My husband and I both drive older cars. He drives a 2000 Honda Accord with about 170k miles on it and I drive a 2000 Toyota Sienna with the same mileage, approx 170k.
We've recently had a few things to be repaired in both. We would love to drive them until they die but we also don't want to be nickel and dimed by them. Our mechanic told us that the Honda will need a new timing belt by the end of summer ($400-$600), along with a few other belts that need replacing for about $20/each. Well, the check engine light came on today in my husband's Honda. He drives about 70 miles roundtrip to work Mon-Fri and we live in upstate NY with harsh winters, so we would like to get him a reliable vehicle with AWD but aren't looking to spend $30k on a brand new vehicle.
We have had good luck with Toyotas and Hondas so we'd prefer to stick with those, and so we're looking at a Rav4 or CRV. We are not hagglers (at least not face to face) so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for car shopping. I'm willing to try to negotiate via email if thats possible. I'm also not a Costco member but we do have a Sams Club locally.
We're willing to travel up to 100 miles for a vehicle.
Sorry this is so long!
Any tips when shopping around?
We've recently had a few things to be repaired in both. We would love to drive them until they die but we also don't want to be nickel and dimed by them. Our mechanic told us that the Honda will need a new timing belt by the end of summer ($400-$600), along with a few other belts that need replacing for about $20/each. Well, the check engine light came on today in my husband's Honda. He drives about 70 miles roundtrip to work Mon-Fri and we live in upstate NY with harsh winters, so we would like to get him a reliable vehicle with AWD but aren't looking to spend $30k on a brand new vehicle.
We have had good luck with Toyotas and Hondas so we'd prefer to stick with those, and so we're looking at a Rav4 or CRV. We are not hagglers (at least not face to face) so I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for car shopping. I'm willing to try to negotiate via email if thats possible. I'm also not a Costco member but we do have a Sams Club locally.
We're willing to travel up to 100 miles for a vehicle.
Sorry this is so long!
Any tips when shopping around?