The Best Family Sedan for the Money
There are over 20 moderately priced models available for sale right now, including the 2012 Toyota Camry, 2012 Volkswagen Passat, and 2012 Hyundai Sonata.
The folks over at KickingTires did some intense research this past week to determine which family sedan provides the best bang for your money.
They equipped each sedan with the options most drivers prefer, which include:
- Automatic transmission
- Automatic headlights
- Alarm system
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Remote keyless entry
- Auxiliary jack for portable music players
- Steering-wheel-mounted audio controls
- Tilt/telescoping steering wheel
- Cruise control
They then factored what it would cost for 2 years worth of gas at $3.67 per gallon for 30,000 miles.
And here was the outcome:
The 2012 Hyundai Sonata was ranked the most affordable family sedan for the money, beating the average by over $2,000.
The runners up were the 2012 Chrysler 200 and 2011 Subaru Legacy followed by the 2012 Toyota Camry.
This is a great way to see which cars actually result in the lowest overall cost when you factor in the options most buyers want.
3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money
The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network
Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect
TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.Step 3 Complete my Checklist
Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.- Gregg Fidan
Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
About The Author
Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate
the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.
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