Cars that won't break the bank

Research has shown that after the first five years of a vehicle's life the maintenance costs start to rise. How does this directly affect you in your day to day life though? As a student, we know that money can sometimes be tight and having to spend money on vehicle upkeep is something that we don’t want to spend money on. In this post, I will be discussing the best used vehicle options to help assist you in your search for a reliable used vehicle. According to Kelly Blue Book, Consumer Reports, and Car and Driver these are some of the vehicles you should be looking for.

According to Consumer Reports, Toyota is the number three manufacturer with the lowest maintenance costs coming to a total of $4,900.00 after a total of ten years of ownership. Also, Toyota is well known for their longevity and they also tend to hold their value as compared to some of their competitors. Toyota offers many different models to choose from that should suit the majority of needs that an individual would have. Several of these models are relatively affordable and offer a wide range in features.

If you are looking for an affordable daily driver with basic capabilities, the Toyota Camry, Prius, or Corolla are some cars you should look at. They have been shown to reach 250,000 miles in their life and in some cases even more. If you are looking for something that would fill the daily driver role and still offer a little more versatility the Toyota RAV4 is another vehicle you could consider. This vehicle has available features such as greater storage space, all wheel drive, and a roof rack to help with your weekend adventures. Whether you just need to get to class, or want to do a little exploring on the weekend, the RAV4 is a great option to consider.

Let's say you want something a little more though, maybe you want a full size SUV or even a truck. While Toyota offers both of these, maybe you are more interested in an American manufacturer. This is where Chevrolet comes into play, out of the top ten on the maintenance cost list, they are ranked at number six with a ten year maintenance cost of $5,550.00. If you are looking for a full size SUV for the space or towing capabilities, the Chevy Tahoe or Suburban might be something you want to consider. Both of these options offer a wide variety of options and can also offer four wheel drive. They both offer a full size V8 engine, making sure you have plenty of power when you need it. And if you are in the market for a truck, the Chevy Silverado is another very affordable option. It also offers a wide variety of options and features including the same four wheel drive and V8 that the Suburban and Tahoe use. Overall, the LS engine platform is a tried and true engine and the aftermarket support and options are one of the best you can get.

What if you want something that you can have fun with and still commute in as well? Well Honda might have something for you then. While Honda finds itself at the tenth position of this list it still only comes out with a respectable cost of $5,850.00 in maintenance at the ten year mark. Honda has a wide variety of commuter cars, full size sedans, SUVs and crossovers. But you wanted something a little more fun right? Well, the Honda Civic SI is something that you might want to consider. The Honda Civic SI offers a six speed manual transmission and a limited differential. While it does offer a fairly humble amount of horsepower out of the factory, it’s still enough to give you a little bit of fun on your daily commute without getting you pulled over every day. If you want a little more power from it, look no further because the aftermarket and modification options are nearly endless. 

While these aren’t the only vehicles you should look for or avoid, it is something I would recommend taking into consideration. There are many other good vehicles and manufacturers out there that would be a good buy that would provide you with an affordable and reliable vehicle to get you through your day.