Cars

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I'm thinking of buying a new to me (i.e. used) car.

Some of my choices (in order from most expensive to least expensive):

* 2015 Ford Taurus Limited -- It's only one year old but has 30,000 miles. That's quit a bit above average driving for one year. The price is about 2/3 of what a new one would cost. I suspect that with that much milage in a year, it is mainly highway miles by someone who does a lot of driving. That could be a good sign. On the other hand, it could be hard miles.

* 2010 Cadillac STS -- It is very clean and only has about 40,000 miles.

* 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring -- approximately 45,000 miles. Looks nice.

* 2011 Ford Taurus SEL -- This one has about 40,000 miles, too.

I'm really leaning toward the Cadillac, but the nearest two Cadillac dealers are 60 and 100 miles away. The only car dealer in my county is a Ford dealer and it is one block from my office. For that matter, I think that all the car dealers within 40 miles are Ford dealers.

By the way, all the cars I'm looking at are dealership trade-ins.

Any thoughts and suggestions?

For what it's worth, we just bought a 2004 Ford Explorer at work. It has 180,000 miles on it and we paid $3,500. I've known the seller for years. She asked me if I wanted it, but I figured that with 180,000 miles it was probably about ready to fall apart. If she had instead handed me the keys and suggested I drive it around for a week or two, I would have almost certainly bought it within the two weeks. I really like that vehicle.

I'm looking to get a 2012 Hyundai Sonata for my bday in July. It's a car that I've always found impressive what you get for the value in a 4 door mid sized sedan. I would never touch a Cadillac, too much electrical/technology crap that breaks and costs an arm an a leg to fix, plus they depreciate pretty quick. Don't know much about the other two cars you listed.

I think about any modern car has too much crap that breaks and is costly to fix.

If I had the time, I'd fix up my '64 International C-900 pickup instead.

If I lived near a dealer, I would seriously consider a new Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

Rent a car to drive to a dealer then rather than just getting stuck with what the used car dealer down the street has.

I'm not selling my current car. I'll probably still drive it for many trips.

I have two primary motivations in buying a newer car:

1) I sometimes have to take my oldest brother and his wife to the doctor in the city. My car is not very comfortable for more than two people. Their car is pretty old and becoming less dependable.

2) With the elimination of all but one individual PPO plan in Texas and I live far from the area where that one PPO plan operates, I'm now on an HMO. Thanks a lot Obama. For many kinds of specialist, I pretty much have to travel 200 to 400 miles each way. For that I need something more dependable and more comfortable. For example, the nearest dermatologist is 70 miles from home while the nearest dermatologist on the plan is more than 200 miles. Thanks a heap for such crappy medical care Obama.

There's another somewhat lesser motivation as well: as I get older, it gets more and more difficult to get in and out of my current car. I'm hoping I can find a bigger car that I can get in and out of more easily.

Anyway, I'll drive to check out the car. If I decide I want it, I'll find someone to give me a ride to buy it.

Or walk. The dealer that has the Cadillac for sale is only a block from my office.

By the way, do car dealerships do much work on other brands of cars?

By the way, on the subject of dependability, Buick is generally considered to be the most dependable brand of car. We used to have a Buick dealer 20 miles from home and another 35 miles from home. Neither are still there. I've had Buicks before and I liked them as much as any car and more than most.

I'm not sure about the dealership 20 miles away but the one 35 miles away closed because they were required to make upgrades to their dealership that they could not afford to make. Now the nearest Buick dealership is 40 miles away, but they hardly do any business in Buicks. The next two closest Buick dealerships are quite a bit more distant.

So I'll probably buy a used Ford Taurus.

For what it's worth, if I was wealthy I'd probably buy a Lexus 460 (base price about $75,000) even though the nearest dealership for that is around 300 to 400 miles away.

Another possibility is a 2013 Ford Explorer. I don't know what they are asking for it, but it only has 19,610 miles on it. I'll probably be near that dealer this afternoon and may stop and take a look at it.

Do cars in your country come with new car warranties? Ie. 3 years warranty from new for example. If so all but the first car you mentioned won't be covered anymore most likely. So it won't matter if the dealer is 5 miles away or 100 miles away. I wouldn't take it to them for servicing and repairs because you'd be able to get things done cheaper at an independent mechanic.

Yeah, new cars have warranties and the balance of those warranties often goes to new owners. So that first car would have all but the first year of warranty.

The main reason for preferring a dealership nearby is so they can get the right parts quickly and maybe even have them in stock.

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By the way, I found a 2012 Lexus ES 350 for slightly less than the first car on that list. Lexus is generally regarded to produce the most dependable cars. Even their worst cars are well above average. This Lexus has approximately 40,000 miles on it.

There's one obvious problem from the pictures -- it is so nice and plush that I'd feel like I should take my shoes off before getting in it.

Lexus was on my shortlist a while ago too. I was looking for a 2013-2014 IS350. It's a decent car but it didn't feel like THE car, plus my parents would have bawked at the "posh" badge. I think I just liked it because it seemed punchier than other V6 sedans you can get here and of course due to its reliability. Lexus's also hold their resale rather well.

I tend to be happy with whatever I have, whether it's a very nice car or a fifty year old farm truck.

The ES 250 is described in one review as:
and

Honestly, I'd go for the Explorer since you like it.

My brother has an 03' V8 (not sure which your you are referring to is), and it has 360,000 miles on it. Rear end, head gaskets and intake gaskets are all it's ever needed and he is not nice at all to it.

I personally hate seeing anything over a few thousand dollars on cars spent because of how fast everything depreciates these days. That's why I have a Honda scooter.

From your list, the Lexus is the best option. Lexus is made by Toyota, making it very reliable. My uncle is a mechanic and he swears by them as well as Honda and Nissan. Fords tend to be more problematic and they've had a lot of recalls lately. Chrysler is made by Dodge, and they have a similar reputation to Fords. I used to work for a major rental car company and I had to drive all of these vehicles around the state. In this position I started to notice patterns about which cars functioned the best, and felt the safest to drive.

For just a bit more than the price of the Lexus, I can buy a new Toyota Camry.

By the way, I was checking the inventory on-line of one dealer. They have a 1999 Lexus LS with over 400,000 miles on it. That's pretty impressive.

That sounds good. The luxury brands (Lexus, Chrysler, Audi, etc) typically cost more to repair, so a Camry would be a good alternative.