1st Used car...thanks

[husky99]

Ok. Need help. Looking for a good reliable used car dealership (yes an oxymoron). I will ironically drive 30 to 45 miles out of the farmington valley on a good tip.
Need a 3k to 5k good 1st car for my step daughter who is about to be a carpenter (do need some space for tools).

I have looked on Facebook market place and 23 other sell by owner sites. Disaster... thank God for carfax etc.
Thanks

 

[husky429]

My concern with an older used car is maintenance and repair as the costs are hard to quantify. If you do your own repairs or have a really good honest mechanic and the car is not European, you might be OK.

It sound like this may be a first car. I would look at leasing for $300/month or less with ~3k to $4k down. Then you have fixed your expenses for 3 years. Cars like Honda HRV or Civic, Subaru Outback or Legacy.

Leasing a car is RARELY the best financial decision, and this is absolutely not the spot for it.

 

[husky429]

Ok. Need help. Looking for a good reliable used car dealership (yes an oxymoron). I will ironically drive 30 to 45 miles out of the farmington valley on a good tip.
Need a 3k to 5k good 1st car for my step daughter who is about to be a carpenter (do need some space for tools).

I have looked on Facebook market place and 23 other sell by owner sites. Disaster... thank God for carfax etc.
Thanks

What kind of carpentry is she getting into? That will determine her needs. If she's starting her own company or the place she's working for

I haven't worked in carpentry for a long a** time but my uncle was a GC who did his own carpentry and hired on his plumber, drywaller, tile guy, etc. All of his folks brought all their own equipment and needed trucks or vans. But if you're working for a homebuilding company or something and they're providing everything but your tool belt (miters, air compressors, etc), then you'd probably be fine with a typical hatchback.

If the truck is needed, I'm thinking finding something where you can get a reasonable monthly payment with the 3-5k down would be the only way. A 3-5k truck is not going to get you far. I just sold a piece of crap old truck with 250k miles and no catalytic covertor for 7k and that thing is not close to a reliable ride.

 

[AtlHusky]

Chiming in on the Mazdas in general. Spent many years with Honda, Nissan/Infiniti (don't ever buy a 15 YO model or newer of either, their transmissions suck), and went Toyota when it was time for the mini-van in '05 replacing an RX-300 that we outgrew having kids. Most bought used. I replaced the Sienna (bought new) with an '09 CX-90 in '15 and haven't looked back. Traded that one in for a new '20 CX-9. Bought my oldest daughter, as a new driver, an '18 Mazda3 hatch for HS four years ago, she's passed it on to my youngest, and last year got her a '16 CX-5 to take to college. This past fall I pulled the trigger on a '21 Miata for me. Have had great luck with all of them, just needing basic maintenance.

Your price point is gonna be a challenge. Mazdas hold value based on reliability ratings, but often come in under Honda and Toyota. I'll close by adding, IMHO, Zoom Zoom is real.

 

[B1GEast]

cargurus.com

 

[alphasigko]

Don't get a Lexus, I hear they go into reverse too easily ..

I have had 4 Lexus vehicles since 2005, 3 RXs and 1 NX200t and have never had that problem. In my experience they are great cars, and are very reliable with minimal mechanical issues.

Unfortunately, they do not make a work truck model.

 

[Scrutineer]

One thing you might try is asking every relative and friend if they're about to trade in or sell one of their cars and see if that might be a fit. It may be a long shot but maybe not and if you trust them it's probably a safer bet than buying from those you don't know, including dealers. I've sold two cars/suv's to a contractor's sister and son in the past ten years and we've all been happy with the deals.

 

[husky99]

Chiming in on the Mazdas in general. Spent many years with Honda, Nissan/Infiniti (don't ever buy a 15 YO model of either, their transmissions suck), and went Toyota when it was time for the mini-van in '05 replacing an RX-300 that we outgrew having kids. Most bought used. I replaced the Sienna (bought new) with an '09 CX-90 in '15 and haven't looked back. Traded that one in for a new '20 CX-9, bought my oldest daughter, as a new driver, an '18 Mazda3 for HS four years ago, she's passed it on to my youngest, and last year got her a '16 CX-5 to take to college. This past fall I pulled the trigger on a '21 Miata for me. Have had great luck with all of them, just needing basic maintenance.

Your price point is gonna be a challenge. Mazdas hold value based on reliability ratings, but often come in under Honda and Toyota. I'll close by adding, IMHO, Zoom Zoom is real.

Great question. She is about to graduate from Cheney in carpentry. She got into the union and is doing job training. So not starting her own company or working for a private established company. I was thinking suburu outback or forester. Maybe alittle bigger like a Ford Explorer

 

[shizzle787]

1000% what i was thinking.
All wheel drive also

AWD is for people who don't know how to drive. We are spoiled in New England. In many snowy countries (like Norway and Sweden), AWD is rare and most people drive FWD or 2WD.

 

[HooperScooper]

AWD is for people who don't know how to drive. We are spoiled in New England. In many snowy countries (like Norway and Sweden), AWD is rare and most people drive FWD or 2WD.

Are Volvos AWD in Sweden?

By the way, most of the people in Sweden live on the coasts (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo) and it actually doesn't snow that much in those places.

 

[Fishy]

Ok. Need help. Looking for a good reliable used car dealership (yes an oxymoron). I will ironically drive 30 to 45 miles out of the farmington valley on a good tip.
Need a 3k to 5k good 1st car for my step daughter who is about to be a carpenter (do need some space for tools).

I have looked on Facebook market place and 23 other sell by owner sites. Disaster... thank God for carfax etc.
Thanks

Pickups will be tough at that price. Old white work vans can be had, but she does not want to drive that. Also, she does not need four wheel drive unless you’re looking for a few thousand dollar repairs on your $5000 car. Front wheel drive is fine; she’s a carpenter, not a doctor - she’ll be home when it snows.

The old 2005-ish Buick LeSabres are huge, safe and they will run for 300,000-400,000 miles.

 

[Hoophound]

Pickups will be tough at that price. Old white work vans can be had, but she does not want to drive that. Also, she does not need four wheel drive unless you’re looking for a few thousand dollar repairs on your $5000 car. Front wheel drive is fine; she’s a carpenter, not a doctor - she’ll be home when it snows.

The old 2005-ish Buick LeSabres are huge, safe and they will run for 300,000-400,000 miles.

I just learned of this a couple years ago. Apparently, they have a cult following of people that buy them whenever they see one for sale and just drive them into the ground.

 

[Fishy]

I just learned of this a couple years ago. Apparently, they have a cult following of people that buy them whenever they see one for sale and just drive them into the ground.

Yep. They’re cheap to buy, cheap to own and repair and they just never stop running.

 

[Chin Diesel]

My wife drove a Toyota Venza for years and it was her favorite car. If you can find one of the older body styles (2012ish), they have a ton of room in the back and never had an issue.

She wouldn’t have gotten rid of it @160k miles but the rattles were getting a little embarrassing from her hitting the garage door frame, my car, a deer, curbs, etc.

This x1000.

We just traded in a 2013 Venza with 170k miles. Thing had a 3.5L engine, all leather interior, 20” wheels, heated seats. It drove great, plenty of room in the back and second row seats folded flat. Got 23-25 mpg.

 

[Dogfish]

We have friends that buy used Honda's and they go to Absolute Auto Center on the Berlin Turnpike and have always had good luck with them.

 

[husky429]

We have friends that buy used Honda's and they go to Absolute Auto Center on the Berlin Turnpike and have always had good luck with them.

I've gotta imagine a kid graduating with a carpentry degree is going to have her eyes on doing the maintenance herself. Any major brand is going to have plenty of Youtube videos on how to do the work

 

[husky99]

I've gotta imagine a kid graduating with a carpentry degree is going to have her eyes on doing the maintenance herself. Any major brand is going to have plenty of Youtube videos on how to do the work

Her boyfriend is very handy with cars.

 

[husky429]

Her boyfriend is very handy with cars.

Tell her to get anything she needs from Harbor Freight. You use the stuff so infrequently it won't likely break. Just buy whatever you need as you need it.

My BIL has a shop and loves the Iconn brand from HF. Most of my car tools are icon and I can't recall one breaking.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Ok. Need help. Looking for a good reliable used car dealership (yes an oxymoron). I will ironically drive 30 to 45 miles out of the farmington valley on a good tip.
Need a 3k to 5k good 1st car for my step daughter who is about to be a carpenter (do need some space for tools).

I have looked on Facebook market place and 23 other sell by owner sites. Disaster... thank God for carfax etc.
Thanks

I’m just going to come out and say, you’re not getting anything good from a dealer for $3-5k. You could POTENTIALLY get something in that range privately but to your point, hard to find and sort through the dogs. Even then, the pickings will be very slim.

 

[CCSUblue]

You could probably get a first Gen Toyota Highlander with under 200k for around 5. Those things will go to 1 million miles. I had an 06 HyHi limited, was one of my favorite vehicles ever.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Used mid size pick up trucks or used small SUV, I would go Toyota Tacoma before 2023 and Rav 4 Hybrid but not more than 7 years as you will have problems with the batteries at about ten years they are the best mix of reliability and durability I have seen.

As for the Hybrid RAV4, I stumbled across them about 14 years ago. I manage a 500 vehicle fleet with my company ( one of my jobs) and we use them in the most harsh conditions. Heavy city and parking lot driving with multiple drivers and we regularly get 200K miles on them. That happens in about 5 to 7 years.

I also track how many hours the vehicle is running. And that 200K comes with about three times the drive hours of what a private use situation would be as we do not put any highway miles on the vehicles.

 

[TRest]

Hampden Motors in Hamden, MA, has/had a variety of higher mileage cars on the lot he doesn't always list on his web site. Got a great used Outback from him about ten years ago, had an issue and he had it repaired there immediately, no problems. I have also bought carsfrom Canton Auto, good experience. They seem to get a lot of higher mileage fleet vehicles.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Great question. She is about to graduate from Cheney in carpentry. She got into the union and is doing job training. So not starting her own company or working for a private established company. I was thinking suburu outback or forester. Maybe alittle bigger like a Ford Explorer

Do not buy an Explorer. The transmissions are absolute crap. A Forester/Outback is decent, CRV, Rav 4, CX-5. A Tacoma will be expensive. The resale value is crazy and that works against you here. Jeeps should be off the list - trash.

If she needs something bigger or a little truck like, a Honda Ridgeline could be a fantastic choice. Ability to haul gear but drives like an Accord. Now that I think about it, it's almost ideal. Honda Passport if you prefer an SUV body.

 

[jake14mw]

This probably won't help in a search for Carpenter's vehicle, but for anyone who is just starting out on their own and has lower income, a used EV is an interesting proposition in CT right now. For used EVs under $25k bought from a dealership, there is a federal tax instant rebate of $4000, and CT has a program that can give rebates of up to $5000 for lower income people, or people who live in disadvantaged areas. There are many used EVs that can be had for under $20k. That can bring your price for a late model, low mileage, reliable car under $10k.

This won't work for many people, as both programs have income limits, and other caveats, and EVs just don't work well for people in certain situations, but if I had a kid who just moved out on their own and doesn't make a lot of money yet, I would be checking it out. Looks like the current administration will be getting rid of the federal rebate this year, so that $4k will probably be going away by the end of the year.