Best Car for under 35K

[Arklatex]

Any opinions? I'm helping a friend research her purchase and going test driving with her today.

I advised her to stay away from the German cars because of their high maintenance in later life.

I ruled out all American cars too, so that leaves us basically with:


Acura TL
Infiniti G35
Nissan Maxima
Lexus IS

That's what I'm thinking, don't be fooled the 2009 Maximas are 30K+ cars and can out run the Acura TL! So far I think that's what we're leaning towards and I'm headed down to test drive one today.

Anyone advice out there, it's a big purchase so I don't want it to be a knee jerk decision.

 

[LibertyIn08]

You're missing out on an amazing car (new Ford Taurus).

 

[tmosley]

What is she using it for? Commuting, long distance driving, or some of both? What is her time frame? Does she really want to throw her money away on a new car when the dealership could go bankrupt within a couple of years?

I personally would drop 2-5K on a used car and run it into the ground over the course of a few years, then rinse and repeat. There is no point in paying a car note these days.

 

[Madcat455]

Damn.. you ruled out the Pontiac G8 GT???

Ah well.. I guess if I had to pick from your list.. I'd probably go between the Acura or Nissan.. depending on how the interior felt (Nissans can feel like CHEAP POS's for some models).


Good Luck.

 

[angelatc]

I could look it up in Consumer Reports, but since you couldn't stand immediately bashing American cars I am not going to.

 

[muh_roads]

Not buying American = you are part of the problem.

 

[Unspun]

I could look it up in Consumer Reports, but since you couldn't stand immediately bashing American cars I am not going to.

Where is the bash on American cars? He just said he ruled out buying an American car, and automatically that's a "bash"?

 

[angelatc]

Where is the bash on American cars? He just said he ruled out buying an American car, and automatically that's a "bash"?

Yes.

 

[Unspun]

Ok. To be honest, I wouldn't buy American cars either. At least not Chrysler or GM knowing their status as corporate welfare queens. Ford, maybe, but I'm disappointed in their role as enablers of the auto maker bailouts.

That said, sorry I don't know much about these cars so probably would be no good in helping you make your decision.

 

[LibertyIn08]

Where is the bash on American cars? He just said he ruled out buying an American car, and automatically that's a "bash"?

Without rationale (and, given how Ford is equal in quality to Toyota and Honda), yes, it is.

 

[specsaregood]

//

 

[Unspun]

Without rationale (and, given how Ford is equal in quality to Toyota and Honda), yes, it is.

I don't see it that way. Maybe the author of the post didn't want to give his reasons because he wanted to avoid this debate. Until you know the reasons, you can not tell if it's a bash or not. Until then you are just making assumptions based on nothing.

 

[JeNNiF00F00]

Honda is a good car. The last Honda I owned would NOT die. It had almost 200k miles, the interior started leaking, had been wreaked and the exterior was falling apart but the motor would not die.

German cars are good as well, I don't know where you have gotten your info. I have driven VW and now BMW and I love it. I get a 50 dollar synthetic oil change at jiffy lube about once a year, and it has over 100k miles on it and is still going strong. Never have had maintenance problems.

American cars? What about the new Mustangs?? Those cars ROCK!

 

[ItsTime]

Subaru

 

[specsaregood]

It had almost 200k miles, the interior started leaking, had been wreaked and the exterior was falling apart but the motor would not die.

You are easy to please. I've never gotten less than 250k on my previous ford trucks; but even those pale in comparison to the 375k a relative put on a Acura legend. The thing was beat up all around the exterior; but still going strong until the transmission finally gave out at 375k.....

 

[constitutional]

I could look it up in Consumer Reports, but since you couldn't stand immediately bashing American cars I am not going to.

Off-topic.

[edit] You have subscription to Consumer Reports, maybe you can check something for me? Can you tell me few of the best bottom freezer (with water/ice dispenser) refrigerator?

Thanks

 

[MsDoodahs]

KIA.

Without a doubt.

http://kia.com/

We have a Sedona and a Sorrento.



eta: the Rio starts at $12,145.

 

[dannno]

Subaru?

 

[JeNNiF00F00]

You are easy to please. I've never gotten less than 250k on my previous ford trucks; but even those pale in comparison to the 375k a relative put on a Acura legend. The thing was beat up all around the exterior; but still going strong until the transmission finally gave out at 375k.....

I only got rid of it because it would have cost me more to fix the exterior than it was worth. The front end was smashed from a wreck. I kept driving, and about 3 months later as I was going down the highway the grill dislodged and flew about 50 feet straight up in the air. All I could do was look in the rear view mirror and see it flying and flipping on its way back down lol I also had to glue the side fender back on with superglue which worked for awhile but it started falling apart again. What made me sell it was it started leaking, and I hadn't driven it in a couple days and when I went to go somewhere, I had about 4 inches of stagnant water that created a massive mold problem on the interior. That was the main reason I got rid of it. lol I loved that little car too. It was fast and had great gas mileage and pickup. 1985 Honda CRX si. Fun little car.

 

[JoshLowry]

I really like my 2007 Nissan Altima.

Inexpensive, looks great, good gas mileage, seats four tall people easily.

On average it will get 28 mpg driving normal to semi-quickly. If I work at it, I've gotten 32mpg on a full tank.



Oh, and buy lightly used, you will save a few thousand right away!