I’m looking for a used car for one of my kids. My gut tells me just get a Corolla, Camry, Civic, or Accord and call it a day. My budget is about $9-10K, or less if I catch a great bargain. How do you view Consumer Reports, for both New & Used cars? Sometimes I think they’re spot on, other times I think they can’t be more wrong. Thoughts from the beeb? Should I trust CR with my hard earned dosh?
CR is not a bad resource, but you can get decent used car reviews from other sources as well. Check several. KBB is one. Unless they have been beat to crap, your cant go wrong with Honda or Toyota.
Here is a really good free resource. Hopefully you find it helpful. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/used?src=mainnavcarrankings
For that kind of money you may be able to get a 2013 or newer used Ford Fusion in good shape and relatively low miles. I had a friend, yes he's a Ford guy, talk me into looking at one when I was shopping in 2013....I took a test drive and decided to give it a chance. I got a Hybrid because I wanted to give that a try too, but without he indignity of owning a Prius. Almost 8 years later, over 185,000 miles, it's still running strong and I'm getting 45mpg. It's my daily driver, back and forth to work jalopy now. If it gets a scratch, I no longer care, as long as it runs and gets me from A to B. If Ford wasn't ceasing production, I'd definitely replace it with another. I cannot see their resale value being awesome since their a discontinued model. I got a 2020 Highlander Hybrid instead as the heir apparent. I drive it when I have my son now. It's rated at 35mpg....and I'm getting 35mpg...WAY happy with this car so far. But it's only been like 2 months. Hopefully it lasts at least until he graduates.
CR is good, they're one of the few independents left that buy their own cars and survey owners directly to get feedback. That makes them good when there's nothing but noise/hype out there, but for a used car in that range though, you're probably looking at 4-5 years old (?) and there's probably plenty of data points out there already.
I did this in 2017... prices were absurd for cars with 6 digit mileage with T or H as the brand. I ended up buying a new hyundai for $15k and stopped playing "whats effed up on this $10,000 used ride" Took about 30 mins to do the deal. My kid has a worry free ride.
At a 9-10K budget I would "try" to stretch it and just buy something like a new Hyundai or Kia...leaning towards the H for the 10yr/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. I was surprised when my ex-gfs daughter Kia was "using too much oil" between changes and they made note and had her return at either 1K or 1500 miles and checked...it was low and they ordered a new engine under warranty. Korea wants to be the next Toyota/Honda to the US car market...badly.
...back to CR opinions. I'm really not sure with their ratings and I disagree with several of their ratings with my money on the line for longevity and expected ownership length.
If they could muzzle their wacko ideals and get back to just reviewing products I would have a lot more respect for them. Auto wise though they seem to be pretty good. Per the green = good ratings systems the only real choice is a Toyota. Every time I've strayed from the recomended good rated cars I've had to do a lot of work to them for the items that are noted in the less than ideal categories. The only car that I've saw them rate highly that was a POS was the first gen Porsche boxster. I can understand why though, the engines started D chunking cylinders at around 80-100K miles and as a low usage vehicle they reviews they were getting were good... until they blew up.
I’m not sure, but I think Honda uses a chain on their 4 cylinders. My CRV (4 cyl) had a timing chain, while my Pilot (V6) has a timing belt. You’re right; it’s not cheap to change those timing belts.
My Dad always drove a Crown Vic or Grand Marquee. He got loads of miles out of them. At the time, I think that was one of the few domestics they rated highly.
I had a 2010 Hyundai Tucson that was a decent car until it was totaled. It held its value well, too, when it came time to settle with the insurance vultures.
Order your priorities.....Mileage? Safety? cost? reliability? You get different answers depending on what is most important to you and your kid. At 10 grand you can't have everything.
You might also look at forums for whatever model you're looking at, though most people will only post problems they've experienced, not that that's a bad thing.
I used CR to help understand the dealer profit structure on a new car - not sure if they have it today, but you used to be able to get information regarding dealer rebates, incentives AND holdbacks to help you negotiate your best price on a given model
I'm a member, and their 'negotiating' info. and suggestions are nothing like they used to be. When you start looking for particulars on a model, and put your zip code in, you'll get linked to nearby new car dealers. I was very disappointed, after using them successfully in 2012.