4 ms·

I drive an old, small car. I'm about to get in the market for a new car once this one bites the dust. In 12 years, I've put more than 2 people in my car exactly

by bane 11y ago

I drive an old, small car. I'm about to get in the market for a new car once this one bites the dust. In 12 years, I've put more than 2 people in my car exactly 3 times. I'm interested in reasonable price, fuel efficiency and most of all reliability. I admit I'm a little extreme in my car buying habits, but here's what I think whenever I buy cars: - Does this make model of car have extremely good reliability? I honestly can think of few things I hate more than servicing my car. I want it to be appliance-level reliable. My current car has been in the shop (outside of normal maintenance) maybe under 5 times...mostly as the vehicle has gotten old. How do I determine reliability? Years and years of compiled reliability surveys: Consumer Reports, True Delta, etc. I expect any car I buy to have been part of a legacy of at least 5 years of continuously high reliability. This immediately downselects and eliminates about 95% of the market. - If it breaks, how expensive is it to fix? To return to a reliable operating condition, I don't want to have to rebalance my entire finances. - What's the car cost to operate per mile? My current car runs around $.20-.25 per mile, fully burdened (repairs, tolls, etc.). I don't want to spend much more than that and this car could easily hit that mark if it's reliable and cheap to fix. - Is it safe? I want top safety ratings all around. Period. I'm not going to fool with that stuff. As it turns out, makers that make reliable cars tend to also make very safe cars. - Do I like how it looks/drives/etc? It may seem weird to lots of people that this is the last thing on my list. But I've already prevented any sort of decision paralysis by getting rid of 95+% of the market. At this point I'm down to just a handful of cars, and now I just pick the one I like. Now I know I'll at least not mind driving it, and it won't piss me off by being in the shop constantly. I don't really care much about the image I'm projecting, I'm not trying to fit into some kind of clique or club or express myself. I just want to get to work as cheaply as possible and with a minimum of hassle. I'll enjoy the clique I'm in when I retire with all the extra money I've saved not buying image cars. Can the Elio support this? Maybe and it looks promising. I'd buy it if it met all the criteria. The price looks awesome. But I'm going to have to be patient for 4 or 5 years of general availability to see.

maaaats 11y ago
Could an electric bicycle be something? For commutes etc. it's cheap, single person, faster than standing still in traffic, can be exercise (or not). How safe depends on where you live.
- bane 11y ago
  If I lived in a different area, it would absolutely be something I'd consider.
prostoalex 11y ago
While you fall squarely into Consumer Reports crowd (such a category exists, according to the dealer I bought a Consumer Reports top pick from), a good portion of auto industry markets to early adopters. Saturn, Scion, Tesla (with Roadster model) and even Fisker did not have much of a sales problem at their respective early stages.
- bane 11y ago
  Lots of people, probably most of the industry, buys really exceptionally shitty cars - corinthian leather is not even a real thing, but it moved millions of haphazardly bolted together death traps for years and similar garbage-on-wheels still sells tens of thousands of units per year. There's also quite a few small automotive companies around that haven't successfully made the transition from specialty maker to mainstream success. This goes back to the early days of the industry and carries on through today, from Tucker to the Rally Fighter. I like to think I still represent a big part of the industry, after all somebody is buying those Consumer Reports used car guides.
ams6110 11y ago
You will do MUCH better spending the $6,800 on a well-maintained secondhand real car.
- kevinpet 11y ago
  You can't get a decent low mileage car for $6800. You also cannot reliably identify a well-maintained car. You can get an Accord or Camry with 150k miles or a Scion with a bit under 100k. I bought my car for less than $5k, but I don't drive much and don't need to worry about occasional $1000 on repairs. For someone who needs reliability, buying a new, but extremely minimal $7000 car may be ideal. If you want something you don't need to set aside money for repair on, you'll need to spend $10k+.
  - rocky1138 11y ago
    Do what I did: buy a motorcycle. I bought a Kymco Quannon new for $1600 plus taxes. It's 150cc, will do highway speeds, and looks great. It costs about $11 to fill the tank and that lasts a few hundred km.

by bane 11y ago

maaaats 11y ago

Could an electric bicycle be something? For commutes etc. it's cheap, single person, faster than standing still in traffic, can be exercise (or not). How safe depends on where you live.

bane 11y ago
If I lived in a different area, it would absolutely be something I'd consider.

prostoalex 11y ago

While you fall squarely into Consumer Reports crowd (such a category exists, according to the dealer I bought a Consumer Reports top pick from), a good portion of auto industry markets to early adopters. Saturn, Scion, Tesla (with Roadster model) and even Fisker did not have much of a sales problem at their respective early stages.

bane 11y ago
Lots of people, probably most of the industry, buys really exceptionally shitty cars - corinthian leather is not even a real thing, but it moved millions of haphazardly bolted together death traps for years and similar garbage-on-wheels still sells tens of thousands of units per year. There's also quite a few small automotive companies around that haven't successfully made the transition from specialty maker to mainstream success. This goes back to the early days of the industry and carries on through today, from Tucker to the Rally Fighter. I like to think I still represent a big part of the industry, after all somebody is buying those Consumer Reports used car guides.

ams6110 11y ago

You will do MUCH better spending the $6,800 on a well-maintained secondhand real car.

kevinpet 11y ago
You can't get a decent low mileage car for $6800. You also cannot reliably identify a well-maintained car. You can get an Accord or Camry with 150k miles or a Scion with a bit under 100k. I bought my car for less than $5k, but I don't drive much and don't need to worry about occasional $1000 on repairs. For someone who needs reliability, buying a new, but extremely minimal $7000 car may be ideal. If you want something you don't need to set aside money for repair on, you'll need to spend $10k+.
- rocky1138 11y ago
  Do what I did: buy a motorcycle. I bought a Kymco Quannon new for $1600 plus taxes. It's 150cc, will do highway speeds, and looks great. It costs about $11 to fill the tank and that lasts a few hundred km.