Comments on: Time to Buy New or Used Toyota? http://www.immigrantmoney.com/blog/2010/02/03/time-to-buy-new-or-used-toyota/ ...and how to make more of it Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:15:58 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: thefrugalimmigrant http://www.immigrantmoney.com/blog/2010/02/03/time-to-buy-new-or-used-toyota/comment-page-1/#comment-49 thefrugalimmigrant Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:15:58 +0000 http://www.immigrantmoney.com/blog/?p=145#comment-49 Actually we ended up still keeping the old Honda SUV, instead of shelling for a new car. At this point the old one is beyond repair ($4-5000 for a refurbished engine is what they ask for, just for replacing most likely a cracked head, which seems like to be a common problem with this specific model of vehicle ... The same model of car from a dealer costs $4000 max). The best part is that the car still works! Granted - I won't rely on it for driving us to a different state or 100+ mile trips, but all my wife is using it for, is to occasionally go to the local library or grocery store (less than 5 miles away). With such low usage - I'll just be adding coolant, which will continue to leak inside the engine and overfill it, until the darn thing just gives up one day. The coolant costs me an extra $1 per trip, which is not little, but still beats the amortization costs of a new(er) vehicle. It has been 5 months now since we found and diagnosed the problem. If the car lasts for 2 more years we'll be happy. If it breaks tomorrow - we'll be happy again, as the new vehicle will have better fuel efficiency than the old one at least :). Our actual choice for the most "frugal" vehicle to replace the dying Honda SUV is a KIA Rondo (1-2 year old, less than 40000 miles, price is less than 13000). Why? KIA in general has the 60000 miles/ 60 mo full warranty on all their vehicles - so with our low low usage of such vehicle, the warranty will expire in 5-4 years. The KIA Rondo specifically has enough storage (and a rack on top) to be considered a good enough replacement for the Honda SUV we currently have. The driver's seat is also a bit lifted above the road, which is one of the things we like about the SUV style vehicles. With a price of less than $13000 (we were actively looking for a 2009 model with 30000 miles for $11990) - this is the best vehicle one can buy for an SUV replacement, where the features you are looking for are: warranty coverage, price, storage capability, visibility of the road, better fuel efficiency. Actually we ended up still keeping the old Honda SUV, instead of shelling for a new car. At this point the old one is beyond repair ($4-5000 for a refurbished engine is what they ask for, just for replacing most likely a cracked head, which seems like to be a common problem with this specific model of vehicle … The same model of car from a dealer costs $4000 max).
The best part is that the car still works! Granted – I won’t rely on it for driving us to a different state or 100+ mile trips, but all my wife is using it for, is to occasionally go to the local library or grocery store (less than 5 miles away). With such low usage – I’ll just be adding coolant, which will continue to leak inside the engine and overfill it, until the darn thing just gives up one day. The coolant costs me an extra $1 per trip, which is not little, but still beats the amortization costs of a new(er) vehicle.
It has been 5 months now since we found and diagnosed the problem. If the car lasts for 2 more years we’ll be happy.
If it breaks tomorrow – we’ll be happy again, as the new vehicle will have better fuel efficiency than the old one at least :) .
Our actual choice for the most “frugal” vehicle to replace the dying Honda SUV is a KIA Rondo (1-2 year old, less than 40000 miles, price is less than 13000).

Why?
KIA in general has the 60000 miles/ 60 mo full warranty on all their vehicles – so with our low low usage of such vehicle, the warranty will expire in 5-4 years.

The KIA Rondo specifically has enough storage (and a rack on top) to be considered a good enough replacement for the Honda SUV we currently have. The driver’s seat is also a bit lifted above the road, which is one of the things we like about the SUV style vehicles.
With a price of less than $13000 (we were actively looking for a 2009 model with 30000 miles for $11990) – this is the best vehicle one can buy for an SUV replacement, where the features you are looking for are: warranty coverage, price, storage capability, visibility of the road, better fuel efficiency.

]]> By: Jonathan http://www.immigrantmoney.com/blog/2010/02/03/time-to-buy-new-or-used-toyota/comment-page-1/#comment-48 Jonathan Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:16:25 +0000 http://www.immigrantmoney.com/blog/?p=145#comment-48 Hey there, thanks for the note about my blogroll. I managed to fix it. I'm just leaving a note here because my e-mail reply to private@ yourdomain.com bounced back. So, did you buy a new/used Toyota? Hey there, thanks for the note about my blogroll. I managed to fix it. I’m just leaving a note here because my e-mail reply to private@ yourdomain.com bounced back.

So, did you buy a new/used Toyota?

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