You seem to mostly be looking at sedns- why not a 4 cylinder accord or Camry? Boring, but they last forever.

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat

Did not see much local today.

Accord is a little big for the garage space I have.

I really hate to even suggest this, but Dodge Grand Caravan. Will easily carry all 6 if needed, and still gets pretty decent fuel economy. We have a 2012, and my only complaint is that I can't complain about it.

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Starting from scratch...

I would go with the Mazda or the Kia. I had a Kia spectra for 10 years and about 100,000 km with no issues. I have an Impreza now and like that too but would rather have the lower km of the Mazda or Kia.

Ben

Honestly..... Lease a new Honda Accord. $199 a month. I caught a special once and it was $0 down, $199 a mo the for a brand new car. I traded it in a year later for a BMW 335 (I wanted more sporty), but the kicker is- the accord holds value so much, I was even up on trading it in. Even with only $199 payments and zero down!

The trick to a lease is... You don't give it back when the lease is up. You trade it in before the lease is up. You don't tell them it's a lease until after you get your trade in price. Call Honda and ask your "buy out" on your lease. trade in value - buy out = your equity (gain or loss)

You could probably pick up a good Toyota Rav4 in that price range.

I Think I would take the Kia over your VW (the kia should still have a warranty).

In you list of cars, again, I would take a long hard look at that Kia.

Would not touch a used Subaru unless you knew the owner, those turbo's without proper maintenance can be a nightmare.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

1 - Maybe the best, but the smallest
2 - NO
3 - You want good MPG? No. Especially if it's a WRX. Mine got 18 mpg combined.
4 - Another good choice
5 - NO

The BMWs will be the coolest for the kid, until they break, and they will.

This.

Agreed with the comments about an Accord or Camry, but will add - what about a Civic or Corolla? In the same class as the Mazda 3, unless it is a hatchback but similar reliability to an Accord or Camry.

There is also the mythology of the Subaru head gasket problem. Not sure if that happens with the model year you are considering, but might want to look into it.

Get a Carfax report and try to find the one that has a decent maintenance record and hasn't been in an accident, preferably one owner.

We were looking at used RAV/car for my daughter and there is a lot of crap out there. We ended up getting a Hyundai Elantra. I was surprised how inexpensive the cars were with all the incentives (well under $20k) and really good warranties.

Right now there are a ton of incentives on new cars.

summitt wrote:

Right now there are a ton of incentives on new cars.

True. The bottom is starting to fall out on new car sales and the manufacturers are scared and trying to get people into dealerships.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-ODX3O86JIJV201-0A9O9DT0A0J8LRPU31VI3PCS22
http://www.wsj.com/articles/carmax-profit-falls-5-7-as-revenue-misses-expectations-1474460859

New car hurts him on the insurance part with the young drivers coming along.

Stay away from the BMW's unless you have confidence in your ability to fix them. They are great cars when everything is working right, but they take work to maintain and it gets spendy really fast if you can't do the work yourself.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

Drove a 2-15 Nissan Sentra today. It was a dealer loaner. 6k miles, warranty, for just under $13K.

A little more than we wanted to spend, but the warranty is nice.

I have a Mazda 3. Great car, minimal fuss. I only drive it on days when I can't put the top down on my Triumph TR8.

You say Accord is too big, but I don't think its footprint is much if any bigger than the BMWs, and if so then a Civic is super reliable and economical, and will hold its value better than just about anything short of a Toyota Tacoma. That's what we bought for our 3rd car to share w/ the kids once they were/are old enough to drive, and it's been super solid. Also super common so easy to get stuff like near-new wheels & tires cheap on Craigslist, etc. Now that it's getting a bit long in the tooth, I'm looking to flip it for a newer one, although maybe move up to an Accord V6 if I can find a good deal since I like driving it myself too.

+1 on BMWs breaking. Both of those will need cooling system overhaul shortly as well as lots of bits of rubber replaced in the suspension. Budget 1.5K/year in repair bills on average, unless you can do the work yourself, in which case they are wonderfully economic used cars to own and drive great.