The Nissan Pathfinder is a really nice ride for under $40 k. The Armada in one step up from that and can exceed $40k. Quite a lot of car for the money.
Posted on 07/24/2005 6:15:20 AM PDT by Treeless Branch
Sorry for the vanity, but I do respect the opinions of the posters on this board, who also possess a great wealth of information. With that said, I am in the process of buying a car, and wanted your advice.
Here is the deal. I am a young attorney at a large corporate law firm. I have about $40,000 to spend. I need something that I can drive clients around in, yet hopefully is fun to drive, reliable, and that my estemeed colleagues will not view with disdain. I am not opposed to buying a used car, and would prefer not to lease.
I am not a car guy, so any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
The seat is wide enough for me to sleep (I am 5'9") comfortably. It provides me with lodging and transportation, complete with awesome stereo music.
This is the best truck I ever owned. Thanks to everyone in St Louis who built my truck!
Yup, America would be much better off if everybody drove around in rusty Gremlins.
$40k isn't "lots of money" for a decent sports sedan, and not everyone is happy driving a 15yr old Buick or a Voyager with bad paint.
Are there better places to put your money? Sure but you can't drive Miami commercial real estate.
For an attorney, a $40k car is reasonable.
You have identified two constituencies who will evaluate the choice other than yourself.
Another's best judgement of their opinion is less-important than WHAT and WHY you drive what you choose.
Whatever it is, research the features, advantages, and benefits of the make and model over others THEY may own or that you may have chosen. (Safety, Power, resale, etc.)
It'll fly better than just owning a cool car, which you can easily do here.
Best wishes for your career.
ps. 2000 Grand Caravan, 2003 Ford Taurus. Now you know why I didn't make a specific rec.
The Nissan Pathfinder is a really nice ride for under $40 k. The Armada in one step up from that and can exceed $40k. Quite a lot of car for the money.
This link will take you to a list of 10 cars with the best resale value. Lots of good cars in here that will fit your needs. Good luck.
http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/value_1.html
Excellent choices. Either would impress your clients. However, a good pre-owned 7-series will eat up all of your 40 grand, or more. I would recommend a pre-owned 5-series. My wife owns a 2001 525iA, and it is a tight, solid vehicle, with one of the best rides imaginable. Check out this 525i in NM.
The best buy on the sedan market today - the Chrysler 300C. Cavernous interior, Mercedes suspension and transmission (as well as chassis), and with that 5.7, a BLAST to drive.
I love my Toyota Corolla, and I agree that the Camry is a wonderful car (I've driven them as rentals), but I also recall reading an article that the Camray is one of a number of cars that has a serious problem with engine "sludging." This is where over time, a buildup of sludge occurs, eventually blocking the oil pickup, pretty much killing the engine. The way around this is to use an engine "cleaner" at EVERY oil change!
This is a known issue on older cars, and it is NOT limited to Camrys. I do not know if it's still a problem on the new Camrys, but I'd be very careful if I were to buy one. Things like only getting my oil changed (every 3000 miles) at the Toyota dealership, rather than the nieghborhood Jiffylube (which, frankly, is where I always get my Corolla oil changed.)
Mark
Chevy Impala screams "cheap rental car". They're also not reliable and disturbingly sloppy to drive.
http://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/ModelHomePage/0,,120027,00.html?Site=Google&Creative=Unknown&Area=2005_nissan_pathfinder&CMP=KNC-Google here is a link to the nissan website.
BTW, the 300C is just $35K.
Cadillac CTS
I go for the BMW idea. A lawyer has to look prosperous so your car should be BMW, Mercedes, really anything upscale. The Volvos are really nice, too. My boss, a lawyer, drives a Corvette because he likes them. Try to get something you like and that is fun to drive.
Ours had an annoying habit of dying completely on the freeway for a couple of seconds. We could not diagnose the problem because the onboard computer would never show a failure code when its memory was checked. We believed the sudden failure of the engine at cruising speed, for no apparent reason, made the car a catastrophic accident waiting to happen. (Yes, we changed the fuel filter).
This is a picture I took of the instrument panel. I am not sure if someone could tell the year from that or not.
My husband drives a LOT. He takes colleagues/ clients around some, as a consultant. He wanted a car that had good mileage, was comfortable, well-built. He and my son looked at EVERY car within 50 miles (haha)for the last 6-8 MONTHS!! He just got a BMW 330i. Last years' model, so they wanted to get rid of it. He LOVES it. It is engineered well, beautiful, well-built -- just a dream car.
And I quote: "The 3-series is lower-end, price-wise, but elegant. Everything is designed in an elegant but minimalist way; good power, smooth ride. Good 'driveability.'"
You might take a look.
The only CTS that *I'd* want to buy is the CTS-V, and that's still over $50K.
I had driven an Audi since 1986 but when ready to buy a new car 2 years ago I was fed up with the Germans so switched to a Lexus GX. I also drive clients around. It's been a great car/truck. Because Lexus does a lot of leasing they often have some great pre-loved (owned) cars.
Right color, too.
The G35 does everything the 330i does, just cheaper and sometimes better. BMW is rightly very, very worried about Infiniti at this point.
They're affordable, but the 300C is still the best buy in the sedan market at the current time. It's a Mercedes E420 that looks better, goes faster, and has more space for half the price.
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