Reliable 3rd car

[Anonymous]

We are looking to buy a 3rd car, mostly for 17 year to drive. She usually sticks to a 5 mile radius for school, work, etc.

We’d like to stay around 15k. In our searching (NOVA), we see a lot of Ford Focus, Nissan Versa, Chevy Cruze, sometimes Hyundai Elantra or Mazda. Stock changes quickly. Anyone have thoughts on any of these to be a reliable and last us several years of local driving?

[Anonymous]

I drove my 2000 Ford Focus for 17 years with almost no maintenance so...pretty reliable. I was a low mileage driver too..mostly metro and grocery store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove my 2000 Ford Focus for 17 years with almost no maintenance so...pretty reliable. I was a low mileage driver too..mostly metro and grocery store.

I had a very different experience with my 2004 Ford Focus...

[Anonymous]

The Focus we are seeing are later model, 2017-2019.

[Anonymous]

Mazda 3 or Toyota Corolla

[Anonymous]

What years are you wanting?

[Anonymous]

A little Toyota Corolla would be ideal.

[Anonymous]

Later model Mazda would be safe and reliable.

[Anonymous]

Mazda3. Once she drives the car, she will not want the other ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What years are you wanting?

Ideally 2016 and newer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mazda 3 or Toyota Corolla

If you can wait a few months, I think these should come back down into your budget. Everything is a couple grand more than normal because of the chip shortage. Maybe a Prius too.

[Anonymous]

https://www.criswellchevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/new-2020-Chevrolet-Spark-Hatch_1LT_%28Automatic%29-Gaithersburg-MD/4586787303

Getting near new price of bare bones small Chevy of left over model year at 15k

[Anonymous]

Let her test drive some. Avoid Chevy. Mine was scary and Chevy would not help. Nonstop issues

[Anonymous]

We have a 2018 Civic for our teens that we are extremely happy with. Lots of safety features (but we did have to pay a little extra for the package). We would buy it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.criswellchevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/new-2020-Chevrolet-Spark-Hatch_1LT_%28Automatic%29-Gaithersburg-MD/4586787303

Getting near new price of bare bones small Chevy of left over model year at 15k

You could get the EV version (2016) for a lot less and it would be a lot more fun to drive (and probably safer too).

https://www.cars.com/shopping/results/?stock_type=used&makes%5B%5D=chevrolet&models%5B%5D=chevrolet-spark_ev&list_price_max=&maximum_distance=30&zip=20907

Used Leaf or Bt might be a good option too. Used EVs are great for teens since they don’t usually need range for road trips (and they don’t need to pay for gas)