We are shopping for a 2nd car to use for work (long distance commute - 30k miles a year). Hoping to get at least a year or two out of the car. The goal is to stay under 10k cash OTD but it’s seemingly harder than I expected in the current market.
We looked at 2013-2016 mazda cx-5 cars with 110-150k miles on them but these were still outside the budget
We looked at 2012-2015 mazda 3 sedans but some are over 120k miles and I’m unsure if that’s still considered a good buy.
The two cars I’m eyeing now are:
2015 mazda3 sedan with 130k miles listed for $6000 by a private seller. It’s a clean title and no accidents reported according to him. I couldn’t find a service history on the carfax. Seller is okay with doing a ppi.
2nd option:
2013 VW Passat SE PZEV sedan with almost 89k miles listed for $5800 by a dealer. Carfax shows service was preformed consistently in its early years but not much info recently.
According the carfax there were Two accidents with minor damage to the front and one accident with no info.
Failed emissions inspection once in 2025 at 87k miles and passed the next day.
There is an open safety recall from 2024 for airbag safety that has not been taken care of yet. I’m thinking this could be fine since we could take it to any VW dealership and get it fix it, but I’m not sure if buying this car is a good idea anymore.
I just want to preface this by saying that I am not a car person and would appreciate everyone’s advice on what to do.