[pixelmonkey]

one of my wifes closest friends is currently searching for a "new", hopefuly new to her, car. the hyuandi she had is now laid to rest and the search for a dependable replacement car begins.

i'm not out to shoot her ideas down of what a good car is, however I'm not sure if a chevy malibu is the best choice for dependable.

I hinted that a subaru legacy, possibly GT, would be perfect for her! something with a price tag under 10k , loads of options, and not too many miles. *for a subaru anyway*.

I'm thinking the malibu is a 60k - 100k disposable car.

discuss.
chris<pixelmonkey>

 

[fateo66]

depends what she's looking for. Is she looking for awd or 2wd? Out here in CO awd is perfect, but if there's no snow then maybe she wants 2wd and get something with better gas mileage. does she need a sporty car? a legacy gt is nice, but will she appreciate the turbo? Does she want a 2 door or 4 door? does she want more space and would she want a wagon? there are plenty of dependable cars out there, she just needs to narrow her search.

 

[damu0703]

Two questions spring to mind:

(1) what roughly is her budget?
(2) what model Hyundai did she have? (so as to get some insight into what she used to drive)

 

[funkymonkey1002]

I think for someone coming from a hyundai, something like the impreza 2.5i or outback sport would be great. Was quite impressed with the loaner my buddy got (09) when his forester was in for service.

If I was going to buy a new car I'd also have a look at ford. They've been doing some neat stuff lately, especially with the ecoboost engines and awd. Also, the new fiesta is coming to the US and is quite nice, especially for someone who just needs a "cute" a-b daily driver with FWD. One of my friends did the whole fiesta movement thing and was incredibly impressed with it.

 

[ddavidv]

We have Malibus in our company fleet, they do okay. When I was to get a new car, I looked at both the Malibu and the Fusion. I felt the Fusion was a lot more car.

Hyundai makes a good product once you get above the Accent. Any reason she wouldn't want another?

 

[YoGeorge]

one of my wifes closest friends is currently searching for a "new", hopefuly new to her, car. the hyuandi she had is now laid to rest and the search for a dependable replacement car begins.

i'm not out to shoot her ideas down of what a good car is, however I'm not sure if a chevy malibu is the best choice for dependable.

I hinted that a subaru legacy, possibly GT, would be perfect for her! something with a price tag under 10k , loads of options, and not too many miles. *for a subaru anyway*.

I'm thinking the malibu is a 60k - 100k disposable car.

discuss.
chris<pixelmonkey>

I just found, for a woman at work, a 2008 Mazda6, 4 cylinder auto, nicely equipped and very clean, with 43k miles on it for $9995 at a dealer. She chose to invest $1600 in a Ford Premium Care warranty for 4/48.

The problem with used Subarus (and Hondas, etc.) is that at the 10k price point, you're looking at older, much higher mileage cars. And parts/service, when you're out of warranty, are more $$$ than for domestics. Of course, they don't break as often. But at $10k, a 3 year old domestic car might be more reliable than a 7 year old import.

Malibus, along with a great many other domestics, will go much further than 100k miles and you can buy a fairly new one for $10k.

I like the Fusion/Milan twins, and the Mazda6 is on the same floorpan and is oddly MORE American, built 50 miles from my house in Flat Rock, MI whereas the Fusion/Milan are Mexican.

A couple years ago, you could buy a one year old 2007 (old style) Taurus with under 20k miles on it, out of a fleet, for 10-11 grand here in the Detroit area. That is a LOT of car. I have recommended many Tauruses to friends over the years and virtually all have been darn good cars; one of them saved a friend's life when she took a hard T-bone from a van.

George