Car shopping

Tom told me my cars are getting to the point of being unreliable and I need to start thinking about a new car and what I want. I was overwhelmed by choices. No idea what direction to look and what I want and need. Good gas mileage and the rest was up in the air.

I took my jeep in for an oil change, finally, Tom told me when he brought it back over memorial weekend it needed some love after all the dust storms of Nevada.  Went to my mechanic Not the Jiffy lube place but the real mechanic. I wanted him to look it over when the check engine light came on on Friday. Make sure it wasn't related to the accident on Thursday.  He is also going to pop in the new side light box for free. I had already ordered the head light from the store before the service light came on. The store called and said the light was in and the car was still at the mechanic, serendipitous.

 No issues with the car, thank goodness. He said there seemed to be no reason for the transmission light to be on. Just a fluke, needing a reset. He is going to take it for another drive this afternoon before calling me to pick the car up. While there I told him I was car shopping and what did he recommend.

He said hands down Honda is the best reliable car manufacturer out there.  

He said if I like jeep to check out the Honda Element  as a fun funky and roomy on the inside good size comparison with good gas mileage 

He also listed  other options depending on what I was looking for  the Honda Accord, Element, CRV, Ridgeline (as truckish), Pilot as bigger but still getting 30 miles to the gallon. 

He said the Acura TL was the high performance car in the Honda line, if you like Cadillac. He said the most reliable Cadillac is the CTS-V with its LS engine which is also the engine in the Corvette. He said he preferred the German cars for performance vehicles. His wife has the 323 and he has the M5. He says BMW is known as the million miles car for the performance cars.

I am going to check out his suggestions, especially the element. But all of them are possibilities  He said $11,000 to $15,000 should get me a car with 30,000 on it and a great deal, 3 years old or so. He said 30,000 is just getting warmed up. 

He also said he was a fan of Craigslist since I was shopping used. Loved to hear that. Now I have some helpful direction on where to go for test drives and to look at models. I feel much less stress.