Hi Bogleheads,
Our oldest starts college next year, she has been driving my car when I'm not needing it, want to get a car for her to bring with her.
We could easily afford to buy her a new car, but I really prefer to get her a user vehicle, she probably won't drive more than 3k miles per year.
What I'm looking for:
- 3-5 years old, 60-80k miles
- 15-20k cost
- Small SUV/CUV, would consider larger sedan like Avalon too
- Good visibility
Nice to haves:
- Active safety features, in particular blind spot lane change sensors
I considered: Toyota RAV4, Avalon, CRV, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Rogue. Used Rav4s and CRV seem too expensive vs new, rogue feels like a good value but the CX-5 feels like a much better car for not much more and I like that CX-5 has simple drivetrain with no CVT or turbo.
Leaning towards CX-5 and I find many of these at Carmax and local dealers for 15-20k, Carvana a bit cheaper.
Wanted to get community thoughts on:
- Carmax warranty vs other options? Where to buy used for best warranty options: I don't have experience with car warranties as I've always bought used and rolled the dice without warranty, but for kid I don't want her to have to worry about the car if any issues come up and I won't be near by.
- Buying through Carvana seems cheapest but than I would need 3rd party warranty as I don't trust buying a warranty through Carvana, not sure how long they will be around.
- I'm paranoid about getting a car that had flood damage covered up from the recent hurricane as I live in South East
- Any other car options others could suggest?
Thank you for reading
Our oldest starts college next year, she has been driving my car when I'm not needing it, want to get a car for her to bring with her.
We could easily afford to buy her a new car, but I really prefer to get her a user vehicle, she probably won't drive more than 3k miles per year.
What I'm looking for:
- 3-5 years old, 60-80k miles
- 15-20k cost
- Small SUV/CUV, would consider larger sedan like Avalon too
- Good visibility
Nice to haves:
- Active safety features, in particular blind spot lane change sensors
I considered: Toyota RAV4, Avalon, CRV, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Rogue. Used Rav4s and CRV seem too expensive vs new, rogue feels like a good value but the CX-5 feels like a much better car for not much more and I like that CX-5 has simple drivetrain with no CVT or turbo.
Leaning towards CX-5 and I find many of these at Carmax and local dealers for 15-20k, Carvana a bit cheaper.
Wanted to get community thoughts on:
- Carmax warranty vs other options? Where to buy used for best warranty options: I don't have experience with car warranties as I've always bought used and rolled the dice without warranty, but for kid I don't want her to have to worry about the car if any issues come up and I won't be near by.
- Buying through Carvana seems cheapest but than I would need 3rd party warranty as I don't trust buying a warranty through Carvana, not sure how long they will be around.
- I'm paranoid about getting a car that had flood damage covered up from the recent hurricane as I live in South East
- Any other car options others could suggest?
Thank you for reading
Statistics: Posted by hoofaman — Wed Dec 04, 2024 7:27 am — Replies 6 — Views 244