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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Two years ago my All -American 1989 Pontiac Grand Am expired on the side of the highway, in a glorious, smokefilled death. Over 200,000 miles on it, and the thing was absolutely ragged. (Just ONE example of the eccentricities it acquired over the years: Reverse no longer worked. Like, at ALL. I had to park on level or slightly downhill ground; if level, I had to open the door and push with one foot. Like a trashed-out Flintstone car. And that was just one of the quirks.) Yup, drove it into the ground.
Lo, I found my lil' 2003 Kia Rio. I think they're the bee's knees. If you want a very reasonable and dependable car, sort of on the level of a Hyundai, this has been ideal in my experience. So that's my 2 cents, take a look at 'gently used' Kias. They tend to have great warranties too.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RoseWhite
Lo, I found my lil' 2003 Kia Rio. I think they're the bee's knees. If you want a very reasonable and dependable car, sort of on the level of a Hyundai, this has been ideal in my experience. So that's my 2 cents, take a look at 'gently used' Kias. They tend to have great warranties too.
The kia rio and hyundai accent are the same car and both have excellent reputations.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kylie3183
What about newer Mazdas and Nissans? Any opinions on those?
I have a 95 Mazda 626, which is now the Mazda 6 in the newer ones. Mazdas are pretty good. Nissan CAN be good.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
if I had $2000 to buy a car, I most certainly wouldn't pick that car. Hondas and Toyotas are way more reliable at that price point.
That's what I'd do too.
However, my mom sold a 1981 Volvo maybe five years ago for $2000. That car was in pristine condition and she didn't even try to sell it and was offered that for it.
My ex has a 1995 Honda Civic. He abuses the hell out of that car. Somehow it is still running quite well.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cherryripeboyII
I've found fords start getting into trouble when they get over 100,000 miles. I think we did 200k on our Lincoln Town Car, it was a trooper. The Bronco II on the other hand was gone by then.
Not to pick on you but you do realize that both the cars you are talking about here are infact FORD right?
After years and years as a mechanic I figured I could help a little.
Anyway the previous owners of the car are atleast as important as mileage. High RPM will wear an engine and trans faster than anything. So a car that was owner or driven by a younger person is likely to be more beat than one that has been driven by an older person. Not to mention people dont really take care of things like routine oil changes untill they get older. On most cars you should ask when the timing belt was changed. Most cars are to be done every 60k. This is KEY on many cars. If it hasnt been done recently (if they cant answer the question it hasnt been done) Expect to shell out a lot more cash to get it done right away. Definately take the car to a good mechanic prior to buying it. And ask them to give you the compression numbers. They usually wont check and it is quite important. Ask them what the numbers mean or PM them to me and I will explain them. Here is a quick list of good and bad. Of course all companies have a few good and a few bad no matter what, so this is rough. I am also making the list based on vehicles in the $2000 price range, it changes quick as your price point does.
Good
Toyota (best choice in this range)
Honda
Volvo
acura
Mazda
Nissan
some hyundai
BMW (you can sometimes find an old one cheap. The older models are fairly reliable but parts arent cheap)
Jeep cherokee with inline 6 They dont drive great but they are quite reliable for what they are.
Bad
Kia (except for the hyundai clone they are horrible hense its on the top of the list)
Ford (some arent that bad really)
Subaru (yeah in that price range you are lookin for trouble)
VW (sorry fans, for 2k I would be afraid of one
DO NOT under ANY circumstances buy a neon, breeze or avenger.
Also stay away from the eclipse/tallon/lazer. Some have gone insane mileage but for every one that has 10 have had HUGE problems.
Again this list is made based on a budget in the range of 2k and shopping for a smallish car. If anything specific comes up dont be afraid to ask.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RoseWhite
Two years ago my All -American 1989 Pontiac Grand Am expired on the side of the highway, in a glorious, smokefilled death. Over 200,000 miles on it, and the thing was absolutely ragged. (Just ONE example of the eccentricities it acquired over the years: Reverse no longer worked. Like, at ALL. I had to park on level or slightly downhill ground; if level, I had to open the door and push with one foot. Like a trashed-out Flintstone car. And that was just one of the quirks.) Yup, drove it into the ground.
:rotfl:
OMF*-ing G....... My Camaro started to do something like that towards the end of its life. It then died in a fabulous engine explosion. It went out hardcore. (I still love Camaros though.)
A nice used import can be found for a few thousand dollars...We bought a 1987 Nissan compact for about $2,000 & it ran fine until some yahoo rear-ended it when it was parked in the street.
If you're going to buy American, buy new & don't keep it forever. I don't dig imports but for someone who wants a low-maintance ride, you can't go wrong with Hondas and Toyotas.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
VenusGoddess
NO. Never buy an American made car with high miles. Fords are NOTORIOUS for engine/tranny problems.
The average miles for a 1997 car should be around 88,000. At 112,000 it is over mileage by 24,000 miles.
Er, really? My ford is a 1998(not a Taurus) and I think it has got around 107,000.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Yekhefah
I bought a shitty Ford once and learned my lesson. No more American cars for me, EVER.
I'm just waiting for my car to die. It's a 98' Ford, brakes suck, acceleration sucks, just everything about it sucks. And it has made me hate American cars, just because it doesn't seem like they even try to make good cars. Not to mention it died three houses down from where I live. God forbid that happen after I leave work!
Oh and did I mention that the alarm goes off randomly and because it would cost $1000 to fix(totally not worth it) I have to take the horn fuse out and cannot honk at people when they don't see me or cut me off? I'm sure Henry Ford would be proud.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
in the 10+ year old $1-2-3,000 price range of used cars, there is one little secret that might help you a bit. From about 1992 until about 1998, many cars sold by Chrysler Corp (Dodge, Plymouth, JeepEagle) actually had Mitsubishi engines and transmissions. These cars were and still are extremely reliable. I'm still driving my '98 Eagle Talon (equals Mitsubishi Eclipse) occasionally - even though the body and paint need some work at this point, the engine and drive train still work great and the car is almost as much fun to drive now as it was when I bought it in 1999 (even though it now has nearly 150,000 miles on it).
My point is that, yes, a 10+ year old Honda or Toyota with 100,000 miles is going to have some good miles left on it, and statistically speaking it should still be fairly reliable as long as the previous owner kept up with routine maintenance. However, because of this reputation for reliability, these Hondas and Toyotas are going to command a fairly high price. They're also going to command fairly high prices for parts and service when they do break down. On the other hand, the 10+ year old Mitsubishi based Dodges / Plymouths / JeepEagles are nearly as reliable and can be had at a significantly lower price, and parts are 'dirt' cheap.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
I have to highly disagree with you ResQ on older Subarus in this price range. Many of the SUbarus I have had experience with are older and were from this price range and were awesome cars. My uncle that owned the Subaru specialty shop and was a mechanic for 35+ years delt with this situation with Subarus as well and they were great to him, and he dealt with a LOT. ( Meaning he bought many old Subarus for cheap and resold them after he did some routine maintenance that had been neglected)
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Fair enough. We will never all agree on everything. I personally have seen lots of trouble from the older ones when not treated right. (things like rod knocks from being less than a quart low on oil)
Its true that a few mopars have mitsubishi engines in them. Not too terribly many. So please dont assume just because its a dodge product that it has a mits driveline.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Try cars.com...search for your price range. When you pull up each car on the apge theres links that show you what the actual value of the car should be. And reviews on how good the cars are. Edmunds.com is linked as well with more reviews and prices.
Info from hubby who has bought and sold cars since he was 12! So he knows his shit.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cinammonkisses
Yeaaa I'm so excited! For those of you who dont know, I CK have had a fear of driving my entire life. Within the past year I started taking lessons to get over this fear.
Well, yesterday on my way to work, I was talkin to my cab guy friend and he told me he'd sell me his car since 1)he drives the cab majority of the time and 2) his wife already has a truck.
So, is this a good deal? It's a 97 Ford Taurus 112K miles and he wants $2,000 for it.
That's good milage for that year of a car. I would buy it if that's my price range and needed a car. (I'm a truck guy) If this is your price range buy it. I have a 2000 ford ranger with 113000 miles on it with no problems. We bought it new. US car bashers don't stop and think that when you buy this old of a car you take a chance that it will need something fixed on it soon. A US made car is cheaper to fix, in most cases than a foreign made car.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
I don't mean to threadjack but making a new thread with all this info here seems silly. I have an automatic '94 Mitsubishi Magna being sold to me for 3k. It has 100,000kms on it and is getting a full road worthy and six months registration on it for me. Good deal?
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cameron_keys
Do not buy anything with that high miliage. You are just asking for trouble.
And esp american cars like the others said...hondas run FOREVER..little stuff like door trim will fall off, but the engines last forever. So it wont look as pretty...but it wont leave you stranded.
that's true, my parents bought a honda when i was three, it didn't die til i was 18.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Roll with Toyota, very reliable and well built.
I would say Honda but ive have some tranny/motor mount issues with my 2005 Civic Si, my aunt's 2002 TL has had the tranny replaced twice.
Good luck!
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
i dont know what a mits magna is honestly. (is too lazy to search to find what we call it here)
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Oh shit is that an Aussie only car? :/ I looked it up and it seems to sell for around 3-4.5k without rego or warranty or road worthy - which I'm getting all of. So it's a good deal, I suppose. Although I did find one with all that for $800.. but it was two states away. >_>
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
American cars suck for the most part. A used car should have avg. 12,000 miles per years
or less. Carfax is a good start but always have a mechanic take a look.
Honda is good.. I had one. jap cars are usually reliable but there are lemons of all kinds.
I personally like used sports cars, like the 99' bmw m3 I am driving now.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
big_daddy
That's good milage for that year of a car. I would buy it if that's my price range and needed a car. (I'm a truck guy) If this is your price range buy it. I have a 2000 ford ranger with 113000 miles on it with no problems. We bought it new. US car bashers don't stop and think that when you buy this old of a car you take a chance that it will need something fixed on it soon. A US made car is cheaper to fix, in most cases than a foreign made car.
:rotfl:!!!!!!
Maybe for one brand, like Nissan I think. Don't overgeneralize. You want to see why we're all ( or at least me) is saying no to this Taurus? And no, it's not because I'm a "US car basher "(yeah right, LOL)?
Look it up on carsurvey.org and see what the actual OWNERS had to say about it.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
I've owned a number of vehicles (9, actually) and am a self-proclaimed car-guy. I have a few questions with some possible answers and a few words of advice.
Questions
1. What is your price range and can you finance? $2k is really low money to pay for a car. ANY CAR. Domestic, German, Japanese or Korean. If at all possible set your target price to around $5k. Anything less than $5k you are FAR more likely to run into trouble.
2. What do you want to do with your car? If it's just getting around the city, look small and don't worry too much about engine size. As a general rule, the smaller the engine the cheaper the maintenance. If you need to get out on the highway, I would suggest getting nothing smaller than a 2 Liter engine. This means you will be choosing from a 4-cylinder or a 6-cylinder engine. The most engine anyone without kids REALLY needs is about 2.5 Liters. That's the max.
3. Do you live where it snows? If so, (especially since you're a new driver) then you want a Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) or All-Wheel Drive (AWD) car. FWD are the cheapest for maintenance and parts. AWD are not as cheap (Audi's are EXPENSIVE) but if properly maintained are great. If you go AWD, go Subaru. Their AWD system is far more robust than others out there.
4. Do you have a mechanic you trust? This is key. Find some car-smart people in your area (message boards similar to this one by owners of the same kind of car) and find the local forum area. Ask those people who they trust. I know on my other message boards if you ask you will get pointed in the right direction. Whenever I move (and I move a lot) I get on the message boards and get recommendations for good shops. I've never been disappointed, yet.
So in the end here are my recommendations:
1. FWD vehicle with a small engine. Toyota and Honda ARE great, but with gas prices going up, I know all of those in my area (MN) jumped in price $1-3k this spring. Hyundai and Kia are very reliable and even an 8-year old car should have the balance of warranty left.
2. AWD vehicle with slightly larger engine. Subaru's cost a bit more up front, but I know MANY cars that ran over 250,000 miles on their first engine.
3. What you don't want: A Rear-Wheel Drive car or a car with an engine larger than 3 Liters (or more than 6 cylinders). Also avoid German and Swedish cars (not because they are bad, but because they are more expensive to maintain.)
FYI: I drive a 2000 BMW, a 2002 Audi, and a 1994 Subaru.
Good luck, and PM if you'd like more details.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
i'd save a little more money and get some thing with under 100,000 miles, i got a 1998 mercury mystique for $4000 it had 91000 miles on it when i got it. i used to always buy $1000 to $1500 cars and i always had to get rid of them sooner than i wanted. i got a small loan and got my mercury in november it runs great and i haven't regretted the loan yet. i probably would agree with a lot replies about getting a toyota or honda they last longer and are better than most american cars. a Taurus any older than 2002 is not a good car, they a notorious for lots of problems. good luck in your car shopping.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ResQ
DO NOT under ANY circumstances buy a neon, breeze or avenger.
Also stay away from the eclipse/tallon/lazer. Some have gone insane mileage but for every one that has 10 have had HUGE problems.
Totally agree, Neon/Breeze (same car, different "brand nme") are notorious little deathtraps. They are cheaply made and WILL NOT stand up to an accident.
Note about Talons, not only do they have problems but they only made them for a few years. The parts for them are hard to find and more expensive than you would want to pay for a car like that.
I haven't seen anyone mention Saturns yet. I actually just bought one at the end of Feb. (little bitch 16-year-old driving daddy's car totalled my old car in Jan.) It's a '96, manual, bought it with like 102k on it. It's in insanely good shape. It had two owners before me and both of them kept very meticulous records. I have a folder of paperwork and records that documents every oil change, new tire, etc on that car. I got pretty lucky. Only paid 1950 for it. My boyfriend has a '93 Saturn and his has like 150k on it, has withstood two accidents and still has everything working.
One thing I will say. If you find a good manual car, I'd go for it. If you don't know how to drive one, I ddn't either when I got mine. I was terrified of it at first but I have so much fun driving that car now. Plus, mauals get better gas mileage and the engines last longer and will handle high milege for a lot better.
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Re: I may be getting a car soon guys!!! (Car Buffs I need your opinion)
Um, the Neon and the Breeze aren't the same...
Plymouth Breeze= Dodge Stratus= Chrysler Cirrus
Just another aside about the Neon though... The SRT-4 is the only one that feels even remotely close to "solid". I would drive around the regular Neons when I worked for Dodge and even the NEW ones felt flimsy.
And the reason that Saturns haven't been mentioned is because they're not really worth mentioning. They aren't wildly popular for a reason; they are cheap and for the most part uncomfortable.