We need to purchase another car. Keep putting it off and now we are down the wire that we need something in the next week. I just can not believe what is out there. Used cars with 60-70k miles are selling for over 15k.
Thoughts? Would be for college 20 year old who has to have a car to get to her internship this summer (starts in 2 weeks). Since she can have a car next year on campus she’d drive it back to school.
This is painful.
Obviously, that depends on what kind of car…
I personally would not want to send a new car to a college campus parking lot where the probability of getting bumped, banged, scraped, etc. is high.
I would have said the same thing, so I googled a 6-7 year old Hyundai Elantra - the equivalent year of what we bought older S way back when - and those popped up as $15K. I think his was $5K in 2016 or so…
And a new Elantra isn’t that much more. 7K? So I can see why it would be a hard decision, though I think kids should start with used cars.
Any chance they could have an old one of yours and you get new?
Have you checked places like Carmax? I thought they were overloaded with cars that they bought last year when prices for used cars were through the roof since there was such a limited supply of new cars. I don’t know if that’s still the case, but perhaps Carmax, Carvana, etc are willing to cut deals now that new car supplies (I think) are more plentiful.
That was my first thought too!
Not a chance would I spend $15K on a used car with 60K/70K miles. You can get a new Versa or Spark for that amount of money.
Besides the car dealers named above, have you looked on Facebook Marketplace? Nextdoor?
Insights @3kids2dogs?
This just popped up on my news feed
Kias and Hyundai manufactured in certain years are easy targets for cat thieves because they lack some security features. I’d avoid sending one of these to a college campus.
We’re buying a new car for our D because we want her to have the latest safety features.
When she ran over her first curb, I decided she needs the lane assist, blind spot monitoirng, and cameras everywhere.
Just got a Chevy Spark, 2021, 29k miles, from Avis for my kid- $13k plus tax so total was $15k.
AAA has a great car finder site.
In our area some of my friends hire a guy who goes to an auction for them. I bought a Toyota Yaris in 2017 (2025, 19k miles) for $11k.
Unfortunately not many subcompacts on the market. We loved the little Spark. Small hatchback.
We don’t buy new cars, older cars for us, beaters for the kids (3 of them drive old civics). Besides myself, my family is HARD on cars (which is expensive enough, my husband did $5000 worth of damage to my new to my minivan - in our driveway!).
Agree… hence our dilemma. For example- Used Nissan Sentra (again this is an example not necessarily all that we’ve looked at) is 18k for a 4 year old with 60k miles.
YES exactly… I looked at so so so many different brands/models. And when a Hyundai used with 60k + miles is 15k and more I just can’t stomach it.
How far will your young adult need to drive generally? Long commutes for the internship? Take this car long distances between campus and home? What year are they in school? Would something to get them through a year or two till graduation work?
We used Avis literally right before the pandemic on my car and got such a great deal and it was such an easy buying experience. Would do it again hands down… sadly a lot has changed and the prices and miles are much higher.
And it was a good point above about the security issues. Mine (and older s’ old car) is too old to be affected and S’ new one is fine. The push button vehicles are ok.
I’d still lean toward old for a “new kid” car. And hunt, hunt, hunt for good deals. My H excels at that. But with 2 weeks, it will be hard.
Avis is a no bargaining no commission place to buy. I found a dealer on AAA that got great reviews for reasonable prices.
I would say the Spark we bought went up $2k in price from pre-pandemic. The mileage was great. The car looks new inside and out. It was garaged in FL so no rust.
So this is what I should also mention-
Her internship is in Philly (roughly 40 minutes away)- Yea not comfortable with her driving and parking a brand new car there.
Her school is 10 hours away- so reliability is key.
We thought of the “she take my car” route. My car is a larger SUV that seats 7. It’s roomy and perfect for moving college kids in and out (which we need). I think she would be ok driving it, but I actually like my car and we need the space.
Looking at the Nissan Kicks- of course every dealer is charging above MSRP (refuse to pay above out of sheer principle) but we are looking at 23k for new. Soooo get new for 23k or used with 60-70k miles for 16-18k?? This is just one example
How about $22,000 for a 1998 Toyota 4Runner with 165,000 miles? 
Just wanted to point out to folks that there are lots of cars and trucks in demand that sell for more than $15,000, but have higher mileage.