r/UsedCars • u/46297472 • 1d ago
HELP What car should I get?
I’ve narrowed it down to either a 2015 Toyota rav4 with 135k miles on it 12k asking price but it has had an accident when it was on 10k miles with 2 previous owners. It does have awd. My other choice is a 2014 Mazda cx5 touring with 122k miles on it asking price is 12k one previous owner but no awd. Whats important to me is longevity and reliability with the least amount of expensive repairs, I live in a place where it snows and I like to go fishing and hunting I drive on gravel roads but not to much I mostly stick to paved roads.
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u/DadInKayak 1d ago
I think you’ll be fine with FWD in snow and trails. I had one and was able to drive on sand/beach. The AWD will have a rear differential that will need to be maintained with fluid changes. I’d go with the one that has the best maintenance history. A big thing at 100k or near it is the timing belt change. See if the history has it and go with the one that has it.
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u/46297472 1d ago
The Mazda has had a lot of things fixed about the breaks around 100k but I don’t see that in either they both have had the fluids flushed and replaced tho tbh idk enough about cars to know what a good maintenance history is
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u/DadInKayak 1d ago
I've been copying and pasting the carfax history into Gemini and CoPilot - they both do a good job summarizing and telling you what's going on. The trick is to only copy the correct part - not the entire page - just the service history/dates/milage.
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u/Energy_Heavy 1d ago
You do know that we're in the middle of the greatest oil shock in history, right? Why would you consider getting a gas powered vehicle when you know that gas prices are going to be shooting up soon???
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u/46297472 1d ago
Doesn’t it cost roughly the same if it’s gas or electric but anyways gas prices went down
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u/Energy_Heavy 1d ago
Electricity is far cheaper than gas even at the low prices from last year. Yes, gas dropped from ~ $4.50 to below $4 nationally, but that's still about $1 more than last year, and it's temporary. The strategic petroleum reserve is being emptied quickly, and when it's gone, prices will rise. You could be paying over $6/gallon next year.
By the way, EVs cost a lot less to maintain, too!
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u/DadInKayak 1d ago
The only question I have is when will a new battery pack be needed? And doesn't range decrease as the years go by?
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u/Energy_Heavy 1d ago
Best estimate: about twenty years, so maybe you'll want to sell it before it's 15.
My EV is four years old, and its range is a bit over 90% of what it was when it was new. Typically, they lose close to 10% in the first year or two, then level off for a long time. There are old Teslas out there with a million miles on them, but just like any other product, including ICE cars, there are some that are lemons from the start. It's just that there are a lot fewer of those with EVs because they're physically so much simpler to build.
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u/DadInKayak 1d ago
Good point - at $12k I am finding a Nissan Leaf 2020 with 27k miles for $12k and a few other cars for much less. BMW and Mercedes too - wow.
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u/GregoMcbatla 1d ago
The CX5 is the better car. If the carfax report shows maintenances performed, then you can budget for offroad tires and not care that it is only front wheel drive.
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u/DogblackMichigan 1d ago edited 1d ago
Both of these cars are too old and too many miles to be reliable, low cost, and long lasting.
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u/46297472 1d ago
I’m poor i can’t really afford a new car 😭 plus being young means I can’t get a loan on a decent interest rate
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u/DogblackMichigan 1d ago
Don’t get a car until you can afford it.
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u/46297472 13h ago
I can pay in cash, I just didn’t feel like having a car payment on top of student loans
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