Need "new" car.

[Great-Kazoo]

get him beater for a first vehicle. We gave our daughter the 72 gmc farm truck as 1st vehicl, which she didn't want to drive. Till she was sitting at a light during the snow. Got rear ended exited the truck to see what damage was there, only to see the car that hit her was crushed back to the radiator . The 72, some paint off the bumper.
With a beater there's no serious issues if there's a fender bender, or it lunches a piston.

[Sawin]

Infinities don’t hold their value well, can probably get an awd g37 with 50-60k in that price range...

I can vouch for that; exactly what I did. Sold my 2006 Subaru STI with 127K miles for $13k and bought a much nicer, more comfortable 2013 G37X with 24K miles for $17.5K. Haven’t regretted it for a second!

If you’re just looking for a cheap commuter option or a first car for him, go look at the AutoSource in Windsor. They have some branded title cars that shouldn’t have been branded.... and many more that should be branded but still may be of good value.

[ray1970]

So, just to clarify, the “new” vehicle is for you and the Yaris will be handed down to the kid?

[BushMasterBoy]

I bought a gently used white 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis for $4000 last month. Still has new car smell. Has 53K miles. Interior nearly perfect, leather seats. Dark tinted windows. Added a 40'000 BTU trans cooler and coil springs. New tires shocks etc. Now I'm nearly $6K into it,insurance is 240 bucks a year. Looks like a cop car. Gas mileage sucks, 19 city/25 hiway. Power everything...even power adjust brake and gas pedal. 4.6L V8 with overhead cams and fuel injection is easy to service and plenty of parts available. I wish I could have found a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor with low mileage...but you can't always get what you want. The alloy wheels are made in Italy. It sold for $27'000 in 2001. I have the original window sticker. I see a few low mileage on Craigs for twice what I paid, the newer ones are flex fuel. Not sure if I made the right choice, but I really like driving it. Now if I can just find some body armor plates for it...and maybe a rack for an AR!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Panther_platform

[Zundfolge]

W123 Mercedes Diesel. No its not quick, nor fast but its comfortable and borderline indestructible (and can run on waste oil if the SHTF).

[Erni]

Sorry for late reply, been on my roof all day spackling, caulking, priming and painting.
Car is for me, not the boy.

Zund, I had a 123 before in brick burnt orange, kind of over that car.

I will have to look at a subaru. Smaller turbo engine might be the way to get pep and milage.

[BushMasterBoy]

I drove a 2015 VW Jetta TDI diesel last week. Friend of mine bought it from a dealer. I changed the oil on it, which was kind of a bitch. You have to remove 11 screws to remove a cover. But it drove really nice. Performance was on par with a gas powered car. 6 speed manual w/ 2 liter turbo charged diesel. They paid just under 12K with 51k miles on it. 100,000 mile warranty on engine only. I guess VW is desperate to sell these reprogrammed diesels. This Jetta is loaded and comes with Sirius satellite radio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksw...ssions_scandal

[Jer]

Crazy coincidence; I just posted up my beloved 2011 Kia Optima SX turbo the other day to Craigslist for $5.00 under your target budget. It matches all of your parameters save for AWD which I would personally say is unnecessary & adds more maintenance & cost when get into higher mileage plus lowers MPG.

I bought it new & for 100k miles now we've never had a single problem. It's got features & options you still don't find on cars today. I already miss the vented/cooled seats and heated front and rear seats will be awesome in the coming months. For under $15k you won't find a better car & I firmly believe that. We hate selling it & know we're going to miss it. It's been the best car we've owned in a long list.

I'm not too far away & have title in-hand.

[ben4372]

Another vote for Infinity. A friend bought one last year for way less than I thought it should be. Well then they were on my radar. I started bumping into younger people all over that were picking them up for not much. People that have them seem to like them long term. If you can live with a manual, the Mazda Speed 6 is AWD, and peppy.

[hurley842002]

Crazy coincidence; I just posted up my beloved 2011 Kia Optima SX turbo the other day to Craigslist for $5.00 under your target budget. It matches all of your parameters save for AWD which I would personally say is unnecessary & adds more maintenance & cost when get into higher mileage plus lowers MPG.

I bought it new & for 100k miles now we've never had a single problem. It's got features & options you still don't find on cars today. I already miss the vented/cooled seats and heated front and rear seats will be awesome in the coming months. For under $15k you won't find a better car & I firmly believe that. We hate selling it & know we're going to miss it. It's been the best car we've owned in a long list.

I'm not too far away & have title in-hand.

Those cars are pretty slick, my wife looked at one a few years back, but she ended up with a VW Jetta (she has a thing for Jetta's).