Car shopping advise!

[mathnerd]

So, my old, trusty, reliable civic finally gave up. In a bit of shocking news, I sold him for more than my asking price in less than two hours. Granted, I still didn't get a ton of money, as he is a 16 year old car in poor condition. So, no I'm car shopping. I haven't looked for a new-to-me car since I bought Eddie 11 years ago. I'm not up to speed on the reliability of newer models. I was hoping some of the fine members of CS could weigh in on what cars they like and why, and rough value of them.

So, here's what I'm looking for....

Absolute MUST HAVE'S

-A/C
-Manual Transmission
-4 doors (or a van, though I don't think there are any vans with manual transmissions)

Would be nice to have:
-Power windows
-Power locks
-Audio jack for iPhone to play music

I would, of course, like to have something reliable. Eddie was great until the last year, so another civic wouldn't be a bad idea, though apparently they're really popular around here, based on how fast Eddie sold. Considering I probably won't be able to find another civic for a reasonable price, I'd like to start researching other makes/models.

So, CS, what say you?

[XCashier]

I think the new car issue of Consumer Reports is on the newsstands now. You might want to peruse that to get some ideas.

[mjr]

So, here's what I'm looking for....

So, CS, what say you?

Your mileage may vary, but I would avoid a new car. Let someone else take the beating on the depreciation. I'd go used, between 2 and 5 years old. But that's just me.

As far as makes/models, I couldn't really tell you, as my car has been paid off for about 4 years, and I'm not in the market right now.

[mathnerd]

Oh, I'm definitely looking used. My budget wouldn't allow new even if that's what I wanted. I'm hoping to find something 2007-2010 or so.

[protege]

I currently tool around in a 2007 Toyota Corolla CE. That is, it's a five-speed, has the required number of doors, has power windows and locks (no keychain thingie though), but it doesn't have an audio jack. Recent key issue/water pump replacement aside, I've had to do very little to it. From what I understand, you can pick up one for less than $10,000. Also, unless you *really* want that body kit or "wood-grain" dashboard, don't bother with the S or LE models. Other than some cosmetic changes, there's nothing mechanically different between the 3.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I like the Hyundai Elantra...I currently have a 2013 Elantra GT, and my previous car was a 2002 Elantra that held up pretty well until the very end when 3 things went at once which would have cost more to fix than it was worth. When my lease is up I will totally consider another one (though I won't lease again; when I got this one I wasn't exactly planning to get a car that day so I didn't have time to really figure out what I could afford. Leasing meant a lower monthly payment I was more comfortable with). My mom has a 2010 Elantra that has all those things on your list (except it's automatic).

[klhanson]

I have a hyundai sonata and i love it!

[mathnerd]

I was looking at a few Hyundais and was wondering about reliability. I'm glad to hear that you've had good experiences.

Any thoughts on a 2006 Ford Escape with 124k miles? The asking price is just under $5k.

http://www.auto.com/cars/Ford-Escape...YU02Z66KA55256

[fireheart]

With audio jacks, there are car CD players out on the market for reasonable prices. Many of them have a USB port in them. If you take your charging cable with you for your iPod, you can plug it into the USB port.

Otherwise, you can pick up radio transmitters that link to your iPod for about $30-$40 each. One end goes into the iPod, the other into your cars cigarette lighter and you then set it according to the station. Tune the station over and ta-dah!

Just some food for thought.

[Barracuda]

Pontiac Grand Ams are reliable. If you get one from the early 2000s they are cheap, and there are still some good ones out there that have less than 75,000 miles. And they may have been discontinued, but parts for them are still easy to find. Most of them come standard with A/C, power locks, and the other things you mentioned. And they come in both automatic and stick depending on what you find. I love mine, it's been a reliable car since I got it in 2006.

[Ophbalance]

Just say "No" to used Escapes. Especially before the moved away from Control Trac II and that troublesome transmission they jacked in from the Ford Probe. I LOVED our escape while I had it, but wasn't sad to see it go when the transmission started slipping at 100k miles. And that, after having blown out the original at 35,920 miles (juuuuuuuuuuuust inside the warranty).

I've had no major problems with the hyundai/kia vehicles I've had. Our Sedona has been in 3 rear end collisions and still keeps going strong. It's going to be switched out for a newer one here in 2 years as it'll be at the point where shocks/struts/drums other parts need replacing... and my family is rather rough on the interior of a car . It'll be 10 years and ~150k by then.

You've mentioned that it must be a stick, which is going to get awfully rough to find in anything anymore. Have you considered a Prius? It sounds like you do a fair amount of travel, and they're just wonderful on gas. And being a hatch makes putting things into it fairly straight forward. Mine presently sits at 118k miles, of which I've put on 100k of them. In my area at least, you can find one for about $7k in the 2006 model year.

[Aethian]

PT Crusers can come as sticks and the only thing missing from your list on my 2003 is the iPhone jack.

[lupo pazzesco]

We recently had to go car shopping due to my whole "destroying the car when the brakes failed" fiasco last month. Instead of taking the year we wanted to research, we were pretty much thrown into it, so things I've learned:

Pick 3. Three makes. Three Models. Three year period. Work within there, to narrow down mileage and wants.

Cars.com was our friend, you can plug in your budget, and all sorts of criteria and it narrows it down for you by area.

We also have USAA insurance, so we were able to use their website to hunt, don't know if that helps.

Hit the internet and look for reviews of local dealers. We ultimately used a combination of cars.com and yelp/google reviews to find the dealer we went with. Small place, local, run by father and son, so they had to maintain their reputation, which means we were able to look at vehicle history, test drive and they weren't pushy at all.

Secure your financing elsewhere, if you can. We were able to do so and if you walk in able to say "we want to pay for it all up front", most places will work with you. We managed to get $500 knocked off the price, so paid literally $15 less than our absolute cap for everything, car, tax, title license, etc.

Ultimately, we went with a 2003 Subaru Forester. There were some leaks, we need to fix those, but nothing major. Needs a new thermostat, and we're going to flush all the fluids slowly but surely. Other than that, it's a really really good vehicle, even our mechanic says so.

And that's the last thing, if you can, take the car to a mechanic within the warranty period if the dealer has one, get an idea of what you're going to be looking at in the future to take care of on the car, maintenance-wise.

Now, the three makes we were looking at were originally Honda, Toyota and Chevy. I stand quite firmly behind any of those, and am now adding Subaru to the mix. I know the forester comes in manual, we had a choice between manual and auto, but went with auto.

We were going to get a Chevy Malibu, but it was snapped up before we got to it, and that's how we ended up back on cars.com with a search for the local dealers. The reviews of the place were EXCELLENT, and we drove off the lot that same day.

[Seshat]

We have a mechanic we adore; and he recommended the car Toth drives. (We inherited the car Bast drives.)

Talk to the local mechanics, find ones whose workshops meet your standards for 'well maintained but also well used'. See if any of them know of cars which are currently for sale and which they'd recommend.

I'm not going to give you my Long List Of Things To Look For; because for certain members of Customers Suck (You, Protege, etc) it'd just be redundant. If you really think you want it, search for posts by me in threads about car shopping.

[wolfie]

I was looking at a few Hyundais and was wondering about reliability. I'm glad to hear that you've had good experiences.

With Hyundai, there are 2 main things to watch out for: "tinworms" love them (less a problem in your area than up north) - be sure to jack it up at all 4 jack points, since they rust out from the inside, and the Mitsubishi-designed 4 cylinders (don't know about the Sonata, but the Accent never used them, and Elantra only used them in '95 and earlier) burn a lot of oil once you're past 100,000 km or so. Not a "killer" per se, but it's a case of "check the gas and fill the oil" (used to own a '93 Excel).

My '96 Elantra has around 270,000 km on it and is still running great. The Elantra Touring ('10-'12) is a reasonable substitute if you can't find a '96-'00 Elantra wagon. A/C depends on the trim level (was an option on the base model, standard in higher trim levels), and a stick was offered. All Elantras are 4 door except the wagon and the touring (which have 5). Another possibility is a 1st generation Tuscon. Stick was only offered with the 4 cylinder, and all but the base model had deep tint glass aft of the "B" pillar. On a used wagon/touring/Tuscon, be sure the "roller blind" cargo cover comes with it - it's around $500 at the dealer if you have to buy one.

If Hyundai were to offer a class 8 truck in the North American market, that would be what I'd get to replace the Peterbilt of Natural Selection.