Newish Car...nedd a diffrent perspective
 

Ok, just landed a new job where I have to provide my own vehicle. Manufactures rep covering the eastern side of the US. Will be flying a bit but if I can drive I'll be doing that. So I'm looking at a full sized 4 door car. But I have always worked out of a 4 door truck. But I have to work within a car allowance so I'll be covering gas. Looking for something that will hold up and be a comfortable drive. So full size is the key and not looking a maintenance intensive vehicle. If I thought I could do it I certainly would get back into a truck. 2 issues , gas mileage and durability. Opinions??

Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, or similar.

JR

Take a look at Hyundai

This. You can get a new one for about what a used Honda would cost and the Hyundai's have been as good or better.

And come with a 10 year 100K mile warranty.

If you want something with an ounce of soul, check out a Mazda 6. I had a Mazda 3 for 3.5 years, from 25k miles to 75k miles. Spent $0 other than brakes, tires and oil changes.

Love my Mazdas... check the CX series as well if you need a larger vehicle

Add the Chevy Impala (the current, new one) to the above - they're very good. Unsurprisingly, this isn't going to fit the bill if you want something that drives like a Mazda 6, but it will if you want something that eats up miles in comfort and with reliability.

I looked at the Impala, what nice riding car with some great amenities (Did I just say that about an Impala??) The V^ has 305 hp and runs really good. Then looked at the Taurus, meh, had a fairly harsh ride and not quite the feel of the Impala. Didn't drive but looked at the Camry, Accord, and Maxima but ruled them out due to the size. Not being in the market for a large car ever the days of a large car are no more. Did look at some Infinities, not sure of the model, comparable size. In all of these I looked at a models a year or 2 older. Did look at a 2017 Impala LTZ $43,000. Found a 2015 with 28K on the clock, $23,800. I'm going to devour anything I drive due to many road miles so I need to start as low as possible, if not in 2 years I'll be upside down...Now if I find out that my I can expense my gas, then it will be a full size truck.

Personally I'd go with the Lexus.

I was also thinking that the Impala might fit the bill for the OP.

Got a Subaru Legacy for my wife a few months ago, been pretty impressed with it. Lots of features for the price, handles great, good power with the 6 cylinder while still getting decent milage. Ton of safety features, the idrive system had her almost stopped by the time she realized she was about to hit a deer-no damage. Can't say I was liking it with the CVT tranny and the idrive system really turning me off prior to buying (manual option would be awesome in that car, but does have paddle shifters at least) but like I said, been very impressed with it.

Lexus ES350. Uses 87 octane, quiet, comfortable, good for taking clients to lunch, etc., $44k new, much less a year or two old. Completely reliable and 27 mpg mixed.

Have you looked at leasing? My FIL has a similar gig with a vehicle allowance and leases a new car every two years. My understanding is that there are some tax benefits to leasing as well. He has to demo engineering equipment, so he goes for small SUVs.

Yup. As nice or nicer inside than the competition, and way more fun to drive. I cannot fathom why anyone would buy an Accord or Camry in a world that has the Mazda6.

In my experience Mazdas are always more fun to drive than Toyota and Honda equivalents, but ownership requires a bit more work as well. Just as a generality

I've personally owned four Mazdas, all have been bulletproof. My in-laws have had four spread across their teens, since buying a Mazda3 back in 2004 all of their subsequent kids have ended up in Mazdas. They have been similarly bulletproof despite being driven by teenage girls. The first one who ended up in the Mazda3 many years ago just bought her first new car, a Mazda6.:)

I had put 268000 miles since new on a Mazda diesel when it finally let go. If it hadnt been for rusty rear wheel arches(this despite brushing the mud out from inside them every week when I washed it) I would have done the head gasket, renewed timing belt which was coming due etc and installed a new radiator which had burst either because of the head gasket failing or had caused the gasket to blow. I sold it for scrap instead.
The rust issue has put me off Mazdas unfortunately. See loads of them rusty here in the UK, whereas most cars on sale here are fully galvanized so remain rust free, and are scrapped for electrical problems instead.

I have a couple questions: What is the budget? Do you value comfort or fun on those long trips? How much product do you carry and how big is it?

My husband is a sales rep that drives 50-70K miles a year. He had a Nissan Pathfinder that we traded in at 300K miles on the Odo(had no issues at all), a scion Tc (had no issues at all) traded in at 300K miles, a Honda crosstour(wheel bearings replaces under warranty at 10K miles). After the crosstour, he decided no more boring cars. Since then he had a Ford Focus ST, which has now gone to the son with 150K miles on the Odo and now has a Ford Focus RS. Hot hatches have become his car of choice because of the fun level and the hatch(makes it easier to access product).

Also keep in mind that a Chevy or Ford can be serviced anywhere and at any time. What is the dealership network for Mazdas and Lexus, even Hyundia. If you are mainly going to be near large metropolitan areas, then not a problem, but you get out on desolate highways in the flyover states, and not so much.

Might look at a Ford Fusion starting at $22K and getting 31 MPG highway, or the Hybrid version is much better than that.

Caddy CTSV if you want some excitement.

Not clear how much stuff you have to carry around and whether you sometimes have to carry people. Depending on that, you could be looking at anything from a SUV/minivan to a compact car.

I'd think fuel economy would be very important, if you're paying for gasoline. But you haven't mentioned the mpg of any of the cars you're looking at, and none of the cars you've mentioned have particularly good mpg, so maybe the company will be paying for your gasoline?

I expect leasing is out due to your miles/year.

To the questions of MPG , one of the "issues" we are dealing with is the company reimbursing for gas. If they do, I may be looking at a full size truck. If not then it will be an Impala. This is the first time in 12 years that I have to buy my car, prior I always had company cars. While I really like the Impala, I feel so closed in when I get in. We'll see...

Go rent a Ford Edge and drive it for a few days. I've got a 2008 and it is literally bullet proof. I'm on my original brake pads and rotors at 86 thousand miles (well over 50% left on the pads). Nothing but basic services/oil changes. Surprisingly spunky engine (3.5 V-6) and decent handling. I do have 2" lowering springs on mine, but even with those it rides great and really gets around nicely. It is big enough to haul 4 adults comfortably plus have luggage space behind the 2nd row of seats. With those seats down, I can toss my mountain bike in the back with the wheels on! My real-life gas mileage is about 18 around town and varies from 23 to 25 on the highway at 70 to 75mph.

Seriously - these are terrific vehicles. Plenty of them out there to pick and choose exactly the one that suits you.

angela

Another Hyundai/Kia vote here... If the Camry/Accord wasn't big enough, then a Sonata might not be either... If that's the case, look at an Azera or its platform mate, the Kia Cadenza. They can be comfort feature laden, have good warranties to cover those features, are economical to operate and hold up well. New, they can be had in the mid-upper $30's depending on options... a year or two old, I would guess low to mid $20's...

I also like the vote for a Mazda 6 but at a similar size to Camry/Accord/Sonata, it may not be big enough for your needs either.

SUVs/CUVs may fit the size bill but their larger cross-section may result in poorer fuel economy than sedans... but YMMV.

I like the impala as well. i'd drive a mazda 6 but would anticipate choosing the impala due to the fact that i'm an old man now at 43 and can admit that comfort is important.

I also wouldn't dream of dropping 30k plus on such a car.

re Hyundai my mother just bought a Hyundai SUV and while I like the design on the outside the minute I sat inside and touched the surfaces I lost any interest in the brand.