[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by Nimz

I will be going to the US for a short term assignment and am looking for a 4 wheeler but do not know where to start.
- i don't know much about the costs there but am not going on any fat salary hence would like some guidance on how much I should budget (ex: not more than one's 4 month salary etc.)

Short term is a relative word. You also say "a few years". If that means 5 years you need a reliable car, that is not really chewed up. Fat salary is also a relative word. Sure 4X monthly makes sense to you, but its hard for me to know the budget based on this.

Assuming its $25k, I would suggest the Mazda CX3 AWD that is ~3 years old. You would get all the safety features, fine interiors, and ease of access for the child. As an only car there would be enough room for a family of 3. A cute small UV. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2708093

I have had a CX9 for 10 years, I traded that in for a Mazda 6. The interiors, the handling, the features are all way beyond what you get from other japs in that price range. We have 3 other cars, but the Mazda is certainly my fave.

[Nimz]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Short term is a relative word. You also say "a few years". If that means 5 years you need a reliable car, that is not really chewed up. Fat salary is also a relative word. Sure 4X monthly makes sense to you, but its hard for me to know the budget based on this.

Assuming its $25k, I would suggest the Mazda CX3 AWD that is ~3 years old. You would get all the safety features, fine interiors, and ease of access for the child. As an only car there would be enough room for a family of 3. A cute small UV. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2708093

I have had a CX9 for 10 years, I traded that in for a Mazda 6. The interiors, the handling, the features are all way beyond what you get from other japs in that price range. We have 3 other cars, but the Mazda is certainly my fave.

Thank you. Short term is 2-3 years for me. I should have clarified.

As a student long back I did find the Mazda very quick and agile.

Budget - after much googling and analysis I kinda zeroed in on 15-20K USD. This may change once I land there. Going by most websites 15K seems to be a mental price point.

Cheers.

[kutts]

A colleague recently relocated to Dallas for 2-3 years and I was helping him find a suitable car during end of March. The used cars were either in real bad shape or terribly expensive. Finally narrowed down on the Toyota Camry. It came around 28k due to financial year end offers. The resale value of the car will be really good and very easy to find Toyota buyers.

[iFrag]

In terms of Jap vehicles - here are my favorites in no particular order

1. Mazda CX5
2. Toyota Rav4
3. Camry
4. Accord
5. CRV

Suggest getting a new one as relatively used ones have not depreciated too much.

You can sell yours after your stint and wouldnt lose much money.

Also, for new cars - dealers will offer decent interest rates too.

[inwester]

Originally Posted by Nimz

Mods please move this thread to the right forum!
Looking to frame a short list so that I know what to look for when I land there. Thanks in advance.

A lot of good advice here.

Check out these two websites for leases. Rodo and FINN.

Rodo is a good website to get a sense of what the basic lease/finance price you should get.

FINN bundles insurance along with the lease price so that will come in handy as a no maintenance sort of long term rental.

Lately, Sixt is my go to rent a car provider for short term (2-4 weeks or more) rentals these days but they operate only out of major cities. You can get some really nice cars.

I haven't bought a used car in over 10 years so not sure about the market right now, but Autotrader, Cars.com, Carfax etc. are the usual suspects. You can also checkout Carmax, Carvana and Vroom.

You are right, in Erie PA, you probably want an all wheel drive car. Check the usual compact SUVs from Japanese or Korean manufacturers (read RAV4, CRV, Rogue, Tucson, Sportage, CX-5 etc.). I tend to stay away from domestic auto makers in the US, especially if you are buying used. If you are buying used car, stay under 30-40k miles and under 4-5 years. If you are leasing then the manufacturer (and reliability) doesn't matter somewhat as it would be covered under warranty anyway for the first 3 years.

Roughly speaking, a $0 down lease is around $400 for a cheap car these days and add $100/mo for insurance on top of it. So you are looking at around $500/mo. I think you can buy a decent used car for $20-25k, and get around $15k when you sell it. So ultimately a lease would cost $15k vs used car $10k, but with associated maintenance and risk.

I think you best bang for buck might be a Hyundai Tucson or a Kia Sportage, usually Honda's and Toyota's have very high resale value.

Good luck.

[Raghav07]

As a former resident of the US for 9 years, I can suggest some cars which you can buy/rent.

1. Mazda CX-5 - Our family owned a 2013 Grand Touring(top trim) FWD for 7 years. We had absolutely no issues with it and we lived in New Jersey, with plenty of snow. It ran for about 95000 miles. Even the new CX-5 does pretty well.

2. Toyota RAV4/Honda CR-V - We didn't own any of these cars but my dads friend drove a CR-V for around 5 years.

3. GMC Acadia - If you are renting a car , I strong consider this. Plenty of space with a lot of features with good fuel economy. My dad drove from NYC to Atlanta in one and absolutely loved the car.

[greenhorn]

When I landed in the US in 2017, with no credit history, only DCU would give me a loan, and that too for just 20k. That limited my budget significantly. I was in Norwalk, CT. Are you sure you'll get 25k+ as a car loan?

I got a 2014 civic si with all season tyres and managed just fine for 4 years. If you look for suv's you'll need to compromise on age, mileage, power etc compared to a sedan. And there are pretty decent options these days, Elantra n, civic si/sport and now the corolla hatches. I bought it for 15.5k in 2017, sold it for 12.8k in 2021 to the same dealer. A lot of people said I'd get screwed by depreciation on a manual, but si, wrx etc have a niche and are always in demand, plus covid helped