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Sep 11, 2021
8:03:11am
BYU Fan All-American
I need car buying advice
Due to changes with my job, I am going to need to by a car for myself. I am 100% not a car guy and know very little about them other than how to fill it up with gas and step on the gas. I've been very spoiled driving company vehicles for 10+ years.

I am mainly going to be using the job to commute to work 3-4 times/week (Saratoga to SLC - ugh!). I see myself putting 15k plus miles on it per year.

I may be searching for somewhat of a unicorn that doesn't exist but things I want include ....

- extremely reliable (always a crap shoot)
- low mileage
- relatively inexpensive
- good value

It seems that we can get a cheap car ($5k range or under) but I see that just being a nightmare and spending tons of money on repairs. But we would likely not have a car payment which would be a huge plus. My wife seems to be leaning this direction but this seems to be my least favorite option.

I was originally hoping to get a reputable car in the under $10k range with around 50,000 miles but those don't seem to exist.

There seem to be a few options in the $12-$15k range (Hyundai with 50k miles, Toyota with 70k miles, etc). With these I just start to worry about what may be wrong with them. It seems like a lot of money and commitment to a vehicle that may have huge problems.

If I jump up to the $15-20k range, there are even more options (some Honda's and even a few new vehicles). I really don't want to spend this much money but these might be the best value. When buying used here, I still wonder what may be wrong and what I might be missing. The proverbial if "it's too good to be true it probably is" rings very true. And not being a car guy, I'm not sure what additional value I'm getting for my extra $5k (hopefully just decreasing the odds of massive repairs in the next year or two).

So basically, at this point I don't love any of the options but I need (okay really want) a car. It's a big purchase and I want something that will last without breaking the bank and I don't want to over pay.

Any advice or thoughts on the best option to go?

Also, any advice on whether to go through a private party or a dealership? I don't want to pay a bunch of extra fees but I also trust a dealership more than I trust some random guy when making a large purchase. Financing for a more expensive vehicle seems like it could be a pain for a private party purchase as well.

UGH!
This message has been modified
Originally posted on Sep 11, 2021 at 8:03:11am
Message modified by BYU Fan on Sep 11, 2021 at 8:14:50am
Message modified by BYU Fan on Sep 11, 2021 at 8:15:43am
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