Have to buy a second car for occasional in office days

[Anonymous]

We have been a 1 car family for many years. Spouse will need a car for his occasional in office days starting in January. He will be driving about 90 minutes each way on those days so we'd like to find something with decent mileage.

We'd like to spend under $10K so we can buy in cash. Does anyone have recommendations? From other threads I realize this is a bad time to be buying a car...

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Oof. Good luck with this one, about all I can say is get an economy car. If it's only for driving to work and literally nothing else, I would buy a small and cheap fuel efficient car because your other car is for everything else and you don't want to pile on the miles.

[Anonymous]

how occasional?

[Anonymous]

I would get the lowest mileage Honda Accord or Toyota Camry you can find for 10k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would get the lowest mileage Honda Accord or Toyota Camry you can find for 10k.

This. It would help to think of it as a per year cost for transportation to the office. You can probably find an older model year Accord or Camry with 125-150k on it for that price. Let's say you drive it 10k/year for the next five years and wear it out. Then you spent $2/year on work transportation.

[Anonymous]

Used Mazda3 - cheaper than a comparable Honda or Toyota, but very reliable cars.

[Anonymous]

Prius awd is ideal for that kind of mileage in a generally temperate climate.

[Anonymous]

Mazda 3 is a good suggestion.

[Anonymous]

How often is "occasional?"

Any chance he'd be better off with a public transportation/uber combo instead of buying a whole car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How often is "occasional?"

Any chance he'd be better off with a public transportation/uber combo instead of buying a whole car?

For a 90 minute each way commute? No way.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't want to be doing a 90 minute commute in a $10,000 car. Make sure you get good towing insurance and have aa ample car repair budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How often is "occasional?"

Any chance he'd be better off with a public transportation/uber combo instead of buying a whole car?

For a 90 minute each way commute? No way.

Op hasn’t said where she lives or where the commute is to.

Have you been on I 66 out near Manassas recently?

I would much rather spend an hour or so commute relaxing on a commuter train like the VRE followed by ten minutes in an Uber, vs dealing with the crap storm on 66 for 90 minutes.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Office is not accessible by public transportation, otherwise we absolutely would be taking that route.

The drive would be 1-2X per week. I agree at $10K car may not be ideal and potentially dangerous. Spouse is a big Dave Ramsey fan and does not want to finance the vehicle, but I think it this car I might be worth it to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree at $10K car may not be ideal and potentially dangerous. Spouse is a big Dave Ramsey fan and does not want to finance the vehicle, but I think it this car I might be worth it to do so.

There is a meet-in-the-middle approach that sits somewhere between an el-cheapo cash car vs. an over-the-top luxury car financed for 84 months. You can finance a brand new ultra-safe and ultra-reliable car at a low rate ~1.9% and pay it off aggressively in 18 to 36 months. Maybe even quicker if you prioritize it. I say new because lightly used cars are almost at new prices right now.

I would go with either a Prius or a Camry Hybrid. Both can be had for under $30k. Both will get great mpg, last forever, are cheap to maintain, and when you amortize the cost over a dozen years they are very cost-effective. And if your needs change in the future these hold their value well so it will be easy to sell and you'll get good money for it.

A $10k car is possible, but it will:
--Have far fewer safety features than a new car
--Be more likely to break down and require time in the shop more frequently in a way that disrupts his commute and interferes with work productivity
--Be at its end of life or start to become a money pit in a handful of years
--I'm not against used cars, but there is less certainty when buying a well-used car and you could be fine for years or you could end up with major issues one month down the road that are yours to deal with because it is out of warranty
--Be nothing like a $10k car of 2019.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would get the lowest mileage Honda Accord or Toyota Camry you can find for 10k.

This. It would help to think of it as a per year cost for transportation to the office. You can probably find an older model year Accord or Camry with 125-150k on it for that price. Let's say you drive it 10k/year for the next five years and wear it out. Then you spent $2/year on work transportation.

This.