Your advice on what vehicle to purchase to achieve the lowest cost of ownership?

D

dan7055

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Mar 28, 2021
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Hey all, I wanted to get your thoughts on how to purchase a car and get a low cost of ownership over the next 8 or so years.

Basically I am looking for a vehicle with the following requirements that offers the best combination of low ownership costs and reliability. By ownership costs, I mean taking into account everything from insurance premiums to gas and maintenance.

.It should have 4 doors and comfortably sit at least 4, maybe 5
.It can be gas, hybrid, or electric
.Can be used or new
.Will be used in a Midwest environment / climate (Kansas City)
.Does not need to be AWD or do off-roading, FWD is fine for Kansas City snow.
.It would be nice if it had the range for cross-country road-trips but not necessary as I somewhat rarely take them.
.Most driving is the average combo of city/highway, I typically drive 10k - 15k miles per year

I realize there is not one right answer to this, but what vehicle would you buy if you were me? Would you go for a used vehicle in the $20,000 range that you know will be totally reliable and then get it fully insured? Or would you go for something in the $6,000 range and save money on insurance by being comfortable with having liability-only coverage? Would you lean towards hybrid, gas, or fully electric? What vehicle would you start shopping for?
 
I like cheaper cars myself. A Matrix/Vibe is perfect for your use case. The Scion XA and XB are also good choices.

If you want something newer, consider the Honda Clarity PHEV or the Prius V.

Honda sold the Fit here from 2006-2020. You can find one anywhere in the price ranges you listed. They have lots of space inside, too.
 
dan7055 said:
Is it even better than the new Nissan Leaf that starts at 26k vs. the Bolts 29k?

https://www.caranddriver.com/nissan/leaf-2026
Click to expand...

Between GM and Nissan, GM has more money to stack on the hood in terms of discounts. The Leaf also has a weird combination of J1772 for Level 2 and a separate NACS port for DCFC on the other side. And IMO it's ugly compared to the Leaf but that's subjective. I'll also take a Chevy dealer experience over a Nissan dealer experience any day. PS: I think Leaf is still NCM while new Bolt will be LFP... so you can charge to 100% if you want to all the time.
 
New I would go for a Nissan Altima. Its all proven tech, you should be able to get 10 years out of it at your usage.

Used, unless you can wrench the TCO will be hard to predict. Anything for $5k could need $2k right off the bat in maintenance.

If you can wrench then that totally changes the equation.
 
Look for a mitsubishi outlander sport or maybe larger outlander and pull the engine and trans dip sticks. Especially the trans stick and check with a paper towel and if it looks clean and drive it hard on the test drive. Those cars are undervalued since people don't pay attention to them but are very very reliable. Have one with almost 108k and it's been perfect no cel ever beyond it coming and going but it's never failed emissions or had a driving issue. I change the cvt fluid whenever I can it's so easy to do. Such durable little cars it surprised me. I didn't think it would be that good when we got it cheap a decade ago. Insurance has been cheap too but it's so worthless you could get minimum coverage and just drive carefully.
 
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Had a low end Tacoma x-tra cab 4 cyl for 10 years ending in 2018. It was truly a coolant flush, tires and oil changes and that was it. Wish they still mad a low end Tacoma. Although 47 MPG yesterday from the Maverick Hybrid on a 200+ mile trip may make me think twice about that.
 
I’ve read many sources stating the Prius is the lowest cost of ownership car. Not sure if that’s still true.

Insurance plays a huge role in this though. If you’re financing the car, insurance rates will be much higher.

I save money by buying beaters. My current Ford Focus was bought for $1600 in March. No problems since. My insurance rate is very low for this car. But this only works if you can do car repairs yourself.

If not, I’d go for the Prius.
 
JavierH19 said:
Look for a mitsubishi outlander sport or maybe larger outlander and pull the engine and trans dip sticks. Especially the trans stick and check with a paper towel and if it looks clean and drive it hard on the test drive. Those cars are undervalued since people don't pay attention to them but are very very reliable. Have one with almost 108k and it's been perfect no cel ever beyond it coming and going but it's never failed emissions or had a driving issue. I change the cvt fluid whenever I can it's so easy to do. Such durable little cars it surprised me. I didn't think it would be that good when we got it cheap a decade ago. Insurance has been cheap too but it's so worthless you could get minimum coverage and just drive carefully.
Click to expand...
Yup...absolutely ^^^^^
 
An EV such as the ionic 5 (prices dropped 9k recently) or new bolt
a hybrid (prius? elantra?)


go google it I'm sure there is some math out there floating around.

Parameters are abit wide Go drive some and see what you like then get back to us. ;)
 
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