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Originally Posted by JST
I hate to be the guy recommending an SUV, but if her problem is banging curbs and replacing control arms, maybe that's not a bad choice?
The downside is that used SUVs are going to be more expensive and maybe she doesn't like driving them.
The old Outbacks you're looking at do seem like a lot of car for the money, but OTOH if you buy one of those and the transmission shits the bed in a week, you're in the same position you are now except with one more junk car in the front yard.
Honestly? I'd spend the money to get a decent Toyota Highlander. It's a terrible car that I would never want to drive, but it's going to be fine transportation, probably won't kill you on maintenance, and will have decent resale when/if you want to sell it. It's also not a terrible first car for teenagers if it comes to that.
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I do not disagree on the SUV durability point. She also drives 20k or more miles a year. Something more fuel efficient than a real SUV would be preferable. SUV sizes also bring other issues (a big one for me being that she park far enough on her side of the garage to not make me scream to myself every time I open the garage door). An SUV would also bring certain benefits. It's a compromise and not out of the question, but it would likely be a longer term solution rather than the quick fix bridge I'm contemplating right now.
Anything can shit the bed next week. Maybe if I was buying a late model M3 hundreds of miles away, it would shit the bed that very day before I was even fully on the freeway. The small initial outlay is the mitigation of that risk on the financial side. I'd be walking into it with the mentality that if it happens, I'll just have it hauled away rather than pretending that I'll fix it later like the decorative objects that are already there.
Should I buy something cheap that gives out immediately, I'll probably do it again and hope for better luck.
Going to restate this part for emhasis:
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Originally Posted by JST
I'd spend the money to get a decent
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I don't want to "spend the money" on something "decent" without a period of relaxed thinking about it.
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Originally Posted by equ
If you can achieve the above with a $3k car that is not going to suck more money, go for it...
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A bit of money over the course of a little while is okay. My thoughts are $3k purchase, up to $2k on "repairs" and up to $1k on "maintenance items" (excluding tires which will factor into negotiated price of vehicle) by the end of the calendar year. If/when I reach those thresholds, it goes on Craigslist and first reasonable offer takes it. "Reasonable" meaning that it won't cost me money to get rid of it, a total bed shitting not withstanding.
Overall, the car gods dealt me a shitty hand this week and it's going to cost me one way or another. Spending more, quickly, and under pressure, on something that may not be right for us is not the path I want to choose. Spending a little more over a slightly longer period on something that's right for us seems like a better choice.