Economical and reliable car?

Contemplat

Subaru, Honda or Toyota or ???? Thanks for your input!
Mostly I would drive it and mostly city and some highway miles.
Also has to be good in snow.

Answer
Honda receives the highest ranking among non-luxury brands in our firm's latest Initial Quality Study, which measures new-vehicle quality after the first 90 days of ownership. Models that are tops in initial quality at the segment level include subcompacts such as the Honda Fit, the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent. The compact quality leader this year is the Honda Civic, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra. Among compact crossovers and utilities, which may do well in snowy weather conditions, the Honda CR-V earns the highest ranking followed by the Nissan Xterra and the Hyundai Tucson.

All three of the brands that you mention rank among the top 10 nameplates in terms of dependability on our latest J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures customer satisfaction with the reliability or dependability of 3-year-old models. Honda in fact ranks in the top five along with two other non-premium brandsâBuick and Mercury. Toyota ranks No. 6 and Subaru, No. 9.

Models that rank at the top of their segments in dependability after three years of ownership include the subcompact Scion xA. The Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Aveo also rank among the three best compact models in terms of reliability. The three models with the fewest problems in the compact category are the Honda Civic, Toyota Prius Hybrid and Toyota Corolla. If you prefer crossovers or utility vehicles that may be good choices in snow, the most reliable compact models after three years of ownership are the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V and the Honda Element.

If you are interested in more car reviews, photos, quality ratings and articles as well as buying tips, please visit JDPower.com.

Do luxury cars depreciate faster than average cars?

Jason Sant

I am planning to buy a car. Being a business major and being the thrifty person that I am I would never buy a brand new car because once you drive it out the dealership it already depreciated. A one to two year old car is an ideal buy. My economics professor brought up a good point that luxury cars are cheaper to maintain than normal cars. I live in Hawaii which was ranked the worst state to own a car because maintainance is so expensive.

Answer
I would suggest that you use a shopping tool like Yahoo Autos. Just because it is a luxury car does not mean it depreciates less. Some drop in value faster then a lead ball in a clear sky.
I just pulled up a Ford Taurus and a BMW 5 series. Now the 5 series may not be a true luxury car but it is an up scale car. The BMW depreciates almost 30000 dollars (63%) in the first five years, while the Ford only 15000 dollars (48%). Now there may be cars that break this trend'.With the Ford only costing 26600 dollars to begin with is seems that the total cost of the car is almost free when compared to owning a BMW which looses more in depreciation then the Ford costs new.
So do some study, my gut feeling is that it takes a lot of money to buy a car that will keep its resale value up and then it will only be a percentage think. Lets face it, if a car costs 100000 dollars and it only depreciates 10% of its value in a given year, that is still a lot of money!
Sorry, I miss read the question, even if BMW throws in maintanance for free, it takes a lot of maintanance to make up for the extra 15000 dollars worth of loss on depreciation.

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Economical and reliable car?

Contemplat

Subaru, Honda or Toyota or ???? Thanks for your input!
Mostly I would drive it and mostly city and some highway miles.
Also has to be good in snow.

Answer
Honda receives the highest ranking among non-luxury brands in our firm's latest Initial Quality Study, which measures new-vehicle quality after the first 90 days of ownership. Models that are tops in initial quality at the segment level include subcompacts such as the Honda Fit, the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent. The compact quality leader this year is the Honda Civic, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra. Among compact crossovers and utilities, which may do well in snowy weather conditions, the Honda CR-V earns the highest ranking followed by the Nissan Xterra and the Hyundai Tucson.

All three of the brands that you mention rank among the top 10 nameplates in terms of dependability on our latest J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures customer satisfaction with the reliability or dependability of 3-year-old models. Honda in fact ranks in the top five along with two other non-premium brandsâBuick and Mercury. Toyota ranks No. 6 and Subaru, No. 9.

Models that rank at the top of their segments in dependability after three years of ownership include the subcompact Scion xA. The Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Aveo also rank among the three best compact models in terms of reliability. The three models with the fewest problems in the compact category are the Honda Civic, Toyota Prius Hybrid and Toyota Corolla. If you prefer crossovers or utility vehicles that may be good choices in snow, the most reliable compact models after three years of ownership are the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V and the Honda Element.

If you are interested in more car reviews, photos, quality ratings and articles as well as buying tips, please visit JDPower.com.

Do luxury cars depreciate faster than average cars?

Jason Sant

I am planning to buy a car. Being a business major and being the thrifty person that I am I would never buy a brand new car because once you drive it out the dealership it already depreciated. A one to two year old car is an ideal buy. My economics professor brought up a good point that luxury cars are cheaper to maintain than normal cars. I live in Hawaii which was ranked the worst state to own a car because maintainance is so expensive.

Answer
I would suggest that you use a shopping tool like Yahoo Autos. Just because it is a luxury car does not mean it depreciates less. Some drop in value faster then a lead ball in a clear sky.
I just pulled up a Ford Taurus and a BMW 5 series. Now the 5 series may not be a true luxury car but it is an up scale car. The BMW depreciates almost 30000 dollars (63%) in the first five years, while the Ford only 15000 dollars (48%). Now there may be cars that break this trend'.With the Ford only costing 26600 dollars to begin with is seems that the total cost of the car is almost free when compared to owning a BMW which looses more in depreciation then the Ford costs new.
So do some study, my gut feeling is that it takes a lot of money to buy a car that will keep its resale value up and then it will only be a percentage think. Lets face it, if a car costs 100000 dollars and it only depreciates 10% of its value in a given year, that is still a lot of money!
Sorry, I miss read the question, even if BMW throws in maintanance for free, it takes a lot of maintanance to make up for the extra 15000 dollars worth of loss on depreciation.

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Why do so many asian teenagers in Pasadena California have luxury cars? ?

luxury cars ranking image

carlosc1db

Why are there so many luxury cars there in general. Everywhere I look Mercedez, BMW? Are salaries there that high, what jobs do these people hold?

Answer
Lots of Asians families that I know in the Pasadena / LA area work very hard and earn very well. They also tend to buy their kids nicer cars than some other parents who are just as wealthy.

There are people with very high salaries in CA. A first year attorney at a large LA law firm will make $160,000 their first year, with a maybe $25,000 bonus. In their 7th or 8th year, they will make about $255,000 plus maybe a $50,000 bonus. Partners make from over $250,000 to 2 million $+. Certain types of physicians make a similar amount, with surgeons and specialists on the higher end. Lots of asian doctors in Pasadena. I went to a party at a korean friend's home, and the korean women would introduce themselves to each other and ask What kind of doctor is your husband? Not - what does your husband do?! Many of the wives were attorneys.

And then there are those who make real $$$, like in entertainment, real estate developers, finance, and other types of business,etc. Although the economy is down, there are still people who are making the big bucks.

The top private non-religious high schools in LA cost from $25,000 to $30,000 per year tuition, plus donations. In some areas of LA, especially near Pasadena, those schools will be close to a third Asian. One of the very top public schools in the state is San Marino High, near Pasadena, and it's 70% asian. You can't buy a home in San Marino for under a million. So I guess all that schooling and hard work pays off! Arcadia is another well off community next to Pasadena, excellent schools, the high school is 70% asian.

I just hope the kids have some fun, too! Studying in high school until 2am, which I know they do, is NUTS. At my son's private school, the new asian parents always ask me if the students are ranked -- who is the #1 student, #2 student, etc. Nope, that would be too much pressure on the kids!

Are exotic and premium cars reliable anymore?

Q. The original supercars, such as the Lamborghini Miura and the Shelby Cobra 427 were good 20-40 years ago, but today, the maintenance repair for an exotic or collectible car is worth 30% less than the original M.S.R.P. The McLaren F1 and Ferrari F40 aren't popular cars anymore. And I don't like the Bugatti Veyron, because it's too expensive, too fast, too rare, and the fuel economy is about the same as the Hummer's. $2.5 million is for buying a house or an apartment in a large city near the beach, but not for a Bugatti Veyron!

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi did a wonderful job on creating high-end luxury/sports cars.

The Big Three automakers are #1! But even better ones, such as Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Kia, Nissan, Mazda, and Volkswagen ranked #0.5 for making the best gas savers and great commuter cars.

If you want to own a muscle sedan that outperforms a $150,000 2013 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S and a $120,000 Porsche Panamera GTS, then a 2013 Chrysler 300 / Dodge Charger SRT8 for $60,000 or a 2013 Cadillac CTS-V for $70,000 is for you!

Starting March 31, 2013, gas guzzlers and exotic cars such as Jaguar and Ferrari will no longer be considered cool. This is because exotic cars are not reliable, they don't last more than 100-150,000 miles, not enough people are buying them, the supercars have bad fuel economy and they pollute more than the SUV's, and 98% of the population are more interested in a new home than a $200,000+ car. All of the exotic cars and ultimate grand tourers will be dead. Please go for a Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, etc if you want a luxury.

Answer
I don't know where you got it in your head that supercars were ever reliable. That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one. Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes are all overpriced to buy and maintain, and probably the last cars I'd recommend for the average person, unless you like throwing your money away.

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