Here's Why Buying a Used Car is So Expensive in the United States

[mmpsteve]

Not going to lie of they still made the crosstour when I bought my Accord that would have been what I purchased. But wanting a new car with a warranty was my primary concern going from my old beat to hell College days 2000 Chevy Cavalier with 180,000 on it to the Accord was a huge jump for me

We had good luck with a couple of Accords, but recently switched to the Subaru Forester for the AWD and roomy interior. We haul a lot of paper and such in the print biz. It's got all the bells and whistles (more than I like) for about the same price as a nice Accord. I hope it lasts as long as our Accords did.

We did get great trade-in value for our Accord.

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[BugI02]

We had good luck with a couple of Accords, but recently switched to the Subaru Forester for the AWD and roomy interior. We haul a lot of paper and such in the print biz. It's got all the bells and whistles (more than I like) for about the same price as a nice Accord. I hope it lasts as long as our Accords did.

We did get great trade-in value for our Accord.

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Steve, we've been driving Subarus at my house since '96 (wife) and '02 (me). I had 14 years on my '02 when we traded it in on the wife's 2016

The engines are pretty bullet-proof with one caveat, they are very unforgiving of being at all low on oil. I keep mine slightly overfull, the stick has markings for L(ow) and F(ull) as well as a notch above full. I like to keep mine on the notch when checked cold. the stick is deceiving because it enters the reservoir at an angle so a fairly large linear change in oil reading isn't as much oil as it it appears. On the notch on cold is 6 to 8 ozs over and I check it when ever I gas up either one (my wife is happy to let me have both chores) and add a little if it is notch or below when hot. Don't be in a hurry to check it either, being a flat four it takes a little longer for the oil to fully return to the sump under just gravity (10 minutes is perfect, so I do the windows and check the oil last). My 2011 is a high performance engine driven hard, and I put a quart of oil in over the course of 4000 - 4500 miles. The wife's 2016 so far has not needed any oil added in the change interval (we go 6000 miles between changes on both, both are on full synthetic). The WRX doesn't use oil so much as it volatizes it and PCV pulls off a little at a time each run cycle in city driving, on a 7hr run to NW Michigan it doesn't use any at all

Personally, based on research at NASIOC and Bob's The Oil Guy, I like the Subaru branded oil which is actually an Idemitsu product with good stats. it's a good idea to stick with OEM oil filters, too

Most of the other systems are designed to last 10 yrs (its a company design philosophy). The only thing I've put in the 2011 besides brake pads are headlight bulbs and front turn signal bulbs (I change them in pairs)

I even got more than ten years out of the clutch in my '02

 

[mmpsteve]

Steve, we've been driving Subarus at my house since '96 (wife) and '02 (me). I had 14 years on my '02 when we traded it in on the wife's 2016

The engines are pretty bullet-proof with one caveat, they are very unforgiving of being at all low on oil. I keep mine slightly overfull, the stick has markings for L(ow) and F(ull) as well as a notch above full. I like to keep mine on the notch when checked cold. the stick is deceiving because it enters the reservoir at an angle so a fairly large linear change in oil reading isn't as much oil as it it appears. On the notch on cold is 6 to 8 ozs over and I check it when ever I gas up either one (my wife is happy to let me have both chores) and add a little if it is notch or below when hot. Don't be in a hurry to check it either, being a flat four it takes a little longer for the oil to fully return to the sump under just gravity (10 minutes is perfect, so I do the windows and check the oil last). My 2011 is a high performance engine driven hard, and I put a quart of oil in over the course of 4000 - 4500 miles. The wife's 2016 so far has not needed any oil added in the change interval (we go 6000 miles between changes on both, both are on full synthetic). The WRX doesn't use oil so much as it volatizes it and PCV pulls off a little at a time each run cycle in city driving, on a 7hr run to NW Michigan it doesn't use any at all

Personally, based on research at NASIOC and Bob's The Oil Guy, I like the Subaru branded oil which is actually an Idemitsu product with good stats. it's a good idea to stick with OEM oil filters, too

Most of the other systems are designed to last 10 yrs (its a company design philosophy). The only thing I've put in the 2011 besides brake pads are headlight bulbs and front turn signal bulbs (I change them in pairs)

I even got more than ten years out of the clutch in my '02

Thanks, Mr. B. The Forester is quite a value for the $$, in my opinion. Too much tech in it, but hard to avoid that nowadays. It even wants to steer for you, if you let it. Not my thing, but the wife's happy, so ....

I do wish they had kept the turbo model. Would have paid the xtra for it, but it still does pretty good on pickup, relatively. The new platform with the huge rear hatch is awesome. Fit a lot of mail in there already. Will make notes on your detailed post, and refer back, as time permits. Thanks again.

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[actaeon277]

My opinion also. A number of folks with kids I know have what we call a 'mommy tank'. The problem I see is development of a more careless and cavalier driving attitude, kind of 'We'll survive any accident I cause'

They would make good bug-out vehicles, though

Yes. It seems as ANY machinery/device gets smarter, the people operating it seem less so.

 

[indyjs]

Thanks for the info.

We have been looking. Would like something easier to get in/out of. Like the look of the Accord. Don't know what Toyota is thinking with the front of the Camry

 

[Ruffnek]

Sports cars and motorcycles, previous owners matter quite a bit to me.

Add diesel pickups to your list, thanks to my generation. The funny thing is that I wanted a diesel when I first got my license just to be different, by the time I graduated, all the rich kids had them and I couldn't afford one due to their new-found popularity.