Hey. I'm younger so my experience with vehicles is limited.

I've just about talked into getting an SUV, but I'm not sure that's exactly what we need.

We have two cars, one is my 04 200k miles Cooper, and the other is her 07 200k Aveo LT. We will build a family in a little over a year, so I was thinking comfortable and spacious, but we need a truck to haul lumber and other materials. An SUV seems good because if it has a large engine we could tow a trailer.

What do you guys think? We are looking for low milage 30k tops and $11k tops.

 

Don't breed.


OK, I'm kidding. Sort of. You can't be that young if you're close to starting a family. My only advise is stay away from all the junk crossovers. Get a real SUV if you feel you need one, or a sedan if you don't need to tow or drive through inclement weather. Pay cash, don't finance, work on it yourself.

I don't know what you potential plan to tow, that makes a big difference.

 

Lol we keep putting it off.

We intend to haul lumber, maybe furniture, trees logs and Building materials for projects that kinda thing.

Thanks for the no cross over advice

 

I just don't seem them being reliable now, and I don't see them being reliable in the long run.

Why don't you keep you small cars for DD purposes and buy a beater truck/SUV to haul stuff? That's the route I went. My wife has a Crosstrek (yes, I know I said no crossovers). Between that, the MINI, and my old truck we can pretty much get done whatever we need to do. No kids, though.

I'd recommend a Subaru, but I lovehate them.

 

I don't think kids are reliable even when they grow older.

I guess we could just jump for a truck, but we want a third vehicle with low milage as a spare so if one of our cars break down for a day we can go to work. Her car is heavily used in her job so it's more for her.

We do all our own work, and I have 5 years of experiments breaking cars and rebuilding them where she has passion and a drive to learn and save money. Fixing is no problem but we are kinda tired of it ATM.

So a low milage truck doesn't sound bad if I can talk her into it.

 

That's funny, I don't think kids are reliable are either. My wife and I are also having these conversations these days too...

It sounds like you are in a prime spot to just keep old beater vehicles that need constant attention. That's my life if I'm honest, I didn't mention the rest of the fleet.

If you don't mind driving a large vehicle you can get a long bed 4 door truck. That checks a few boxes for usability and child rearing.

 

Thanks for the conversation.

Craigslist or dealer?
​​​​​

45k miles and lower 2015 and older

 

Personal preference. I dislike dealing with dealers, but Craigslist has its own issues. Keep an eye on Facebook Marketplace, I've been using that to buy and sell in the last year or so.

 

How often do you need to haul stuff? I know so many people who daily drive pickup trucks but only rarely use the bed. You can put a trailer hitch on a sedan (I have one on my R52 S!) and buy a sub- $500 trailer for those times you have to haul 4x8 sheets. What I do is pay $29.99 to Home Depot once a year or so to use their truck. Still way cheaper than keeping a third vehicle licensed, insured, and maintained.

When my kids moved out, I sold my 2006 Forester and bought my R52 S. My wife drives a Nissan Leaf. I bicycle for 90% of my in-town trips, including getting groceries, and I'm in suburbia, not a downtown. I still manage to get lumber, furniture, and appliances home when I need to.

 

Hi. I got into the same situation, I need a second car. But I don’t want a car with big clearance, like a crossover. I am looking among hatchback cars. I like this body shape. I need 5 seats and an average price. Any advice

 

I see most people driving big vehicles they don't need. If I'm honest, I only have an F250 because it was a great deal, I don't need a big truck (although small trucks are no longer a thing). I only DD it in the winter so my MINI doesn't get salted, and so I have the 4x4 for the snow. The 9-12 mpg means I don't drive it if it isn't serving a purpose. When this truck reaches the end of its life, I will probably end up with a much smaller winter beater and a small trailer to tow. Most sedans will tow a small trailer with a motorcycle, tools, appliances, or materials, which is 90% of my hauling needs. I will miss having the heavy duty truck for its brute force, though. It towed a 16 foot enclosed trailer with my classic Mini in it, like the trailer wasn't even there. I won't be able to do that without a big truck.

Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Reliable, cheap to fix, plentiful in the used market and in junkyards. If you want the hatch you are in Subaru wagon or small hatch territory. Again, I love/hate Subarus. On paper they are great, but they have enough issues that I'm wary. And I'm skeptical of all CVTs. If you need five seats I'm assuming things like the Nissan Versa Note are too small. My mom has one of those and I've driven it a few times, it is very tight with 3 people in the backseat. It's an awful car to drive, but it's reliable and economical.

 

Hi. I got into the same situation, I need a second car. But I don’t want a car with big clearance, like a crossover. I am looking among hatchback cars. I like this body shape. I need 5 seats and an average price. Any advice

 

A Miata because:
Miata
Is
Always
The
Answer.

Seriously, a Ford Ranger or something like that might fit your needs. Cheap, easy to work on, parts are plentiful and cheap, good on fuel (for what it is), smallish (won't take up much real estate) and they made millions of them, so, they are, well, cheap.