This or That... Mulling over Jetta replacements

[giant_mtb]

There's a Ford dealership out in the middle of nowhere, Ewen MI, that is very popular.  The town only has ~600 people, but they have a big ol' Ford dealership.  My grandfather used to buy his Fords there.  I see their dealership badge on a number of vehicles.  It's weird.  They must have great service.

[MX793]

Somewhere where a used Corolla is readily available

I'm legitimately asking, how big of a city is "civilization".  As someone else noted, selection in Rochester (1 million people in the metro) is also pretty poor.  Buffalo's not much bigger a city.  Nearest city bigger than Buffalo is NYC (over 250 miles and 4 hours each way).  Then we're talking Cleveland, Philly, or Pitt (all over 300 miles and 6 hours).  A 12+ hour round trip isn't exactly an easy day-trip.

[MrH]

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d295&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=14602&distance=200&searchChanged=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true

[MX793]

Like I said, I haven't specifically been looking for a specific model.  Honestly haven't been actively looking at all.  Got hit with some unexpected large expenses this summer and am now thinking new winter car will have to wait another year.  The VW still runs and drives and I trust it to get me where I'm going, it just has a lot of irritating nuisance issues.

[12,000 RPM]

Do you have a Carmax nearby? Their delivery fees are reasonable. But if the search is dead the search is dead.

[MX793]

Do you have a Carmax nearby? Their delivery fees are reasonable. But if the search is dead the search is dead.

There's one in Rochester.  When I did a search for my budget, there was nothing "local" and it was I think $150 or $200, non-refundable, just to bring anything that looked remotely promising in (seemed like there were a bunch of candidates in Ohio and Virginia).  If I'm going to pay that much, I want to be damned sure the car I'm bringing in is to my liking, and photos can only tell you so much.  Nothing worse than getting the car and it smells badly of cigarette smoke (or worse) or I start looking at it and there's signs it was in a wreck (which don't always show up in Carfax, especially if the vehicle was a rental car in a past life).  Or there's bad rust underneath that their photos didn't show.

[68_427]

I've seen people say good things about Carvanna.  I think they have a similar shipping type deal to Carmax, and on their website they point out any flaws/chips/dents/etc, as well as have a 360 view of the car.

[AutobahnSHO]

CarMax is free to bring the vehicle to look at, they add the delivery fee if you actually buy it...