What Car Should I Buy? - A Weekly Megathread

Posted by AutoModerator@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 11 comments

Any posts pertaining to car buying suggestions or advice belong in this weekly megathread; do not post car-choosing questions in the main queue. A fresh thread will be posted every Monday and posts auto sorted by new. A few other subreddits worth checking out that will help your car buying experience are /r/WhatCarShouldIBuy, /r/UsedCars and /r/AskCarSales. www.everydaydriver.com may also be helpful.

Make/Model-specific questions should be asked on Make/Model-specific subreddits. Check the AutosNetwork for a complete list of those subreddits. Also check out our community-sourced Ultimate car buying wiki.

For those posting:

Please use the following template in your post.

Location: (Specify your country or region)

Price range: (Minimum-Maximum in your local currency)

Lease or Buy:

New or used:

Type of vehicle: (Truck, Car, Sports Car, Sedan, Crossover, SUV, Racecar, Luxury etc.)

Must haves: (4x4, AWD, Fuel efficient, Navigation, Turbo, V8, V6, Trunk space, Smooth ride, Leather etc.)

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc):

Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)

Vehicles you've already considered:

Is this your 1st vehicle:

Do you need a Warranty:

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc )

Additional Notes:

For those providing suggestions: Facts are ideal in this thread, especially when trying to help out a new car buyer. Please help out buyers with sources and reasoning for your suggestions.

For those asking for help, be sure to thank those who take the time to offer you advice (especially those who lead you to a purchase.) A follow up thank you and the knowledge that their advice led to a purchase is a very warm fuzzy feeling.

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TTV_Craft173@reddit

Location: Montenegro

Price range: 5000.00€ maximum 6000.00€

Lease or Buy: Buy

New or used: Used

Type of vehicle: No BIG cars (suv’s, pickups, etc.)

Must haves: Be sporty

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc): both is fine, prefer manuals though

Intended use: Daily driver and some fun :>

Vehicles you've already considered: Any BMW that was made before the 2000s, older Volvos, any older car that can be very sporty tbf

Is this your 1st vehicle: Yes

Do you need a Warranty: No

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: Yes

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: Yes, I’m very familiar with the vw platforms as ive worked on many skodas, im down to learn how to repair whatever

Additional Notes: Im not bound to any specific car tbf i just want something decent, im willing to import from the eu (needs to be euro 5) + the name of the major car marketplace site here is autodiler.me

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ConfusedTapeworm@reddit

Any BMW that was made before the 2000s

Does that definition cover the E46 and the E39? Those technically went into production before 2000 but were made until 2003-2004 or whatever. And they could be within your budget.

Anyway, if you are okay with that generation of BMW, an E46 or an E39 with an M54 engine should fit your criteria well enough. They're wonderful cars. They both look amazing, they drive beautifully, and they're just... great overall. The M54 engine is the inline 6. It's smooth, it's nice, and despite BMW's reputation it's actually relatively reliable when taken care of. There are also 8 cylinder engines in that era, but those are very likely well out of your budget (both to buy and to own). Even if you can find and afford a mint condition one, just avoid anything that has the 4 cylinder engine in it. Not worth it.

My own personal preference would be an E46. A clean, nice 330i/330Ci with a well known service history would go hard. But it is quite likely that you're gonna have a much easier time finding a clean E39 instead. Not only is the E39 a more "robust" platform in general, in terms of rust and structural integrity and whatnot, but also the surviving ones do not tend to have been driven as wildly as the E46s. If you're interested in creature comforts, the E39, being the expensive and advanced luxury sedan of its era, can have a lot too. A ~2001 sedan with heated power seats, self-dimming mirrors, automatic wipers and headlights, cruise control, built-in garage door openers, self-leveling headlights, etc. is a pretty good deal. If you can't find one that has them, you can always retrofit. Usually relatively easy with how those cars are designed.

Both the E39 and E46 are incredibly suitable for DIY work too. The internet is FULL of technical knowledge related to those cars. Any problem you might encounter, someone else will have encountered already and you won't have any trouble finding a solution.

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TTV_Craft173@reddit

Best i found is an E46 320ci thats done 140000km, i havent seen the car yet but the ad looks okay, main issue is its for north america, you cant register them and the guy said “its passed homologation” but the plates are OLD (its not registered so prolly been driving like that for a good while) Ill put a link to the post and keep looking, ill put any updates i find in this post https://autodiler.me/automobili/bmw-320i-e46-ad377635671me

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ConfusedTapeworm@reddit

I am immediately wary of that listing. For two reasons:

First is that the car looks bland as hell. It is clean and very low km for its age, BUT it is a 320 and it appears to be a very basic trim package. So you're getting a feature-poor 3 series available with the weakest 6 cylinder available. I'd be fine with a 320 if it was more "full" inside, or I'd be fine with a bland trim package if it was a 330 or whatever. But a 320 like that is... a tough sell. Not worth it I'd say. And honestly that color just does not look very good in person, but that's personal preference ofc.

The second is, with cars like these, you shop for a decent owner as much as a decent car. A knowledgeable owner who can give you accurate and detailed information about the car and its history is the most valuable thing IMO. The reason I'm saying this is because the car in those photos is a 320i, not a 320Ci. A Ci would be a coupe, which this one obviously is not. It could very well be just an honest mistake, of course, but it is not a good first impression that the owner can't even pick the correct model name. Do make sure to probe the seller extra hard if you ever decide to talk to them.

Weary-Guide-2288@reddit

Current car situation:

Which car would you sell/trade-in based on this scenario

2015 golf VW TSI SEL 112k miles Regular service 1.2k on loan left 5-6k trade in 9-11k private sale

2003 Mitsubishi Montero Sport XLS AWD 109k Regular service Multiple upgrades but stock spec 2k trade in 5-6k private sale

My family is having a baby next month and I am wondering about our car situation.

The golf might end up too small for the three of us and all of our stuff. I am wondering which car I should upgrade. My wife commutes to the major metro area in our location, and we like to take road trips occasionally. Other than that we have pretty normal town/city driving.

The golf has been great to have, we have had very little problems but upkeep is expensive and right now they have good value.

The Montero is in great shape, has aftermarket stereo, suspension, rims and tires. Gas is not good, but upkeep is cheap and it fits as much stuff as we need it to. Also has great severe and off-road capability. It does have several cosmetic issues, but all upgrades match stock spec.

My wife wants to get rid of the Montero and invest in a new SUV, which means with a loan we would take on a good amount of debt and interest if we decided to do that. We would have a newer car, but the VW still might be a sore spot when we want to do stuff all together but don’t want an SUV. We would retain it for her commute.

My perspective is we upgrade the VW as the value we would get for this car would do a better job of curving new car and interest. Also, because it is a much more expensive car to service often costing 1k for pretty run of the mill stuff and wear and tear. They also don’t run forever like the Mitsubishi will. I think we should get a newer station wagon (perhaps hybrid), as that would still be good for commuting and if we want to get away on a weekend would fit all of our stuff. Our monthly payments would still be about the same.

With the VW having high value right now, I want to figure this out and make the upgrade during summer so we don’t loose out on value.

We both like things to be nice and enjoy driving.

When you think about a family of three, with these two scenarios what would you think would be a better option?

Our budget for a new to us car would probably be around 25k.

Models I am looking at:

Subaru Impreza or crosstrek Audi A4 Avant 2020-2023

scycron@reddit

Financially it makes sense to sell the golf and keep the Montero. However, I would actually sell the Montero and keep the golf because you are starting a family and crash safety is becoming more important.

Makes sense, the Montero does have good safety. Something to consider

FaZe_moose@reddit

Location: Northeast USA

Price range: $30,000 Max budget (preferably under)

New or used: New

Type of vehicle: Sedan/hatchback or SUV

Must haves: Fuel-efficient, practical trunk space, spacious interior, smooth ride (or somewhere in the middle of being able to push the car and cruising around the streets)

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc): Automatic

Intended use: Daily driver and family car. Overall life commuter

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: Battery changes

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: No

Additional Notes: Contenders in my dock have been a Civic, Camry, and HR-V

Lease or Buy: Either

New or used: Either

Type of vehicle: Sedan

Must haves: Sensors & 360-degree surround bird's eye view

Desired transmission: Auto

Intended use: Daily Driver

Vehicles you've already considered: 2026 Hyunda Sonata

Is this your 1st vehicle: No

Do you need a Warranty: Not necessarily

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: No

Additional Notes: The car I currently own has a KBB trade-in range of $2,130-$3,605 & I can also put $5k-$10k cash down.