Wiggles_dad

I'm currently car free but I'm moving in with my girlfriend who is also car free. We've decided that we should have a car for day hiking trips, going camping, driving to see her parents, etc. I currently have U Car Share which I love and use about once / month. However, a practical car that we use for hauling bulky stuff and going on weekend road trips seems to be what we want.

What would be the cheapest car over the long haul under $7,000?

Lightdragon

well what are you looking to get out of the car and what kind of bulky stuff were you thinking of? does fuel mileage matter at the price? passenger space?

Thor29

Toyota Matrix. Excellent gas mileage and reliability. The rear seats fold down and have plastic backs for loading tons of stuff in there. That's the car I'd buy if I had to buy one. (I think it makes a lot more sense than a mini-ute like a RAV4 or CR-V. It's weird that Americans never seem to get the practicality of hatchbacks but love to pretend like they could go 4-wheeling even though cute-utes and crossovers wouldn't get very far from the asphalt.)

ChrisM2097

I have a 1991 Ford Escort Wagon that I picked up for $750 a few years ago. Great gas mileage (30+), very easy to work on, an great at carrying bulky items. It certainly is not easy on the eyes, though. It's a real beater, but it's been mostly very reliable.

Or you could get a small truck. Much better for hauling bulky items. Nissan's or Toyota's from the 90's should be fairly cheap, and readily available.

davidmcowan

If I were shopping for a car this might be the last place I'd ask advice.

Artkansas 

+1 Kind of like asking for a hedge fund recommendation at an Occupy rally.

no1mad 

Why do you feel that you need to buy a car/truck/SUV? All of the activities and purposes you stated sound like they are not spur of the moment types, which means you're planning ahead. So just plan on renting a vehicle for when you need it.

And you'll probably get more helpful advice in Foo than here in LCF...

NormDeplume

Our car is a 12-year-old Hyundai sedan. It's small, inexpensive to operate and reliable when we need it. I don't know what the resale value of it is, but probably WAY under your 7k budget. The only thing we wish we had is a hitch receiver, so we could easily mount a proper bike rack when the whole family wants to go somewhere far away from home to ride.

no1mad 

You can have one put on at U-haul. I had to move my wife's crap from NC to OK after her divorce from her first husband, and the minivan we had at the time didn't have a hitch. So got the hitch, rented a trailer, and overheated in Atlanta coming back, as I was not going to tackle those hills between Knoxville TN and Ashville NC.

FWIW, that happened years before I considered cycling as a form of transportation and made the move to living Car Light.

gerv 

I'd be suspicious of any recommendations.... you probably end up with a car you could hang panniers off of.

wahoonc

Purchase price is just the down payment on the expense...I would do the math and see if it would really pay to have it, or if you would be better off with the monthly/occasional car rental.

Aaron

no1mad 

Though I still stand by my earlier comment about just renting a vehicle when you actually need one, there is another option- which I'm sure I will take some heat on. Get a used Suburban.

Reason is that it is comfy on long road trips, can carry people and cargo, will have more room than you need for camping, and will readily tow a trailer for anything too bulky to fit inside and/or a hitch rack to carry your bikes. Fuel economy sucks for daily driving but not too bad for weekend excursions. Liability insurance also tends to be cheaper than an econobox as well.

We had a '99 Suburban prior to the current Jeep Liberty. We aren't seeing the fuel savings that we anticipated by downsizing and miss all of the extra room- especially now that the wife has decided that we are going to become more 'outdoorsy' and started fishing and talking about camping.

ubringliten

Off with your head!

Can't you just rent a truck since you already have a car share?

Artkansas 

Like a GMC Denali, a Jeep Cherokee, a Cadillac, Ferrari , Land Rover, or a BMW?

gerv 

The GMC Denali only comes in one size 22.5? Something's not right.

Edit: I see it now. Comes in 19 inch, 22.5 and 25. I wonder when the car industry will move to the metric system? Might be nice to have a few in-between sizes.

Nightshade

WHOA!!!! Stop!!! Don't do it!!!

For all the uses you've names it would be far, far better to rent a car for those brief times you need a a car.

Owning a car is a money pit situation where the car will be a constant drain on your resources for very, very little use.

NOT a smart money move at all!!

Artkansas 

So how often do you do these things really? Don't just fantasize. Get specific.

Day Hiking Trips - small car, enough for you and she and two packs

Camping - any car will get you to a camp site, if you need to hike in, then see day hikes.

Going to see her parents - small car fine

Hauling bulky stuff - uhaul, budget rent a truck

Weekend road trips that aren't either day hikes, camping or going to see her parents. - unknown, good to have a choice, you might need a Mustang or Vette for the proper ambiance.

Point being that if you actually analyse the numbers, buying a car may not be the best route financially, especially since your budget limits you to older cars. And being a repeat customer with a rental agency isn't bad. They remember you and treat you better.

Of course, we realize that perhaps what you really wanted by asking for a car recommendation in a living car-free forum was arguments against it that you could use with your girlfriend. Otherwise you wouldn't have put a frown in your headline.

wahoonc

Best two all around cars I have ever had were Honda Civics...the small ones! I had a 1978 Honda Civic 1200 coupe, that was replaced by a 1982 Honda Civic station wagon. Both of them cost were economical to run and I sold them for about what I paid for them several years later.

Aaron

Smallwheels

Toyota or Honda minivans do very well at everything. They have enough power to pull small trailers if you ever need one. You can sleep in them when they aren't fully loaded with cargo, which means you can use them anywhere to sleep without needing a campground. There is even a company that can convert the interior to resemble the Volkswagen Westfalia camper van with the pop-top. Of course that would cost $25,000 on top of your $7000.

Minivans don't get great mileage but they do better than trucks. There are many companies that make bicycle racks for them.

If you don't intend to haul much at all then get a small used car that Consumer Reports rated well some time in the past. You can buy a new Nissan Versa without air conditioning for just $10,990.

Wiggles_dad

Thanks for everyone's input so far. It is true. I don't really need but a car would be nice for the aforementioned camping, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, etc. trips. We live in Utah having access to the surrounding mountains is important. Personally, I've been fine with car share but my girlfriend is not a die-hard bike commuter so at least part of the reason I'm wanting a car is for her.

True, cars are money pits, there is no way around that. I'm not looking forward to spending money on gas, maintenance, and insurance. But accepting the fact that a car is a necessary evil to support our lifestyle, goals, and interests, I would like to buy the most inexpensive car I can find (within my budget).

I'm down with small cars, hatch backs, and wagons.

eofelis 

I'm on my 3rd Subaru.

My last one was a 1991 Legacy awd wagon I bought for $5000 in 1999 when I lived in WY. I drove it all over the western US for 8 years with no major problems. Great in the snow and on some moderately rough roads.
I sold it in 2007 when I found a 2001 Outback wagon at a giveaway price: $4600 with 109k on it. The paint job has little crackle marks all over it, a factory paint job defect, so they priced it low. It looks fine from the drivers seat. I've had that car nearly 5 years now. It has a few issues, but I plan to drive it (occasionally) for several more years.

Keep your eyes open and cash on hand.

no1mad 

Ah, now it gets clearer. I'm going to sound like a prick here, but:

-You're moving in together.
-She wants a vehicle.
-You're paying for it.

I wouldn't. If she feels the cost is justified, let her pay for it herself.

Car light makes sense for families and other scenarios, but it sounds like car free would work- except she doesn't find it appealing herself.

bragi

If you must have a car, which I obviously do not recommend for any number of reasons, get an old, high-mileage car of German or Swedish origin. They can be had for not a lot of money, they are well built, and when they break, which all old cars do, they tend to do so in a slow, predictable fashion. I favour Volvo 240s myself, but old VWs are almost as good. Avoid used American cars if you can, unless they're trucks or Ford ******* or Focus'.

But, again, remember that any money you put into a car is money that will never be seen again. It's always a luxury, never an investment.

zeppinger

Ford Aspire 4dr. Over 40mpgs and still very roomy inside (for a compact). They are made by Kia so they are also a lot more reliable than other Fords out there. ******* are also reliable and inexpensive to purchase. I drove a 97 Nissa Sentra all through university with minimal costs and my sister had a mid 90s saturn that did very well.

kookaburra1701

Personally, I'd say if she wants the car then she can buy the car. Then if the worst happens and you two go your separate ways, there won't be car custody battles/you won't get saddled with trying to get rid of it, etc, and there won't be any bad feelings about "Well it's MY car, I'm paying for it, but she drives it all the time," yadda yadda yadda.

To your question: It's not a cargo hauler, but I've had the same car for 12 years and it's still running great - a 1994 Nissan Sentra 4-door. It's always been <$1000 to fix (even when I was involved in a smash up on the highway and the other driver fled the scene) and it still runs great. The only recurrent issues are electrical, but the batteries are cheap, and I'm sure I'm not helping things by driving it once or twice a month.