reliable sedan under 10k

[Silver Sinsei]

My wife's car took a crap this morning and we are just going to scrap it. Now we are looking st cars. We need a 4 door automatic transmission sedan that gets decent milage. I started the day looking at $4000 ford focus and finished the day nearly buying a 2003 BMW 325i for $8000. The budget just seems to keep growing. Anyway, I'd like to find something for around 8,000 that we can drive until the wheels fall off.

My wife wants a luxury car. I keep growing thinking that it must be a bad idea but can't figure out why. Anything wrong with a BMW 325i? How about an Audi a4?

[Dan [Sac]]

BMW is fine and relatively easy to work on. Maintenance schedule is not just a suggestion - follow it. Parts can be pricier. Cooling systems absolutely must be serviced according to OEM schedule, but overall strong performers, comfortable, German precision.

I would avoid at all costs Audi/VW variants (personal experience, yours may vary).

Mazda 6, fully loaded.

Honda Accords will go 250k miles routinely (350k+ well maintained).

Fully loaded Camrys might rival lightly loaded Lexi.....Lexuses?

In your price range, probably stay away from the Detroit offerings, although Ford seems to be ahead of the rest in the $10k range.

Read reviews, check the bulletin boards for common problems....and test drive. A lot.

[branscoset]

BMW is fine and relatively easy to work on. Maintenance schedule is not just a suggestion - follow it. Parts can be pricier. Cooling systems absolutely must be serviced according to OEM schedule, but overall strong performers, comfortable, German precision.

I would avoid at all costs Audi/VW variants (personal experience, yours may vary).

Mazda 6, fully loaded.

Honda Accords will go 250k miles routinely (350k+ well maintained).

Fully loaded Camrys might rival lightly loaded Lexi.....Lexuses?

In your price range, probably stay away from the Detroit offerings, although Ford seems to be ahead of the rest in the $10k range.

Read reviews, check the bulletin boards for common problems....and test drive. A lot.

As always Dan is right on the money here.

BMW cooling systems are not fun to work on though, and he is right parts are pricey. You are paying for the luxury of owning a BMW basically.

I would add Kia, Hyundia, and Mistubishi to the stay away list, although I have had a number of higher end vehicles from each of those manufactures in my shop for basic maintenance, and they are still going with 150k+ miles. Just not my cup of tea.

I am partial to Toyota and Honda for reliability, and if I for some god awful reason was going to buy a new/newer car it would be one of those two. I wouldn't even bother looking at other dealers or brands. My money isn't worth the headache associated with owning anything else.

Just my 2cents .

[notso swift]

The answer is usually German, and actually built in Germany, not as common as they will have you believe.
As said above, do your maintenance and the reliability will follow - skimping here see's a world of pain, so you need to know the first owner/s did the right thing.

We are MB people, but BM can do the job as well, IMHO serious cars are really at the Eclass/5series space
I run an old E Class (2008) for the past 5 years, had a W210 before that, my wife has a brand new CLA, previously had a CLC you can see the core engineering differences (but the new cars have nice toys like radar cruise, which is so impressive, so I will go to a W212 soon)

Japanese built cars (again actually from Japan) are also commendable

[Silver Sinsei]

How about Subaru's in that range?

[poissonn]

I bought a 2007 acura TSX a year ago and I love it, it had 105k miles when I got it and now 120k and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

[SuperSquid]

from what I've seen, hyundai and kia after 2002 are very reliable vehicles and usually easy to work on if something does go wrong. If you can handle the lack of performance, you can drive them into the ground pretty easily after a few hundred thousand miles.

The mazda platform vehicles in that price range are very nice and last a long while.

Camry's just suck for interiors...plus the transmissions suck too. Don't buy a camry.

[mxboost]

Luxury, Reliability for a good price? Audi's are junk, and everyone I know with a BMW has had to put a lot of money into them. There are a lot of cheap sedans that you could get pretty decked out (leather, heated seats, sunroof, etc.) If i were to be in the market for something in that range, I'd be looking at a loaded Mazda 6 or a Subaru Legacy. MAYBE Accord or Camry because they are a little humdrum for my tastes.

[klze662]

I bought a 2007 acura TSX a year ago and I love it, it had 105k miles when I got it and now 120k and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

This!!! I have a 04 acura tsx with 280,000 on the clock all i have ever done is oil changes and tires and it still doesn't need brakes!!! , awesome car nothing but great things and it seems you can get them fully loaded for under 10000 with nav, sat radio, and heated seats, and the oem hids have a hella sharp light cutoff. Ohh and it still gets 24 plus mpg.

---------- Post added at 08:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 AM ----------

ohh and yea avoid anything like a a4 with that 1.8t my wife has a vw beetle with the 1.8t nothing but probs.

[yellowrob]

Just looked up some mercedes wiper blades for a fellow and they were only direct for 110.00 bucks a piece.

[Silver Sinsei]

How about this one?
http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/cto/4624292093.html

[SuperSquid]

did you buy it? cause it's gone

[silversensi]

a friend of mine had a 07 subie legacy and had to put 4000 in repairs in one year. subies are prone to driveline issues with their all wheel drive system...its just more stuff to brake.

I just recently purchased a 07 mazdaspeed 3 and am loving it...great car. build quality is great and its a blast to drive.

if someone were to ask me i would say a regular mazda 3 is a really nice car, solid build quality and the hatch version is very versatile, much like the probe but with 2 more doors and a taller roof. great cars!

[MonoxideChild]

My Mazda6 has been awesome to me since its purchase back in 2006. If you want to spend less, how about a Millenia? Or even a 626.

[zerialz]

Avoid an ATX 626 at all costs mine blew with 120k on the clock and with the newest ones being manufactured over a decade ago you'll be hard pressed to find one with extremely low mileage.. That trans is a sad face. New mazda's are nice but nothing I'd consider "luxury". The best advice is what's already been said.. German luxury car = Germany luxury repair costs..