It's hard for me to recommend new vehicles these days.

[fdcg27]

As many have noted above, for 5K a year any new car would work just fine.
An EV would probably make a lot of sense for this type of very limited use, although what one would pay for one would certainly matter and at 5K a year even something huge and thirsty wouldn't hurt the wallet at all.
Plenty of choices and none of them are really bad or unlikely to last in this sort of light use.

 

[RooflessVW]

If I was going to buy a new car right now it would be a MINI, I think.

 

[Furious]

At 5,000 miles a year, most any new car will run trouble-free for 10 years, but Hyundai is the only one that guaranties it, at least the expensive bits.

Hyundai/Kia aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be, sure right now they are having problems which are supposed to be solved for 2023 model years from my understanding, but name me a company that isn't having problems.

If you want a long powertrain warranty beating a Hyundai/Kia is hard, I believe Mazda was a 10 year warranty but dropped to 5.

The Chevy Spark was a good little car even though it had a CVT, but I believe they stopped production for 2023.

 

[Furious]

If I was going to buy a new car right now it would be a MINI, I think.

Oof.... you want from bad (VW) to worse (BMW)

Like always, i'm just kidding... kinda.

 

[John105]

One of my goals in life was to own a "3rd vehicle". Finally got to that 3 years ago. Bought a lemon the first time but then bought a 2015 Lexus RS350 with 162k on it and we have put 50k miles on it since August 2021. It was a daily commuter (165+ miles) for about 16 months, but has since seen 20-30 miles a day at most generally.

Currently at 216K miles, my wife drives it to the office mostly. What it has enabled us to do is put 10k miles on my Tundra in 2 years and 15k miles on our LX570 in 16 months. That is ground-breaking to put that low mileage on our two "primary" vehicles.

It's allowing us to preserve our vehicles, we have no intentions of even looking at anything new. I paid $17k for the RX, grossly overpaid, but that was market price at the time. It has been worth it so far, the thing runs like new, drives like new and is in great physical shape inside and out for something with 200k on it. Most people say they think it has about 50k on it.

The way you are looking at your cars with no intention of replacement, imho justifies “overpaying” by some amount. I did the same with a 2006 LS430 from Naples, FL, purchased from a NEW CAR DEALER (highest retail possible), in 2016 with 81k. I could have bought a 2014 Camry previous loaner for the same. But here it is 2023 and 55k later. Maybe it should have been 12k not 14k, but it doesn’t matter any longer…the strange thing about this scenario which I suspect is the case with your LX and Tundra. I actually love my old car so it is cheap in the big picture.

 

[CT Rob]

I feel the same way. I'm not a huge fan of my RX 350 as it drives like a refrigerator on wheels but it's reliable and comfortable and my wife drives it. I love my Tundra for its "simplicity" and I plan to keep it for a long time but it is a 13.5 mpg dinosaur. I'm probably 6-10 years away from looking for replacements for either and the options will be different then but right now I'm not excited about anything.

I avg high 17s week after week with my 17 Tundra. Are you doing lots of stop and go driving to be in the 13s?

 

[PWMDMD]

I avg high 17s week after week with my 17 Tundra. Are you doing lots of stop and go driving to be in the 13s?

Lots of stop-and-go and hills and it went down when I went to Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT tires.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I hear what your saying. I am not sure where your reliability study gets its data - owners or dealers, however I can say that from spending time on the Rav4 board, Toyota owners buy for reliability and when any tiny thing goes wrong they totally freak out "I bought this Toyota for reliability and the tire went flat, they all Lie" I am not embellishing that much. If it comes from owners it might need a grain of salt.

We have a 2019 Rav4 ICE. I would make a case for it. The engine was a new design in 2018 for the Camry but it has shown no issues yet that I am aware. It has MPI plus GDI and is very efficient. The 8 speed has been around even longer. I think a lot of the problems were with the hybrid. It had gas tank issues early - you could only fill them half full which irked many people. Then they had issues with the main motor connector on the rear drive with corrosion, which Toyota didn't warranty past 3 years and it was very expensive. The ice had a few with engines that were recalled, but they knew exactly which ones by block serial number and it was a small number. Some had a leaky roof rack (bad design). So that might skew your survey, but I think long term they will hold up, even though the materials have been lightened to save weight, which makes them a little high on road noise.

You mention the Tacoma but there dogs. Not saying I wouldn't drive one, but being an owner of a small truck myself, I have driven all of them and work with people that own all of them - Toyota, the new Nissan, the new ranger, the coloado/canyon. If you want the best reliability overall to drive around empty in the city ,then yes a Tacoma. But as an actual truck its the worst performer of the mentioned 4.

May as well be recommending Oldsmobiles.

I really liked my 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I should have kept it

 

[Malo83]

Retired 4 yrs ago along with the wife, we planned to buy one more new car and that would be our last car purchase, came across a close out 17 Buick Regal GS with 10K off the asking price, she's a garage queen and only driven on out of town trips and some weekends, no more car payments for us.

 

[AutoMechanic]

There aren’t many to recommend anymore in my opinion anyway. Here is my list in no particular order.

Toyota Tacoma 2.7 only, maybe 3.5 if you aren’t going to drive it a lot. I’ll explain why below.

Toyota Tundra they look sweet and have cool colors and are hybrid which isn’t something I’d want but it does make it very gas efficient.

Subaru Crosstrek, in my opinion one of the most reliable and practical cars on the market today.

Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, a sweet looking crossover SUV. Very reliable based on what our Mitsubishi techs have said at work. I personally would love to have one of those.

Here is my reasoning on the 2.7 over the 3.5 Tacoma. Keep in mind it’s coming from a mechanic who works on them everyday so maybe just my experience with the ones we see but the 3.5 has a lot of problems with the piston rings coking in them. The three that I’ve torn down (all under 100k) and my coworkers have torn down (many more than 3 for them) out of the Tacoma in particular has all had at least minor coking on the rings. Of course I’ll have people disagreeing with me here but we believe it’s from long oil changes but we have no proof. And we believe bulk oil could be the cause as well but again no proof. However all of these vehicles have been in the range of 60k-200k with a history of dealership oil changes but we don’t know the conditions they drive in or anything. If you were going to do shorter oil changes and not the 10k that Toyota says then you’d probably be fine. However I haven’t had the opportunity to tear down one with short oil changes to look at. And many here will say the 3.5 is bulletproof. Not in the Tacoma it’s not, maybe the Highlander or Camry. Another advantage to the 2.7 that is a dealbreaker on the 3.5 for me is the 2.7 has a spin on oil filter and is so much easier to work on and do oil changes on. You trade off a little bit of power but in my opinion it’s worth it. I’m waiting on my dealership to get some more 2.7 on the lot so I can test drive them. That’s the only place I can get financing from so I have to buy it from my dealership and I want a 2.7 Tacoma or a Subaru if I decide to get something but I’d prefer a 4WD 2.7 Tacoma.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

I'd love to own a new F-150 but there's no way I'm shelling out that kind
money for what you get.
Guess I'll stick to my 2002 and 2003 F-150's.
Both in great shape and run/drive great.
And the wife loves her newer model Rav 4.

I thought the F150 was the best selling truck in America for like 30 years?
Now I see they have the Maverick and Ranger base models way less than a base F-150.
....and the F-150 does not offer a long cab, ***. I thought the F-150 was the ¨Toyota Camry" of trucks, yet it is commanding a 30k+ price tag?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I thought the F150 was the best selling truck in America for like 30 years?
Now I see they have the Maverick and Ranger base models way less than a base F-150.
....and the F-150 does not offer a long cab, ***. I thought the F-150 was the ¨Toyota Camry" of trucks, yet it is commanding a 30k+ price tag?

You made me look! My Local dealer has a short box/ short cab W/T with 2 options: Tow package and a rear locker. MSRP 37,5 with a upfront 4K discount to anybody. So $33.5K out the door.
But its 10 speed auto, 3.3L DOHC V6, lots of tech, 4W disc, 17" 245 tires and a rust free aluminum body and a curb weight of only 4000 lbs. Lots more cost in that than a 4 banger FWD camry tin can.

Now I want to look at that, but IDK $33K I only owe 7K on my SUV that's worth 15K.

I would like a PU though, I got a continuous need for one. if it was a 5 speed MT and 4WD for that price I'd be right over there.

 

[PimTac]

I fell right into this equation. We drive around 4000-5000 miles a year. As with all my purchases it came down to needs. In the end we decided on a compact crossover and that ended up being the Mazda CX5.

Most consumers buy what they want, not what they need.

 

[supton]

You made me look! My Local dealer has a short box/ short cab W/T with 2 options: Tow package and a rear locker. MSRP 37,5 with a upfront 4K discount to anybody. So $33.5K out the door.
But its 10 speed auto, 3.3L DOHC V6, lots of tech, 4W disc, 17" 245 tires and a rust free aluminum body and a curb weight of only 4000 lbs. Lots more cost in that than a 4 banger FWD camry tin can.

Interesting. But I thought those aluminum bodies had their own issues? Wonder what has lower reg&ins, Camry vs F150.

 

[CarDoc66]

There aren’t many to recommend anymore in my opinion anyway. Here is my list in no particular order.

Toyota Tacoma 2.7 only, maybe 3.5 if you aren’t going to drive it a lot. I’ll explain why below.

Toyota Tundra they look sweet and have cool colors and are hybrid which isn’t something I’d want but it does make it very gas efficient.

Subaru Crosstrek, in my opinion one of the most reliable and practical cars on the market today.

Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, a sweet looking crossover SUV. Very reliable based on what our Mitsubishi techs have said at work. I personally would love to have one of those.

Here is my reasoning on the 2.7 over the 3.5 Tacoma. Keep in mind it’s coming from a mechanic who works on them everyday so maybe just my experience with the ones we see but the 3.5 has a lot of problems with the piston rings coking in them. The three that I’ve torn down (all under 100k) and my coworkers have torn down (many more than 3 for them) out of the Tacoma in particular has all had at least minor coking on the rings. Of course I’ll have people disagreeing with me here but we believe it’s from long oil changes but we have no proof. And we believe bulk oil could be the cause as well but again no proof. However all of these vehicles have been in the range of 60k-200k with a history of dealership oil changes but we don’t know the conditions they drive in or anything. If you were going to do shorter oil changes and not the 10k that Toyota says then you’d probably be fine. However I haven’t had the opportunity to tear down one with short oil changes to look at. And many here will say the 3.5 is bulletproof. Not in the Tacoma it’s not, maybe the Highlander or Camry. Another advantage to the 2.7 that is a dealbreaker on the 3.5 for me is the 2.7 has a spin on oil filter and is so much easier to work on and do oil changes on. You trade off a little bit of power but in my opinion it’s worth it. I’m waiting on my dealership to get some more 2.7 on the lot so I can test drive them. That’s the only place I can get financing from so I have to buy it from my dealership and I want a 2.7 Tacoma or a Subaru if I decide to get something but I’d prefer a 4WD 2.7 Tacoma.

I'v have had four Toyota's, three of them being Tacoma's. The first (22RE) was as reliable as the sun rising. The next two were a 97 and an 01 Tacoma, both with the 5VZ. Mechanically these things are indestructible, but they just rust and fall apart underneath at an alarming rate. (in fact I'm still in counselling from battling rust on my 01....good news is the voices in my head are gone now ).
So on to my fourth; a 2020 Tacoma with the 2GR-FKS. I do 5K OCI's (personally I feel 10K is too long for 95% of driver habits) and it's a great truck as long as you're not looking for refinement on par with a RAM 1500.

That said, my main advice to buyers (that keep their cars a long time) is to avoid conventional CVT's (the eCVT's are different) unless you will religiously change out the fluid. Avoid the 10K OCI and buy an extended warranty FROM THE MANUFACTURER OF THE VEHICLE (not an aftermarket one). There are a few engines I say to avoid too, such as anything diesel. The diesel after-treatment emissions will send you to the poor house when they get miles on them.
A 3.5 Tacoma engine will set you back around 20,000+ USD if it fails. A 2.7 will probably never give you a problem but the 2GR has been around a long time and will serve you well if maintained correctly.

 

[supton]

Toyota Tacoma 2.7

Spotted a couple locally, but 2wd. which can be lived with I guess. Acess cab or regular cab, auto or stick. Not sure which I’d rather have.

Probably neither, not with my commute. I mean, for a weekend vehicle no prob, but I kinda need another daily. Maybe access cab with auto… that would move my 3k enclosed trailer ease, no? [no, no it wouldn’t.]

 

[AutoMechanic]

I'v have had four Toyota's, three of them being Tacoma's. The first (22RE) was as reliable as the sun rising. The next two were a 97 and an 01 Tacoma, both with the 5VZ. Mechanically these things are indestructible, but they just rust and fall apart underneath at an alarming rate. (in fact I'm still in counselling from battling rust on my 01....good news is the voices in my head are gone now ).
So on to my fourth; a 2020 Tacoma with the 2GR-FKS. I do 5K OCI's (personally I feel 10K is too long for 95% of driver habits) and it's a great truck as long as you're not looking for refinement on par with a RAM 1500.

That said, my main advice to buyers (that keep their cars a long time) is to avoid conventional CVT's (the eCVT's are different) unless you will religiously change out the fluid. Avoid the 10K OCI and buy an extended warranty FROM THE MANUFACTURER OF THE VEHICLE (not an aftermarket one). There are a few engines I say to avoid too, such as anything diesel. The diesel after-treatment emissions will send you to the poor house when they get miles on them.
A 3.5 Tacoma engine will set you back around 20,000+ USD if it fails. A 2.7 will probably never give you a problem but the 2GR has been around a long time and will serve you well if maintained correctly.

I agree 100% on the OCI too many people listen to the manufacturer on that. I can’t speak on it too much but we’ve gotten a lot of inside information working at the dealership about that strictly being recommended to get the car out of warranty. After that they don’t have to worry about it so they don’t care. And I think that’s the problem with these is too long of an interval for the conditions you would use a truck for. You certainly won’t catch me running anything past 5,000 on any car. We’ve put two engines in these 3.5 Tacoma’s in the last month. The customers almost fell over when they got the bill LOL. I helped put an engine in one back in April and Toyota almost denied the warranty because the tabs underneath the truck hadn’t been popped so they said it had never been on a lift for an oil change. Finally we got them to take care of it though. Personally I’ll never buy an extended warranty but that’s because I’m a mechanic so I can fix any problems it has. It’s good for consumers though.

 

[Danh]

I agree 100% on the OCI too many people listen to the manufacturer on that. I can’t speak on it too much but we’ve gotten a lot of inside information working at the dealership about that strictly being recommended to get the car out of warranty. After that they don’t have to worry about it so they don’t care. And I think that’s the problem with these is too long of an interval for the conditions you would use a truck for. You certainly won’t catch me running anything past 5,000 on any car. We’ve put two engines in these 3.5 Tacoma’s in the last month. The customers almost fell over when they got the bill LOL. I helped put an engine in one back in April and Toyota almost denied the warranty because the tabs underneath the truck hadn’t been popped so they said it had never been on a lift for an oil change. Finally we got them to take care of it though. Personally I’ll never buy an extended warranty but that’s because I’m a mechanic so I can fix any problems it has. It’s good for consumers though.

What tabs? And wouldn’t it be both possible and okay for an owner to change the oil without using a lift? Always thought Toyota was pretty reasonable on warranty issues.

 

[Zee09]

What tabs? And wouldn’t it be both possible and okay for an owner to change the oil without using a lift? Always thought Toyota was pretty reasonable on warranty issues.

And didn't it get the two years free maintenance?

 

[AutoMechanic]

What tabs? And wouldn’t it be both possible and okay for an owner to change the oil without using a lift? Always thought Toyota was pretty reasonable on warranty issues.

The tabs that are right before the sway bar on the bottom. In between the sway bar and cross member on the front. They are what Toyota uses to indicate whether the truck has been lifted on a lift or not. On the first service you are supposed to pop them with the lift. If you don’t and done it DIY then you should have records they don’t care if you have the records they will take care of it. Toyota is generally nit picky from my experience on warranty but I guess it could vary based on region and warranty representatives. We had a serpentine belt on our Camry fray from the factory and they denied it. Had to buy a new one with my own money. I’ve not liked them since.

I can’t find a good diagram of the tabs but they are on every Tacoma and the new Tundra and maybe some others.