Best used car to buy?

[Recumpence]

Hey Guys,

Since buying my C-Max, I have fallen in love with the hybrid "Thing". I totally get it and love every minute of driving to pull every last mile from each tank. So much so that I am looking to buy a small spare car for my wife to do errand running with during the day. Our Toyota Highlander is just not needed as much anymore since our daughter is going away to college and our one son is mostly with his friends. So, a 7 seater is not needed.

Anyway, I have found that the majority of the time, my wife drives by herself (errand running) or with our youngest son too. We go out by ourselves frequently as well. So, I wanted to look for a Gen-1 Insight. I have seen them occasionally for $4,000 or so. Perfect for what we would need. However, she thinks the Insight is "Butt-Ugly" [in her words]. And she wants something that will seat 4 people. If I could find a Prius-C for less than $7,000 I would go that route. But, that does not seen possible.

What are your thoughts on the ideal car for our situation? I know the standard Prius would be a good choice. But, I wanted some other suggestions as well.

What do you think?

Matt

[Recumpence]

True. But a dealer will want to sell what they can make the most money on, not what is best for the customer.

I may just buy an Insight on my own and let my wife get used to the idea. I have spent more on a "Toy" for myself without any real practicality to it.

Matt

[vskid3]

What are your priorities? Sounds like the budget is about $7000, correct?

A Prius will get you the best mileage in a 4+ seater, but does your wife like the looks? There is the more conventional looking Civic hybrid, but they seem to have more problems than other hybrids, from what I've seen. Not saying it would be a bad choice, just make sure you do some research. If she is in love with SUVs, the Escape hybrid will get 30-35MPG depending on her driving.

[Recumpence]

Good ideas. I tend to forget about the Civics.......

I am open for anything from a $4,000 car that may need a bit of work, to $8,000.

Matt

[GreenHornet]

How many miles would she be driving the majority of the time? I ask this because if its really small any car would do and then simply convert it to electric. Depending on what car and what you can get it for you may be close to the $8,000 figure. Going this route will save you quite a bit in fuel costs and efficiency over time. For a run around town errands vehicle the pure electric car is hard to beat for efficiency.

last night I ran across this local Ford Festiva electric car conversion for sale I thought for the cost its not to bad. = 1990 ford festiva electric 5 speed

Despite it needing new batteries all the hard work is done for you and at that $3,500 asking price depending on what batteries you go with your payback would be pretty quick. You would be surprised just how little in battery cost it takes to go 30-40 miles in a small compact car like the Festiva.

Just a thought I know how the looks thing is my wife is the same Me I could drive most anything and not care at all on the looks as long as its efficient and gets the job done.