[Luca Rescigno]

Yeah, we get a lot of these, but MacNN is full of gearheads so I figure there's no better place to ask. I will have to get a new car fairly soon (1-3 months from now). I've mostly decided what I want to get - the questions I'm asking have more to do with where and how to buy the car.

For the record, here's a summary of what I'm looking to buy. It should be small (the smaller the better - I do not need extra space). It doesn't need to be very powerful or exciting, but I do want to get a newer car in good shape with around 50k miles (less if possible). I've been driving half broken jalopies my whole life and I want to get something nice for a change. Price should be around $9,000-$12,000, which should be enough for me to get a couple year old economy car. I've been looking primarily at Civics and Imprezas. If it goes much higher than $12,000, I'd be tempted to simply buy a new Honda Fit, which I believe is only about $15,000 new. However, I'm not too thrilled about buying a brand new car. I don't see why I'd want to when I could get something that's almost as good for quite a bit less money. I don't want to get an old crappy one either, so I'm thinking of basically looking at 2003-2006 cars.

Currently I'm driving a '96 Honda Accord sedan. It's a good car, but the AC is dead and that pretty well sucks. Also, my brother is coming home from a study abroad trip in Europe and when he does, this car is going to him. Technically he won't need it until October, but part of me wants to get a new car sooner rather than later so I don't have to put up with the lack of AC for the entire summer.

That brings up a question: When is a better time to buy a car, in the middle of summer (late July) or in the middle of fall (October)? I'm not sure there's a huge difference.

The next question is where should I buy a car? I've been looking at AutoTrader and Craigslist, and those seem okay. Anyplace else I should be checking? And when I'm searching there, is there anything in particular I should look at? Mainly I'm not sure whether it's better to buy from a private party or a used car dealer. I feel like buying from a private party could be like rolling the dice, but to some extent I prefer it as well because then I actually know the history of the car, and the prices are lower too.

Any advice or suggestions? I'm kind of a newbie at buying cars - I've never bought one before. Got close a couple times, but something always worked out to get me some crappy old beater and I put it off. Also, are there any other car models I might be missing? Like I said, I'm looking mostly at Civics and Imprezas, as well as Corollas and possibly Hyundai Elantras (though if it's a Hyundai I definitely want it to be close to new; I've heard they're pretty good now but I don't completely trust them). Maybe Ford Foci too.

[scottiB]

Add Mazda3 to your list. For Focus, shoot for 2005 and newer. Since you do have some time, be patient and find something you really want (color, options). Drive various cars and peruse online forums specific to those models for info.

[Lateralus]

I'm personally not too big on the Mazda3, especially the interior design. But it'd be near the top of my list for resale value alone.

2005~ models seem to go for only a few grand below current models.

[design219]

One thing to consider is how you plan to accomplish regular maintenance. If you want a dealer to do things like oil changes and tune ups, then are you close to a Honda... Toyota... Mazda... etc. dealership? That may sound odd to you larger city guys, but if you live in a rural area, it is a consideration. I drove Volvos for years, but got tired of having to travel 70 miles to the closest dealership. As I moved up to newer models of Volvo, they started getting too complex for the independent mechanics to work on (or at least I didn't trust them as much). In the days before computer codes, I never used a dealer for maintenance. Todays cars are almost too complex and specialized for mechanics that are not factory trained.

I now have a Toyota Camery and Seinna that I'm very pleased with, and I live about 5 miles from the dealer. I let them do all the scheduled maintenance.

Also, since you are shopping used, get a CARFAX subscription. Although not perfect, it is a good tool to check the recorded history of a vehicle using the vin number. For about $35 you can get an unlimited number of reports for one month. A very good investment.

[Luca Rescigno]

Yep, planning on getting Carfax. Once I start looking at cars I'll pony up and check them all out. A few months ago when I was looking I came across one that had a salvage title. Guy was shifty about it too - he admitted to it having a salvage title but still insisted that he had gotten it fixed up really nicely. Yuck.

The maintenance thing won't be an issue since I live in uptown Minneapolis and I work in Eagan (aka Car Dealershipville).

[imitchellg5]

Do you do a lot of driving in snow? The Impreza would be good for you then. I love the 2.5 liter boxer 4 cylinder. Great torquey motor. I really like the Impreza's interior as well, it is pretty classy, and the 5 speed stick feels almost like a BMW box. The only downside of the Impreza though is gas mileage. The awd saps mileage a lot. I like the newer Civics a lot, but they can be pretty expensive. I like your idea of getting a Fit. The Fit doesn't need to be revved as hard as Civics do to motivate itself, but it still lacks torque. But Civics aren't very good in the snow at all. I have a lot of fun in the winter watching my neighbor try and get her Civic up her modestly steep driveway. The Hyundai Elantra (especially the SE) is a very, very nice car. The electronic geek like me loves all the gadgets that are standard on the SE, like Bluetooth and whatnot. Also, if you want a stick shift (hopefully you do in this class of cars), the Hyundai's 5 speed box is a very smooth performer. However, the engine lacks midrange power, and is pretty loud above 75 mph. The Mazda 3 is the sports car of the group. Even the base motor performs pretty well, but the suspension is rough on all versions. The engine is loud but the gearbox has nice short throws. The interior lacks room and quality materials.

You really have a lot of choices in this group. For me, I'd go with an Impreza. They are pretty comfortable and reasonably fun to drive. An Elantra SE would be my second choice, just because of the value that it has.

[d4nth3m4n]

take a look at scions. especially the tc and the xb.