What sedan?

Looking for suggestions for an appliance.  I need anvil reliability and adequate room for four adults.  Hoping to get in for about $2500.  Ideas?

This is probably "no-duh" but, can you find a 2000ish Camry for that price in your area? When I was looking for an appliance, I drove a 2001 with the leather and V6 and thought it was actually pretty nice and, while not exactly "wow" it was not the worst thing to drive. Had 130k and was asking $2500, second owner. 

I ended up getting a different Camry from a friend for basically nothing. It's an '05 with the 2.4 and I like it. Great appliance. The 2.4 does have piston ring issues causing oil consumption. The V6s don't have that issue. 

Also, I've seen the Mazda 6 with the 2.3 for that price around here with 150k-ish miles and good maintenance. They are pretty bulletproof from what I have heard. Much more fun to drive.

I'm seeing 2003-2006 Accord sedans dip into that price range. They seem to be the definition of reliable. 

LS400

Panther

960/S90

At $2.5k it's going to all boil down to how good of an example you find...of any car. 

Therefore, my suggestion is to seek out body damage. That is, find something with body damage to drive the price down while still having a reliable vehicle inexpensively. 

Say, something with peeling clear coat, dents, bumps, or scratches 

If you’re considering a Camry, don’t forget to look at the Avalon as well. They seem to run pretty similar price and may be a little more gently treated by the nearly dead folks who buy them new. 

I believe that the Toyota Avalon is the Buick you're looking for. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I test drove one of them during my search. MT with the 2.3. I liked it. The 2.3 also has oil consumption issues similar to the Toyota mill from what I remember. Not a huge deal, but something to watch for because the people that own these cars don't seem to check the oil!

I pulled out the dipstick--dry as a bone!

I also like the Avalon, but they seem to be harder to find in that price range around here, maybe just because they sold more Camrys, and because the elderly hold onto them FOREVER.

To tie these together... I had an Avalon that had some damage on most panels. It seemed the elderly owner who was diligent on maintenance, scraped it along the garage door frame ever time he backed it out. 

6th gen accord with the f23 and stick would be my choice. 

Yeah, the Avalon was my go-to but they're all automatics--which isn't a deal killer but it would be nice to have an option.  Was thinking about an Accord, too.  Hadn't considered any of the Nissan/Mazda options.  What about the GM stuff-- Impala, Malibu, LeSabre, Century, maybe?  Drove a Buick on a round-trip from MO to rural NY back in 2002 and it was okay.  

Edit: Man, the Honda candidates have serious paint issues compared to the Avalons.   I'm about 6'-3" so I'm concerned about how much room some of these might have...

I checked your profile for your location and then checked your CL.  If I were in immediate need, I might check out this ol' Police Impala.  Asking $1,500. Should be able to get for $1,000.  That leaves $1,500 budget to fix what is wrong with it.  If you were to put that much money into it you would probably have a pretty solid car for quite a while.  It also has some of my earlier mentioned body issues with sticker residue.  I can't see it in the pictures.  Might be worth seeing in real life.  

https://columbiamo.craigslist.org/cto/d/new-bloomfield-2009-chevy-impala-clean/6873759221.html

In reply to stroker :

I'm 6'3" with a long torso and have had no trouble fitting in the Accord, Camry, or 6. No sunroof helps.

Your Cl also has a listing for what seems to be the Poster Child for unreliability.  Ha

These Mazda MPV's have a great reputation of reliability as well as being not too big and not too small.  Your 4 people will ride in individual reclining seat comfort!

5th generation Maxima (2000-2003). The 00-01 cars with the VQ30 are pretty much bulletproof. The 02-03 cars with the VQ35 gain a ton of power with a bit less reliability (known issue, easy to fix). Otherwise, no other major issues other than speaker cutout issues with the Bose sterero. Much faster and more fun than a contemporary accord/camry, and not hard to find with manual transmission. Worth a look, should be fairly easy to find in your price range. 

John Welsh said:

Your Cl also has a listing for what seems to be the Poster Child for unreliability.  Ha

 

These Mazda MPV's have a great reputation of reliability as well as being not too big and not too small.  Your 4 people will ride in individual reclining seat comfort!

I'm assuming you're being serious about that Audi, which is a shame because that would be just about perfect for what I need... 

In reply to stroker :

God, wouldn't it be great if German wagons with turbos and AWD were rock solid! I'd own at least three!

In reply to John Welsh :

The Impala is gone.

In reply to stroker :

Yeah, avoid the allroad. 

Sorry the Impala is gone but no surprise  It was a 2009 with 85k miles in white.

You might have to jump on the MPV quickly  

We had two MPVs and got good service from them.  2000 and 2004, both bought used.  Nice seats and "just right" size.  The second one had issues with the sliding doors occasionally not fully closing when the weather was very cold (like below zero Fahrenheit.)  Never diagnosed that; could have been as simple as excess frozen grease in the latch, or something.  That one also didn't have ABS, so pay attention when you purchase.  (We pause here to contemplate the word "assume.")  When it ate its alternator on a holiday weekend 50 miles from home, a friend came out to get us in an Odyssey, and the Mazda seemed to be a much quieter ride.

Even 10 years ago there were glitches with the Mazda parts system for these cars; I have to figure it hasn't improved since, but OTOH this was Canada, not the US, so YMMV.  Also, the crash test results for the MPV are, um, not impressive.

TL;DR: They have their good points, but I'm not seeing "appliance" here.

stroker said:

Yeah, the Avalon was my go-to but they're all automatics--which isn't a deal killer but it would be nice to have an option.  Was thinking about an Accord, too.  Hadn't considered any of the Nissan/Mazda options.  What about the GM stuff-- Impala, Malibu, LeSabre, Century, maybe?  Drove a Buick on a round-trip from MO to rural NY back in 2002 and it was okay.  

Edit: Man, the Honda candidates have serious paint issues compared to the Avalons.   I'm about 6'-3" so I'm concerned about how much room some of these might have...

I'm close to your size, and I was going to say GM W body, although they're hard to find with a manual. It did appear in a few special editions, although weirdly they never paired the supercharged 3.8 with one. Your budget would get a pretty decent example. They're pretty good at comfortable highway cruising. The main thing to watch out for is lower intake manifold gasket leaks on the 3.8s.

MadScientistMatt said:

I'm close to your size, and I was going to say GM W body, although they're hard to find with a manual. It did appear in a few special editions, although weirdly they never paired the supercharged 3.8 with one. Your budget would get a pretty decent example. They're pretty good at comfortable highway cruising. The main thing to watch out for is lower intake manifold gasket leaks on the 3.8s.

Bingo, although I think it's a slushbox despite being listed as a manual

Ticks all the boxes except price.  (LOL) 

OK, but seriously, look for the Acura RL as well. 

They are much nicer than an Accord and they can be had at that price.