Need Advice - Looking for a used car for my daughter who will be turning 16 soon

chucklobert

Hello,

We are looking for a used car for our daughter, who will be 16 in September. The main thing that we are concerned about is safety and reliability. We want a small SUV, and we are only looking at ones that have done well on the IIHS tests, including the Small Overlap Front test, and get at least a 4/5 overall safety rating the the NHTSA.

So the models we are considering are

- Subaru Forester (2013 or newer)
- Subaru Outback (2013 or newer)
- Nissan Rouge (2014 or newer)
- Chevrolet Trax (2015 or newer)
- Buick Encore (2015 or newer)
- Maszda CX-5 (2014 or newer)

I want something 80,000ish miles or lower. I am paying cash. Right now, there are 4 main cars that I am considering and I wanted to get some opinions on what would be the best to go with.

2016 Nissan Rogue SV Premium (62,000 miles, Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Departure Warning, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Surroundview Camera) - at a used car lot

2018 Nissan Rogue S (79,000 miles, Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Forward Collision Mitigation, Rearview Camera) - at a Hertz sales lot

2015 Subaru Forester (85,000 miles, Rearview Camera) - at a used car lot

2016 Buick Encore (60,000 miles, Rearview Camera) - at a Hertz sales lot

All are roughly the same price, and all are anywhere from 500 - 1100 miles away from me. I would be going out to test drive and buy it.

stickguy

the only issue I have heard of is the CVT in the Rouge had issues for a while. Though by the years you listed that might not still be a concern. The Nissans at least have all the modern safety features. With any used car though, condition and maintenance history can be more important than the specific brand (they all tend to be pretty good these days).

The Subaru likely has the best visibility, which is important.

that does seem like a really long way to go for a used car, especially one that is not particularly rare. Especially these days.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

the only issue I have heard of is the CVT in the Rouge had issues for a while. Though by the years you listed that might not still be a concern. The Nissans at least have all the modern safety features. With any used car though, condition and maintenance history can be more important than the specific brand (they all tend to be pretty good these days).

The Subaru likely has the best visibility, which is important.

that does seem like a really long way to go for a used car, especially one that is not particularly rare. Especially these days.

This... ^^^^^^^

oldfarmer50

I echo the concerns about the Nissans particularly the ex rental. 80k miles is the point where the CVTs start acting up. The Subaru will have the best resale value. I’d say the Buick but it’s an ex rental so there’s a potential for abuse.

Regardless of which one you pick have a mechanic give it a full inspection. They have equipment which can find multiple hidden trouble codes which you wouldn’t notice on a test drive but could cause problems down the road.

On paying cash, that might no get you the best price as dealers make money arranging finance. If you don’t want payments you can pay it off in a few months.

roadburner

I would go with the Mazda. More importantly, I would send your daughter to a teen driving school that teaches car control. I would also send her to the one day Street Survival Course.

stickguy

the Mazda is nice. They go back to 2013 so should be affordable ones to chose from. Maybe not as many in Michigan though.

chucklobert

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the input. Anyone else that wants to weigh in I would appreciate it. I ended up deciding not to go to Florida to look at the 2016 Rogue and 2015 Forester. They were both at the same used car dealership and that dealerships reviews had a few people mention that they were sold cards with a "clean title" that they later found out had been in a flood. So don't want to take the chance.

So still looking.

stickguy

Buy local and get a pre purchase inspection done. Much safer that way.

chucklobert

I think I found a good car. 2017 Chevrolet Trax LS with 25,000 miles on it. It is at a VW dealership. Thoughts?

stickguy

Reasonable miles. Good car.