Isn’t Mercedes a Chrysler brand?
Mercedes and Chrysler merged at some point, but Chrysler was later sold to a private equity firm about when all the US auto companies went bankrupt. Chrysler is now in fact owned by Fiat, which was part of the consortium that bought Chrysler when it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fiat also owns Ferrari and Maserati, so maybe those ar the “luxury” Chrysler brands.
Chrysler itself is supposed to be a premium brand (I guess like Buick or Acura - not really like Lexus or Infiniti). However, they made pieces of crap for so long that no one cares about their brand any more.
I personally love my Bentley 300.
I rented a 300 recently while travelling. Actually, it is not that bad. I poked around in the interior, and it seemed ok quality, even if the design choices are questionable. The car is very smooth and fast - it is one of those cars in which you don’t realize how fast you are going until you look at the speedometer.
It felt very claustrophobic inside though. All the interior bits feel like they are protruding towards you. The windows seem small from inside. I don’t know why American car makers cannot make cars with good visibility.
I drove a 200 too a couple of years ago. It’s a big improvement over the Sebring (which was truly horrible), but felt a bit chintzy inside - like they dress up the interior to make the car look more expensive than it is. If you drive a German car, like VW or BMW, it’s the opposite. Pictures look just ok, but when you sit inside, you realize that all the parts actually have good quality and don’t just look that way.
I have to buy another ******-******* car… It needs to be no more than $10,000.00 and I’d ideally like to get 6ish years out of its life.
Any ideas? I am primarily looking for SUVs - absolutely no jeeps.
$10k huh. Looks like you’ll be considering between Honda CRV or Toyota RAV4 sort of vehicles with 100k miles. These are the most common cars in the small SUV category. Mazda CX5, Ford Escape or Hyundai Santa Fe are other possible choices. If you decide to get a non-SUV, you’ll be able to get a newer car with fewer miles, since these generally start cheaper.
So, admittedly, I sort of lied when I created my account. I’m realistically only on the “10k every 73 days” lifestyle. And as such, I can’t afford to just jump in that brand new beamer - although I’d love to someday.
I can’t drive a car though, I need the SUV. I live in Denver and frequently go snowboarding and I need a car that can get me to and from the mountains with a few squad members and cases of beer.
I’ve been seeing more and more of those Mazda’s around. They’re sort of “2001 space oddysey” looking if you ask me. But are they reliable?
I have a 2004 Mazda Tribute. At the time, it was a shared platform with the Ford Escape, but they discontinued the Tribute and the Escape has gone through a major design change.
My Tribute has 206k miles on it, and although it’s showing its age, it still runs great. I do have to put about a thousand dollars of work into it every year (shocks, struts, tires, battery, etc. Especially the swaybar links, which seem to break every other year.), but that’s still a lot cheaper than buying a new car. I expect that it will last another 3-4 years. TBH, the body will probably give out before the motor.
Just my experience.
I recommend using CarGuru. Go less than 50k miles. I honestly think you should up the budget to 15k and just finance it, the difference is less than 100 per month. 30k to 60k miles is the sweet spot. I would also get cpo.
lol
I like Japanese cars, so maybe the 4 Runner or Highlander. You could get a 2008 4 Runner, 125K mi
Or this boss Highlander…hahahahah look at that brush guard … if you painted the actual car black, it might not look half bad https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=488640580&zip=90210&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D90210%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DmileageASC%26maxPrice%3D10000%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DHIGHLANDER%26makeCodeList%3DTOYOTA%26searchRadius%3D0&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&maxPrice=10000&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=HIGHLANDER&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=0 This one is high mi though, you could get under 100K miles for the highlander 
Acura MDX might be good too
2007
$9,995
Acura MDX w/ Sport & Entertainment Pkgs
Every little bit adds up. The difference in the monthly payment seems trivial, but I just cannot justify it. I can buy a $10K car and resell it in 6 years for $3K or I can buy a $15k car and sell it for $3k in 6 years. I’d rather not just dump money into a bad investment like this. I want a very lowwwww payment each month so I can focus on buying a house - which according to purealpha, may be a very bad investment right now.
That’s honestly an okay option. I can get out of that wearing a suit and still have a certain coolness factor. Luckily, I’m dating a gal who doesn’t really mind what car I drive… I think.
First car I bought in the US was an Acura Integra with over 100k miles. It was a good car. Hatchback was super useful.
Anyway, I think you just need to figure out what your requirements are in terms of car size and function. Then, you can just choose among the top two or three models in that category, with age and mileage subject to your budget.
Also, don’t listen to a word of Nery’s financial advice.
Yeah - I kind of like Hondas the best out of the Japanese cars (Honda Motors). My second car was a Honda stick shift back in the day (90s) and I used to have a 6spd Acura TSX about ten years ago. I never had any problems with them and the Acura was very comfortable and the Nav worked pretty well. That MDX actually looks like a good pick now that I think of your specifications. The Nav system is probably the same one I used in my '06 TSX. I’m fairly meticulous about things and it didn’t have too many flaws. At the time when I bought it, it was state of the art with the voice command stuff and bluetooth, etc. But, looking back that year was kind of the cusp of new technology in cars that is present today, so is a bit of a sweet spot if you can find a car in that year with 100K miles that is fully loaded. Because, the technology actually still works. The only thing I can think of with that Nav system is that you might have to buy a new DVD to put in the back from Acura for $500 or something. Or you could use 2007 maps, which might work most of the time. But also, I find the leather/interior of Acura to be of good quality and visually appealing without overdoing it with cheap add ons and for the most part keeping it simple/classy. I still want an NSX though. Those old ones were clean. New ones are pretty futuristic looking, but have good reviews.
I think that if you spent a little more on a quality car known for its longevity (Toyota, Honda, Nissan), then you wouldn’t have to sell it in 6 years. See my comment above about the car that I’ve owned for 14 years now, and it was a Ford product.
Who is going to use a car navigation system from 2006? Just stick your phone in front and use Google Maps like a normal person.
Anyway, older cars like that have some nice characteristics actually. Their sizes are more manageable, they have good visibility (lower crash safety regulations), and they have good steering feel (hydraulic steering vs. today’s electric systems). The tradeoff, of course, is worse safety, fuel economy, outright performance, and technology.
I looked at prices for some old Acura NSX lately. I guess they seem like nice cars, but not $80k to $100k kind of nice. They are more for collectors or fans at those levels.
Year 3 is the sweet spot from what I hear. You still have a warranty that will protect you if something major breaks.
https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/drive-a-nearly-new-car-for-almost-free.html
Not really sure what the average age car does. But the average age is 12 years old!
So like a 3 year old bmw? I could afford that… but should I afford that??