I will say either a Honda Civic or...A Hyundai. The Hundai's come with a 100K warranty so other than consumables you should be good to go and their quality has improved remarkably in the past few years.

The best bang for the buck would be to buy a car that is a year or two old and let someone else take the initial depreciation.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Here is Motor Trend's Intellichoice Award list for 5 year cost of ownership Nice thing about their list is that it's by class of car so it's not just boring econoboxes.

I'm suspicious of any list that shows Jeeps and they show them in several categories.

It ha nothing to do with reliability or quality. Jeep wrangler’s have a loyal following and have just about the highest resale value of any vehicle. So even if they are gas hogs and need repairs the fact that you get 70% of your money back when you sell it in 5 years basically makes them a great buy. Ive seen 5-6 year old Rubicon’s with 100k miles on them sell for $20k.

If warranty matters to you VW now has the best comprehensive warranty in the market. 6 years bumper to bumper. 100k Korean warranties mean very little when the power train lasts forever but everything else falls apart around you. If you can wait until Dec-Jan you can pick up a fuel efficient fun as hell VW GTI 2018 leftover model for $20k or less and it will check all the boxes. Keep it for the 6 years while it’s still under warranty and then sell it or trade up. There’s no other car in the market at that price that is as much fun, as refined, or of the same overall quality.

My 2010 Toyota Camry has only cost me gas, oil changes and a brake job. 63000 miles.

Toyota mops the floor with everyone (even Honda who's been having trans problems here and there). Now we are talking single digit differences but my statement still stands. Toyotas are "cheap" to buy and will cost the lowest to maintain over time. Parts are cheap and widely available (along with quality 3rd party parts).

"04 " buick LeSaber

Honda with the 4 cylinder and CVT transmission.
All you have to do is put gas in it and change the oil a couple times a year.

Honda EXL-V6 purchased Sept 3rd 2013. Other than regular oil changes, reg fuel, and fluids, no problems whatsoever. Still runs fantastic for the V6. It still has pretty low mileage but I don't baby it on the highways!

1. Any Toyota
2. Any Nissan 4 banger

I've had 2 Toyota trucks and 3 Nissans, 2 trucks and 1 car.
Gas, oil changes, and tires were my only costs above purchase, plates and insurance.

Schwinn.

See, look at all the great appliances you can choose from

Damn, Carol's supposed to wave her arm

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:


See, look at all the great appliances you can choose from

Damn, Carol's supposed to wave her arm

My whole world lies waiting behind door number 3.

All kinds of people publish cost of ownership data. Of course they all need to project the biggest cost which is depreciation.
Here's the link to the kbb one.
https://www.kbb.com/new-cars/total-cost-of-ownership/
Me personally after I look through a few of the various vendor's analysis you tend to see the same cars in the lists which gives you a good idea. Of course Dusty78 pretty much sums the issue up, it might be low cost to own some cars that don't depreciate, but they sure are annoying to own.
I almost always conclude that the Japanese mfg. (even if the car is made here) are the best of the bunch.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

See, look at all the great appliances you can choose from

Damn, Carol's supposed to wave her arm

My whole world lies waiting behind door number 3.

Just right

Most of the previous posts recommend small Japanese or S Korean brands. They are no doubt excellent automobiles, but I have an alternate suggestion. However, I'll preface it by stating up front it carries a degree of risk, so you must be willing and able to shoulder the financial burden when the time comes.

You asked for lowest total ownership. I would suggest purchasing a 12 year old Ford F150. You can find them with little over 100k miles in good shape for $10k. On average the maintainance costs for the next 5 years will be $5k, perhaps with a single large repair, like a transmission. This figure includes all normal maint and a couple sets of tires. Fuel will be somewhat hirer than car, say 2400/yr. we’ll presume insurance costs are similar, but you could make strong arguement not to carry collion/comp on 12 yr old truck. The key here is little depreciation. Between years 12 and 17 depreciate on average $1k/yr.

Acquisition 10,000
Maintenance. 5,000
Insurance. 5,000
Fuel. 10,000
Total. 30,000
Disposition -5,000
Total cost. 25,000
Annual cost. 5,000

YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by usmc-nav:
I have a 2014 Accord, 4 cylinder, that has been wonderful. Currently 140,000 miles and maintenance has been oil changes, filters, brakes (front & rear) tires and a starter. I am very pleased.

Had a Del Sol we put over 300k on. Replaced the radiator in it once which was the only major part that failed.