Hersbird if I could only have one vehicle a Subaru Outback would be at the top of the list with a CRV or RAV4 AWD right behind them. My mom has a RAV4 that I will one day, hopefully 20 years from now, inherit. It's a 2001 and just rolled 22,000 miles and always kept in a garage.
Cash for clunkers has destroyed the used car market here. People traded in perfectly fine cars they could afford with plenty of life in them for cars they couldn't afford that ended up getting repoed or resold 12 months later. Their old cars were destroyed as part of the program. They then bought up what remaining used cars were left after loosing the new car and drove the used price through the roof. Your car in Atlanta would be advertised for $5k and sell at $4500 if it is rust free.
KBB is so far off what stuff is selling for in North GA it isn't funny. I sold my 86 4Runner in March for $4300. I bought it with a bad transmission for $1200 8 years before that. It needed paint, carpet, and seats recovered and the A/c wasn't working. I rebuilt the transmission my self for $200. KBB listed it for $1600 in fair condition. I paid through the nose for my Cruiser and I can easily get $9k for it right now. If I held out $10k by March. It's crazy!
If I'm keeping the Cruiser I need the second car to get 40+ MPG to make the math work. If I was smart (I'm not lol) I'd suck it up and just buy a good condition Prius. I want something I can enjoy on the awesome mountain roads we have here. Hense my desire for sport compact type vehicle or something unique. What would be more fun then a insight that is getting 45-50mpg hwy that has a weight to horse power ratio of a muscle car?
