Car Talk. C'mon you men - help me out.

[Tracer]

My daughter wants to get rid of her 10-year-old, hunk 'o junk Jeep Wrangler. She is fixated on getting a Volkswagen Passat -- 1. 'cause it's 'cool', 2. her friend has one, 3. her mechanic says it's reliable.

Her price range is about $15,000 --- which (from looking at car ads) seems to be the price of 5-year-old Passats. I think it's crazy to spend that kind of money on an older car.

So --- what other new, reliable, cars are in the $15,000 price range?

I have no idea myself, since I pay no attention to cars (not having bought one in 11 years) -- and frankly, think they all look alike now (so much for one car having a 'cool' factor over another).

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris

Brand new, under $15k, great gas mileage, and both from VERY reliable brands.

http://automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Fit
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2007/yaris/index.html?s_van=GM_HOME_FLASH_YARIS

[flvegan]

2. I agree, and that Fit is very cool.

She could also get a one/two year old Mazda3 or Toyota Matrix.

[Tracer]

4. Are they comparable ...

... to the Passat -- not just in price, but in features?

Do you know of any web sites that do model to model car comparisons?

Thanks!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. New to new, yes. Not sure about new to used

http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/compare/

[bleedingheart]

3. I got a corolla for about $15,000 and it is a keeper

[alarimer]

5. She could get a Mazda3

the ones with the 2.0 liter engines run about 14K new. That's a very basic car. For more features she cold get a 2005.

[jobycom]

6. Passats are a bit fancy, hence the price. Check out

Edmunds.com, they have all kinds of guides on best used cars in certain price ranges, etc. Plus, when you decide on a car, they have a great valuation guide.

My mechanics (I work for a garage) don't like VWs much. They like Toyotas and Mazdas right now. Mazdas may be better priced--Toyotas are becoming trendy. Five years ago Hondas were great, and are still good, but they are so overpriced. If they've started coming down yet, they might be good.

Don't worry too much about the age. A six year old Volvo, for instance, might be the same price as a two year old Mazda, and would probably be in better shape and last longer, if the mileage was good. Volvo's cost more to maintain, though, so that may be a bad example. Lexus or Acura might be a better example. But you get what I'm saying. A five year old Passat is a good car, but a lot of that price is in the luxury aspects, not the actual mechanics of the car, so the price doesn't add to the longevity.

[Tracer]

8. Thank you all!

n/t

[NV Whino]

9. Honda Fit

or Civic.

Here's my Fit. $14400 w/o tax and license. Base model. I love it. (They are hard to get--very popular.)

[Deep13]

10. The Passat is actually a pretty big car.

They can be hogs. I have a Jetta and "reliable" is not the word I would use to describe it. It may be sound mechanically, indeed it is built like a tank, but there have been numerous electrical problems and the windshield wiper motor came loose in a snowstorm once. Also, the climate control is pretty wimpy.

Try a three-year-old Honda Civic and forget about coolness. Cars run on mechanical physics, not coolness.