Totally

[ladysprite]

I just got the call from my insurance company; my car has been officially declared totalled.

RIP Little Silver Saturn. October 2001 - January 2014. You lasted almost forever, you drove nearly 200,000 miles with me, and you gave your life to protect me. You were the first treat I bought myself after graduating from vet school, and the first car I bought that wasn't an ancient death trap.

I miss you.

Coincidentally, I now find myself in the market for a new car, having not actually paid any attention to cars for the past decade-plus. In a perfect world I'd just go on driving Saturns forever, but sadly that's not an option.

So, anyone out there who knows more about cars than I do (which is likely most of y'all), advise me. I'm not looking for brand-new; I know that's kind of a sucker deal. I want something small - not Smartcar small, but I don't need or want an SUV. Easy to take care of and good fuel efficiency are important; I'd like a hybrid if I can but I'm not sure how they fare in the used market. And affordable is a plus; I've been out of work for 4 months and I'm not going to be getting huge amounts of money back for my poor lost baby.

Advice? Suggestions? Spare vehicles you have lying around?

Comments

[laurion]

Hybrids are expensive even used. Everyone wants one.

Cargo space? Enough to carry a dog? Enough to make a trip to Pennsic for a week? Two weeks?

Last time I was looking I really liked the Honda Fit, ended up with a Toyota Matrix which is a bit bigger but also nice, and has all wheel drive. Toyota Yaris on the smaller end. But I have a preference for hatchbacks.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Matrix and Yaris are both good choices. Matrix is more car, a hot hatchback compared to the "warm" Fit and Yaris. Regarding Fit vs. Yaris, the best deciding factor that I've seen is simple: if you're going to keep it for 5 years or less then get the Yaris; more than that then get the Fit. Avoid Nissan Versa. It's awful. I had one as a freebie rental when I needed some body work done on my Fit. It was awful.

[tpau]

ye sthis. the Versa was a rental once and never again. ugh

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

I was also going to recommend a Toyota Matrix. I've driven mine up and down the East and West coast and across the country. The seats fold down into a startling amount of cargo space. The seats are very comfortable (which is good when you're driving from, say, Boston to DC or from the Bay Area to Salem, Oregon).

Good gas mileage, too.

[pixel.livejournal.com]

If the Matrix seems like something you might like, look at the Pontiac Vibe. It is the same car in a different suit. You can get it serviced at a Toyota dealer and they tend to be cheaper because of the stigma of being an "american car".

[mermaidlady]

So sad to hear about your faithful car.

It's such a shame you can't get another Saturn. new_man also had one give its life to save his, but it was long enough ago that he was able to promptly buy another one. And if they still existed we'd probably be driving one today. Just damn good cars.

Unfortunately, I can't give you any recommendations on small cars. You've seen what we tend to drive. : )

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

(here via browngirl)

I'm sorry about your car. Hopefully you and whoever was riding with you are all OK?

I liked my Saturn SL2. I got rid of it with 80,000 miles on it, at about six years old. Only reason I sold it was that my mom had passed away and left me her Saturn Ion, less than a year old with 4,000 miles on it--and what a POS that car turned out to be! Shoulda kept the old one.

Brand-new is not quite the sucker bet it used to be, especially if you plan on owning the car until the wheels fall off of it, as appears to be your style. Typically the interest rate on a new-car loan is lower, and you can get a six-year loan...as much as buying a car on payments is a sucker bet, it can make budgeting easier. (The reality is that most people don't buy a car, they buy a payment book.) There's also a certain peace-of-mind factor to having something that's brand new, under warranty, and that someone prior to you didn't mistreat or neglect, particularly at the low end of the market. You have to decide how much that's worth to you.

Hybrids command a substantial price premium over their conventional counterparts. That price premium pays for a lot of gas. I'm not sure that the economics are there to recommend a hybrid over a fuel-efficient car like a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris, if the "hybrid vs. not" decision is strictly a matter of economics for you. There are plenty of other reasons to buy one, of course: you want to support the technology, you're the sort of person who likes hacking one, the eco-cred factor, and so on. Hybrids, it turns out, actually fare pretty well in the used market, and they've been around long enough at this point that independent mechanics should be familiar with them--service and parts are no longer a dealer-only thing. (Dorman now makes replacement battery packs for Priuses for about $1000 each, so the inevitable battery-pack replacement didn't turn out to be the worry that people thought it would be maybe 5-10 years ago.)

As far as *what* to buy...it's tough to buy a bad car these days. The quality game of the last 30 years has pretty much pushed everyone selling cars in North America and Europe to step up their game or step out. I think at this point the primary question is going to be "What suits your needs and budget?" and "How does the car feel?", meaning ergonomics. Are things positioned conveniently for everyone who's going to drive the car, can everyone see out, etc., etc. Narrow it down to 2-3 models and then test drive.

If you're unemployed right now, you may want to take the insurance check and buy a used beater for cash, just to bridge the gap between now and when you get a job again and become more aware of what your budget is. In a few months or a year you can probably sell it for close to what you paid for it, and you'll have reliable transport for zero car payment in the meantime.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

ypically the interest rate on a new-car loan is lower, and you can get a six-year loan...as much as buying a car on payments is a sucker bet, it can make budgeting easier.

I got my Fit new, with financing from Honda: zero point nine percent over five years. At that rate I didn't quibble over sticker price. A Honda dealer's margin on a new Fit is about $500. I'm paying less than that for the total interest.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

At 0.9%, it's actually cheaper to buy on credit. Assuming you had the cash on hand to pay cash outright for the car, you could probably exceed a 0.9% rate of return on investing the money quite easily. Profit!

The only difference would be if you could make up the difference by negotiating a lower price on the car. FWIW, "sale price less invoice price" isn't the profit the dealer ends up making on the car; they end up receiving dealer holdback (http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/dealer-holdback/), a percentage of MSRP that's paid to the dealer after the vehicle is sold, so they're still making a tidy sum even if they sell the car for "invoice".

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Cash that I did not have on hand.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most people don't.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

I'm very pleased with my 2010 Honda Fit. Small, but it's a hatchback so it doesn't seem small when I want to put stuff in it. It's a Honda so I expect it to last forever or close enough. I average about 36 MPG without really trying to maximize efficiency (5-speed manual w/ Sport package). A quick search shows similar cars (Fit Sport) going for around $12K-$14K, quite good for a car that originally sold at around $16K. If you do go with a second-hand Fit then try to get a 2009 or later. Honda made some significant improvements with the 2009 models. Base 2009 and 2010 models are going for around $10K-$12K.

And unlike a hybrid you won't have to fork over a small fortune for new batteries every three or four years.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

When I upgraded from my ancient Caravelle, I research and Honda Civics tend to have the best resale value overall, even older high-mileage ones.

I got mine - a 2004, 4door automatic baseline, no power windows/doors - for ~$6500 in Jan 2009, it had $160k miles on it but was otherwise in pretty awesome condition.

I've had to get one major not-routine repair done (engine needed some serious work recently, due to having 200k miles on it now; ended up costing around $1500) and of course belts and other routine stuff, but I would still consider the car to be an excellent investment. I should be able to resell or trade it in (if I did so in the near future) for around $4-5k based on current craigslist conditions. I'm in Portland OR market though, not sure about your area's pricing.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

Oh and research crash tests; small cars don't tend to do as well.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

Or check out fatalities (to any party); large cars don't tend to do as well.

[pamelina.livejournal.com]

I had a Matrix which I loved for its all-wheel drive, but it's small tank meant I had to get gas every week or two despite semi-decent mileage.

I've got a Prius now. Things I love about it: it's very roomy inside, reminding me of a Tardis. It gets between 40 and 50 mpg, has fascinating touch-screen info on engine use and mileage, has buttons on the steering wheel, you don't have to get your key out of your pocket (you just touch the door handle to unlock it then sit and push the 'on' button, then drive away,) and it is so quiet inside, even when driving, that conversation is easy. It's easy to park, it seats tall drivers, its fold down seats allow large things inside (if you don't have passengers,) its such a pretty misty pale green color. Things I dislike: its rear view is cramped, even with a back-up video. It doesn't have a roof rack.

Herooftheage (Vis) just went through your situation (their Saturn was totaled,) and they bought a plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt, which they love. He's talking about it here: http://herooftheage.dreamwidth.org/93272.html#comments

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

My wife had a Saturn, which she was very happy with until the engine seized in the driveway and it turned into a very expensive paperweight. After some looking around she went with a Subaru Impreza. They don't tend to be super cheap on the used market, because Subaru owners hang onto them until they're dead.
I just bought a new Outback (mine being the Pennsic-mobile).

I thought about a Prius, but one of my co-workers has one, which he generally loved, but he also said it did have some issues driving in snow because it's both built very low, and is very light. That scared me away.

[pixel.livejournal.com]

Vikki & I have a '99 Saturn SL we're selling. However it is a manual transmission so that may not work for you.

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

I love having a subaru, even my impreza wagon has a lot of hauling capacity.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

We bought a five year old Prius in 2012, and have been very happy with it. It holds a surprising large amount (40 10 foot long 1x4s for example), get great mileage of course, and is quite fun to drive (in a geeky video game kind of way). Maintenance costs have been fairly low. Drives well in snow (though not above 3-4 inches).

Down sides: Seats aren't what I would prefer; visibility is not the best; the small 12v battery gave us some trouble this winter.

[meranthi.livejournal.com]

I have a Fit which I love so far, but I don't have any particular knowledge of cars.

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

I have a Ford Fiesta (hatchback), and it's getting me 30 mpg even delivering pizza like I do. Subcompact, front wheel drive. And you can get nifty "tattoos" for decorating the sides with, if you want.

(ps, so glad you're doing better! so sorry about the setbacks!)

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I miss you.

I know what you mean. My very first car was totaled by the insurance company. When I went to pick up my stuff from it at the wrecking yard, I broke down crying.

Recommendations: most of my cars have been Subarus. If you don't want a mini-SUV like a Forester, the Legacy wagons are nice. Do some research, though- some of their wagons (like the Outback), at least in some model years, require/do much better on premium gas.

Something a bit more affordable would be a Ford Focus wagon. Lots of space in those.

ETA- re hybrids: do some research here, too. I've heard some troubling things about the batteries not lasting too long...

Also, unless you *like* dealing with used car salesfolk, I recommend CarMax. My current car and the one before it came from them, also monsteralice's current car. We've had a good experience with them all three times. Sure, you may not get the best price, but for us, the simplicity and lack of used-car-salesfolk behavior was worth it.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

" I've heard some troubling things about the batteries not lasting too long..."

Mostly hype. In CARB states (such as MA) batteries are warrantied for 150,000 miles, and car companies aren't going broke because of it. There are some Prius taxis with 500k miles on the original battery. Most batteries are lasting the life of the car.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

I bought a 2007 Toyota Prius from Carmax in 2010. It has been a joy to drive, gets amazing milage, and went up and over the Great Divide on our 3000+ mile trip from Atlanta to Seattle last January.

Seconding evcelt's Carmax recommendation. I've bought my last two cars there (one in 2001, one in 2010), and I'll probably drive out of my way to buy my next car from them whenever I need to get another one.)

[surakofb5.livejournal.com]

Have you considered buying a used Saturn? You should be able to get a 2009 Saturn in decent condition.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

When I was new car shopping, Ford was awfully tempting with the Focus and Fusion entry-levels. Then I saw that some of Mazda's entry points were also pretty sweet.
(NB: These were new cars I was shopping for - but there are going to be used versions running around.)

I went with the Fit for the coolness of the hauling factor (and then I'm rarely hauling anything but *me*, but oh well).