Two years ago, my wife thought she made a sound decision when she bought a 2012 Scion iQ. In her eyes, the iQ was cute and fun like my Smart Fortwos, but should be reliable because it’s a Toyota. Unfortunately, not only has the car been a reliability disaster, but it seems nobody else thinks the car is cute and fun. My mom just revealed that she thinks Sheryl’s car is a massive disappointment and disrespectful to her profession (she’s a lawyer). Now, my wife is looking for a new car that fits her career a little better. What should she buy?
If you’ve been in the car community for long enough, you’re probably well aware of the concept of buying a cheap car that makes you look like you have money. In theory, this is especially handy if you work in a profession where you need to project a certain image, but you might not have the dough to buy a new ride for that purpose. I didn’t subscribe to that idea for a long time. I thought that if you bought a 20-year-old Mercedes-Benz, you wouldn’t be fooling anyone. I thought that you didn’t have to be a car enthusiast to deduce that someone’s driving an old car, no matter the badge that’s on it.
Witnessing my wife’s experiences with her cars has taught me that the concept of “balling on a budget” is shockingly and confusingly accurate. When Sheryl drove a 2010 Toyota Prius, she was seen as a sort of environmentalist lawyer, and she got no complaints. Sheryl told me that she even blended in, as some lawyers do drive Prii and other hybrids because hybrids are green and trendy.
When Sheryl switched to the 2001 BMW 525iAT that we bought from our secret designer, the Bishop, her positive-image score spiked off the chart. Almost daily, she would get compliments about the BMW. There were several instances where guys offered her $5,000 on the spot for the wagon. It blew my mind because that BMW was a rustbucket that I had purchased for just $1,500 – but it did look really clean with tinted windows and fresh wax.
Everyone complimented the BMW, from Sheryl’s clients and opposing counsel to my family. Everyone sort of treated the BMW as a massive upgrade from the Prius. It was almost like Sheryl had won it big or something. Practically overnight, Sheryl was taken as seriously as those lawyers with the billboards and expensive suits, when all she had done was trade a decent hybrid for a cheap and rusty BMW. Clearly, people didn’t care. She really was balling on a budget.
Unfortunately, the BMW’s rust advanced to the point where the car’s jacking points could no longer be used. Worse, driving it 40,000 miles in a single year did a number on the BMW’s engine. So, she decided to pass it on. In hindsight, this was the wrong decision. We could have fixed Wanda the BMW. Even worse, the guy who bought it ended up committing a hit and run with the vehicle after failing to register it for months. Guess who had to mop up that mess? Oh, and then the friend that we loaned the Prius to managed to destroy the car by ramming a deer.
The Cute Mistake
Sheryl found herself in the car market again, and this time, she decided to get weird with it. She adored driving my Smarts, but I warned her that Smarts are way too finicky to drive 40,000 miles a year without major headaches. Sheryl chose the next best thing, the car that was more or less a Smart, but by Toyota.
At the time, I thought it was an okay decision. The example she chose appeared to be in great shape with tons of life left in it. While I didn’t think it was a “lawyer car,” I also knew that Sheryl typically enjoys being underestimated. She sort of plays a character not unlike Peter Falk’s Columbo, and it’s amazing how well it works in real life.
So, she got the iQ, and at first, things were great. The car scored 40 mpg, everyone thought it was oh so cute, and we got a decent deal on it. At first, the car didn’t even give us any issues. It started every single time without failure, even when my own cars failed me. We then drove the iQ most of the length of Route 66, and the car was an absolute joy on that monster of a road trip.
Then, the house of cards began falling apart. We installed an aftermarket cruise control system, which eventually grew a hunger for accelerator pedals. The cruise control managed to kill not just one, but two accelerator pedals over the course of just 10 months.
The problems only get more frustrating from there. The engine had a mystery issue of randomly sputtering and then shutting down while at idle. I replaced the spark plugs and coils, which fixed the issue. Now, the car has an intermittent rough idle. The engine stays running, but something is sometimes unhappy. I went through the work to put the old coils back in, and there was no change.
Update: The iQ has developed a new and fun problem. Last week, it blew both of its low-beam headlight bulbs at the same time. I replaced some somewhat crusty-ish headlight relays and the bulbs. Well, the bulbs just stopped working an hour ago, then came back to life 10 minutes ago. This is fine, totally fine.
As of a couple of weeks ago, gas pedal number three has intermittent failures. This is concerning since we did have the cruise control uninstalled. Previous diagnosis seemingly confirmed that the cruise control killed the gas pedal. But that’s no longer a factor. What’s going on now?
This morning, the iQ presented a new issue when the heater refused to blow warm for 30 minutes of Sheryl’s freezing morning commute. The coolant looks great. Maybe the blend door got stuck? There’s more, from the incessant whining of the CVT and the rust that’s appearing in strange places, to the fact that it occasionally throws traction control errors.
In fairness, the Scion didn’t get like this all on its own. Sheryl crashed the iQ during the summer, and then crashed it again only three weeks ago. Many of these recent issues cropped up after that second crash.
Everyone Hates The iQ
Yet, it wasn’t exactly the unreliability that soured Sheryl’s relationship with her car. Over the past two years, we’ve witnessed how people who used to think of the car as something cute and novel have turned on the vehicle.
The same people who complimented the car or expressed wonder two years ago now call the car a total piece of junk. Clients think Sheryl is a joke because of the car, and opposing counsel have gone from underestimating Sheryl to just openly mocking her. Somehow worse is that Sheryl seems to now have a negative reputation. I cannot begin to type out what these people are actually saying, but they’re calling her a type of transphobic slur who drives the tiny piece of garbage. [Ed note: What is wrong with people? Gee whiz. – Pete]
This negative reputation has reached the point where she lost a lucrative contract, largely because of the car. Her own clients have cursed Sheryl out over her car. Mind you, Sheryl’s law practice is unique in that the client names the price they pay for her work. Many of these people do not pay for her services at all, but demand that she drive a new luxury car. Basically, she’s no longer Columbo.
But the worst sting came from the inside. Not only does Sheryl’s best friend want to commit violence against the iQ, but my mom spent a great portion of Christmas dinner dressing down Sheryl in front of everyone about why she thinks Sheryl’s car sucks.
Seriously, this conversation went on for longer than an hour, and my mom went hard. She said that, by driving the iQ, not only is Sheryl insulting me, but she’s disrespecting the family and me as a whole. Mom also said that if Sheryl cared about me and actually respected me, she’d drive a real lawyer car and make more money. This conversation would normally be way too personal to publish, but it hit me like a ton of bricks because it came out of the blue and was weirdly harsh. Long story short is that, apparently, over the past two years, my mom has lost respect for my wife because of the iQ.
I defended Sheryl throughout this conversation. I have a fleet of crappy, weird cars. I am not disrespected by my wife choosing to drive a weird car. She’s a grown woman and can make her own choices with her own money. But Pandora’s box has been opened. The words that have been said cannot be taken back. It’s clear that everyone now hates the iQ.
Our conclusion is that the iQ is actively harming Sheryl on multiple fronts. She has been depressed about this, and I have been dealing with headache after headache. I honestly have never seen a car cause so much strife before. Yet, most people seem to agree that the iQ sucks. In fact, our very own readers have been saying it for over a year now.
We’ve made the decision to get a different car, but the question is: What car?
So Many Choices
When I posed this question to The Autopian‘s staff and contributors, I used the qualifier that it should be somewhat “lawyer-like.” Ideally, I’d love to pay cash for this car, but that would mean a budget under $10,000. Financing also works, but Sheryl’s not looking to get into a loan on a $40,000 car anytime soon.
First out of the gate was Jason Torchinsky, who recommended a Scion xB. Or, specifically, he said that we should buy a dirt-cheap first-generation xB, and then pay someone to make it the most luxurious xB in the world.
David Tracy was next, and his recommendation was a 1980 Subaru GL wagon. I’m not even sure what to do with this recommendation.
Matt Hardigree returned us to reality with the recommendation for a Lincoln Town Car, but specifically one that isn’t black. The idea there is that Sheryl won’t look like a livery driver. Also, I guess she’d get to say that she’s a Lincoln lawyer?
Stephen Walter Gossin recommended a 2000s Jaguar on the account that they look great, are plenty luxurious, and can be had for dirt-cheap.
My mom said Sheryl’s new car has to be high-end luxury. The wildcard is Sheryl’s best friend, a Honda fangirl, who recommended a mid-2010s Civic, an early 2010s Accord, or an Acura.
As far as Sheryl’s own picks, she wants something like a mid-2010s Subaru Legacy, an Infiniti G37, an Infiniti EX35, a Toyota Avalon, a Lexus LX470, a Lexus LS400, a mid-2010s Mazda3, a Hyundai Veloster, a Hyundai Genesis sedan, or another Toyota Prius. She also wants another BMW E39, but she’s reluctant since the last one didn’t go so well.
The good news is that Sheryl’s mileage has gone down over the past two years. As of now, she puts about 25,000 miles a year on her car, an improvement over her old mileage of 40,000 miles a year. Still, that’s nearly double the national average, so Sheryl needs something that’s at least somewhat durable.
I don’t think a Civic is a good pick. Civics are extremely hearty cars, but I’m not sure it would give Sheryl the image she’s looking for. Likewise, early 2010s Accords are often seen as great first cars, so I’m not sure that will also complete the mission as desired. I know Sheryl also loves the Hyundai Genesis, but will the Hyundai badge turn people off? I also adore Stephen’s suggestion for a highly depreciated Jaguar, but I’m positive my wife will get murdered by repair costs.
The Legacy, Veloster, and Mazda3 are Sheryl’s bucket list cars, so those would be considered in spite of how anyone feels about them.
Since we have direct access to the people who hate the iQ, we started polling them on my cars. I have like 13 crappy cars, so I can easily sell some or give one to Sheryl. Apparently, the most “lawyer” car in my fleet is the BMW E61 wagon that I bought from the Bishop, but that has over 180,000 miles and is already very finicky. I do not trust that BMW to take Sheryl’s beatings without breaking in a hilariously expensive way.
The three cars that both line up with the image goal and with Sheryl’s own desires are the BMW E39, a Lexus LX470, and a Lexus LS400. E39s are easy to find in decent condition for cheap enough. But Sheryl has deep concerns about long-term reliability, which is fair. The two Lexus (Lexi? Lexuses?) are great ideas, but I’ve been gobsmacked at old Lexus values.
Most of the Lexus in my local area have well over 100,000 miles, and their sellers are still demanding $7,000 to $8,000 for them. I could have sworn that these were $3,500 cars back in 2019.
Anyway, I have found some affordable Avalons, Priis, Camrys, and some newer Honda Accords. What’s stopping us from moving forward is just being unsure. I don’t want to blow a ton of cash on a car that fails at improving Sheryl’s image, or worse, is a car she ends up hating.
The shortlist for now is a Toyota Avalon, a BMW E39, a Toyota Prius, a Subaru Legacy, or a Honda Clarity. But we cannot seem to make a decision for fear of making the wrong decision. It’s funny because I’ve purchased cars entirely on impulse before. But that’s me. I can get away with buying a dumb car. My wife doesn’t have that luxury, so I want to get this right.
Whew, it sure took a long time to get here! Now I want to turn it over to you. What car should she buy? Should she just tell my mom and her haters to buzz off? What car would you expect someone who functions like a public defender to drive? Please help me, my brain is melting from the indecision.
Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
F30 BMW. Inexpensive enough to pay cash, looks great, reliable.
Infiniti M56
Early in my career when I was still very much struggling financially, I was effectively traded a Lexus ES300 for my wife’s Ford Focus by a family member. It was in great shape, but higher mileage and a little older. It was worth about $9500 at the time, as I remember. I was surprised at how many people commented on how I must be doing really well for my age even though they had cars worth twice as much or more. We had a couple we were friends with that was legitimately very well off and anytime we were around their rich friends/acquaintances we were more accepted even though that was about all they knew about us. (Our friends didn’t care at all.) It was a learning experience.
Some people just look at badges, I had a much older boss who was all impressed by my nearly decade-old Lincoln Town Car, walked all around it checking it out, and also questioned if I found the parts and service at the dealer to be crazy expensive, he was driving a new Q70 at the time, so it seemed weird to me that he was apparently into a somewhat fancied up taxi cab.
My thoughts would be Lexus too. Just enough luxury without going over the top, reliability should be assured (sorry about the iQ, but sometimes it happens), and older ones should be relatively affordable.
Am I the only one surprised David didn’t suggest an i3? It covers the weird angle, is a BMW and gets great mileage with the range extender.
40k miles a year might be a bit much for that platform, though.
An i3 would not work for Sheryl’s driving. It’s our understanding that there isn’t a ton of range with the rex running, which would mean frequent stops during one of her long-haul drives downstate.
Ah, then that would make sense he’d avoid recommending it.
Sheryl does good work. She deserves as little hassle as possible on the transportation side.
Acura TSX Wagon
(yes, I’m repeating myself)
solid, wagon, unusual, priced about right, good era for relatively modern conveniences without ridiculous tech and telematics
But you can get a TSX sedan for 1/2 the price of the wagon. She doesn’t need a wagon to do lawyer things.
Wagon isn’t about the need, it’s about putting a little something extra in it – both to turn heads and to have a little fun.
Besides, I’m trying to do Mercedes a solid for when she sleeps in the car during a road trip.
I get Sheryl’s need to have an impressive-looking car that will be both inexpensive and hold up, as I’m in a similar boat — I drive similar miles yearly, selling real estate.
Lexus LSes hold up reasonably well (I put close to 300k miles, total on two LS400s before sending them to new homes), but *good* LS400s and 430s are getting to be quite thin on the ground in the midwest and owners are trying to fetch “I know what I have” coin for good ones. The rest of the LSes are rusty or the kids trashed them, have shredded leather inside (LS430), rusty doors (again, ‘430), or starting to have fatal electronics failures (LS400s with failing electrolytic capacitors in the ECU and fuel pump modules, ‘430 infotainment).
I like SWG’s ’00s Ford-era Jaguar suggestion. I’ve put 100k+ miles in five years on my x350 XJ8, and it’s still a good-looking, great driving car that was dirt cheap/close to free and was reasonably easy to put back together and make right. The XJ gets mid-20s on the highway courtesy of the aluminum body and 6-speed transmission, gobbles miles, handles well, feels special and still gets compliments. S-Types are hit and miss (get one 2003-up, with the V8). X-Types in the rust belt are either/and/or rust buckets by now or have failing transfer cases for the AWD bits.
I think it’s dumb people judge someone’s work product based on the car they drive. My wife is also an attorney and drives an Accord. Not exactly the epitome of made it rich. It’s paid for though so anyone judging can pound sand.
Also not all lawyers rake it in and it sounds like Sheryl does a lot of public defending which is not exactly lucrative. Don’t be pressured to keep up with the Jones’. You all do you!
OK, first of all, Mercedes’ Mom, if you’re going to put this sort of expectation on your daughter-in-law, you need to back it up with five figures of your own cash or shut your pie hole. (Mercedes, sorry for being mean with your mom, but I’m totally on Team Sheryl here. The woman should drive what she wants!)
With that Dear Prudence moment out of the way, I vote for the Avalon. It’s comfortable, reliable, too stodgy to be made fun of, too anonymous to be on the radar of corrupt cops, and imposing enough to project authority to clients and members of the court.
My wild-card suggestion would be to turn the tables and get a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. Chicago Motors and Asia Motors deal in ex-government cars; they may still be able to find a nice one.
When you need to get to court on time, you need a reliable car. Mercedes has plenty of quirky cars to scratch the “fun car” itch. If your wife likes the Subaru Legacy, how about a new one? There are still some 2025 models in stock, and since there will be no 2026 Legacy (the model has been discontinued) she might be able to get a deal on one. A Legacy Premium 2.5L non-turbo is not an exciting car, but it is comfortable, sure-footed in snow, safe, and it projects a “smart money” image. The sticker on one of those is under $35k.
If the daily mileage allows and you have a place you can install a charger, I’d recommend a Bolt or Bolt EUV. We just picked up a loaded 2022 EUV with Supercruise for about $17,000 with 44,000 miles, but the battery is oniy 10,000 miles old because of the recall. There’s very little maintenance on EV’s and the supercruise would be nice for the long drives. The disadvantage of the Bolt is the slow DC Fast charging at only 55kw. But it charges at 48A on Level 2. Or skip the models with supercruise and find one with adaptive cruise and you can install a Comma.ai. (you can’t install a Comma on the ones with supercruise). I think any EV comes off like the Prius as perfectly acceptable for a lawyer.
With all the driving she does, even finding something that you could install a Comma on would be a big help with that many miles a year. I have a Comma 4 on order and I’m really curious to try it out.
An EV of some sort is on Sheryl’s bucket list. I recall her recently talking about how cool the Mach-E is. I think she also expressed interest in a Kia EV6.
Sadly, our apartment’s garage is incapable of charging a vehicle. Our garage shares an electrical circuit with two other garages. One of our garage neighbors uses his garage as a man cave and is always running some sort of power-hungry appliance. If I plug in even a basic EV wall charger, the breaker trips after about an hour or so. The breaker isn’t in my garage, either, so everyone gets locked out until someone manually opens their garage and flips the breaker back.
The apartment management company also isn’t interested in installing EV chargers. There’s one person here who owns a Model 3, and he charges at the Supercharger a couple of towns over.
Yeah, you don’t want an EV if you can’t home charge it. Look into the Comma.ai compatibility list though and see if there is anything on there that she is interested in. I love to drive, but if I was driving that much per year, the option to have something that kept me centered in the lane and adjusted speed for me would be awesome. I didn’t understand it until I tried Supercruise a few times. It’s so helpful in rush hour traffic and also on long drives. The Comma is going on my truck for when I tow the camper from Detroit to North Dakota next summer.
I’m surprised this didn’t come up as an issue sooner as image is an important part of the job (though the slurs are unacceptable). Unless the market is a lot better there, $10k is likely just another can kicked down the road. My recommendation is to sell some of the old cars as needed to get to a higher budget and buy a nearly new hybrid something or a newer Avalon than $10k will get. If it’s more like its platform mate ES350 than the Camry, it should be a great cruiser if not as good on fuel as a Prius or similar.
I had a ’83 and ’84 Subaru GL. The ’84 was even a wagon and FWD, which that one appears to be. I was in HS and that was 30 years ago and the car already had a decent amount of rust. It was a tank and I had mine painted up as a themed art car, which the girls loved, but it’s not a car for a professional adult today—even without crosshairs on the hood—and not very comfortable for all day driving as I can attest from travels back and forth Boston to Detroit and Virginia Beach, even if it wasn’t as bad as it should have been with a seat that I think weighed less than a shot put.
Newer Mazda3s are probably better (though poor seat comfort is an industry-wide problem IMO and hasn’t gotten much better, if at all), but seat bottom of my ’06 turned to granite after about 1.5 hours. I’ve been on more comfortable park benches and textured metal bleachers.
Guy I work with drives a Veloster. It’s been fairly reliable even if the paint has peeled off, but he complains about how it isn’t a good long distance driver.
Another guy had a ’12 or so Legacy and the HGs went with well over 300k on it, so he sold it off cheap to a mechanic friend who replaced the HGs and apparently drives it daily. He now has a ’20 or so Civic now and misses the more comfortable, sure-footed Legacy.
Honestly, this part is surprising to me, too. Our best guess is that, at first, people thought the car was weird and whimsical, but that must have worn off. Most of Sheryl’s clients and even opposing counsel know I collect stupid cars. Yes, it’s weird when the guy on the opposing side is like “I love your wife’s obsession with Smarts.” I guess my writing spreads far and wide! Maybe they thought it was one of my rides?
Our market isn’t that bad. $10,000 can get you a solid car out here. Our Prius was one of those cars and was perfect right until it ate a deer. The iQ was $7k, though, didn’t work out as desired. My biggest concern is just nailing the choice of car. We don’t want to spend the money just to get something that’ll blow up in a year or not actually improve her image. We also don’t want to spend a bunch of cash on a car that Sheryl will hate.
Yeah, that’s my concern as it sounds like she really needs something trustworthy that just works. Around here, $15k is more the entry for something like that, but Boston is ridiculously expensive, so if $10k is that level there, awesome! I bought my ex a Lexus ES350, which I think was the last year it was based on the Camry before they went to Avalon-based (’12?). Anyway, I had that equivalent generation loaded Camry SE and the Lexus was like 3 levels better a driving and built car. I was legit shocked as I thought it was basically a Camry with some glitz and a jacked-up price for people who want a badge. I’m exaggerating, but it was almost like comparing a Malaise GM to a MB W126. It’s not a fun car, but it was quiet, smooth, and comfortable with the feel of quality and, oddly enough, you might be able to get one cheaper than an Avalon, so that might be another option.
I like the LS options, but check out the ES330, they are far more spacious than expected, and still get the Lexus lawyer vibe. There may not be many available, but can be found at better prices than than the LS.
Screw em, keep fixing the Zoom. Keep driving the Zoom. Zoom Zoom
Mazda3, because she’ll get a newer/lower mile version instead of a high-mile depreciated luxury car. It may even still have warranty coverage.
They’re decently fuel-efficient and the Skyactiv drivetrain is pretty reliable; I’ve not had issues with mine. Mazda even stepped up their rust prevention with the 2014+ models.
Downsides: will not project baller-on-budget vibes. It will come off as a stolid, sensible vehicle, if it elicits comment at all.
I own a Mazda3; it’s a good reliable car, but kinda anonymous. I’m sure Sheryl would find it perfectly acceptable.
A Certified Pre-owned Mercedes-Benz E Class.
Mazda Miata PRHT or RF…… with a license plate holder saying “My Other Car Is an EMD SD70ACE
Well, I’m voting for whatever it was that Saul Goodman left in the desert….
It blows my mind that anyone would put that sort of importance on what car a person drives. WTF does your choice of transportation have to do with your professional abilities?
Same as clothes, hair style, tattoo presence, etc. Whether morally right or wrong, the human brain is lazy and makes assumptions based on past experience and other judgements based on appearance. Imagine if someone showed up to court wearing pajamas or had a tattoo on their face. Those are extreme examples, but would you feel that would be the best person to represent you, especially when serious life consequences are on the line? It’s easy to think someone isn’t good at what most people see is a high paying job if they’re driving something that’s not only older and bottom of the car pyramid, but stands out as such with its odd appearance, the assumption being: someone wouldn’t choose that if they made enough money to have better options and they’re almost all better options. Showing up as someone’s lawyer, they’re already not having a good day, so it’s not the best time to demonstrate being quirky. While I’m not a lawyer, I am a weirdo who has had to mask my whole life around the Normals and it seems like that profession is a more conformist kind to me, at least in terms of appearances, so I’m not surprised if standing out in such a way is a hindrance with peers as well.
I know a lawyer who’s a former gangster. He dresses appropriately because there’s a dress code for court, but he has long hair and tattoos everywhere. He’s extremely good at his job, and his image doesn’t seem to have adversely affected him too much.
Couldn’t agree more. People make instant judgments based on little to no information all day every day. It gets worse the higher up the ranks you go in whatever business encounter it may be. Hell, even the rental car you show up in can make a difference.
What does make a difference is HOW you present yourself and everything around you. Showing confidence in your choices, lower cost regardless, and not being intimidated by others ability to spend, will win out more often then not.
A Suzuki Esteem? Good luck finding a decent one now. But, his seemed unrealistically battered for something that was between 4 years old and brand new at the time the series started
A cherry Lexus LS, replace the foggy headlight housings so it looks like Sheryl picked the car intentionally rather than riding something until it dies.
First off the car angst at dinner seems like it’s some it’s some misdirected anger… I’ll have to dig out an old grandpa reference – sounds like a personal problem, lol.
But onto the topic of cars, I can get why it seems out of place for a lawyer and people can use that to make fun of her. And yeah, prolly best to just get rid of it, also a car being a personal and mental hassle with the work she does is the last thing anyone needs. In my line of work I deal with lawyers on occasion and it’s pretty funny/sad how immature some are.
Some of my votes are Lexus LS, RX or even a GS. Don’t get a hooptie, she needs a decently kept lower mileage one, albeit new is big bucks. I’d say Lexus GX460, but those are monumentally bad on mpg and 40,000mi a year, ouch.
A new or newer Accord hybrid might work. What about a newer Accord 2.0 Touring manual (or auto?) not too bad on fuel and can pile the miles on?
Camry Hybrid also comes to mind.
On a Jaguar X type, my brother in law had two of them I say ownership seemed like my cats sweet, entertaining, and once in a while bite you for no logical reason whatsoever…
I’d say this is a good case to not get too Autopian crazy idea fest and go for reliability and a well kept lower mileage vehicle. The more in service it is, the more good work she can do, and the less stress for everyone involved…
I can say that my 2008 Lexus LS460 gets tons of compliments and attention from my my coworkers who all drive $80,000 half ton pickups. I got it for $9500 with 120k miles on it. The armrests on the door cards are all busted up though, while I don’t care about that, some people might.
When I read in the first few paragraphs that she needs a car that fits her job as a lawyer, I thought: Lincoln! Yes, because of the movie.
Then I got to the Columbo part, and I was thinking: an imported 306 cabrio! But I saw, that the Columbo thing is gone.
So if I want to be serious:
How much does a 2015-18 ES cost? (Upmarket marque, and it looks very close to the now outgoing ES, so kind of fresh-looking.)If it should be a small car, maybe a modern Mini could work.
(I feel kind of the opposite if it is about my close to 20 y.o., Yaris-sized car and my job. I feel like I shoud stay with this car as long as possible, while I work at the company I’m at now, because even the cheapest new car would be too good, and not matching my position.)
Correct answer here is a 1980s Mercedes SL, the ones with the landspeeder strakes on the bottom. Classic car, cheap to buy, cheap to maintain (I think), professional, and not so classic that people will overestimate you.
I really want one of these for myself, but you’re looking at $20k for a reasonably good one. I’m also not sure they would be the best car for Chicago in the winter.
Vintage R107s are not cheap to purchase anymore, definitely not cheap to maintain…
And even the underpowered 380SLs are horrendous with fuel.
I know some people at work give me the side eye when they find out how much care is lavished on my nearly 30-year-old Jeep, but the reactions you’ve written about here are just sad. I had no idea lawyers were judged so harshly for their cars! From what you had described in previous articles, the iQ was great (other than the reliability stuff) for an on-the-go lawyer who needed to navigate a variety of traffic situations.
I think Sheryl should buy something reliable and enjoyable (for her, of course!) that’s also suited to her driving style.
I vote America’s Car, a Ford F 150. She can say she needs the bed space to haul her fees home. Seriously, a ton of lawyers where I live drive Suburbans.