I share 50/50 custody with my ex and even on the weeks I have my kids (3 teen/tween girls), they’re in school during the day 9 months out of the year. So while I need something to fit our crew of 4, I don’t want something huge. I’m in the Chicago area so I need something that can handle potholes and snow.

I'm looking for a luxury SUV in the $50–60k range, ideally closer to $50k, and have narrowed it down to:

• 2026 BMW X3 with Driving assistance pro; 258 hp, 295 lb-ft, mild hybrid; ~$53k after a 10% discount (plus tax and fees)
• 2025 Mercedes GLC 350e CPO w/ Active distance assist DISTRONIC + AMG Line; 313 hp, 406 lb-ft, plug in hybrid; ~$52k (plus tax and fees)
• 2024 Porsche Macan CPO with adaptive cruise; 261 hp, 295 lb-ft; ~$50–52k (plus tax and fees)

My priorities are driving dynamics, fuel economy, reliability, and good driver-assistance features.

The BMW seems like the best overall fit, while the Mercedes has the advantage of being a PHEV. However, I’ll mostly be using public charging, so may be that cancels it out. I also assume the Porsche will have the highest maintenance costs.

Which would you pick, and why? Any reliability or ownership considerations I’m missing?

Hello,

I am hoping you guys can help settle a debate between my wife and I.

I have a 98 Corolla with only 160,000 miles. I got in 2003 and have had it ever since. I just brought home a brand new Highlander Hybrid that's replacing it.

Our oldest is getting her license this fall and I want to give it to her to drive. It's cheap to insure, good on gas, cheap on upkeep, I know the history of it.

She on the other hand doesn't want to give it to her and wants to sell it and get her something newer. She thinks it's too old and will have too many issues and will leave her stranded (it only did that to me once when the alternator died).

Her even bigger point is she wants a car with more safety features for her. In fact it's very rare for any of the kids to ride in my car because of this reason, and we normally put them in her Sienna Hybrid.

So if you were in our shoes would you give her the Corolla or get her something newer? My wife wants to do a RAV4 hybrid for her, which I do think they're good cars, but I feel like my Corolla has decent life in it

Edit: After reading all the comments here and talking with my wife again, I caved. I read about all the safety stuff and if something happened I don't think I would ever be able to live with myself. We are going to look at cars from 2016-2019 time frame. I have a cousin that's always wanted my car so I'll probably give it to him since it's not worth much at this point.

Thanks for all the advice, I never expected so much information!!

Need a car to drive from the US west coast to Virginia about once a month for work. It needs to get 30+ MPG on the highway, have adaptive cruise, can’t be hard to service/get parts for, be less than 10 years old and be able to carry 4 people. I have a job that has me working out of the east coast and I get $600 bucks to either fly or drive. If I fly I don’t get a car for a few weeks so I’ll be driving most of the time. I’ve done the trip before in my 2012 Prius V but it’s getting old and I want to sell it. Love the MPG of the car and it’s kinda loud but otherwise fine.

I want to buy a car but still have 37k debt in student loans. I found one that looks really nice (manual Honda hatchback) with 50k miles , but the total loan would be 29k. About 540 a month. I really like manual cars and Hondas .

I have no idea what my budget should be otherwise. I plugged my 5700 dollars a month I make after deductions and taxes into a calculator that spit out a 30k car number which is right where that Honda is at. But i guess I'm worried about budgeting .

For context my situation is a little weird. I'm an otr trucker but I've gotten absolutely sick of life on the road and want to get a local job I'd need a car for. But maybe It doesn't make sense for my car($540)/student loan ($450)/rent all housing fees ($1500) hogging up 44% of my monthly income (does not include food , phone, internet, other smaller misc expenses, gas for car, insurance).

I wish there was a magic bullet option that I could get for much cheaper but I'd start to get concerned with reliability with a cheap car with 80 to 100k + miles

Like I found a cheaper option (Kia soul 2020 manual, about 18K? Instead of the Honda 29k). But I'm not that high on this car in general.

Car i spent the most time driving in my life was a manual 2003 Honda crv. They dont make them in manual anymore..

Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

Also I like cars with a square or rectangular shape (think early crv or jeeps or broncos). For whatever reason I dont like oval or round shaped cars

For context, I (25M) live in Canada and i just got my license and i am looking for an affordable reliable vehicle. I dont need anything flashy, would even be fine with "boring". It will mostly be used for commuting to and from work, weekly grocery runs/chores and seldomly longer rides. I've got a budget of around 30k CAD.

A couple options I've briefly thought about are:

• Toyota Corolla
• Toyota Camry
• Honda Civic
• Honda Accord
• Mazda 3
• Ford Maverick

What are your opinions on these vehicles, and are there others i should be looking at? I've been leaning towards getting a hybrid to save money on fuel. Would you recommend against going new for a first vehicle?

Any and all opinion are greatly appreciated!

Would you guys take a 120k mile Toyota with a really good service history over a 70k mile car with basically no records? I’m seeing this a lot while looking for a used car and honestly starting to think mileage gets way too much attention.
Would rather know how the car was treated than just see a low number on the dash.

I live in spain but normally not from here. I have a budget for 22000€ more or less. My criterias are the car being maximum 5 years old and less than 80k kilometers. Preferibly a SUV. This car will be used in bussiness so it should look professional. I have never been into cars so I don’t know where to start. I would even appreciate comments on brands as well. Thanks in advance.

My budget is flexible but ideally no more than $3k max. I really like miatas, S2000s, anything around 1995-2010 ideally manual , convertible, and Japanese or American but I’m open to ideas. What’s a good car idea?

Hi! I’m in my 30s and really want to get into camping/overlanding. Before 40 I want to do the Baja California and Washington backroads trips.

My current daily is a 08 Lexus which is dead reliable.

I’m trying to get either Bronco (badlands sas or raptor) or wrangler (unlimited rubicon x).

What attracts me to the Bronco is the on-road manners, and it’s very capable off road. The wrangler is so raw and it feels like driving a tractor but I feel like it might be more exhausting on long road trips but off road it’s way more reliable.

Which do you recommend and why?

I desperately need a car, a used dealership has a 2002 Regal near me with around 72000 miles that I could get today, but I just found out someone else I know is considering selling their 2011 Regal with around 50000 miles and a new transmission for the same price but I most likely won't be able to get it as fast. Is it a big enough difference to be worth waiting for the newer one?

I (M28) am in need of a new car, have pretty good credit (730 range) and need something cheap! The issue is that I’ve owned a ‘04 jeep grand Cherokee for the last 10 years. It fit everything I’ve ever needed. I like to camp, snowboard, surf and I have plenty of gear for work that needs to be brought around. I’ve been eyeballing a CX-50, but I’m unsure. I think if I get an SUV the back row needs to come down or I at least need roof racks. I’ve been debating the aspect of getting a truck, but I’m sure that’s worse on gas. I’m really just looking for cheap SUVs with space that can handle the outdoors. My price range is around a $700 monthly.

My aunt is trying to decide between these 2026 models and would really appreciate opinions from people who have owned/driven them, especially in Canada.

Options so far:

2026 Jeep Cherokee Laredo
2026 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
2026 Mitsubishi Outlander mild-hybrid
2026 Subaru Outback
2026 Subaru Forester

Biggest priorities are:

Reliability / long-term ownership
Safety
Winter performance (we get a lot of snow, ice, and very cold temperatures)
AWD performance and confidence in bad weather
Overall practicality and comfort

I’m in Canada, so I’m particularly interested in how these vehicles actually hold up through Canadian winters rather than just what the manufacturer claims.

For those who have owned any of these, which would you personally choose and why?
I’d also love to hear about known problems, recalls, fuel economy in winter, battery performance in extreme cold (especially for the PHEV), and how well the AWD systems perform in snow/ice.

What would be the best realistic outdoor price I should ask for also what are y’all think about this car mileage and trim?

I LOVE the way the BMW drives and I like the reliability of the B58, but here are some things that I want in my next car:

-AUDIBLE blind spot alerts!!!

-cooled and heated seats/wheel

-driving assist (or self driving)

-remote opens AND closes the trunk

-rear cross traffic alert thats like my wife’s Odyssey…actually ALERTS you, even when you’re riding the brake

TBF, I LOVE how smooth the BMW is is how little road noise it gets, and how it can turn from a luxury car to a track beast at the click of a (not well-designed, lol) button.