Small/mid-sized used SUVs for about $15Kish.

Wife and I have decided that we are going to trade in our two cars for a single car to cut down on things since we're planning on moving to a big city in Canada next year.  We'll be making the 2300 mile move in this car so we need some room and livable gas mileage, and Canada has $5/gallon gas so that's an important consideration.  Here's the requirements:

Reliability

Luxury cars are high on the list since they're famous for their depreciation and you can get a lot of car for $15K.  As long as it's reliable.

Safety

Repairs won't make me go bankrupt

Acceptable gas mileage, since Canada is about $5/gallon

All wheel drive would be preferred but in the end just some good snow tires would probably make it livable in either FWD or RWD.

It's gotta have, you know, zazz.  I hate ugly, boring cars.  So here's the cars we're looking at and our thoughts on them.

Ford Escape: 2020+ models, yes.  Before that apparently there was a class action lawsuit because the smaller engine overheated so much.  If I got the 2.0 ecoboost motor with AWD, perhaps a 2015 would be affordable.  Overall a decent little SUV, no real wow factor.  I would question if there's enough cargo space behind the rear seat.  Ford Edge is similar, slightly uglier, slightly more room, slightly worse gas mileage.

Volvo XC60: Right now this is at the top of our list.  They're famous for their safety, we both love how they look, they're super comfortable, gas mileage is doable, handling I've read is kinda boring but I've also read they're reliable.  And I've found some nice 2015-2016 models for affordable prices.

Volvo XC90: Rated in England as the safest car ever, according to an article I've read.  Basically the same as the XC60 but larger, which is nice, and horrible gas mileage, which is kind of a deal breaker.  Except you can buy one for pennies, which is nice.  Just watch for transmission issues with that one engine early on.

BMW X3: I love these, the wife doesn't care for them too much.  The years in our price range would have some VANOS that would need looking at, and BMW's famously complicating cooling systems.  Gorgeous cars though.  I could get one slightly older with still low miles for pennies.  So it's an option.  X5 is gorgeous but that gas mileage.

Honda/Toyota: Their famously fantastic resale values make it to where we'd have to buy a much older one to get in our price range.  We both are fans of toyota but agree that the toyota and honda SUVs are just butt ugly.  There's no zazz factor.  

Porsche Cayenne: Total zazz factor.  I'm a Porsche fanatic, and you can get these for absolute rock-bottom prices in great shape these days.  The problem being, of course, when something breaks then you pay that Porsche tax.  Also I imagine the insurance is expensive.  And gas mileage is atrocious.  So that's going to be a no, unless we stumble across one for $3K that has full maintenance receipts and all the problem areas already fixed lol.  Macan would be the absolute perfect SUV but it's still far too costly right now.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio:  Can't afford it, can't afford the insurance, the reliability is less than stellar, and the Wife and I are still planning on test driving one (would never actually buy it) just because they're so damn gorgeous.

Nissan:  Basically, we think they're all ugly.  Kinda comes down to that.  We like pretty cars.  

Chevrolet:  See above.  However the new Blazer is pretty alright looking.  It's new though, so it'll take a while to get into our price range.  So nope.

Hyundai/Kia:  Nothing has really grabbed us on these yet either.

Dodge:  My entire life I've heard bad things about their reliability, and I think they're all pretty ugly.

Your thoughts?

Just realized the 1st generation Volvo XC90 could be had with a 4.4 liter V8 with 300+ HP.  Youtube showed me how it sounded with a good exhaust system.  Only 1-2mpg worse than the little engines.  England called it the safest car ever.  Could this be a winner, if I find one in good shape for the right price?  The gas mileage isn't that great, but if that's the only real problem with the car and it's inexpensive enough, we might have a winner.

Did you get rid of your Mustang loan that you wanted to?

Are you guys selling the wife's Prius?

Your list says you like pretty and fun, yet want reliable and good MPG. I don't think you can get all that. If I had your budget I would get a 4runner or a LX470. But that is just me, having lived in those climates before. 

Why no Mazda on your list?

mr2s2000elise said:

Did you get rid of your Mustang loan that you wanted to?

 

Are you guys selling the wife's Prius?

 

Your list says you like pretty and fun, yet want reliable and good MPG. I don't think you can get all that. If I had your budget I would get a 4runner or a LX470. But that is just me, having lived in those climates before. 

We're going to save for about 3 months to pay our cars down some more, then trade them both in on whatever we end up getting.  I know out of all those requirements we'll probably have to get rid of one of them.  I can accept that.  It'll also depend on what deals I find down here, so who knows where that will go!

chandler said:

Why no Mazda on your list?

I've heard good things about the CX-5.  It looks a little goofy but we think we could live with it.  I would have to check the prices on a used one.  One of the issues with those is I would want it in that candy apple red that it comes in, which is norotiously problematic because the factory paint is extremely thin and chips embarassingly easily.  I believe the pearl white is similar but not quite as bad.  I did forget to add it in though, that is a car on our list.

I'd keep the Prius and in prep for the big northern move, I'd be searching used parts to make some similar version of this pack mule.  

Once you arrive, resell the items and recoup the investment.

I know this misses the zazz but once in Canada, I would rekindle some different zazz by picking up a Canadian Spec Toyota Echo Hatch or Nissan Micro as a second car for some different (yet small and cheap) fun.  

$70 rails claim to fit Prius 

$50 roof boxes are not uncommon and these Sears ones are huge.  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

We do like the Prius.  It checks enough of the boxes and the gas mileage is unbeatable.  We have a trailer hitch as well, so that helps.  The biggest issue there is we would need to pay off my car, or pay it down enough that I could sell it.  Still owe $17K on my Mustang, so that's the first priority.

GX460 is the only thing to consider.

Everything else will either be a compromise in comfort or reliability.  A GX460 is only a compromise in fuel economy.

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

hard to find those for $15k..  a 470 sure but the 460 hasnt dropped enough yet..

infinitenexus said:

The biggest issue there is we would need to pay off my car, or pay it down enough that I could sell it.  Still owe $17K on my Mustang, so that's the first priority.

I had to sit here for a while to figure out what you wrote.  What I think it means is that you are in a position of negative equity on the Mustang but positive equity on the Prius.  So, the action you are considering is sell them both so that the positive equity can offset the negative equity and get you back to "equal."

Said further (with assumptions)

• you owe too much on the Mustang (owe $17k, worth $14k) or negative $3k
• You actually own some of the Prius (owe $6k but worth $10k) or positive $4k
• if you sold them both you'd be out from under the Mustang and be positive $1k

If that above is similar to your situation, have you ever considered refinancing the Prius?  

Here are Pen Fed's use car refinance rates.  Keeping with the samples above, you could contact PenFed and refi your Prius for $10k (the max of it's worth.)  Of that $10k, the first $6k would go to paying off the current loan on the Prius.  The remaining $4k would come to you as cash. Apply that $4k to your Mustang loan and now you only owe $13k on the Mustang.  Now, the minimum that you need to sell the Mustang for is $13k.  

All of this assumes that the Prius is in good condition and you'd like to keep it.  In this maneuver you have not unburdened yourself of debt, you've just moved that debt over to the Prius which you now own less of and have to continue making payments for possibly years longer.  You have however freed yourself from having to pay car insurance on a Mustang.   

Here is some more background of when I borrowed money from PedFed on a car that I previously owned 100%.  I went from having no loan to borrowing more than I paid for it.  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-sub-10k-car-loans/138496/page1/

Since you are planning on going to Canadiaville, keep in mind that getting a vehicle with a warranty will not transfer to Canada. I'd recommend a Sportage or Tucson for what you need, but we all know I'm a Hyundai humper.

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Thanks for the reply/info.  We're actually upside down by about $3K on each car right now.  Our plan is to pay them down over the next few months until they're even and then trade them both in on something that would fit our current needs better.  Both cars together are $573/month plus insurance.  With a good interest rate we could replace them both with a single car that's $200-something per month plus less insurance, plus the car would fit our current needs better.  Those are pretty much the two main requirements that are pushing us to this right now:  Less money per month and shrinking down to a single car.  

We've actually just considered trading in our vehicles on a newer Prius because the car is so ridiculously economical.  However, we decided that if we're going through the trouble of getting something new, we wanted to get something a bit larger to help with the move.  And also once we're living in the city we'll be using bikes and public transportation a lot, so gas mileage will be less of a pressing issue than down here.

What year is the Prius?  How many miles?  What do you owe?  

Keep prius, aggressively pay down Mustang until you can sell it. Use money to saved after selling mustang (car payment, insurance, gas) and put it in savings for the move. Use Prius to move there, per John Walsh recommendations, then buy something when you're there if you need 2 cars. 

In reply to yupididit :

That's another option we've considered.  Save 6 grand, put it all towards the Mustang so I could find someone to take over the payments or sell it privately (would be a little bit of a hassle as I'd have to wait on the credit union to send me the title once it was paid off, but still).  The only real issue with that option is that we would like extra room for the move itself, if possible.  The Prius can fit a good amount of stuff but we have 3 cats, and their carriers will be taking up the back seat (that's how we moved from Baltimore down to Florida) and we'll have some boxes in the back.  Also if possible, something AWD would be nice for snow.

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

2013 Prius plug in, 162XXX miles, we owe I believe 9K and the KBB trade in value is about 6K, and that's also what two dealerships have offered us for it.  For the record I owe $19K on the Mustang (I refinanced about a year and a half ago and pulled out an extra couple grand to pay off a debt and to get a better interest rate) and the KBB trade in value is 15-17, however dealerships down here often offer less than that.  Either way it's a tough situation and we just have to save up a good chunk of money so we can get in the right place to buy something.

Something to consider If you were to look at new cars. Canadian auto pricing, even with the high sales taxes, will often be a better deal than buying in the US and taking it with you. I just ran numbers on a Kia Soul LX. Here in Michigan @list price it would be $21095 US. In Quebec, $26091 Cdn, which is  $19829 US at today's exchange rate of 0.76...The rate has been climbing since March, so when you're ready to move I'd look at how it plays out. You may be better off buying a car there for warranty and service ease and shipping your belongings.

If you like the Prius, keep it. You'll be hard pressed to beat the reliability (and this from a bit of a Toyota hater, and a huge Hybrid hater) and impossible to beat the economy. They can be outfitted quite well for winter adventures and moving. Even a small trailer is very doable. My advice is worth what you paid, but I see no sense in replacing a car that suits your needs fairly well, and you like it, and you owe money. Refinance it for sure, and always keep shopping insurance rates. 
 

If you do trade both in like you're wanting to do, I'd find a Prius V. Plenty of extra room, almost identical driving experience/economy. It pains me to say, but the Toyota hybrid game is probably one of the best "vehicles" on the road today. Hugely reliable, very well documented, and the Prius models are very affordable. Stick with it. 

You guys are just starting out and money is tight. Keep the Prius! You don't need something 'zazzy' at this point in your lives. The Prius is cheap, boring and stable. Those are great qualities when you're about to move to another country where you don't have any idea what your income or expenses will be. There's plenty of uncertainty in the rest of your lives, why add to that with new debt for a new vehicle?

All good advice gentlemen, and I thank you.  The main issue is going to be paying down my Mustang as aggressively as possible so I can sell it.  If I still need a second car down here, I have my challenge Civic I can use to beat around town.  I'm fortunate that I'm in a situation right now where my bills are very low so hopefully in a few months we can get there!  Probably still going to test drive an Alfa Romeo though, because they're just so gorgeous 

Don't test drive the Stelvio, you'll end up looking for a grandma to mortgage to buy one .

In reply to BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) :

I live in a small county with lots of old women, so maybe I can find a sugar momma!

We found one yesterday that was white with the black and red leather interior.  Gorgeous!

infinitenexus said:

 

I live in a small county with lots of old women, so maybe I can find a sugar momma!..........We found one yesterday that was white with the black and red interior.  Gorgeous!

Are we talking about a woman or a car?

Haha I definitely didn't specify.  It was the Alfa with the black and red interior.

Although, I've seen some interestingly colored hairstyles around here...