Best small commuter car on a budget

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"60% cost of a new car "

I have not found this to be true for the past 10 years.

I bought a 2014 Mercedes for about 60-65% of the original price. It only had 19,000 miles on it and was certified Pre owned. In fact I just took it in for maintenance and paid zero as they included a three year prepaid maintenance agreement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I bought a 2014 Mercedes for about 60-65% of the original price. It only had 19,000 miles on it and was certified Pre owned. In fact I just took it in for maintenance and paid zero as they included a three year prepaid maintenance agreement.

NP.

I can believe this may be the case for luxury brands, where status signalling is a large part of the brand value. I'll confirm what others have posted about it not being the case for smaller Japanese cars.

To the OP: If your budget allows, just buy a new Corolla. They're cheap, reliable, last a long time, and parts for it will still be cheap and plentiful in fifteen years, and you're unlikely to find a good deal on a used one. The per year or per mile cost (over the vehicle lifetime) for a new one will be about the same as a recent used one, and you'll be sure of the vehicle's maintenance history.

[Anonymous]

Here's my problem with luxury cars - Mercedes, Lexus, BMW. if you need parts it is EXPENSIVE. The parts are what get you. Sure, they are reliable but when you actually need to pay for maintenance and parts (such as getting in an accident), it's just not worth the extra cost.

Honda, Mazda, Toyota - all exceptionally reliable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I bought a 2014 Mercedes for about 60-65% of the original price. It only had 19,000 miles on it and was certified Pre owned. In fact I just took it in for maintenance and paid zero as they included a three year prepaid maintenance agreement.

NP.

I can believe this may be the case for luxury brands, where status signalling is a large part of the brand value. I'll confirm what others have posted about it not being the case for smaller Japanese cars.

To the OP: If your budget allows, just buy a new Corolla. They're cheap, reliable, last a long time, and parts for it will still be cheap and plentiful in fifteen years, and you're unlikely to find a good deal on a used one. The per year or per mile cost (over the vehicle lifetime) for a new one will be about the same as a recent used one, and you'll be sure of the vehicle's maintenance history.

Your interest rate will likely be lower on a new car loan too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honda Fit is even cheaper than the Civic (and gets great fuel efficiency).

I was going to mention the fit. We have a 2010 we bought used in 2012. Great little car.

[Anonymous]

Corolla or Prius are both great as economical small cars. They both have very low cost of ownership, very reliable, and with excellent resale value.

[Anonymous]

Ford Focus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ford Focus

Not great on reliability. I'd stick with a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the Corolla (and have one). It appears to be the only brand that puts all the latest safety features on every trim model. Plus it is available with a manual transmission, which is increasingly rare.

[Anonymous]

I just got a good deal on a 2016 Kia from the Enterprise dealership. It had been used as a rental for about 14 months and had low mileage and was in great shape.

[Anonymous]

A used 2017 Chevy Cruz has tons of bells and whistles and apple car play. Big trunk and super high mpg.

I bought one for daughter a few weeks ago and I borrow it for long trips all the time has the car play and 38 mpg on highway is great.

And yes it is highly rated. But GM does deals and GM cars depreciate more which is a huge positive for a late model used car buyer

[Anonymous]

My H just bought a brand new Ford Fiesta Hatchback for $11K. It's small but he has nothing but good things to say about it after 3 months of a 50 mile commute, only needs to fill up once a week. We considered getting a used Fit or Corolla but a brand new car with new tires and warranty won out.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty happy with my Honda Fit commuter car. I got a 0.5% loan when I bought it. Made it a better deal than buying used.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to buy a Toyota or Honda because I thought they would last longer and be less expensive to maintain. Ended up buying a Ford Fusion with leather seats because it was the most comfortable car I tried. The Honda and Toyota seats (even leather) were really uncomfortable.
I can easily drive my Ford Fusion for several hours in a day without a twinge of sciatica.
OTH it is expensive to maintain (too many repairs).

[Anonymous]

Mazdas are great commuter cars