What's the best courier vehicle that's not a prius for no more than 20k?

doublebase said:
It’s not going to be any more fun than the Prius, it’s the exact same car. You will lose the stigma though and it sounds like that is the number one priority for you (honestly I don’t blame you). People that own the Prius are absolutely murdered with stereotypes. I work in the industry and I don’t even like driving one into the shop...I get laughed at up and down (and I’m only driving the thing in).

I owned a Hyundai Accent 20 years ago...I had a 80 miles daily commute and would put 35,000 miles on my car a year. I figured...hey, who cares, I need a commuter car. I was made fun of every weekend from my friends and family for the two years I owned that thing. I still get reminded of it, so although initially I thought you should keep the Prius...I now see why you’d want to dump it. The Lexus is the Prius, but in Wolfe’s clothing. Much better.
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Thanks. Going to a reputable dealer today to check out a 2017 Mazda 3 Touring in the beautiful soul red color. It's a hatchback so that's practical just like the prius. It's listed at 14,700 with 42,000 miles on it. I'll most likely be going home with it. Mazda makes really good cars that are fun yet return pretty good mpg.
 
Jbrow327 said:
Thanks. Going to a reputable dealer today to check out a 2017 Mazda 3 Touring in the beautiful soul red color. It's a hatchback so that's practical just like the prius. It's listed at 14,700 with 42,000 miles on it. I'll most likely be going home with it. Mazda makes really good cars that are fun yet return pretty good mpg.
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That’s a sharp looking nice little car. Nice front grill and the hatch looks really cool. Best of luck.
 
Just curious. Is your gross pay $700-1000ish/week? I was trying to convince a friend that is out of work and has a ton of miles remaining on a lease to do this for income. Personally, I’d keep the Prius and drive it til it dies.
 
RhondaHonda said:
Just curious. Is your gross pay $700-1000ish/week? I was trying to convince a friend that is out of work and has a ton of miles remaining on a lease to do this for income. Personally, I’d keep the Prius and drive it til it dies.
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Yes gross. I get to write off 56 cents per mile for taxes so that's awesome.
I get what your saying but I have literally never been treated like I have driving the prius in any other vehicle. As I said above, I have found a great deal on a Mazda.
 
I’d check out a ’17 Camry hybrid. The larger size of it will help other drivers respect your space better. After going from an Accord to an 05 Matrix to a Camry I can relate to what the OP mentions 100%. It’s a little nerve racking to say the least plus it’s safer being in something with more metal around you.
 
SatinSilver said:
I’d check out a ’17 Camry hybrid. The larger size of it will help other drivers respect your space better. After going from an Accord to an 05 Matrix to a Camry I can relate to what the OP mentions 100%. It’s a little nerve racking to say the least plus it’s safer being in something with more metal around you.
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That's a good suggestion. The problem is in my area, SLC UT, those hold there value well. To get one with under 50k miles is still quite a bit above my 20k budget. I'm most likely going to go with the Mazda 3 today as it has a good mix of everything.
 
The Mazda 3 is definitely sharp looking and the red color is a good choice. Plus it will be fun to drive with no stigma of owning it.
 
eljefino said:
Don't get any speeding tickets with that red car!
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I know lol. I haven't gotten a ticket in over 5 years. The good thing about the Mazda is I hear it's fun to drive at pretty much any speed. It's engaging and the 6 speed auto is very responsive. I also hear that it has a decent amount of lower end torque despite not having a turbo.
 
doublebase said:
It’s not going to be any more fun than the Prius, it’s the exact same car. You will lose the stigma though and it sounds like that is the number one priority for you (honestly I don’t blame you). People that own the Prius are absolutely murdered with stereotypes. I work in the industry and I don’t even like driving one into the shop...I get laughed at up and down (and I’m only driving the thing in).

I owned a Hyundai Accent 20 years ago...I had a 80 miles daily commute and would put 35,000 miles on my car a year. I figured...hey, who cares, I need a commuter car. I was made fun of every weekend from my friends and family for the two years I owned that thing. I still get reminded of it, so although initially I thought you should keep the Prius...I now see why you’d want to dump it. The Lexus is the Prius, but in Wolfe’s clothing. Much better.
Click to expand...

That's probably why the sales of the Accent declined after a while, all the cheap people who bought it ended up buying something else afterwards. I thought they were bad when they came out also, heard of stories where they would have exhaust manifolds that would rust out with holes in them. You pretty much never hear that on any other car line, how thin are they making them that it can rust out and have holes?
 
1993 Geo Metro 3 door, 993 cc 3 cylinder, 5-speed standard transmission. If you’re lucky enough to find one with A/C you’ll quickly develop the habit of switching it off and shifting to 3rd to go uphill.
 
Good score. There's a 2016 Mazda3 Sport in our driveway with 31K. The car is nimble fast or slow. NO COMPLAINTS but we don't deliver locally with it. I heard a transmission D&F @ 60K is good FOR YOU to do.
I'm no engineer but I feel centered between 4 wheels with solid contact on the road. It tracks corners silently.
Given COVID pricing we considered the trade-in-for-new offer from the original dealership. Not certain how to get our share.

In 2019 (Summer before COVID) $6,800 took the 2012 3iTouring w/60K I had to sell.
Indigo Blue. Many disliked it. The kid who wrecked his Mazda6 chose it for that reason.
 
Kira said:
Good score. There's a 2016 Mazda3 Sport in our driveway with 31K. The car is nimble fast or slow. NO COMPLAINTS but we don't deliver locally with it. I heard a transmission D&F @ 60K is good FOR YOU to do.
I'm no engineer but I feel centered between 4 wheels with solid contact on the road. It tracks corners silently.
Given COVID pricing we considered the trade-in-for-new offer from the original dealership. Not certain how to get our share.

In 2019 (Summer before COVID) $6,800 took the 2012 3iTouring w/60K I had to sell.
Indigo Blue. Many disliked it. The kid who wrecked his Mazda6 chose it for that reason.
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Transmission d and f?
 
Wolf359 said:
No, the stigma is real. They tend to drive slow as they're somewhat sluggish. That means that there's a big gap between cars and it's easy to cut them off. Probably kinda dangerous to have people cutting you off all the time. I'm not sure I'm in favor of any hybrid either that will rack up a lot of miles. Sure they might have good mileage, but they will be expensive to fix when they go and it's one thing if you don't rack up the miles and maybe you won't encounter the problems, but with high mileage, it's inevitable. The civic/accord or camry/corolla is probably the way to go as the parts are readily available and everyone knows how to fix them. I also wouldn't worry that much about finding a low mileage used car, probably a newer car with high mileage is better than an older model with low mileage. You pay a premium for the low mileage but will burn it all off soon with the high mileage. Whereas with high mileage, it's already discounted and you're just going to burn it all out anyway. The value of a car with 250k vs 200k isn't that big of a difference but you'll pay a lot more for a car with 25k than 75k.
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Ill have to take your word for that. I've always rocked cheap beaters so ive never cared about resale and all that. When I get the title, the car has found its final owner. I've driven the purchase price of all my beaters out of them, and beyond, with very little spent of repairs and maintenance. I wouldn't know what to do with a new one. 🤪
 
Wolf359 said:
That's probably why the sales of the Accent declined after a while, all the cheap people who bought it ended up buying something else afterwards. I thought they were bad when they came out also, heard of stories where they would have exhaust manifolds that would rust out with holes in them. You pretty much never hear that on any other car line, how thin are they making them that it can rust out and have holes?
Click to expand...
I think I only kept mine maybe 2 years...put 70,000 on it in those two years. Think it had 30,000 or so when I bought it.

The ”only“ real problems I had when I owned it were...clutch slave cylinder must have had a bad seal. I’d do a good 40 miles on the highway and when I had to downshift to make the exit...no pedal. I’d have to frantically pump it 5-10 times and then the pedal would come back. Same thing after it sat overnight - no pedal in the morning. and the dash would somethings just go out...nothing. No lights. Traded it in with 100,000 miles on it, told them about the clutch pedal...they didn’t care, probably sent it right off to the auction. Bought a new Honda Accord (that I kept around for 17 years). Then bought a Lexus LS460 (Which was a long way away from the good old Accent). Lol.
 
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