I haven’t even been really watching the news for the past week, in fact I have barely registered what is going on outside of my own little sphere. But I know that Toyota is having a major recall for a sticking accelerator. They are in stopping production and fixing the problem.
So why do I care? I wonder is this the right time to consider buying a new/used toyota? Typically everyone knows used Toyotas are ridiculous about keeping their values. Thus it often is hard to justify buying a used 1 year old toyota that is priced $1k less than a new Toyota. Even 3 year old cars are expensive relative to deals you can get on other makes and models.
But with this recall, I wonder if Toyota’s reputation and value will decrease? Will it make it affordable for people to buy either a new or used Toyota?
What am I thinking about? Well I’d really love to buy a new Toyota and keep it at least 10 years. But which model I’m not sure. Right now I am starting to have a better feel for what we might require when buying our next car.
It must be 4 doors and automatic. It must comfortably fit car seat and 4 people. It would be nice if it could fit 3 people and 2 car seats. It must not be more than $25k. I am thinking our car buying journey will be taking us the rest of the year and possibly the summer. I have no idea when and how we’re going to squeeze it into our schedule. It really is better to do it before you have kids, but then after kids, you have a better appreciation for what might work and what won’t.
Suggestions and tips on what else to consider and look for would be appreciated. Do you think it’s a good time to look at Toyotas?
5 responses so far ↓
1 David // Feb 1, 2010 at 6:52 pm
We bought a used Toyota Sienna minivan last year and absolutely LOVE it. Minivans get a bad rap, especially from men who somehow think that it signals the end of their manliness. But for people with kids (we have two, with a third on the way) they are so practical. The sliding doors make getting the kids in and out of the car so easy, especially inside our somewhat cramped garage. One side has an automatic sliding door. They make a model with automatic doors on both sides, which I sometimes wish we had. You can also get a model with an automatic hatchback, but I don’t think that is quite as important as the doors. It is plenty roomy. The back two rows of seats can collapse to provide a large cargo area. Great for road trips. Lot’s of power, decent gas mileage. I could go on.
I’m don’t have a particular affinity for the Toyota brand — I’m sure there are other makes of minivan that are comparable. But we have had great success with our Sienna.
2 Tina // Feb 1, 2010 at 7:18 pm
I’m not sure what your idea of comfortable is, but outside the minivan realm or the realm of a three row SUV, you’ll have a tough time finding any car that comfortably fits 4 adults and a car seat. It’s doable in the Toyota Camry assuming none of the adults are too overweight, but it’s not really comfortable.
As for two car seats and three adults, I’ve done it before for very short trips and it’s next to impossible. I had to squeeze myself between the two car seats, have someone else buckle me in, and was sitting at a weird angle. It was done out of necessity. By car seats, at the time it was with two small children, so two convertible car seats.
All this is to say, if it’s really important to be able to fit four adults and a car seat, you really need to look at the minivan/Sienna or perhaps whatever Toyota’s big SUV is (Highlander? or is it Sequoia?)
3 Kristy // Feb 2, 2010 at 6:32 am
I really want a Toyota Highlander. That is the next vehicle that we will be purchasing. It fits 7 passengers, just like a minivan and drives beautifully. However, you will not find a new one under $25K. DH and I looked for a new car this summer and we chose not to buy something and see how long our current vehicles last. I could not stomach dropping $20K on a car/van, whatever. It seriously made me ill.
Just recently, DH bought a used Saturn Vue. He got a great deal on it even though it has more miles than I would have liked. We couldn’t pass it up, plus we paid cash for it. No car payments. I do not want car payments!
Anyway, good luck in your search. But you sound like me, so I doubt if you will want to spend lots of money on a car!
4 Forest // Feb 2, 2010 at 7:14 am
I’m not a big car person but I think a Toyota isn’t a bad idea at all to have as possibly your last gas fueled car…. 10 years time I hope gas is out and some kind of funky eco-friendly cars are ruling the road… This is something to bear in mind as gas cars may not be easy to sell in 10-15 years so buying new could lose you a lot of cash long term.
5 JoeP // Feb 4, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Look into a mid-size sedan, such as a Buick Century: plenty of space, can fit 6 adults pretty comfortably, massive trunk, front wheel drive, good mileage (around 30 highway), parts are plentiful, inexpensive.
If you’re looking for good winter performance, don’t go for a certain car make and model; you are far better off getting dedicated winter snow tires mounted on rims. I get MUCH better winter performance using actual snow tires on a front wheel drive car than I do with expensive all season M+S tires on a 4wd truck.
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