One of my friends bought her smartcar while home for Christmas in Cleveland because it was so much cheaper there than here that it was worth paying for it to be shipped out here. Because no one in Cleveland wanted a used smartcar, but here they're popular.

That was amazing, Maria, and I don't ever intend to own a car!

My feeling is buy Hondas and Toyotas new, buy domestic cars used, and don't buy European cars. IME, at least in the Midwest, there is a massive premium on used Hondas and Toyotas while Fords and GM fleets get sold off here and are pretty cheap. That may be different on the coasts.

there is a massive premium on used Hondas and Toyotas

There is a v good reason for that, me thinks.

meara,exactly. It's why msbelle will probably get a great deal on a hybrid car in Texas, but would pay out the ass for it in Seattle.

Thanks, Jesse!

My feeling is buy Hondas and Toyotas new, buy domestic cars used, and don't buy European cars. IME, at least in the Midwest, there is a massive premium on used Hondas and Toyotas while Fords and GM fleets get sold off here and are pretty cheap. That may be different on the coasts.

I'd flip the new and used portion, depending on where you are. Domestic manufacturers have better incentives than Honda and Toyota, which makes the acquisition costs of a new vehicle cheaper. Honda does not play in the fleet market at all, while Toyota has a fairly robust fleet department. Fleet/rental sales depress the residual values, which makes for a cheaper used car. It's a very delicate balancing act for the OEMs when allocating cars to fleet vs. retail.

Imports tend to do better on the coasts. Pickup trucks are king in Texas and Oklahoma. I wouldn't put a blanket ban on European cars--late-model Audis are holding up very well, and BMW is a lot better than they used to be. Mercedes is still a money pit. VW could be a great bargain in light of the emissions scandal, but perception matters to a lot of people.

Sedans are fairly cheap in Utah because of the big families. Once you get past two small kids, you're going to need something bigger, and wrangling youngsters needs better space than even a four-door. There are several 2-3 year old Imprezas on lots around my town currently.

We chose a 2014 Toyota Rav4 over a 2015 Subaru Crosstrek purely because of M's size, but both were pretty awesome & comfortable. Compact enough for me to feel comfortable driving in SF, but big enough that we can go up to Tahoe & not feel cramped.

I pine for an earlier CRV or RAV4 sometimes, because dogs (or one of the pre-enormous Outbacks), but we're in no position to replace our dog car (a 1988 Volvo on a rebuilt title with over 300k on it that we got for $800 cash) at the moment.

We've had good luck with Hondas, for the most part. Our Civic (bought new w/Previous Employer discount stuff--we shopped around for months getting that) is a decade old now and has been very reliable.

My Mini gets driven rarely but seems to be holding up okay at almost five. (It's one I'd strongly recommend buying new for anyone looking into a Mini because the used ones still sell for more than you'd think.) When I'm working again and we have any sort of financial stability, it'll probably get sold or traded in.

But Hondas are great. I find them nicer to drive than Toyotas at about the same price point with better fit and finish.

In addition to autotrader.com, I use cargurus.com and truecar.com for used car pricing.

Carguru also has dealership reviews, which are useful for avoiding the shady ones.

Why are apples and peanut butter so good together?