Car buying advice? American Car with around 40k or Lexus SUV with 80-100k?

Ronny Dorge: great taste in cars,but, if you likethe camry, you would probablylike the chrystler 300, malibu, or the impala. lexus SUV's are nice, but its scarytaking them out in the cold! hahaand for the american car, or the lexus,go for the american because they'reproven to be more reliable than foreign....Show more

Agustina Stimmel: I would definitely not get american. Instead of the Lexus, (like you said, it's just a nicer Toyota), why not get a Toyota? Would have less mileage than the Lexus, but still the same good reliable car/SUV? I would look for a newer Camry, Avalon, Sequoia or Highlander. These will last much longer than any Chevy, Chrysler. Just pick up a Consumer Reports and look for reliablility for the cars you want. And 'Brooklyn' is wrong, I don't know where she is getting the info that American will last longer than Japanese....Show more

Lanita Reichman: Generally speaking, a Toyota with 80k would be lower maintenance and would last longer th! an a domestic with that many miles. Mile for mile, almost all Japanese cars are lower maintenance and longer life-expectancy than all domestics, with few exceptions. 80k miles is not a lot for a Lexus - trust me I've driven Toyota/Lexus cars with more than 300'000 miles. The only way a domestic would get that far is if you transplanted the engine and transmission - and that's based on my experience as a mechanic.Lexus parts and service will be more expensive, and you will have more trouble if you work on it yourself because domestic cars are known for their simplicity and availability of parts. However, the maintenance will be higher for domestics, so it's a trade-off. I would go with the Toyota/Lexus. They will last you a lot longer and the engineering is MUCH better than any of the cars you listed. I used to love domestics, but they have let me down so many times, and the newer the car, the more likely it will be better than a domestic....Show more

Jinny Dronen: I'd! shy away from domestics and high mileage imports.Buy somethin! g affordable that's not half dead.

Alexis Reyer: Wow, hardly any of the previous answers has mentioned a car COMPARABLE to a Saturn Aura! I guess most people don't read the questions, lol. I've owned nothing but new Chevys for over 35 years and have never had any major problems with any of them. I would suggest checking out the Chevy Malibu, they are really nice cars and VERY comparable to a Saturn Aura. They are also highly rated and recommended by Consumer Reports testing laboratories.