Best and Worst vehicles under $6K

[Groves]

What are the darlings of the sub-$6,000 car market? What are the tempting stinkers?

My household knows that when I need knowledge & wisdom, with a side-salad of snark & buffoonery, I seek if from you all.

"I'll ask Chiefs Planet"

Child No. 3 had a 2005 Prius just go belly up. Main battery, we'll probably pay to find the bad cells to make it more sellable. So now they're in the market for a vehicle.

I used to be current in my "No subarus after 200k" and "No Buick Encores with the Ecotech" and "No Jeeps ever" type of 'wisdom', but I'm out of date. I know it's always a tradeoff between condition and miles and reliability.

I need your help.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by KCJake

Mercury Grand Marquis. Somebody mentioned it earlier. I've been in the car business for about 15 years now. If I had a $5,000 budget, that's what I'd buy. You can find them with fairly low miles, old man selling it because he can't drive anymore. Super reliable. Comfortable. Maintenace is fairly cheap

Crown Vic is basically the same vehicle.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by wazu

Unfortunately this is what we've found. It's brutal trying to get a car for a teenager these days. I don't have much advise other than to suggest you add Nissan Altimas to your list of cars to stay away from.

Disagree completely. Those cars go for ever.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by booger

She may look at the Pacifica 2017 and newer but likes those years for town and country. Just glancing at some Pacificas and seeing the goofy ass dial knob gear shifter which seems odd to me

If you’re going to go with a minivan that they market as an “SUV”, my opinion is go with the minivan. They’re both the same shitty car, but the minivan has a lot more functionality.

If that matters not, look at a traverse/acadia/enclave. Wife had one for 5 years and I don’t think I even put a battery in the thing. She really liked the Yukon, so it went away, but those older ones have to be cost effective if you can find a low mileage one.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

If you’re going to go with a minivan that they market as an “SUV”, my opinion is go with the minivan. They’re both the same shitty car, but the minivan has a lot more functionality.

If that matters not, look at a traverse/acadia/enclave. Wife had one for 5 years and I don’t think I even put a battery in the thing. She really liked the Yukon, so it went away, but those older ones have to be cost effective if you can find a low mileage one.

Chrysler did a whole ****ery of their minivans in 2017.

The Pacifica you're thinking was only produced for 5 years and that ended in '08.

With minivan sales down, Chrysler scaled down the offerings of minivans and eventually eliminated the Dodge Grand Caravan in 2020 (It was supposed to happen in 2017). They rebranded the Chrysler Town & Country as the Pacifica in 2017. Then in 2021 they rebranded the L and LX trims of the Pacifica lineup as the Chrysler Voyager. They did some fleet-only shit with that for a bit but it's now back as an option.

It got really confusing for nothing, but the end result was a 15k more expensive minivan. My work maintains a fleet of about 60 of them, and we've been considering going to Kia's and/or substituting some in certain areas with sedans or small or mid-sized SUVs to help lower the costs.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Disagree completely. Those cars go for ever.

The transmissions are junk.

I drove a Cobalt years back. It was a two door version. No frills, but overall a decent car for cheap. No major mechanical issues in the 7 years of so my wife and I drove it. Maybe something along these lines?

2008 Cobalt, 4 dr, 87k

This is what the 6k market looks like now I guess

https://metromotorskc.com/vdp/220274...e&gad_source=1

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Chrysler did a whole ****ery of their minivans in 2017.

The Pacifica you're thinking was only produced for 5 years and that ended in '08.

With minivan sales down, Chrysler scaled down the offerings of minivans and eventually eliminated the Dodge Grand Caravan in 2020 (It was supposed to happen in 2017). They rebranded the Chrysler Town & Country as the Pacifica in 2017. Then in 2021 they rebranded the L and LX trims of the Pacifica lineup as the Chrysler Voyager. They did some fleet-only shit with that for a bit but it's now back as an option.

It got really confusing for nothing, but the end result was a 15k more expensive minivan. My work maintains a fleet of about 60 of them, and we've been considering going to Kia's and/or substituting some in certain areas with sedans or small or mid-sized SUVs to help lower the costs.

Holy balls.

[kepp]

Toyota Corolla would be top of the list if you can find one. My daughter has a Subaru Impreza and it's been good. Don't buy a pre-2014 Subaru though...oil leak issues.

Additionally, there are small/private sellers that specialize in fixing/reselling the Prius. I'd bet you could find one that would take yours as trade-in if it just needs new main battery.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by kepp

Toyota Corolla would be top of the list if you can find one. My daughter has a Subaru Impreza and it's been good. Don't buy a pre-2014 Subaru though...oil leak issues.

Additionally, there are small/private sellers that specialize in fixing/reselling the Prius. I'd bet you could find one that would take yours as trade-in if it just needs new main battery.

I had a 2005 Corolla. Great car, put 175K on it in 3 years and then got transferred to work-at-home and never really drove it again. My neighbor did some work to it and drove it for a while. No idea how long it would have lasted because he totaled it a few months after I gave it to him.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Of course insurance covers damage from a deer. It was just to illustrate how much parts cost.

I'd rather have a $400 a month car payment than get hit with a $20K bill. That's the equivalent of insurance for things that aren't covered by insurance.

On my Corolla, the window seals stretched and no longer sealed. Warranty covered it. Without the warranty? $2400. For window seals.

That's a simple fix. My daughter and I fixed her Corolla's weather stripping for $6.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I had a 2005 Corolla. Great car, put 175K on it in 3 years and then got transferred to work-at-home and never really drove it again. My neighbor did some work to it and drove it for a while. No idea how long it would have lasted because he totaled it a few months after I gave it to him.

Yep...my daughter's was a 2006 and she took it to ~210k without any issues. We ended up getting her a safer car, but it was a shame to get rid of the Corolla.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by kepp

That's a simple fix. My daughter and I fixed her Corolla's weather stripping for $6.

[Pablo]

Stay far away from "Good Deals" on Used 2012-2019(doubt you'll see anything other than 2012 or 2013s in that price range) Hyundai Sante Fe and Sante Fe Sports and I think some Kias with the 2.0 Turbo engine in them. It's a Theta II engine if you want to go down the rabbit hole. Those things burn oil and eventually fail at an alarming rate.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Stay far away from "Good Deals" on Used 2012-2019(doubt you'll see anything other than 2012 or 2013s in that price range) Hyundai Sante Fe and Sante Fe Sports and I think some Kias with the 2.0 Turbo engine in them. It's a Theta II engine if you want to go down the rabbit hole. Those things burn oil and eventually fail at an alarming rate.

My wife had a Hyundai Santa Fe that ended up being a POS....and it was all about burning oil once it got above 75k miles. You couldn't give me anything Hyundai or KIA...

[TinyEvel]

I have a theory that every person had a friend in high school who drove a "dead grandpa's car"

Their grandpa (or grandma) died and they got that car as their first car. Usually an American sedan with low miles or smelled of cigarettes or the headliner was sagging.

My friend Greg Danko in eleventh grade got his dead grandpa's Ford LTD from the mid-1970's (this was in 1987) and the car was a bit sun-beaten and felt like a clunker - moved all slow and floaty. It had a HUGE dashboard and Greg cut a hole where the glove box was, and duct-taped a boom box in there. He was showing it off to us, said, "pretty sweet, huh?"
I said "how are you going to change the batteries?"
And he looked at me like this was the first time this came to his attention.
He just replied "F-- you!"

[booger]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

If you’re going to go with a minivan that they market as an “SUV”, my opinion is go with the minivan. They’re both the same shitty car, but the minivan has a lot more functionality.

If that matters not, look at a traverse/acadia/enclave. Wife had one for 5 years and I don’t think I even put a battery in the thing. She really liked the Yukon, so it went away, but those older ones have to be cost effective if you can find a low mileage one.

yeah I agree. The crossover and mid size SUV is based off of a minivan platform anyway with FWD standard/base and the AWD/4x4 is based off FWD configuration with a transfer case etc. So no matter how they desribe it its an a V6 sitting in there sideways in a FWD platform. Whereas my Envoy sits on a half ton pickup frame and its base is a RWD platform but with the 4x4 and extra weight and moving parts which equals probably 2 plus MPG loss.

In the case of an AWD or 4x4 in the FWD platform you just can't expect much extra in those vehicles in regards to four wheel drive. If you want extra performance there you should go with a truck or full size SUV. I really like the Tahoe and Yukon, especially the new look of 2015 when they switched to a square body style like Ford Trucks. Those and the Suburbans are all really good looking vehicles but like a half ton truck the MPG is in the high teens.

If I she likes the traverse or Acadia or enclave I will probably tell her don't be upset if you find one with FWD only and not 4x4. Those set ups will probably perform comparably to a Chrysler minivan as far as MPG. I think the actual vans actually have a bit more horsepower but the gm mid size suv/crossover is a much better vehicle to look at. And a Toyota Sienna minivan probably makes the most sense for her. But any breakdowns are going to be more costly at the dealer because the good honest mechanic she uses doesn't work on foreign vehicles. He's never had the customer base with those vehicles so it never made sense for him to grow his business to work on them.