Monday, September 21, 2015

A Car For Peter

One of my many useless talents is to help folks research buying a used car. Here's a recent example.

Specifications
  1. Budget = $15,000; prices are based on Kelly Blue Book private party values, in good condition and ignoring options, what is available in your neighborhood may or may not match these values, but this is a good guide and a great place to start your search
  2. Model year 2011 or newer; some of the cars listed below will only meet your specs if you look at that particular year or luck into a great deal (they’re out there!) but many can be had within your budget in a newer model year 
  3. 20K to 30K miles optimal, 50K max
  4. Fun to drive; I can’t tell you what you think is fun and what is not but I’ve focused on cars that I thought were fun to drive, for various reasons
  5. Around 30 mpg highway; some cars will be a little less, some significantly better
  6. Reliable long-term and relatively inexpensive to maintain; all cars are a gamble and you may get a lemon but with the proper care, you can hedge your bets and minimize your exposure to high-maintenance cost vehicles
  7. No German cars
  8. Most of these vehicles will have an automatic (preferred), a few may only have a manual (would consider)
My Top Picks

Acura TSX; 6.0 0-60
Buick Regal CXL Turbo; 7.5 0-60
Chevrolet Camaro; 5.9 0-60
Honda Accord Coupe; 6.6 0-60
Hyundai Genesis Coupe; 7.0 0-60
Mazda3 s; 7.4 0-60
Mazda6; 8.2 0-60
Volvo C30; 6.9 0-60

The Rest of the List

Acura TL
Cadillac CTS
Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet HHR
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet Sonic
Chevrolet Spark
Chevrolet Volt
Dodge Caliber
Dodge Dart
Ford Fiesta
Ford Focus
Ford Fusion
Ford Mustang
Honda Civic
Honda CR-V
Honda CR-Z
Honda Fit
Hyundai Azera
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Forte Coupe
Kia Optima
Kia Soul
Lexus CT200h
Lincoln MKS
Lincoln MKZ
Mazdaspeed3
Mercury Milan
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Mitsubishi Lancer
Nissan Altima Coupe 3.5
Nissan JUKE
Nissan LEAF
Nissan Maxima
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
Nissan Rogue (26 mpg hwy)
Scion tC
Scion xB
Scion xD
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Forester (27 mpg hwy)
Subaru Legacy
Suzuki Kizashi
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Matrix
Volvo S40
Volvo V50
Posted by K2

2 comments:

  1. NessaSeptember 23, 2015 at 8:38 PM

    Fantastic job, as usual, K2. I don't know how you do it. It's too bad people don't pay you for this service because it's invaluable and saves them thousands of dollars on some extremely good cars.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 23, 2015 at 9:21 PM

    Thanks, Nessa! I try.

    ReplyDelete

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