Hammer Time: Look Out! Here Comes a Spider Pig…
This year is going to be a devastatingly bad one for car valuations. If you’re a keeper, this is great news. New and near-new cars are going to continue with their proverbial freefall. You will more than likely be able to get a good vehicle with 80 percent of its useful life for 40 percent of the price (two to four year old vehicle). The frugalists amongst the keeper crowd will likely do even better than that. A well-engineered seven- to nine-year-old vehicle may truly be the best sweet spot in the market right now. With some diligence, you can find a conservatively driven car with 50 percent of its life (90k to 120k miles) for a mere 20 percent of its new car price. But what will be the absolute best deals? Read on . . .
The unloved leftover rules! I always encourage folks to buy a car during its last year of the model run or get the unpopular but well-made car that’s going to be discontinued. Either one will be a strong overall value. Some like to say that brands that are on the ropes and periphery (e.g., Saturn, Suzuki, Hummer, Mitsubishi) deserve special consideration. I disagree. At least for the enthusiast, the quality of the design and culture of the company that made the car will be there long after the brand is defunct. “Cheap” is expensive and sometimes discounts are there for a good reason . . . but sometimes you can have them for the taking.
So what’s on my “best” list for new cars? Glad you didn’t ask. But, OK. Here are a few:
- Entry Level: Nissan Versa; Mitsubishi Lancer
- Compact Funster: Suzuki SX4
- Midsize Family Car: Kia Optima (4-cylinder); Saturn Aura; Ford Fusion; Chevy Malibu
- Full-Size Novocaine: Ford Taurus / Mercury Sable; leftover Azeras.
- Sub-$30K Convertibles: Chrysler Sebring Convertible (sorry, that’s $13K); Mazda MX-5
- Conventional Sports Sedan and/or Coupe: Nissan Altima
- Schizoid Sports Sedan: Lexus IS-F
- Minivan Mommies: Hyundai Entourage
- Breadbox Design Inc.: Honda Element; Ford Flex
- Truck: Perhaps a Dodge Ram 30 days from now. Otherwise a Toyota Tacoma.
Which car would I be willing to keep for the next 15 years?
2007 Volvo V70R
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I love how people actually believe that "Certified" actually means something. "Certified" by who? It's not like there's some kind of agency going around to dealers saying, "This one's good, sell it!" The 2007 Element has an average mark in CR for brakes, usually reliable cars will have better or much better than average. The Element has had problems with the windshields cracking. Rastus- most have gone to chains. There was a time when belts were preferred for less noise, more compact packaging and simpler oiling (no oil bath required for the chain) The development of quieter single row chains has helped with the noise and packaging issues. The Taurus/Sable has a ton more room than the Crown Vic/G.Marquis.
davey49 The Element that I have to deal with has gone through 3 sets of pads and rotors in the past 6 months...and about half that cost has been eaten by the Honda dealer. They've admitted that they have other customers with the same problem, which was confirmed by a local mail-woman who had to get rid of hers for the same reason. Apparently any exposure to dust or dirt pretty much guarantees shot rotors (this is Honda's explanation) and they recommend that a) the car never be driven on dirt roads, and b) the car be brought in no less than every 10k miles to have the brakes checked. Obviously both of these solutions are unnacceptable. The Element is never hooned or driven aggresively and otherwise it's been problem free (with about 56k miles on it right now). Honda has not made any changes to the car, and as far as the owner has heard, has no plans to do so, even though the dealer service dept. admits there's a design problem.