Hello guys,

Not sure if this is the right section so if not, sorry. My cutrent vehicle, 03 santa fe is falling apart its just a waste of money at the moment. I was interested in buying a TL but i as well wonder what other good cars i could check out as well. It would have to be a small suv, no tahoes sadly lol. What are some good reliable ones that wont require mechanic visits every 2 weeks? Lets say a budget of $10,000. Must fit at least 5 comfortably. Thanks in advance should be fun to see some suggestions

 

Pathfinder

 

Maybe a Toyota Camry? Can't really think of much that's under 10k and reliable...

 

Yup...Pathfinder or Infiniti QX4 (twin cars)

I had a 95 that went to 215k when I sold it...it was still going strong, just needed maintenance I didn't want to do at that point.

You should be able to find post 2000 models for well under 10g.

And...while I was never a fan...ford expeditions should be able to be had for under 10g...and they are much larger space wise for a family of 5.

 

Aside from the Pathfinder, I'd look at early- to mid-2000 Toyota Highlanders too.

 

4runner

 

4Runner would be a bit big, wouldn't it?

I vote Pilot or Highlander.

 

Alright ill look into the: pathfinder, pilot, and highlander as those look pretty good. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I know you said no Tahoe, but I love our Tahoe. It's a 2005 w/91,000 and probably only worth $10,000ish now (sticker was $42K!). 20 mpg, V8 power to tow.

You left out a lot af variables though, 5 people (how old?), winter driving, mpg, luggage room, tow anything? Just wondering.

I can easily fit my 3 kids in the backseat of the TL but they are 8,9, and 11. Come High School they won't fit as well! But they will fit in the Tahoe...

 

I always loved the Infiniti QX4. There are quite a few of them for sale under $10k.

 

CX-7

You're going to need more than 10K to find a good vehicle (or you'll take a chance on buying a POS).

10K is a tough range because if you are someone who owns a good car in that price range, it's probably paid off and you don't want to get rid of it. However, if there is something about to break on your car (such as a transmission), it's going to be right aound that same age when cars are worth $10K.

Additionally, when the car gets to that $10K price range, most of them are now on the second owner. Generally speaking second owners do not spend much on proper maintenance. This can be really detrimental to driveline parts (such as the transmission).

Consider spending $18K and becoming the second owner so you can be the person who dumps the car on someone else when the tranny starts to slip.

 

I vote Pathfinder or QX$.

I picked up a 2002 Pathfinder with 125k on it last year for under 6500. Its been a great vehicle sans the poor gas mileage. Just drove it to Wisconsin from OH and only did about 17 mpg.

I couldn't find a suitable QX4 in my area or I would have gone that over the next best thing which was my pathfinder LE. The LE has all the goodies of the QX4.

Oh and my wife likes to drive the Pathfinder more than her legacy.

 

first gen MDX would be nice.

 

You can get an '03 Highlander Limited with about 120-140k miles for $10,000. Those things should get 200k miles easy if you take care of it.

 

Exactly. Well said

 

subaru forester XT....not sure about the reliability, but the sleeper factor has always intrigued me.

There are some that I've seen for around 10k but you'd have to deal with it being almost 10 years old, pretty close to 100k miles, and, well....its looks. Still, 0-60 in around 5.3 seconds.

 

Early CX-7s had issues with their turbos. My friend has one, and although he loves it, it has blown twice in under 50k miles. It was covered under warranty both times. Might want to check on that.

Another suggestion is the Mazda 5. Can be had in a manual if you like too.

 

Minivan.

 

Totally overlooked the Mazda part of the quote, otherwise Marco is bang on. I'm not a fan of Mazda whatsoever. I, too, have a friend that had a CX-7 and blew the turbo with it just over a year old with highway mileage. No thanks.

 

Bought my Accord for $9300. Original owner, all dealer maintained. Same thing with the Passat, that was $5000. I bought my Jetta for $3500, the PO was the second owner but still did all maintenance at the dealer.

It's not some incredible challenge to find good sub $10k cars

 

Got my 95 Pathfinder for $2300 with 167K...just did standard maintenance for the next 5 years I had it. Sold it with 215K

Got my current 97 Jeep GC for $700...again just regular maintenance for last 2.5 years I've had it.

There are deals to be had if you know what you're looking at.

 

+1, I purchased my CL for $6200 and it just ticked over 133,000 as of this morning - runs like a champ with no mechanical issues whatsoever.

Like Aman said, all depends on how the PO took care of the car throughout their ownership.

+1 on the Pathfinder, 4Runner wouldn't be a bad choice either.

 

Gas mileage on a tahoe hurts the pockets lol. For the people range from 19 to 60

 

You aren't going to find a 5 adult hauler for under $10k with much better gas mileage than 20. Our CR-V gets 24-27 mpg, but three adults would be hip to hip in the back.

 

You have got to be kidding me.

Had a couple of friends who owned mk4 Jettas, wow, total peice of shit. Major electrical issues, bumper problems, poor mpg's etc. One freind was stranded on the freeway, even though her car got regular maintenance at the stealership.
I've never seen a car that required the removal of the battery in order to change the headlight bulb, until the mk4 Jetta.


Good cars are hard to find here in Oregon. Not very many good options in that price 10K range and most come with high miles. I took me three months to find an acceptable used vehicle for my sister for 10K and in the end she had to cough up another 3K ($13K to drive it home) because the seller wouldn't come down on the price because he knew it was a gem.

Why so tight? Who knows. Could be that Oregonians don't turn over their cars as often as Californians, or it might be because there are less dealers.

Good luck with your Jetta.

 

Re-read OP's post:

 

This

The MK4 Jetta is a POS. When I was looking for a car for my daughter it was impossible to find a good car under 10K. But that was right after hurricane Sandy so...

 

I was mentioning my car on the basis it was a good used car purchase for well under $10,000 - not something the OP should consider buying as a family car.

I mentioned the Pathfinder & 4Runner as recommendations which seem easily attainable for that price range.

 

I don't have any of those problems.

Also, my Accord required the removal of the battery to change the driver's headlight bulb. So do many other cars. The Jetta does not.

 

Wow...all these opinions based on used cars formed from jettas...

seriously...

 

Are you talking 5 adults or do you have kids?

Our rav4 has been great to us, but 3 big adults would be a little tight in the back. But 3 kids would be fine there. 4cyl, easy maint, ok on gas. We will be looking for a minivan eventually.

 

+1 on 4Runner

 

You have nothing to apologize about. Bumpkin likes to show off.

 

What about a Trailblazer SS?

 

 

I must've done it by magic two weeks ago, then.

What does my car have to do with this thread again?

 

Highlander