TTAC Podcast: What's the Best Used Car for the Money?

by Tim Healey

Published: February 2nd, 2024

ttac podcast what s the best used car for the money

Welcome back to the TTAC podcast! Today we have Karl Brauer, executive analyst for iSeeCars.com, on to talk about best and worst used cars for the money. TTAC car reviewer Chris Tonn also sits in.

It's not just best and worst used cars -- we have a wide-ranging conversation covering EV sales mandates and goals, the dead automotive brands we miss, a scary piece of proposed legislation in the Golden State, and the newest crossover on the block.

Give it a listen, and as always, thanks for tuning in!

[Image: Mazda]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 28 comments

JMII on Feb 06, 2024
Pretty much any Infiniti. You get a sort-of-luxury car for very little money. Japanese reliability and build quality but with big depreciation. Generic shapes that aren't offensive or weird. Downside is you'll have to deal with only average fuel economy and tech that tends to be slightly behind the times.

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- Bkojote on Feb 06, 2024
  The problem with a used Infiniti is the people who drive them. The G35 and G37 were very fine cars, but they went from 'Japanese BMW' to 'No Insurance' . I'm sure half have been wrecked after a failed highway race.
  
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Lorenzo on Feb 07, 2024
I held off before stating my choice, a 1974 Dodge Dart V8, but that's because in California it's pre-cat converter and smog exempt. If you keep a car more than ten years, the cost of the Cali smog test is more than the registration.

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