Id spend the $2600. New cars are just horrible

and she's pressuring me to sell. We put $4,500 into it for a new sub-frame 2 years ago, so another $2,600 on top of that would be over $7,000 in two years.

Plus, it's starting to rust out.

Yeah, its time to bail

50 thousand is still a pretty low mileage vehicle. What are you looking at (and getting) in another used vehicle? At what price? (and without any guarantee that the 'new' ride doesn't have a few issues? - and at least as many miles?)

Yeah, that's a lot of money to stick into an older vehicle. But the advantage is - you kinda' know what you have when you're done. Rather than just guessing with another purchase.

In addition to post #5, the gas struts on the rear tail gate gave way a few years ago and the door crashed down, shattering the rear window.

I'm soon to be 68. Wife is 66.

By my way of thinking, this new one might be our last car.

The thing is just falling apart body wise. Seems to be something new every week.

time anyway.
Tires, brakes, an alignment. $2600.00 ÷ 15 = $173.00 per year. Sounds pretty reasonable.

I'm very happy with my Kia Niro Hybrid, which gets close to 50mpg. Drives nice, very practical, and room for a full size spare (not included) in the EX trim .

Just got off the phone with 2 dealerships, one local, and one about 1.5 hours away in Syracuse.

Asked them to run 4 scenaarios:

1) Purchase out the door price

2) Lease including taxes - $0 down.

3)Lease including taxes - $3,000 down

4)Lease including taxes $7,500 down

10,000 miles/year

I hope you get a good deal and will love yours as well.

I have a 2013 Santa Fe that I've been nursing along, also starting to rust. But, only 126K miles and did brakes in the past year. I really need to fix the rust on the top of the frame unless we trade in the next year or so.

My husband likes his Tesla, though, so I might inherit that if he gets something newer for driving to work. We'll see. No gas fill-ups is tempting, though I think there is a hybrid Kona.

We love them - have never had a problem (knock on wood!). The last 3 have been hybrids- Ioniq and two Elantras.
Good luck with all of the negotiations!

Last edited Tue Jun 9, 2026, 03:58 AM - Edit history (1)

This is a 2015 with just over 60K miles on it and aside from the fact that the clutch failed over a year ago and I’m STILL waiting for my son to swap it out (already bought the parts, fluids, and all…) I have to say I’ve been happy with the car. It’s a very basic manual transmission with no real bells and whistles but as I learned on a ’63 Beetle, I love everything else about it.

Now I just need to guilt my lazy-arsed son into getting the job done before he can demur due to the coming Florida summer… In the meantime, given the price of gas, it’s hard to whine too much about having to take the bus, which is at most 75¢ a ride (free if the bus travels at all to the next town north). *sigh*

I guess in your part of the country, most used cars will have rust issues. My friend was shopping for a used Honda Pilot because she's in MD and her older one had rusted out. Even doing a search in several states, it took her MONTHS to find one.

36 month, 10,000 miles per year.

Hyundai Kona, 2026, all wheel drive, SEL premium (the premium has a peppier engine).

The dealer has only 3 of these on the lot currently, and I'm not particularly fond of the colors, so the next step is to see if he will order the one I want.

American cars are SO BORING. You look at their parking lot and you'd swear it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie - black, white, gray, silver - lather rinse repeat. Oy!

I drove my '06 Scion xB for 14 years! I would have kept on driving it, but I had a good job at the time and my niece needed a car. So I got a 2017 RAV4 Hybrid CPO with just 37K miles. Bargained with the salesman like the bitchy old bookkeeper that I am. Ended up putting down $1K and financed $20K. But now, because gas is high and it still has under 70K miles, I'm selling it for $18K and buying a beater. I just don't drive enough to keep the battery in shape. I'm going to put money in the bank and get something for around $5K. I'll be 70 in January and I don't know how much longer I'll be driving. I've even considered getting an xB again - LOL

It's a pretty, subtle green...but these are hard to get your hands on.

Yours is more of a flat green whereas ours is a metallic. Really looks different in the sun and the shade.

Very nice.

But the number of safety features is ridiculous. We actually turn some of them off because they're intrusive and annoying.

It helped us save a little bit on insurance though. They seem to like that cars have all kinds of safety options included. Go figure!

A friend of mine was a car dealer and he said green is a hard color to get because they just don't make as many. I love sky blue and that's the same. They just don't make as many.

had to do the timing chain 2 years ago.. $4000 Yikes!!! but she's running great.

That said, I'm ready for something newer with a few bells for this old lady..

I had a friend whose timing belt snapped and that was that. She had just had 100K maintenance done on it, but the mechanic "forgot".

my 93 Nissan pickup it was a chain.. over 200,000 miles on that baby when I sold it. Never did have to replace the timing chain. Last I heard that truck was still going.

Toyota and Honda are very reliable and lots of mechanics know how to work on them.
A thought...
m

I've had a Corolla. a Camry, and a Tundra and loved them.

I love Hondas too.

Problem is, they're too damn expensive, and the Hyundai's have a better warranty.

I have an Hyundai Elantra now (wife has a Subaru that has all of the problems)...I love the Elantra.

I drive a Toyota RAV4 normally and the Elantra is just too low for me. I had a hard time getting my old body in and out.

I like the car otherwise, but it is very low, and the edge of the seat has a hump that I catch my "parts" on when getting in. It's not pleasant...for my "parts", or my back.

It IS low. I'm used to driving a RAV4. My knees and back don't have to bend as much and I prefer the higher driving position.

Just got a call from a local dealer. I have not met this guy in person yet. I'm still waiting for the quotes from Syracuse.

He quoted me some lease prices, including tax. His prices were lower than what I calculated on their website. It may have helped that before he quoted me, I told him that I was also getting pricing from a Syracuse dealer.

If I can get $8k for my two current vehicles, and use that cash for a down payment, I can get a lease for around $200 a month for 3 years with a residual value of $19k.

I talked to the guy a long time. The guy sounded like he was in his 30s. He made a comment about how all the young guys he works with give him a hard time. I said "But you sound young". He said "I'm not". I asked him how old he was, and he said "I don't want to tell you". I said "Now you have to tell me". He said "I'm 78 years old, and the only thing I don't do anymore is chase women. Well, I chase them, just not as vigorously".

We got started on the right foot, so I hope I can work out a deal with this guy.

It probably also helped that he started selling there the week my first cousin (who is locally well loved) retired from the place. So, we shot the shit for about an hour on the phone.

This sounds extremely promising.

Good luck, Lucky!!

He asked me where I retired from, and I told him Lockheed Martin. Turns out, we both know a bunch of the same people.

He used to own a clothing store where I got my wedding tux at. He asked me what year, and I told him...he said "I probably fitted you"!

Thanks a lot, Niagara.

You lose your entire down payment if the leased vehicle is totaled or stolen.Insurance companies pay the actual cash value of the car to the leasing company, meaning your up-front cash vanishes instantly. Putting $0 down is the safest financial strategy when leasing a vehicle.

Since the flashy 2010 Santa Fe screwed us over.

So, we had to get a 2007 Pontiac. It was $1850.

I am desperately trying to make sure nothing on it gives out. That will be impossible since it is almost 20 years old and we cannot keep it up as well as we need to due to lack of funds. Hell, we are desperate to get the brakes fixed, but we just don't have it.

I don't know what the hell happened to this Subaru. It's been a decent car, but parts other than the engine and transmission are getting messed up every other week.

I've been trying to ignore it, but it's really stressful wondering when the next shoe will drop.

So getting a brand new one with just a $200/month lease will eliminate some of that stress.

Until something else goes wrong...which it will. It always does.

Holy cow.

Same here...I hate getting the cars inspected.

I bet your apartment is nice! I'm happy for you!

I live in an area where some homes are converted into apartments and sometimes renters don’t seem to care. Hubby and I are constantly picking up garbage on the exterior of our fence. Getting rats is terrifying and dangerous. I am glad you are happy in your new home!

It's just that.... sometimes...

Some of us have those things happen with much greater frequency.

MUCH greater.

My car is a 1994 subaru Loyale 4wd station wagon with 249,000+ miles

I would spend anything to keep her on the road … she has been my bestest friend

she has to drive.

It's not a good situation...

Tire is trivial, alignment pretty much so. Not "old car problems", just perfectly routine maintenance.

Tie rods AND brakes ?? After only 50K ??? That calls for a second opinion.

If this guy thinks he can put one over on you, there's no limit to what he'll find wrong -- and charge you handsomely to fix.

He's spot on about the tie rods and brakes, based on the car's symptoms.

He takes me in the garage and shows me what is wrong before he removes any old parts.

SEE POST #5!

One has 190,000. I keep them maintained , oil changed regularly. Sometimes it seems like I am always working on one of them, spending $200 a month on service or parts. Doing it myself and having no car payment, it is a better that the car payment.

way smarter than new.

My auto guy is 1/4 mile from the house. He has a Dodge Truck. He keeps my truck on the road. I average 200mi/month, because I'm 3 minutes from downtown.

I miss my trucks so much...

I've had two F-150s, a Ford Ranger, and a Toyota Tundra (and a Chevy Blazer if you want to count that as a truck...it was a 2004 and it had a tailgate, even though it was an enclosed bed).

Don't matter the snow conditions, I get up to the house.

That's a 31 degree slope! You must be looking up in the sky through your windshield when driving up your driveway!