New or Used: The Spoiled And The Budget Minded Edition

Jay writes:

I’m spoiled.

I’ve been blessed to drive three BMW 3-Series over the past several years (BMW employee leases). I’ve been spoiled by their comfort, performance, and quality. Now I’m out of the car industry and my lease is going up. I’m looking to buy a car for $17K or less and build up my investment portfolio. I plan on driving the wheels off this car, so I would like to like it at least a little.

Needs: I drive a lot for work. It’s important to me to be comfortable on a 3 hour drive. At the same time I don’t want to feel like I’m driving on top of a beach ball (ex. Toyota Camry, Avalon). Reliability, driving comfort, and minimal road noise are paramount. Safety is a no brainer. Don’t feel like being the recipient of a plastic hip because I wanted to save a couple grand.

I’ve looked at everything under the sun: Accords to Xterras, Acuras to Volkswagens. Jetta TDI’s were a strong front runner, but I have a hard time feeling good about them knowing they have less than stellar reliability according to TrueDelta.

Accords are reliable but have carried the reputation of having excessive road noise and questionable long trip comfort. Xterras looked to be a winner till I calculated the gas bill ($300/month). Acura TSX and TL’s are looking strong right now but really peak out the ol’ budget. In addition, my car biz friends, as well as TTAC’s recent post indicate that current prices are greatly inflated, and its worth waiting a month or two.

I’m a little overwhelmed. What are your thoughts? I’m going to go take an aspirin.

Thanks for your help.

Steve replies:

I think you have an incurable case of automotive optimism. $17k for a new TDI? Perhaps if the Euro becomes the next Russian Ruble you may have a shot at it. But for now… No! Nein! Nyet! VW’s shareholders would March eastward to Warsaw and try to make it 3 out of 5 before that ever happens.

There is a ridiculous assortment of new vehicles out there for $17k. Most aren’t nearly as good a deal as a one year old version of the same exact vehicle with less than 10,000 miles. But you want ‘new’ so I won’t argue.

Then again I can’t help you with the specifics either. You have to go out and find what’s best for you. I would encourage a vehicle at the tail end of it’s model run. These vehicles ‘tend’ to have better build quality and many of the TSB related issues of the early run vehicles are resolved.

They are also usually a bit more discounted in the marketplace than their flashy and fashionable alternatives. The Versa’s, tC’s, and Focii of 2010 are already heavy on the incentives.. and all can be had for $17k. I think each one is well suited to the types of folks that end up buying them. Would it make an aspiring Yuppie happy? Perhaps.

My top picks? For the near-new it’s hard to beat a well-made hybrid on the dollars and cents scale. But my math involves at least a 12 year / 150k ownership period, and I’m not even taking into account the ‘beater’ factor. For daily transportation with a wink to comfort anything short of an Aveo would do. The Mazda 6 may be a good alternative. The Hyundai Sonata may be a good alternative. The 43rd variation of the Subaru Impreza may even be slightly be better than the 67th version of the Toyota Corolla. In the end, so long as you avoid leasing you should be okay.

Sajeev replies:

Your choice of cars with that budget makes a used car the only way to go. That’s because 17-grand will get you a heavily incentivized stripper Camry, Sonata or Fusion, or a middle of the road Civic, Corolla, etc. Then again, you’d have a lot of fun with a brand new Ford Fiesta at that price ceiling. If that’s what you really want.

Otherwise, it’s time to look used. I’d stick with a cheap and cheerful mainstream product, but with all the toys: leather, chrome, V6, etc. Luckily for you, I can make this decision fairly easily, as I helped a “DINK” acquaintance of mine try out family sedans to replace an E39 BMW 540i. They loved the performance of the 2009+ Mazda6, far and away their favorite. And I’d expect the same from you.

In the end, I scored them a great deal on another 5-er, a CPO unit. That’s not in your future, so put a 2009 Mazda6 with leather and low miles on your short list.

Need help with a car buying conundrum? Email your particulars to mehta@ttac.com, and let TTAC’s collective wisdom make the decision easier… or possibly much, much harder.