I'm looking to buy one for my down on her luck sis-in-law. I thought I could waltz into any number of Toyota, Subaru, or Mitsu dealers & find something in the $10K range.
Boy was I wrong
I hear Subaru's run good & last a long time, but the few I've seen are over $15K when a couple years old & around 50,000 miles on odometer.
I like the features of the Foresters or Outbacks, and reviews I've read so far seem good.
Any suggestions on another safe daily driver for a single mom & teenage son? The son will be driving soon.
TIA,
David

Have you looked at Kia? I think the Rio might hover in the $10K range...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Decent, safe and reliable excludes it on all counts.

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Safe, economical maintenance and fuel efficient:
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ctd/814303943.html

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

A used mazda 6. If you walk into Toyota thinking of a deal, forget it. They think their sh** don't stink so they charge a lot for their cars.

__________________
1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Good find. I know Toyota's have a good reliability record, but having over 100K on the clock concerns me a little. That said, the price is attractive.

Re: Kia Rios. I just read up on them a little. They seem a bit too economy, and I'm not real keen on Korean products. No legitimate reason, sort of a mental thing I guess.

Thanks for the comments. I'm still searching in my spare minutes (here at work)

Here's my new one, with my old one I traded in, at the moment I bought it a few months ago




Wow that makes me feel good, I have just a brand new bought one, and they seem to be the staff car around here in snow country. The Subaru dealer in Auburn, in the Sierra foothills, where I got it, said used ones seldom get traded in and most are passed down to other members of the family. He said about 85% of the buyers up here pay cash for them.

The new ones are rated as large, safe cars now.

My old '95 Outback had 123k on it and ran perfect, when I traded it in. All I ever did was put a new timing belt in it at about 118k

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Yes, but Chad, that car has an eye-poping 100,000 miles on it already. Someone's been riding that horse pretty hard.

These two look OK:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=244663024&dealer_id=613808&car_year=2002&num_records=25&model=&make3=SUB&systime=&make2=MIT&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2000&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=25&marketZipError=false&model3=&model2=&search_lang=en&showZipError=n&sownerid=79518&make=TOYOTA&color=&keywords_display=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=b&position=top&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=mileageASC&address=21201&advanced=y&end_year=2009&transmission=&doors=&max_price=9500&cardist=5

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=245236604&dealer_id=613808&car_year=2002&num_records=25&model=&make3=SUB&systime=&make2=MIT&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2000&engine=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=25&marketZipError=false&model3=&model2=&search_lang=en&showZipError=n&sownerid=79518&make=TOYOTA&color=&keywords_display=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=b&position=top&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=mileageASC&address=21201&advanced=y&end_year=2009&transmission=&doors=&max_price=9500&cardist=5&rdpage=thumb


I missed that part when I skimmed over the ad.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

Keeping it in the MB family...

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/839644468.html
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ctd/839302186.html
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/844080026.html
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/844888743.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/845206848.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/ctd/845374880.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/844422255.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ctd/844036217.html
Plus a 1967 'Mog
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ctd/845504851.html

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

What is so bad about 100k miles? I have never owned a car with less than 150k on the clock and have never really had too much trouble with them.

__________________
1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

I made three of my friends buy the Subaru Imprezza, best value at $17k, good clearance, AWD and a torquey engine as well.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ctd/839302186.html


This one (1995 E320 Coupe), beyond any shadow of a doubt is the one to get.

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

A decent SAFE economy car.

Decent: Volvo
Safe: Volvo
Economy: Volvoish- repairs can be tricky but MPG is the best in its class.

Ironic that you suggest a Volvo. She actually had recently owned a somewhat new Volvo, which she lost to the Re-Po man several months ago. I just learned of this 2 days ago.

Re: All the craigslist benz links. I'd like to get her an older Benz, but if I did that I would feel responsible for assisting in any annoying & expensive repairs that would inevitably come along in the next couple years. I'd prefer to spend more money now on something with a couple years of warrenty.

JimB, That is really just what I had in mind. I think I remember seeing that photo here whan you first made the purchase. Nice vehicle. I foolishly thought a used one would run less $$.

I really need to walk around a few stealerships near work & scope out what is on the local lots, and see how well cash offers will lower the asking price of in stock stuff.

Again, thanks all for the feedback. I had hoped to get out of the office sometime today to browse, but that never happened.

David