Vroom... clunk

[drwex]

My mechanic has informed me that my current car (Subaru Forester) needs north of $3k in repairs. I don't think the car is worth investing that much more into, given that there are likely other things set to fail. I've taken it from 0 to over 125k miles and I've gotten my money's worth. If I'm going to replace the car, I'd like to get some advice and pointers.

I'm interested in getting significantly better mileage if I can, but I'm not sure I want to go the hybrid route. I know VW has some high-quality, high-mileage advanced diesel models. I don't know what other options I have besides these two for a high-mileage car. I might go with Subaru as I like their vehicles, but the mileage tends to suck. But...

I'm unconvinced I want another new car. The economics of new aren't hugely favorable to me and I'm not sure I want to take on the financial nut of a big auto loan. But the best mileage and cleanest engines are going to be on the newer models.

Finally, I'm fond of hatchbacks. It's not a deciding factor for me, but the ability to haul boxes and/or small pieces of furniture is a big plus.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

Comments

AWD?

[ahf.livejournal.com]

How tied to having all wheel drive are you? That will limit your options significantly, however it is darned useful at times.

[drwex]

I love my current AWD but as the weather warms and the snow driving decreases I feel it's less necessary.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Get a used diesel?

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Talk to mangosteen who owns a VW diesel wagon. Personally, I have coveted the Golf TDI a lot. If I were buying a car again, and if I could afford it, I would probably get that. The Honda Fit (veek owns one) is also great. Mileage lower than the Golf, but probably significantly higher than your Forrester, and the cargo room in it is phenomenal. They moved the gas tank in it, so the back seats fold all the way down. The fit, while much smaller than the Kia Soul I owned for a brief time, had WAY more usable room. The Soul was in my price range, so I got it, but a Fit or a Golf are much better bets, I think.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

I liked the Kia Soul I drove as a rental a lot. I didn't like the name of the car plastered EVERYWHERE and decided if they were that insecure about their car name I wouldn't buy the car.

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

We have two Toyota Corollas; one's a 1995, and the other's a 1994. They still get good mileage, they don't need repairs that often, and one's a hatchback. We'll be replacing the 1994 soon because the previous owner let rust get to it, and it's going to become unsafe soon. The 1995, on the other hand, is still going strong, and we expect to have it for several more years.

Before these cars, we had a Toyota Tercel. We used to meet other Tercel owners at gas stations who would brag about how many miles their cars had on them and ask how many miles ours had.

In our experience, Toyotas go and go and go and go...

That said, if I were you, I'd get the Consumer Reports car issue and take note of their recommendations. They test a lot of cars AND gather frequency-of-repair reports from readers, so their data set is a lot larger than the set of your friends. Your local public library should have back issues, or you can look stuff up online, for a reasonable fee.

[dcltdw]

This about CR. I have a '98 Corolla with 165K miles that's still fine, but enh, anecdotes != data.

[points.livejournal.com]

I have a 2010 Jetta TDI wagon. I'd be willing to let you take it out for a spin if you'd like to see how you fit into it and how it feels to you.

[drwex]

That'd be great. I just need to figure out when.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

And we have things to give him. Maybe this weekend?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

milktree and frotz both have VW diesels, bought used. They both seem to be quite fond of them.

milktree did mention it helped if you liked to work on your own car and had a good relationship with a source of VW parts.

earthling77 and dpolicar also have a VW (gasoline, I think) as their second car, bought new. earthling77 says VWs are designed to be owned by Germans: i.e., owners who follow the service manual intervals meticulously.

[goddessfarmer.livejournal.com]

If you want to test drive an older (2006) Prius, it could be arranged. Love the gas milage, and even though I'm 3rd owner on this one and it has 98K miles, I haven't had any major repairs.