Where To Buy Our Next Car & What To Buy - Private Party

Question

Hi Scotty, A little about us:  My wife and I are needing to buy a vehicle.  It's just my wife and I (I'm 52 and she is 46) and we live in central Florida.  We are both 5 ft. 9 inches tall and a little on the larger side.  She's a pastor and I run an automotive classic restoration parts mail order e-commerce business.   What We Are Looking For:  Long term reliability with minimal mechanical / maintenance issues.  We plan on buying the vehicle and keeping it for 10-15 years.  Neither of us are mechanics and we don't have the time and tools available to work on our own car.  Hopefully, we can find a 1-owner car with maintenance records, no damage, and a clean title.     Which Vehicle Should We Choose?  We are both nervous about buying a potential money pit that is always breaking down.  We thought about getting the most reliable older model we can afford to keep the price down.  We are leaning toward something that is spot on reliable.  We are thinking of the following: Sedans:  Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Mazda 6 Compact SUVs:  Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Mazda CX-5.  Are these the models we should be looking at or something else?  Are there years you recommend or years we should steer clear of?   Where Should We Buy It?  My wife prefers buying new but new is getting very expensive.  We are considering buying used from a private individual, dealer, or from a rental car agency.  Do you have a recommendation and why?   We don't need to buy it immediately but I would say definitely sometime this year.  We are hoping we can get pre-approved for financing.  Then find a place that will let us use our own financing and negotiate on the price.   What Are Your Thoughts?  Certified pre-owned to get a good warranty or on dealers selling new/used vehicles with lifetime powertrain warranties? Thanks so much and blessings from both of us.

Kerem · Accepted Answer

@DayWalker is spot on as always. You picked some good choices. We have a years to avoid page which you can find through DayWalker's post or in the Used Car Buying Guide. For the Camry, I would recommend 2016-2017 and the RAV4 2016-2018. For the Accord, the later in the 2013-2017 generation the better. The EarthDreams engine and CVT transmission aren't the best but still relatively reliable. For the sedans, first place goes to the Camry. Now the Mazda 6. Since 2015, Mazda has been in partnership with Toyota. Back in the early 2010s they were making OK cars as they were still partnered with Ford. Safe to say Ford engines and transmissions were problematic. The new generation came in 2014, and Mazda put cylinder deactivation in their vehicles for the 2018 model years, so the best years would be 2014-2017. All of these models are newer so no guarantee they will last 15 years but going off of repuation a naturally aspirated engine + regular transmission found in the Camry and RAV4 seem to be a good bet. When it comes to the other crossovers, the CR-V is a good SUV but not as good as the RAV4. I would avoid the 2015+ years of the CR-V. 2015-2016 came with a new Continously Variable Transmission, known for their problems specifically in those years. Most trim levels from 2017-2019 and all trim levels from 2020+ came with a 1.5 Turbocharged EarthDreams engine, known for oil dilution problems. 2015-2016 also had a good amount of vibration in their cars and 2012-2014 vehicles experienced engine grinding from startup. I don't think you would be happy with the EarthDreams engine or CVT in the CR-V. The Mazda CX-5 is a decent SUV. 10-15 years? Not sure about that, but maybe. Again, I would stick after the 2014 redesign but before the 2018 cylinder deactivation lineup if you do decide to go for that.

The Toyota Honda common problems page below can help you decide if its worth buying the cars.

As for used vs cpo vs new, here are my thoughts:

Don't buy new, for two reasons. One, what a waste of money. You would loose half of what you paid for it after a few years. Secondly, newer cars are complicated, not proven, and wouldn't be as reliable.

Used cars are the way to go. Don't specifically look for CPO. The "certified" bage doesn't really mean anything. If you find one you like, whether used or CPO, have a mechanic check it out either way. Check service records and all that.

Also, keep in mind the later the year of a generation the better. Manufacturers throw something out there and it takes several model years for them to fix the kinks. For example, 2012-2015 Camrys have transmission issues. 2016-2017 mostly resolved it. On another note, make sure the transmission fluid was drained and filled on the service records before 60k miles, or else they tend to have issues.

Good luck!

Matthew Yim · Answer

Those are some pretty good cars you listed. Out of the bunch, I think the Toyotas are best made. Mazdas also aren’t too bad because they have a partnership with Toyota. Honda is decent as well but they had issues with oil dilution. Mazdas are fun to drive cars, but if you don’t care about driving engagement, then go the Toyota route.

For sedan, I would get the Camry and for SUV, I would get a RAV4. Beware of certain years for these cars. I will add them here.

RAV4: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-worst-used-toyota-rav4-years-have-expensive-issues/

Camry: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/used-toyota-camry-years-to-avoid-at-all-costs/

as for where you should buy it, they all have scams, so please be careful. I think the dealership is a slightly safer route. https://www.carhop.com/buying-a-used-car-from-a-dealer-vs-private-seller/

I would definitely buy the car used. Before you go to the dealer, hire a professional and dependable mechanic to be with you at the lot cuz he’ll do an inspection of the car, then you’re good to go!

Whatchamacallit · Answer

You narrowed the list of sedans and compact CUVs down to the same ones I would have considered (if I was in your shoes). Of those the most reliable would be the Toyota Camry for car and the RAV4 for CUV. See our Toyota/Honda Common Problems sticky to see which years to avoid:

https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/progressive-common-and-major-problems-toyota-and-honda-vehicles-not-to-buy/

The other years should be fine but it’s a good idea to get a vehicle several years into a generation to make sure the bugs/kinks have been worked out. Not sure your budget but I would look at the last generation to save money and they have been out longer and are more true and tried: so for the Toyota Camry’s previous generation (which included model year MY 2012-2017) look at MY 2017. For the RAV4 (previous generation included model gear MY 2013-2018) look at 2016 to 2018.

Buying used is the way to go. Do not buy from a rental agency. Scotty made a video of it (see below). And do NOT bother with certified pre-owned (CPO) as you are paying extra and the dealers sometimes don’t do all the multiple-point checks they are supposed to (I noticed on numerous occasions on the CPO cars I was looking at that there were leaks and other issues - no coolant in reservoir tank! - that they clearly missed.). Even with CPO cars, you still want an independent, honest mechanic to check out before you buy because you can’t trust these dealers.

I also bumped @Kerem as he has a lot to say about your choices.