Cars

[Designated_Driver]

So my mom and dad's 20th anniversary is coming up soon, and I want to replace one of their cars as a gift. I don't have enough money to finance a new car, so I'm looking for something used. My mom's dream car has always been an SUV, and I would really like to get her one.

So what I would like to know is if anyone has any advice (from experience, not stuff you pull out of your bum), on what sort of SUV's get "good" gas mileage, what's affordable, or whether it's better to buy from a Used dealership, from an individual, online, etc., any advice would be appreciated.

[Chayesh]

Lease returns are your best bet from a dealer.

[Designated_Driver]

As someone who's never bought... anything of this magnitude before... Could you explain?

[Chayesh]

You've heard of leasing a car rather than buying it, right?

Leasing a car is a process where you agree to a certain lease term, say 36 months (3 years), and a set amount of mileage. The dealer calculates the amount of depreciation on the car during those three years. Then, rather than a loan payment, you pay the depreciation. (This is a simplified version of the process). At the end of the lease, you can either buy the car for the already calculated value (called the residual) or you turn in back in to the dealer. If you go over the agreed upon mileage, you pay a stiff penalty and the excess depreciation.

Now, here's where the deal is. Sometimes, people run up the mileage on their leased vehicles too quickly and can either turn it in early (for a penalty) or go over the mileage (a stiffer penalty and extra depreciation). A lease return is any car being turned back in from a lease, early or not.

The good thing about a lease return is the mileage is usually low, nearly ALWAYS under 60K, typically under 36K. Also, the residual isn't a guess...it's the actual value of the car. None of this "dealer markup" stuff. Yes, the dealership will add a percentage of profit on the car, but that's far more negotiable than on a new car. Also, new cars depreciate about 3-5K just driving off the lot since they are no longer "new".

Now, all that said, you'll usually get a better deal from a private party, but you don't always know what you're getting and usually no warranty of any kind.

What sort of SUV? Cute-Ute, medium size, full size, Tank? What?

[Designated_Driver]

Tahoe, Navigator, or something similar, would be preferable.

And if a lease is as much like a loan as it sounds, I'm not really interested. I don't want to deal with financing, future payments, etc., because I don't have a steady job, and I probably don't even make enough to pursue that sort of option. I'm looking at having my mom's car traded in, and covering the difference out of my own pocket.

[Guest emp_newb]

Well, to keep luxury, as well as overall performance here is my recomendation list (in this order)

93-95 jeep grand cherokee- Very affordable, very reliable, good milage as well as perfect performance in adverse conditions, Most come stock with a very reliable 4.0 High Output designed for strenious four wheel drive use. So when the gearbox is set to 2wd, you could never think of complaining about it.

Blazer-4.3 vortec, Smaller v-6, with a very nice output, as well as decent mileage

Bravada-similar to the blazer, not as good on power output, limited 4wd abilities

Durango-Decent enough, although not as spacious as could be hoped for

and somewhat of a gas hog.

[brsingr]

get a saturn! lol... I forgot what it's called, but it looks like a SUV, but it's shorter and skinnier thank a car - but it's taller. It gets 32 miles per gallon, and you can find a new car for the price of a used, if you look for a while. Also, you can get onstar free for three months.

[Mmm Coffee]

From experience, the best bang for the buck is the Saturn VUE

[Khran]

you dont want to make payments?

I hope you have 6,000 bucks on hand then. That's how much a decent SUV is going to run you

[Chayesh]

Probably more.

And Jeep Grand Cherokees don't have nearly the room most people think they do.

A good mix is the Ford Expedition/Chevy Tahoe(GMC Yukon)/Toyota Sequoia/Nissan Pathfinder size. Room for 5-6 adults comfortably and the option of third row seating or cargo space. You will be hard pressed to find any SUV that gets "good" gas mileage, especially with 4WD, but I equate "good" gas mileage to averaging 20 or more miles/gallon over a tank of gas (combined highway and city driving).

It boils down to this: Your ambitions are noble, but I think you're overstretching yourself.

[Dizz]

Stay away from Fords. They have a pretty bad repair track record for fixing warrenties. If you go American, go Dodge or Chevy. I recommend Toyota for reliability though. Also with gas prices, your mom might be rethinking the whole SUV idea. You might want to get something with a smallish engine for that reason.

[Zrothum]

smaller engine for the win.

you can buy my 96 honda prelude