (but I feel 59).
 
Look at the sport model of the Volkswagen Golf. If I recall the Sport model runs around 28k and is a very nice car.
 
JOhnH said:
My brother's car has broken down and needs a new one.
I plan to give my SUV to him and buy something new (or almost new) for myself.

I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.

I want it to have a nice "techie" panel. Fuel mileage isn't all that important as I don't put many miles on a car. We fly to most out of town trips and usually use my wife's BMW when we go out together or take friends out.

What do you suggest? Remember, I am 60 yrs old (but I feel 59).
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That's what I'll want when I finally decide to shoot my '95 minivan and get tired of stooping to get into my wife's Miata.

But I'll choose my "almost new/used" car from the list of rental cars I've gone thru. When I fly, I end up renting a fair number of cars (Hertz). I've driven a number of "car/mini-van whatever they call them types". My favorite was a Toyota model that I don't know the name of. Isn't great being an owner/pilot!

Anyway, my point is that a good way to get a handle on a car you'd like, without a salesperson in your ear, is by renting a couple of desired models and giving them a good test. Yes, it will cost a couple of $$$ but it pales compared to the total cost of ownership and all. There's apparently a lot to choose from but they vary in a lot of ways that probably matter to you and I.
 
Keep what you got and tell him to buy his own damn car.
 
I rented a Kia Soul a few months back. It fits the criteria ok, but it wasn't the greatest thing on wheels. I liked the visibility, and the driving position, I didn't like the noise and the brakes. Got good mileage over 380 miles driven, and I guess I'd buy one.

I drove a used Scion Xb, and I guess if they still make them, that's what I would get. Toyota reliability, and it was somewhat quieter than the Kia. Maybe a bit more money, but I liked the Scion a lot.

Yep, still make them: http://www.scion.com/cars/xB/
 
wabower said:
Keep what you got and tell him to buy his own damn car.
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Have you been talking to my wife?

But my brother is a mechanic. I bought my car new and now it is 10 years old with nothing major wrong with it. But there are more and more little things happening that I just don't have the time or inclination to deal with. And I am tired of it. And it takes up too much room in the garage. And his crazy wife ran off with a drug dealer and he has sole custody of four boys.
 
Totally biased opinion, but, look at the new Ford Fusion, you can get lot's of high tech features, plenty of room and fun to drive for under $30K. If you really want to get techie the new C-Max, although hard to find are pretty cool hybrids, even though you said gas mileage wasn't a big deal. :D
Good for you helping your brother, we all do what we have to do for family. ;)
 
I'm not biased like John, but I have driven the new Fusion and also like it. Nice panel, fun to drive, etc. And this is coming from someone who hates front wheel drive cars.
 
No, but I could almost hear a similar voice here and I'm guilty as well. My 2001 Suburban was flawless, and didn't have anything wrong. I just figured 12 years was enough and I wanted something else.

Sounds like you bro has his hands full. Best to you and him.
JOhnH said:
Have you been talking to my wife?

But my brother is a mechanic. I bought my car new and now it is 10 years old with nothing major wrong with it. But there are more and more little things happening that I just don't have the time or inclination to deal with. And I am tired of it. And it takes up too much room in the garage. And his crazy wife ran off with a drug dealer and he has sole custody of four boys.
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2006 Caddy SRX. Roomy, rides like a caddy, has 3rd row seating if find live bodies to put back there, lots of cargo space when I find dead bodies to put back there. Tech itch is satisfied by iPad.
 
N747JB said:
Totally biased opinion, but, look at the new Ford Fusion, you can get lot's of high tech features, plenty of room and fun to drive for under $30K. If you really want to get techie the new C-Max, although hard to find are pretty cool hybrids, even though you said gas mileage wasn't a big deal. :D
Good for you helping your brother, we all do what we have to do for family. ;)
Click to expand...

I like the Fusion too. Hopeing a few will come off leases and enter the used market by the time I'm ready.
 
JOhnH said:
My brother's car has broken down and needs a new one.
I plan to give my SUV to him and buy something new (or almost new) for myself.

I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.

I want it to have a nice "techie" panel. Fuel mileage isn't all that important as I don't put many miles on a car. We fly to most out of town trips and usually use my wife's BMW when we go out together or take friends out.

What do you suggest? Remember, I am 60 yrs old (but I feel 59).
Click to expand...

lower price tag: Ford Focus or Ford Fiesta, with some options available to perhaps make either of them more fun to drive.

Pardon me for saying this: The Focus ended up being more popular with, ahem, elderly drivers than Ford expected because the Focus is surprisingly easy to get into and out of. As my parents got older, we ended up using my Dad's Focus rather than my Mariner even though I drove.

A possible annoyance: the rear seats don't appear to fold flat in the Fiesta, I'm not really sure about the Focus (older ones do).
 
I have really been eyeing the new Scion FRS. Very sporty, looks awesome, will instantly take ten years off your life, and goes for under 30k brand new fully loaded. Subaru has a version of the same vehicle if Scooby's are more your thing.
 
We bought a Fit a couple years back and I honestly can't be more pleased. Good mileage, good handling, and we called the thing the TARDIS because of all the room inside. Honda dependability to boot. And it didn't break the bank.
 
JOhnH said:
My brother's car has broken down and needs a new one.
I plan to give my SUV to him and buy something new (or almost new) for myself.

I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.

I want it to have a nice "techie" panel. Fuel mileage isn't all that important as I don't put many miles on a car. We fly to most out of town trips and usually use my wife's BMW when we go out together or take friends out.

What do you suggest? Remember, I am 60 yrs old (but I feel 59).
Click to expand...
Look at the Subaru Outback 3.6. There is a reason they have been called the best car money can buy:
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/19/subaru-best-cars/
 
If you are going for the small Ford, be very wary of the new auto trans. Since 2010 it's gone through several major revisions for shifting problems, they keep reflashing the trans code, and sometimes put new lock up clutches in it, but the darn things still have driveability problems. You can read all about it at www.focusfanatics.com.
 
steingar said:
We bought a Fit a couple years back and I honestly can't be more pleased. Good mileage, good handling, and we called the thing the TARDIS because of all the room inside. Honda dependability to boot. And it didn't break the bank.
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Stick or auto? I test drove an automatic Fit. A little slow for my tastes, maybe the stick has more punch?? Otherwise a great car!
 
Skyscraper said:
I have really been eyeing the new Scion FRS. Very sporty, looks awesome, will instantly take ten years off your life, and goes for under 30k brand new fully loaded. Subaru has a version of the same vehicle if Scooby's are more your thing.
Click to expand...

Subaru BRZ and it runs just a little bit cheaper than the Scion.
 
JOhnH said:
My brother's car has broken down and needs a new one.
I plan to give my SUV to him and buy something new (or almost new) for myself.

I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.

I want it to have a nice "techie" panel. Fuel mileage isn't all that important as I don't put many miles on a car. We fly to most out of town trips and usually use my wife's BMW when we go out together or take friends out.

What do you suggest? Remember, I am 60 yrs old (but I feel 59).
Click to expand...

Mercedes of Daytona Beach has a CPO GLK350 asking $33k.
http://www.daytonamercedes.com/cert...LK-Class-eda837c10a0a0049007db6c52ed84112.htm

You can certainly get them down to $30k, and there's usually promotional financing.
I have had two, they're very comfortable, easy to get in and out of. The back was big enough to carry my 24" Troy Bilt snowblower.

We've had three CPO Mercedes, they are very good, have a significantly extended warranty, and the dealers take good care of you. My dealer drops off a loaner and take the car in, then brings it back, all at no cost.
Very useful when you only make money with billable hours on the customer site.
 
I had a Mercedes SL600 with a crack on the headlight cover. The dealer wanted $1,800 for a 6 inch by 6 inch piece of glass covering the headlight. Decided right then I was done with Mercedes.

Noticed the OP included "nearly new" in the qualification list. If OP has not driven a Lexus RX330 or RX350, I would strongly recommend a drive in one. Gently used models may be had within the stated price range. They are worthy of consideration.
 
Honda Crosstour. Tons of room, good gas mileage, and Honda quality. And people who need glasses will think it's a Panamera.
 
I bailed too after 20 years, never going back. The Benz quality slumped dramatically, almost as fast as their MX rates and schedules escalated. No mas.

Beemers were worse, and the company finally reached the point that the 5-year warranty was a requirement in order to sell them.

My LS 430's have been bullet-proof and have never seen the inside of the dealership other than at the 30k service intervals. But neither have the Suburbans and Yukons that cost half as much.

FORANE said:
I had a Mercedes SL600 with a crack on the headlight cover. The dealer wanted $1,800 for a 6 inch by 6 inch piece of glass covering the headlight. Decided right then I was done with Mercedes.

Noticed the OP included "nearly new" in the qualification list. If OP has not driven a Lexus RX330 or RX350, I would strongly recommend a drive in one. Gently used models may be had within the stated price range. They are worthy of consideration.
Click to expand...
 
I like my Suburban. Two years newer than the one Wayne apparently just got rid of, so I have at least two more years with it. Only 152,000 miles, so I figure it's not quite broken in, yet.
 
I like the Nissan Sentra for $15,999, by the time you put the navigation system, moon roof and wireless phone I think it might be $21k. The seats fold down but not a hatchback.
 
We need to have lunch so you can see my rear-view camera, sensors, push-button rear hatch and all the other goodies that are enjoyed by the other half;)

SCCutler said:
I like my Suburban. Two years newer than the one Wayne apparently just got rid of, so I have at least two more years with it. Only 152,000 miles, so I figure it's not quite broken in, yet.
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Ken Ibold said:
I dunno. I've had one as a loaner car a couple of times. They are very nice on the inside and drive very well. And I've actually started liking the lardass-hunchback look for some strange reason.
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There are several around the beaches here and I cringe everytime I see someone take a picture with one.
 
wabower said:
We need to have lunch so you can see my rear-view camera, sensors, push-button rear hatch and all the other goodies that are enjoyed by the other half;)
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I'm all for lunch, but nice crap like that goes to my wife and son. I get the old car, in exchange for which I get the old airplane. Fair deal to me.
 
us AAirways said:
Stick or auto? I test drove an automatic Fit. A little slow for my tastes, maybe the stick has more punch?? Otherwise a great car!
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Yeah, automatics destroy small engine performance. I imagine they do the same to large engine performance, but the test is a hard one to make these days. The TARDIS is no speed demon, but it has plenty of zip and is even a bit tossable.
 
SCCutler said:
I like my Suburban. Two years newer than the one Wayne apparently just got rid of, so I have at least two more years with it. Only 152,000 miles, so I figure it's not quite broken in, yet.
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Pretty much the same truck as my wife's 2003 Avalanche with 144k on it. A friend of ours had 298k on his same-year Silverado 1500. So we're hoping to keep it a while longer. Laurie loves the thing and has no desire to get rid of it, so it's my job to keep it running.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Pretty much the same truck as my wife's 2003 Avalanche with 144k on it. A friend of ours had 298k on his same-year Silverado 1500. So we're hoping to keep it a while longer. Laurie loves the thing and has no desire to get rid of it, so it's my job to keep it running.
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Contractor clients routinely run them to 400k and more.

Clean oil and don't hit nothin', they're stout.
 
a little amusing that a conversation that should be a debate between a vw golf, ford focus, or honda civic has shifted to 16mpg lumber wagons
 
JOhnH said:
I want something fun to drive, but I need to be able to haul a fair amount of stuff for the business. It only needs to be about to carry two people. And I don't want to spend too much. I think $30k would the upper limit for this.

I am thinking some kind of hatchback where the rear seats can fold down and provide cargo space.
Click to expand...

Seanaldinho said:
Look at the sport model of the Volkswagen Golf. If I recall the Sport model runs around 28k and is a very nice car.
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I'll second the Golf, particularly the diesel TDI. Nicely appointed, fun to drive, surprisingly quick, comfortable, and although you weren't concerned with MPG, very stingy with the diesel. Folding down the back seats gives a surprising amount of room for what really is a small car.

So far, trouble free after 30k miles. I'm sure you could get one for under $30k.

Gary
 
JHW said:
a little amusing that a conversation that should be a debate between a vw golf, ford focus, or honda civic has shifted to 16mpg lumber wagons
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Pfft. Old farts. What are ya gonna do? :D

They're thinking of that old Chevy commercial: "blah-blah, something, something apple pie and Chevrolet."
 
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