First time buyer, owner, driver. What to buy?

**2 B** · January 13th, 2021 07:47 PM

So my mom finally decides that she wants to buy a car for our family of two. This will be the first car she'll own. The budget is around 1.3M-1.4M through bank load (around 700k downpayment). What would be a good choice?

Here's things to consider:
-She doesn't like sedans because she says it's too low and/or small.
-We live in the province so there's no heavy traffic.
-Something easy to manage would be better since neither my mon or me know that much about cars
-7-seaters is not that important since there's only two of us in our household

Currently she's eyeing the Ford Territory Titanium. Is that a good choice and what would be a better alternative? Also, what do you guys think about buying 2nd-hand cars at the same price point to get a better, albeit slightly used, vehicle?

Thanks

**Egan101** · January 13th, 2021 08:01 PM

Any small crossover or MPV within your price range is a good candidate. Just choose which you like the most. Consider a brand that has easy access to maintenance within your province.

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**2 B** · January 13th, 2021 08:25 PM

There's no dealership in our province here in Mindoro so we would most likely bring it Batangas for PMS. We're leaning more on crossovers than MPVs. Any specific model that would be good? I found a 2nd hand 2018 Honda CR-V 1.6S being sold for 1.35M but my mom is hesitant in buying 2nd hand cars

**bxr monkey** · January 13th, 2021 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by 2 B

There's no dealership in our province here in Mindoro so we would most likely bring it Batangas for PMS. We're leaning more on crossovers than MPVs. Any specific model that would be good? I found a 2nd hand 2018 Honda CR-V 1.6S being sold for 1.35M but my mom is hesitant in buying 2nd hand cars

Mas okay nga brand new. Hassle mag RORO for PMS.

Ano po car dealers mayroon sa Calapan Mindoro?
Kung may Toyota, Corolla Cross or Rush.

**2 B** · January 13th, 2021 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by bxr monkey

Mas okay nga brand new. Hassle mag RORO for PMS.

Ano po car dealers mayroon sa Calapan Mindoro?
Kung may Toyota, Corolla Cross or Rush.

We're in Occidental Mindoro so hassle din mag drive to Calapan. Before the pandemic, we usually go to Manila around once a month either for work or family related stuff (we live in NCR before migrating to the province so our relatives are there) so we would have ample opportunity to cross the sea either for PMS or other things.

Toyota lang meron na dealership sa Calapan. I heard the lower variant of the Corolla Cross is way underspecced compared to it's competitor while the Rush is not that good of a vehicle.

**bloowolf** · January 13th, 2021 08:51 PM

Madani naman dealer sa Mindoro when I did a Google search. Mindoro car dealers - Google Search
If you are a first time owner & you don’t know much about cars, best to stay away from 2nd hand ones. Decide on whether you want a gas or Diesel engine (depends on usage). You seem to have made up your mind to get a SUV so next is to decide if it’ll be a compact (Vitara), Small (Territory), mid (Fortuner) or large (Land Cruiser). Next will be the Make then the model. A good resource site for a fairly good side by side comparo is autodeal.com. There may be others. Hope this helps.

**dr. d** · January 13th, 2021 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by 2 B

There's no dealership in our province here in Mindoro so we would most likely bring it Batangas for PMS. We're leaning more on crossovers than MPVs. Any specific model that would be good? I found a 2nd hand 2018 Honda CR-V 1.6S being sold for 1.35M but my mom is hesitant in buying 2nd hand cars

if i were me,
i'd buy a car which can be serviced without my having to "go out of my way".
what brands have dealerships or something similar, there in your place?

**travajante** · January 14th, 2021 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by dr. d

if i were me,
i'd buy a car which can be serviced without my having to "go out of my way".
what brands have dealerships or something similar, there in your place?

I'm w/ doc.... But I'd look into pre-owned...like the Land Cruiser 120series. A lot of well-cared 1s out there sub 1M.
-They share the same comfy & reliable platform w/ the FJ, Tacoma & 4Runner.
-True ladder-frame 4WD.
-Parts & mods aplenty.
-Solid workhorses, diesel or petrol.
-03-09 Architecture is much simpler than current; electronics basic. They won't intimidate the experienced shade tree wrench.[emoji4]
The 120 crowd in Oz & the GX470/460 community in NA are pretty active, so w/ the USED & Overlanding scenes....Great fix/maintenance/mod info resource. Parts there, midEast & here(dealership our outside)...you can source.
And, no matter the age, Land Cruisers are known to just keep running.[emoji4]

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**Egan101** · January 13th, 2021 08:47 PM

If you have the money and you want a Toyota, go for the Cross than the Rush. The Cross is a more refined vehicle than the econobox of a Rush.

However, you have other options like the Coolray or Territory at that price. If you want better ground clearance and AWD, spend a bit more for a Subaru XV or the bigger Forester.

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**2 B** · January 13th, 2021 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Egan101

If you have the money and you want a Toyota, go for the Cross than the Rush. The Cross is a more refined vehicle than the econobox of a Rush.

However, you have other options like the Coolray or Territory at that price. If you want better ground clearance and AWD, spend a bit more for a Subaru XV or the bigger Forester.

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As mentioned before, isn't the Corolla Cross too underspecced compared to it's rivals. I would like the Forester (I'm studying BS Forestry lol) but a brand new one is outside the budget.

Originally Posted by bloowolf

Madani naman dealer sa Mindoro when I did a Google search. Mindoro car dealers - Google Search
If you are a first time owner & you don’t know much about cars, best to stay away from 2nd hand ones. Decide on whether you want a gas or Diesel engine (depends on usage). You seem to have made up your mind to get a SUV so next is to decide if it’ll be a compact (Vitara), Small (Territory), mid (Fortuner) or large (Land Cruiser). Next will be the Make then the model. A good resource site for a fairly good side by side comparo is autodeal.com. There may be others. Hope this helps.

Maybe in Oriental Mindoro. But as far as I know there isn't any dealership here. Thanks for the link. I didn't there were Hyundai and Kia dealerships in Calapan. Speaking of Hyundai, is there still a discount on the Santa Fe? Back then the lower variant was being sold around 1.3M I think?