Hyundai Venue for work ... road warrior

[jsean]

My work situation is going to be changing and I will be putting some pretty decent mileage for work starting shortly. Truck shopping is no longer on the table.

Nothing I own is reliable or fuel efficient enough to travel for work. Until I buy something, I'm going to be borrowing my fiancé's Sentra. Which is what I would buy if I could but that exact car brand new again.

2-3 year old used cars just don't seem to be a value at all. Plus you run into them starting to rust here in ny. People keep saying 2 or 3 year old Toyota ... but for the price of a 2 or 3 year old Toyota, I can buy a brand new Toyota. Even with that ... new toyotas all have electronic parking brakes (really do not trust them) and are DI which I would like to avoid. Cash deal unless I can get lucky and score 0% financing.

Years ago when I was a road warrior, I bought a base model Focus ... which was the cheapest car I could get new. It had a warranty and mileage reimbursements paid for the car, fuel and insurance.

Venues seem to be the cheapest car available now. I'm only considering base model. They seem to have a lot going for them.
- Port fuel injection ... seems this is a good engine and doesn't self destruct
- Beam rear axle - small car and independent rear suspension is a recipe for new tires every 10,000 miles (see: Ford focus)
- cable actuated parking brake

CVTs don't scare me. I would like to be able to drag the ATV or a load of trash to the dump but ... may not work out with one of these.

Seems like they're a decent little car for what they are.

I’ve had the venue and it’s a loud penalty box. I know the Versa got brought up and you aren’t necessarily considering a used vehicle with the current market. You can also get base model Sentra “S” close to $20k. I recently got a 2025 Sentra as a rental that was a pretty decent on the highway. Much quieter than the Venue. Just another option to consider. Yeah it’s got the CVT but just do the spill and fill every 30k miles

 

[Nick1994]

Fly down south and buy an Avalon or ES350. I paid $17k last year for mine with 90k miles. Very comfortable.

I figure a 90k mile Avalon or ES350 has as many miles left in it as a brand new Hyundai. And it’s cheaper. I get 30-31 mpg every tank mostly highway.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I’ve had the venue and it’s a loud penalty box. I know the Versa got brought up and you aren’t necessarily considering a used vehicle with the current market. You can also get base model Sentra “S” close to $20k. I recently got a 2025 Sentra as a rental that was a pretty decent on the highway. Much quieter than the Venue. Just another option to consider. Yeah it’s got the CVT but just do the spill and fill every 30k miles

I actually really like our 2019 Sentra with the CVT. It doesn't scare me - I've drained / filled at 15,20 and pulled the pan and changed both filters at 30K miles.

The generation after our 2019 isn't too bad , but it has things I'm not the biggest fan of. I do not trust electronic parking brakes, independent rear suspension on small cars just eats tires and DI isn't my favorite.

The current Generation Sentra is just awkward looking.

 

[supton]

independent rear suspension on small cars just eats tires

My experience is that the twist beams eat tires too. Maybe more simple straight axles work better, but going from my VW with a twist to independent axle did nothing to fix tire feathering issues.

 

[jsean]

I actually really like our 2019 Sentra with the CVT. It doesn't scare me - I've drained / filled at 15,20 and pulled the pan and changed both filters at 30K miles.

The generation after our 2019 isn't too bad , but it has things I'm not the biggest fan of. I do not trust electronic parking brakes, independent rear suspension on small cars just eats tires and DI isn't my favorite.

The current Generation Sentra is just awkward looking.

I’ve never had odd wear issues with independent rear suspension or twist beam rear axles, but perhaps I’ve just gotten lucky thus far.

I’m not sure if you’ve considered the Kia K4. I know it’s a Hyun Kia vehicle but it’s got the 10yrs warranty which is maybe worth something?