Let's talk about cheap NEW cars

I'm about to switch jobs and am losing my beloved company car/truck. I'm about to tag/insure my Focus SVT for daily driver duties. Commute to work is short, but honestly I'd rather not rely on a 14 year old car that has nearly 200k on it. Don't get me wrong, the car runs like a champ, so I'll probably end up using it for DD duties and weekend fun.

Option A: I've been looking at new, cheap cars. Let's just say sub 20k. I've been looking into Mitsu Lancers/Outlander Sport, Honda Fits (a bit above 20k), Chevy Sonic/Cruze, Ford Focus/Fiesta.

What say the hive? Any of these cars really worth the payment? I don't want to get something I will hate. I'm of average size. 6' l75lbs. I don't want to be wedged in a small car. Living in Pittsburgh, we do have the potential for a lot of snow/ice, so I want to keep that in mind.

Option B: Buy a 2.2 5 speed Saturn Vue with lowish miles and pay cash. They go for peanuts around here.

I'd say take a look at Hyundai's as an option too. The sonic/cruze (can't remember which) I had as a rental was pretty cheap feeling. A buddy has a Fiesta ST which is fantastic so far but might be a bit above $20.

May I suggest Option C? Take your sub $20k budget and look at 3 to 5 year old cars. The cars you're looking at in Option A will nose dive in value in just a year or two, and previously owned car will too, but probably not as quickly.

I am with RossD. Keep the budget add 2 years ~20k miles avoid the big depreciation hit and get a nicer car because of someone else paid the depreciation.

Honda Fits are good DD. They are like $14k, get you 40mpg, are just stupid simple, and manual trans is cheaper. It's a car that will get you to work cheaply, be reliable as hell, and they keep their value like crazy.

DD the SVT. It wants to help you so badly, it will PAY you $300/month for your troubles.

Plus, its just as fun (if not more fun) than any of the ones you mentioned (maybe exception of the STs).

I bet you could haggle a Fiesta ST down to $20K out the door. Now they've been out a couple of years the initial rush has gone. If not 2 mins on line suggests that there are a lot in the 10-20K miles range used below $20K.

Used Focus ST's are also easily in your price range with plenty of warranty left.

What about a Fiat 500 Abarth? damn they sound and look good. Small though, but a hell of a car.

I test drove a Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4T 6-speed LT or whatever the mid level trim is and loved it. It rode like a larger car on the expressway and still soaked up bumps at low speeds. It's light (2690lbs) The 6 speed manual is a nice little shifter that returns 40ish mpg and can be chipped to 188rwhp/237rwtq (yes at the front wheels). The sportier RS model adds no hp and ruins the gearing so it only gets 30mpg on the highway so pass on it. The one I drove was $14ish MSRP. ZZP and trifecta tuners are very active with them.

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/general-discussion/8024-sonic-dyno-thread.html

rcutclif wrote: DD the SVT. It wants to help you so badly, it will PAY you $300/month for your troubles. Plus, its just as fun (if not more fun) than any of the ones you mentioned (maybe exception of the STs).

Never thought of it that way. It's paying me to drive it. Hmm.

DirtyDiesel wrote: I test drove a Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4T 6-speed LT or whatever the mid level trim is and loved it. It rode like a larger car on the expressway and still soaked up bumps at low speeds. It's light (2690lbs) The 6 speed manual is a nice little shifter that returns 40ish mpg and can be chipped to 188rwhp/237rwtq (yes at the front wheels). The sportier RS model adds no hp and ruins the gearing so it only gets 30mpg on the highway so pass on it. The one I drove was $14ish MSRP. ZZP and trifecta tuners are very active with them. http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/general-discussion/8024-sonic-dyno-thread.html

This interests me greatly as well. Looking.

I am in this exact same boat, so I'm curious what the GRM hive mind has to say.

Personally, the Fit and 500 Abarth/Turbo are pretty high on my list right now. If the new-gen Mazda 3s start depreciating a bit more near the end of the year, they'd be a viable option as well, but their recent introduction and stellar reviews are keeping prices high. I really like the Mazda 2 as well, but they're hard to find with a manual in Touring trim (it's 2015, a car without cruise control is just unacceptable). Focus and Fiesta are in the running, the Focus moreso than the Fiesta, but I absolutely can't stand the Klingon center stack of the pre-'15 models so that doesn't help my search.

The Hyundais and Kias don't interest me much, neither do any of the GM or Dodge offerings. And then you have the Yaris and Versa, which are about as stale as things can be. We won't even discuss the Mirage.

I would go newer used personally. For just under 21K I got myself a 2011 G37 with 38K miles. A helluva a lot more comfy than the last 2 cruze rental cars I got.

I got a MK4 Jetta TDI Wagon for 4800, dealer serviced it's whole life, for the dogs and commute. Carfax 05 VW

Scottah wrote:

rcutclif wrote: DD the SVT. It wants to help you so badly, it will PAY you $300/month for your troubles. Plus, its just as fun (if not more fun) than any of the ones you mentioned (maybe exception of the STs).

Never thought of it that way. It's paying me to drive it. Hmm.

This is actually pretty untrue - you paid something for the car in the first place and it's not paying back that sum by driving it, it's just not costing you more every month (for the initial purchase, anyway). The car isn't depositing $300 in your bank account every month. So it's more of a "zero monthly cost" than a "getting paid" equation, unless your work pays you mileage to drive.

I've been doing the "neat older used car DD" thing for a while and it's fine when stuff is working, but when maintenance is needed suddenly things get rough. I've surpassed the $300 in parts a month number for 3-4 months at a time pretty frequently, and then I had to do all the work myself; whereas you can get a nice CPO vehicle with a 100k powertrain warranty and let it be someone else's problem for seven years and just sock away at the payments with peace of mind.

IMO, what it really comes down to is how much time you've got to work on your daily, how well-equipped with tools you are to deal with any issues, and how much of a dollar value you place on stress reduction. It's kind of a no-brainer for me; I won't need my $150/mo shop space anymore with air tools, three phase and a lift if all I'm doing is super basic maintenance on a new car and letting that 100k powertrain warranty take care of any major issues, so that new car is basically paying for itself right there. And then, when I factor in the stress reduction of knowing that any big problems will be handled by the warranty and all that free time I've got that's not being spent working on my DD, I'm amazed I didn't do this four years ago.

But, YMMV, etc...

I test drove an Abarth 500 about a month ago from a Toyota dealer down the street from my house. If we were closer to paying off my wife's car, about 9 months left, I would have got it. Plenty of warranty left, a ton of fun to drive and cheap. It was a 2012 with 28K miles on it, almost all of the bells and whistles and was 13K.

Scottah wrote:

rcutclif wrote: DD the SVT. It wants to help you so badly, it will PAY you $300/month for your troubles. Plus, its just as fun (if not more fun) than any of the ones you mentioned (maybe exception of the STs).

Never thought of it that way. It's paying me to drive it. Hmm.

I drove a paid-for vehicle forever, but failed at the second part (excuses: little kids, wife is a SAHM, etc), which is “have enough income/discipline to sock a car payment into savings every month.” If you can do that, when/if something tragic breaks on the SVT to the tune of more-project-or-$$$-than-you-have-time-to-deal-with, then you have options: big downpayment and/or trade-in on something else, set back the “new car savings” pool by $2200 or whatever to pay to get it fixed, or just buy something else.

I wound up buying a new Hyundai Sonata. It’s the nicest (amenities-/features-/comfort-wise) car I’ve ever had, gets me decent gas mileage, fits the family in it as needed, and is under warranty basically forever (dealer gimmick warranty extension to 200k on the powertrain, so long as no gross negligence has occurred on my part). I put new tires on it Monday at 59000 miles, and that’s the first money I’ve had to spend on it beyond gas/oil, payments, and insurance in my ~30 months with it. I traded an old SUV on it, too, so the gas mileage increase soaked up a lot of the initial payment shock – back when gas was $4 or close a gallon, that carried a lot of water.

Moral of the story – even if you’re considering buying a new car (and the new Hyundais get a rec from me there…), go on and figure out what the $$$ damage might be ($20k over 5 years is about $360/month) and just start socking that away now. Assuming your new job got you a pay raise, then dedicate a portion there and just forget about it until you make a move. Even 6 months of thinking it over and socking $$$ away is progress.

I have to say my parents just bought a brand new Fiesta SE with the sport package (body kit,red stitching inside, 16's) car looks fantastic and it was around $16K out the door. I bought the wife a 14 Focus SE for $15K out the door it's one of the most comfortable compacts I've ever driven and returns mid 30's MPG

SlickDizzy wrote:

Scottah wrote:

rcutclif wrote: you can get a nice CPO vehicle with a 100k powertrain warranty and let it be someone else's problem for seven years and just sock away at the payments with peace of mind.

What is the mileage range for CPO vehicles with 100k warrenty? I've been thinking about doing this for my next car, as I want something with a warrently but dont really want to buy anything super new.

Coldsnap wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote:

Scottah wrote:

rcutclif wrote: you can get a nice CPO vehicle with a 100k powertrain warranty and let it be someone else's problem for seven years and just sock away at the payments with peace of mind.

What is the mileage range for CPO vehicles with 100k warrenty? I've been thinking about doing this for my next car, as I want something with a warrently but dont really want to buy anything super new.

I seem to recall for GM CPO's the car had to be under 15k miles and two years. But that was many years ago....

In reply to Coldsnap:

Mazda and Ford both offer 7-years and 100k on the powertrain (from the initial service date, so be careful there) on a number of cars. I think the Fords have to be under 50k for CPO eligibility, but Mazda? I just found a 2012 3 with 75k on it that's being sold as a CPO, so who knows...

Hyundai Accent or Elantra, Kia Rio, Ford Focus, Chevy Sonic and Cruze - all good, fairly inexpensive cars. IIRC, I think the interiors might be a bit nicer feeling in the Hyundai or Kia compared to the Ford or Chevy.

The Mazda3 would be awesomest but not sure it fits under the 20k mark...

SlickDizzy wrote: In reply to Coldsnap: Mazda and Ford both offer 7-years and 100k on the powertrain (from the initial service date, so be careful there) on a number of cars. I think the Fords have to be under 50k for CPO eligibility, but Mazda? I just found a 2012 3 with 75k on it that's being sold as a CPO, so who knows...

Hot damn, that's awesome.

In reply to Coldsnap:

Is it? That 2012 3 basically has a 4-year, 25k warranty now (remember: CPO powertrain warranty is from the initial service date). Better than nothing, but the best bang for your buck with a CPO is always going to be with the newest, lowest mile vehicle possible...if that was a 2014 3 with 11k miles, you'd have 6 years and 89k for the powertrain, which is better coverage than the car had brand new! Big difference.

SlickDizzy wrote: I've been doing the "neat older used car DD" thing for a while and it's fine when stuff is working, but when maintenance is needed suddenly things get rough. I've surpassed the $300 in parts a month number for 3-4 months at a time pretty frequently, and then I had to do all the work myself;

Sure, but have you really paid more than $10k (estimate: 20k vs 3k vehicle purchase plus remaining value difference of 7k after 5 years) over the last 5 years maintaining/driving a $3k vehicle? Even if you pay someone else to do it that's 2k per year in maintenance/repairs.

I agree its not really paying you... technically...

I own a 2014 Chevy Sonic LTZ... It has the 1.4L turbo with unfortunately the 6-speed automatic. The only mods I have done is the Trifecta tune and a K&N drop in air filter. I would like to dyno the car but I think I am somewhere around 160hp/180tq to the ground. Bought mine with 14k miles on it as a 8 month old car, I bought it for $12,900 which is about half of the car brand new. Still have warranty as well! had to have the Yaw control module replaced; would have cost me over $2k without the warranty. So it makes me feel like I got a pretty good deal! What about the Hyundai Veloster R-Spec Turbo? I can find them brand new for around $16k and they look pretty nice as well... Would have bought one, but no 4th door is a no go with my daughter... I have been able to find the Ford Fiesta ST for around $17k before... I still love that car and wished I could have bought one but wife vetoed it...