Help Me Choose a Car!

[EweSheep]

My uncle who is a mechanic said that the Ford Escape, any Honda and Toyota rated the best in "less repairs" sections. The most repairs are the Chevys, Audi, Dodge (certain models) and VW are the worst ones when it comes to anything that is problematic and persisent repairs needed to be done on the cars.

Stay away from electric cars. Too expensive for replacement parts and the batteries are very very expensive. Wait ten years before they can work the bugs out of it. Not good for long distance travels or hilly countrysides with steep inclines. They are only good for city driving.

 

[Cold Canadian]

Stick with a American made car if you can , the imports are not worth the money that you spend on them .I wouldn't park a Ford or Dodge on my yard , you couldn't give one to me .I'm a 100% GM and you should look at the Impala ! They are a great car , not trouble as someone mentioned that GMC's are ,although when a new modle is introduced it's better to wait a few years for them to get all the bugs out as it were , they give a great ride , they are a medium sized car so safety is far better then one of those small puddle jumpers ! And what most people don't know is that they will get better milage the nost of the small cars .38 -43 miles per gallon !! I have friends who have gotten as good as 45 on trips .The greater risk is buying a car that someone else has mistreated ! most people buy new and as soon as they start having to do repairs for what ever reasons they will trade off or sell .............and that is why most times you buy used you have to do all the repairs that the last owner didn't want to do , pays to have a "" good "" mechanic check it out thoroughly , it's worth the few bucks that it costs in the long run ..........my thoughts .

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

That's interesting, Canadian. I have had the exact opposite experience. All of the US brands we have owned have had all sorts of issues and haven't lasted that long, while the Toyotas/ Hondas/ Nissans have worked fabulously well. I drove a little Nissan Sentra to about 200,000 miles before I traded it in. The Toyota Corolla we sold at around 200,000 miles and last I heard it was still going strong. Had an uncle drive a little Toyota pickup for over 300,000. They were all well worth the money. Plus, Toyotas and Hondas have much better trade in values if you plan on ever trading it in.
The Ford and GM trucks seem to be better than the cars. The cars we have had seemed to need a lot of maintenance work. Dunno.

I have bought used cars and bought new. If you plan on driving a car 10-20 years (pretty much driving it into the ground), it makes sense to start with a new car under warranty that you know has never been abused. If you plan on trading it in every three years than stick with used. There is a lot of extra cost at the beginning for a brand new car.

 

[Cold Canadian]

I guess I'm just stuck on American cars , every Chev that I have ever owned were as good as trouble free ? Fords ? well they seem to have a higher repair rate ? Around here the insurance on a Import even though they are being built in North America is way higher then the American cars ? Plus the repairs are as good as double if not more .We also spread a lot of salt on the roads in teh winter to combat the ice and as such the imports rust away in front of your eyes far faster then the American cars and trucks .For me it's American made ? I guess we all have our favorites based on what our needs are .

 

[LittleChickenLady]

A lot of people I know that get American vehicles have bad luck with them.. I personally will never buy one. If I ever get a different car I'll be getting either a Hyundai, a Honda, or a Volkswagen, but that's just me.

 

[OldGuy43]

On this subject I have only one piece of advice. "Parts left out cost nothing and cause no maintenance problems." In other words don't buy anything with all the bells & whistles. The more complicated it is the more it is likely to break down, and the more costly to repair.

Example:
Replacing the starter on a certain model of 2 wheel drive pickup; labor cost = 0.9 hours. Same make and model, but 4 wheel drive, 3.7 hours in labor charges. Same starter but...