New cars: Hyundai Sonata vs. Ford Fusion

I think you also have to factor in the aggravation factor. In our business, you don't want to be wasting time dropping off your beater at the shop and getting a rental to cover the out-of-town game. Time is money. And with some of the burgs we have to travel to down here, getting stuck is a dicey proposition at best.

 

I agree. When it gets to the point I'm dropping two or three grand a year for basic repairs, it's time to put those dollars into car payments.

 

When you decide on the make and model, get a Consumer Reports account and throw out on there that you are looking to buy a car.

You will receive multiple no-haggle quotes from dealers in your area.

Wife and I saved about $2,000 on a $16,000 doing this.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/car-prices/build-and-buy-service/overview/index.htm

 

Nice thing about the service package I got is that even if the car is in the shop for the day, the dealership has rentals on site to give you, so I'll never be without a car, and I don't have to rent on my own dime. Really nice peace of mind.

 

I did this too. And I saved close to $1,500 even before factoring in Ford's rebates.

 

I was starting to get to that point. The maintenance I had due was $1,500 off the bat. Plus my old car still needed oil changes every 3,500 miles (as opposed to 7,500 miles on my Fusion), which was another $240 or so over the course of a year. And once I hit 120,000 miles (which I would have this year), I would have needed to do another extensive maintenance, which would have cost me another few hundred dollars. So had I kept the car for another year, I would have spent around $2,500 on maintenance while not increasing its resale or trade-in value one cent.

 

But you'd presumably have a perfectly functional car for many thousands more miles.

And what car requires oil changes every 3,500?

 

My previous car was a 2005.

 

If I was in the market for this class car, I'd take a good look at the Kia Optima. Looks pretty nice and appears reliable.

 

I'm glad to be reading this thread. I have a 2000 Jeep Wrangler with 97,000 miles that I've been going back and forth on if I want to keep it (bought it used two years ago and just paid it off last month).

I had been looking at the Subaru Legacy (I live in Connecticut and therefore need something that's good in the snow) and Impreza. Mazda3 was at the head of the class for a while but I hear they're shit in the snow. Perhaps I'll look at the Ford Fusion after seeing all these positive reviews.

As for Fix Or Repair Daily, I bought a new '99 Ford Ranger 4x4 and got 191,000 miles out of it in 10 years. It was awesome. I spent a grand total of $600 on the engine to get that much out of it, and $300 of that went to a new alternator. So Ford always will be good in my eyes.

Too bad Fiat isn't still around ... Fix It Again Tony was one of my favorites.

 

Still shouldn't require oil changes every 3,500 miles. No car should, unless Jiffy Lube comes out with its own car.

 

I was just going by what the owner's manual instructed. And given how much I rely on my car (for work and otherwise), I couldn't take the chance on skimping that.

Fortunately, my Fusion has an on-board sensor that alerts me when the oil needs to be changed. Supposedly, it can go up to 10,000 miles between changes.