Go over to Car Max and roam the lot sitting in all the models you may be interested in. This will give you an idea of how comfortable it will be and if the sight lines are right for you.

I used to drive 1000+ a week. I always drove Toyota or Honda. I bought an Accord one time with 100,000 on it. Drove it for another 200,000 and sold it for $1500. It would get 35 mpg, that was my little money maker.

I have a hundred mile round trip commute to work. Drove a 2009 Corolla for three years, then bought a 2014 Camry. Camry hands down. Gas mileage is close enough and way more comfortable than the Corolla, plus more visible on the interstate.

That much driving, get XM.

If your buying from carmax - Get pre-approved by a bank and go.

Agreed 100%

I'm not a snob and absolutely don't need top of the line but there is no way I'm driving a base car 50,000 miles a year.
I completely understand vehicles are depreciating assets but with how much I'll be driving and how much I'll be in the car some options will be nice.

Those base Hondas and Toyotas are VERY base.

Cars I will be looking at will have Bluetooth connectivity so that I can stream music off my phone.
I personally absolutely hate reoccurring monthly bills/can be very cheap at times so I likely won't go for XM.
But for the sake of info, what does XM go for monthly?

I will spend quite a bit of time making and receiving phone calls while driving.

If you can use a sedan , these are the best of the best. Both are available with very strong 4 cylinder engines, plenty of power for them and great mileage.

The problem I'm running into with the Accords and Camrys is that they're just flat out more expensive.
Both new and used. Used they hold their value very well.
Like I said earlier you either pay it on the front or the back end.

New midgrade in either is like $26K'ish out the door.
I can be out the door in an Elantra with awesome options for right at $20K'ish.

I will be talking to Brandon Monday or so about insurance.
I know Accords and Camrys are usually in the top 10 most stolen car, so I'm wondering how insurance is on them.

There is a reason they Camry is the #1 selling car in the US and the Accord has won best sedan awards a record amount of times.

My wife has a '11 Camry , daughter a '11 Accord , both bought new about a month apart. Both have a bunch of trouble free miles on them. BTW, I like the Accord a little better myself.

How is insurance on the 2011 Camry or do you just send one big check for everything?

check out the Rav4, they are a Camry with a SUV body.
you will get great gas mileage and easier to get in and out of.
check out some of the rental car companies, they sell their with low mileage.

Don't remember the exact figure , not bad . But were talking about a 50 YO woman with high deductible . A male under 25, using it as a work car with high milage is gonna be higher, no matter what he's in. Apples to oranges.

You can buy a Camry SE for much less than 26k if you get multiple dealers to bid.

True true.
I am actually 25 so I do have that going for me but ya I get what you're saying


Does anyone here have any experience with diesels?
Chevy has their Cruze diesel that will be getting released soon.

Unproven and no telling how much one of those things will cost. Gonna cost a lot to be GM's guinea pig.

I have a '14 Cruze with the 1.4L turbo and love it. I average 31mpg but on the highway I can get about 34. Buy a used one from Hertz. They take good care of them and you can save some money on a lightly used car.

This is the second generation that is coming out.
The first generation has been discontinued.

I'm all in, don't guess I can help ya.

I am in a similar boat as I drive about 30k miles a year for work, I am not in sales but commute an hour each way every day. I had a Jetta tdi as my commuter car but VW bought it back as part of diesel gate. Anyways I have been looking for the replacement and you can get a 2015 RAV4 for 16 ish with 40k on them. I have driven a few of the Kias and hyundais and they don't compare to the Toyota for me anyways.

I would separate the vehicle purchase from the job in case the job doesn't work out get something that you would be ok keeping and driving even if things don't work out. That being the case and being fresh out of college I would try to find something that was a really good deal and wouldn't depreciate a lot the first year which knocks out new. The reason being I have seen fresh college grads change jobs 4 times in their first years with some having gaps of unemployment being able to unload what I assume would be your largest payment in a catastrophic event without taking a significant loss might be something to consider. That being said a year or two old toyota or Honda might be the most stable bet as someone else would have already taken the big depreciation hit.