Best car for a remote worker?
Posted by mateogdlq@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 32 comments
First time asking car guys. Hopefully this is the right place to ask for my car situation
I’m a remote worker, only drive for leisure and errands and looking to spend $200-400 a month on a new car. What is a good car to get that I can invest in knowing I won’t apply many miles and be satisfied with more modern features? Is this budget going to offer me used/lease only? Is electric better for this scenario?
Never gone to a dealership to get a car, got my first car at carmax and don’t really know where to start if I should buy new, used, or lease. Trying to learn before committing to a car.
My 2015 mini cooper is in need of 3k of repairs and don’t want to invest anymore or encounter future issues. Funny enough, it’s valued at 3-4k too so I would use that as a down payment for trade in.
Looked into Tesla (because of the low Apr offers), Volkswagen Jetta (parents had it), and Toyota Corolla/rav 4 (heard minimal repairs). I hear going to the dealer at the end of the month is way to go for good deals
Cragscorner@reddit
Miata. Miata. Miata. Miata. Miata !!
litBG@reddit
As a remote worker I wouldn’t care to much about fuel economy. Buy a truck or a sports car. Mustang gt
Thanks9527@reddit
Did the same thing when covid happened and eventually stayed at home. Got a Cayenne GTS (12mpg city, 17 highway if I get lucky) for 5ish years and eventually had to go back to commuting. Hoped to keep the car but at the end it's not economical to commute in that.
wolfmann99@reddit
Mustang GT (\~25mpg) + 80 series Land Cruiser (12 mpg)
WI762@reddit
I work remote and bought a Silverado 2500, camper, and Starlink. Oh the places you'll go!
When I'm home long term, I have considered a run around car, but even with today's diesel prices I'm spending less than $100 a month on fuel.
lyfehaqer@reddit
BMW I5 M60. I work remote but once Friday and the weekend hits, I love driving everywhere, driving to different cities and exploring. I usually do 300 miles within those days so thought this would be the best option.
TellemTom@reddit
I work remote and have a miata.
FitEstablishment4627@reddit
Got a pic? 🔥
Netghod@reddit
My initial thought is to buy what works for you and you enjoy driving.
For me, that is a Miata. :) But you won’t get a new one at the budget you have set aside. And you didn’t mention if that includes insurance or anything else.
But run the numbers, if you get a $400 payment for 4 years with a 0% interest rate, you’re buying a sub $20,000 car - which will limit you to about 5 models in the US unless you plan to run the loan for a lot longer period of time. Pushing out to a 7 year loan only gets you to $33,600 OUT THE DOOR. That includes tax, tag, dealer fees, etc. So you’re still in a sub $30k car before that gets added in. And the prices fall if the interest rate is anything above 0%.
You’d be better off repairing the Mini if you aren’t expecting anything else to go wrong, or shifting to a different used car with a lower cost to maintain.
zevtech@reddit
How much are you planning to put down to get this 200 dollar car note? Seems kinda rare to get a new car that cheap.
mateogdlq@reddit (OP)
It’s ok if not new, open to used at that budget, just don’t know really what car could be good to get
sprchrgddc5@reddit
$200/mt for 60 months is a $12k loan, $9.6k if it’s 48 months. We just bought a Model Y at $56k. So you’re looking to put down roughly $44-46k for a car to have $200/mt payments.
Maybe consider looking at the overall price of the car, with interest, and not the monthly payment amount.
Tall-Dish876@reddit
If you would consider an EV, use OFFOLab to get your best fit
Solid-Tumbleweed-981@reddit
I'm remote and have 3 vehicles lol
Although I bought my truck before being remote and it's used for truck stuff
My car I bought because I thought I would be remote and traveling at least once a month to my customer... That didn't happen and now I can't get rid of it bc it's the last V6 full size sedan basically lol
Then I bought a sports car bc I clearly needed something more smiles per gallon lol
Icy-Cardiologist-958@reddit
Remote worker? No car. Walk or use ride share if you need to go somewhere.
Not_Sure__Camacho@reddit
My EV plugs in and gets me enough charge a day for a full commute. If you can plug in at home, I'd look at something like a Nissan leaf or Chevy bolt.
Adorable-Roll-3849@reddit
I work from home I bought a 2023 suburu Impreza cash brand new, Before that I had a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500.
The reason I went from a big vehicle to a small vehicle is because I hated parking my truck at stores and such for small errands and trips where I just wanted to get in and out quickly. When I did want to take trips the truck was way more to fill up and a gas guzzler and it’s not as fun to drive as my suburu in my opinion.
ZaphodG@reddit
Cars are a depreciating asset, not an investment. A car that’s an investment lives in a garage, is rarely driven, and won’t be $200/month.
How do you spend your leisure time? I telecommuted for a decade. My requirements were AWD, some ground clearance, 3000+ pounds of towing, and some cargo space. I’m 6’2” so I care about headroom and legroom.
JosephR1313@reddit
Hyundai has lots of good cars at a reasonable price. Go to the dealer see what they offer you offer them a couple thousand dollars less of what they offer you tell them that's all you have and you'll see they'll come down pretty close
Thespazzywhitebelt@reddit
I got a wide body scat pack
Gringuin007@reddit
Honda accord. Will run forever. Can sit for a month or longer and start up every time. My buddy commutes (bus) and parks on the street. 26 year old car with 80k miles. Obviously you’re not getting a BMW again. If you need something bigger, just rent a car for 2 hours, day, weekend or week
Dolphin_Princess@reddit
Tesla Model 3
End of story, not even close
ExcellentWinner7542@reddit
Pick the cheapest lease you can find.
EuroCanadian2@reddit
You can use loan calculators see how big the downpayment will need to be for any new car to keep the monthly payments in the $200 to $400 range. I am pretty sure it will be 2x or 3x the cost of repairs to your Mini.
Rough_Cancel7265@reddit
Electric sounds like a good fit for you. Especially if you can plug in a level 1 charger
e90t@reddit
As a fellow remote worker, I would just spend the $3k on repairs and not have the monthly payment + increase in insurance costs.
But if you really want to buy something new, of the choices you picked, I’d go with leasing a Tesla or buying a Rav 4. Leasing the Tesla is so cheap and the Rav 4 will hold its value long term.
howrunowgoodnyou@reddit
Get a used Prius. You sound so clueless that an appliance will be perfect. Just make sure it has the nice stereo package.
Justthetip74@reddit
If you have charging at home id lease a model 3
mateogdlq@reddit (OP)
Why lease over used/new?
Justthetip74@reddit
Its $300/mo and I know a half dozen people who have had to replace batteries (both wareantee and not). Youre not driving substantial miles and $3k down and $300/mo sounds better to me than $650/mo payment. Just get a new one or something else when the lease ends
mateogdlq@reddit (OP)
Good info! The idea of leasing sounds nice from what you express
Critical-Magician421@reddit
End of the month is good.
End of a month that is also end of a quarter is very good.
The next quarter ends June 30th.
In your case, it might be a good idea not to get tied to one model and shop the deal. See who's giving you the best bang for the buck and play dealers off each other.
Toyotas tend to be reliable. Which is why they are the biggest carmaker in the world.
Because of this they can be harder to get deals on. The RAV4 just got redesigned and they don't have enough in stock to sell to their customers. People are buying them months ahead of before they hit the lot. So it's a long wait for them.
It also means in the used market there are often a premium price attached to them. If you own one it's great because they retain their value well when you sell, but if you're the buyer you're going to pay a little more.
If you're not drive that much, it may be worth it to get a used Rental Car from Hertz or Enterprise.
The cars will have taken the depreciation hit of the first couple years so they'll be cheaper, and you can finance through Hertz.