Quote:
Originally Posted by slowmover
Family responsibility is vehicle spec in a nutshell.
FE is only one marker of low cost. Long life and high reliability trump it, especially when coupled with safety-related statistical data on design.
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Are Small Cars Safe?
What car is as close to this as possible?
- Safe enough. Something that I won't regret buying if I ever get in an accident. According to Edmunds, bigger is better in this category, even accounting for top heavy SUV's. Of course I think there's a balance between a Suburban and a scooter.
- Affordable. I don't want to have to choose between eating and driving. According to experts, an average car owner shouldn't spend more than 20% of his income on his transportation needs. In my case that would be about $500 per month. Payments on an Avalon for me would be about $180 in payments, $100 in insurance and $180 in fuel. That's $460 per month right there. Is $40 per month enough for taxes, maintenance and repairs? Of course I also drive a lot more than average and make a lot less than average, so I'm not average.
- Reliable and long living. Something that isn't going to leave me stranded out in the middle of nowhere. And we have a lot of nowhere out here without cell phone service. Lots of cars are reliable in their first 200,000 miles. But I will be putting a lot more than that on my car. To make financial sense, I'd have to keep a car for at least 10 years or 420,000 miles. Now I'm all for preventative maintenance and car care as the number one priority. But as far as brands go, Toyota seems to be up near the top.
- Good for long distance driving. I just got back from Salt Lake City and plan on driving to Fort Worth next week. And I find my little Golf to be a bit of a pain in the rear end (literally).
Sounds like I need a full sized sedan that costs $10,000 or less, that gets at 40mpg or better and won't need anything major repaired for the next 500,000 miles. Mmm… maybe a...
>>THIS<<
The more I think about it the more my head hurts.