$10k for used car for college kid?

[Anonymous]

Considering buying a used car for college age kid so he can participate in a work opportunity that is traditional first step on his career path. No way for him to take public transportation, and it’s far enough that the math on an Uber is probs more expensive than the car long term.

I’ve just started looking but have no idea what I can get that is safe and reliable for 10K or less. Do I look for something older with lower miles or newer with higher miles? How many miles are too many miles on a used car 100K? 125k? 150k? Are used car prices still way out of sight? Would it be better to limp thru the spring with a couple of months of Ubers and then buy in the fall?

Good make/models to look for? I have a Hyundai that has been pretty reliable for 12 years, but I feel like it is too old/high mileage for weekly highway driving. Hondas? Toyotas?

Good resources for researching this?

Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

I might look at EVs— you can probably find a relatively newish spark or leaf— will have range of less than 100 miles but how much does he need? Fuel and maintenance will be a lot cheaper and it’ll probably be more fun to drive.

[Anonymous]

Go to carmax and look for Japanese or Korean cars. You should be able to find a 10 year old car with about 100k miles that fits your budget. Pretty much something like your Hyundai

[Anonymous]

Subaru is the only answer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Subaru is the only answer

Not any more. Look up Subaru battery drain settlement. Subaru does not stand behind its vehicles.

[Anonymous]

Give him the Hyundai and a triple A membership.

[Anonymous]

A high mileage Toyota would be ok. Go to carmax and then have it checked out by a mechanic. They have a return guarantee, so if something isn't right, it can be returned without a problem.

[Anonymous]

Maybe lease something cheap if it’s not a long-term thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might look at EVs— you can probably find a relatively newish spark or leaf— will have range of less than 100 miles but how much does he need? Fuel and maintenance will be a lot cheaper and it’ll probably be more fun to drive.

[Anonymous]

We did a high mileage honda (110k) for about 11k. Took it to the mechanic who was impressed by the condition of the car. I am not sure I would put my kid in it to drive cross country, but he is going to school about 2 hrs from home and we feel good about him driving to/from school in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might look at EVs— you can probably find a relatively newish spark or leaf— will have range of less than 100 miles but how much does he need? Fuel and maintenance will be a lot cheaper and it’ll probably be more fun to drive.

you will never find an EV for 10000 that is reliable. maybe 30000

[Anonymous]

I'd be worried about airbag functionality.

[Anonymous]

Having just unwillingly bought a new car (mine was totaled while legally parked in a parking lot), now is not a great time to buy cars because prices are still inflated from chip supply chain issues. My recommendation is figure out what your priority is in regards to safety features and see what you can get from there. Also run the numbers on how many miles you’ll think he will put on it for the next three years, and consider if you want to buy a car for the next three, five, or seven years.

I found that the math was roughly 10,000 miles = one year = $1,000. So two same make/model cars with similar features but one is a 2016 with 80,000 miles and one is a 2020 with 30,000 miles will have a ~$8-9,000 difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might look at EVs— you can probably find a relatively newish spark or leaf— will have range of less than 100 miles but how much does he need? Fuel and maintenance will be a lot cheaper and it’ll probably be more fun to drive.

you will never find an EV for 10000 that is reliable. maybe 30000

this just isn't true. EVs have almost no moving parts so they are much more reliable and cheaper to own as they age. The only downside is the battery can lose some range. It's not hard to find a used EV that had a smaller range when new, and has a smaller range now, under 10k. It might not be practical for a kid who goes to school several hundred miles away but reliability won't be the problem.

It's like when people worry about range dropping in traffic-- EVs are fundamentally different and range increases in traffic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might look at EVs— you can probably find a relatively newish spark or leaf— will have range of less than 100 miles but how much does he need? Fuel and maintenance will be a lot cheaper and it’ll probably be more fun to drive.

you will never find an EV for 10000 that is reliable. maybe 30000

this just isn't true. EVs have almost no moving parts so they are much more reliable and cheaper to own as they age. The only downside is the battery can lose some range. It's not hard to find a used EV that had a smaller range when new, and has a smaller range now, under 10k. It might not be practical for a kid who goes to school several hundred miles away but reliability won't be the problem.

It's like when people worry about range dropping in traffic-- EVs are fundamentally different and range increases in traffic.

I really appreciate the PPs posting about EVs, and I would love to own one, but I don’t think this is very practical in my situation since DS goes to school a 4-6 hour drive away depending on traffic and weather conditions.