Best Cars For Bad Credit Customers

Start By Researching Previous Award Winners

Every year www.Edmunds.com puts out a used car best bets. So went back to their 05 list, on the theory they've dropped in price, and found an interesting mix of cars in our price range. They include a large car (03 Ford Crown Victoria, now around $10,200), a sporty ride (01 Mazda Miata), the best selling pickup truck in America (03 Ford F-150, as low as $9,800 depending on options) and even a minivan (00 Honda Odyssey, now around $10,250).

Another widely respected honor is the "Best Cars of the Year" designations by Consumer Reports. You have

to go back a few years to see CR winners now in our pricerange, but from the 03 winners list, a search on www.autotrader.com found the 03 Volkswagen Passat to be about $14,800, the Subaru Impreza around $15,000, the Honda Accord to be about $15,600 and the 03 Toyota Rav4 around $16,200.

One of the most famous honors in this field is the Motor Trend Car of the Year. However, over the last ten years, only a few have dropped into our price range (the 2000 winner, Lincoln LS, and 2001 winner, the Chrysler PT Cruiser). The 06 and 07 winners, the Honda Civic and Toyota Camry, hold their values extremely well; to find one in the $10,000 range, it'll probably be at least five years old.

A Special Note On JD Power

J.D. Power puts out two influential surveys each year -- the Initial Quality Study and the Vehicle Dependability Study. The first survey occurs after 90 days of ownership, the second looks at vehicles three years later.

The 06 Dependability Study (for 03 models) rated the Buick Century as the most dependable mid-sized car and it can be found for under $10,000. The 05 study had three winners from Ford (Thunderbird, Windstar and E-series vans) and four from Chevy (Prizm, Malibu, S-10 and Silverado).