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Nathan will be working either a 7am-4pm job 30 minutes away from here or a 9-5 job 20 minutes away from here, in the opposite direction of my school which is 45 minutes away from here. I have an unpredictable research job as well.
Basically, we're screwed if either one of us is left without a car.
You're fairly safe going with an old Civic or an old Corolla, although you'll want to check out consumer reports to make sure that the particular year you're looking at buying didn't have any freakish problems--the Corollas occasionally have, I recently found out. Don't buy anything turbo charged that has anything approaching 100K miles on it--a friend of mine who is an amazing mechanic has warned me that turbo charged engines tend to fail at about 100K miles in some very expensive ways.
Do you have a mechanic that you trust who can look the car over before you buy it? That's saved me from making poor decisions about this kind of thing in the past.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I really like my 1986 Honda Accord LXI. And if you can find one that old, it should be a lot cheaper than that. Mine was taken care of very well...runs great with over 215,000 miles on it.
What did Nate leave in Utah? It probably doesn't have as much rust on it as those you're likely to find here. Mine is from Colorado.
Posts: 1379 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Nathan left a 94 Pontiac Grand Am on its last legs...at least, it isn't worth driving out here. It would cost more to get it ready and then drive it here than it's worth. So we're selling it in Utah and using proceeds to get a car here.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Noemon: Go to the www.riceboypage.com and click on the link to the "Hall of Shame" on the left.
Mack: You also have the option of getting a cheap car with the engine blown and replacing the engine, but unless you have someone in the know to help you, it may end up being more expensive that way.
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Everything I've seen in Consumer Reports points to Toyota as the best car to buy with high mileage.
It's apparently pretty typical for a Toyota to last up to 250,000 miles before they're really ready to go.
My son bought a 1990 Corolla a little over a year ago with 180,000 miles on it, for $800. Everything works except the air conditioning, which still sort of works but you can't just recharge them anymore without finding the leak. We put new brakes into it, and a new exhaust pipe, a few months ago. It gets about 34 mpg.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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We had an old Volvo wagon. Great car in the summer, but horrid in winter. You would think the Swedes might have factored snow driving into the design. Anyway...
Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, i agree.
Try Want Advertiser. I will keep my eyes open around here.
If you are just looking for a second car to get to work and back, not too far, I would suggest going for 1000 bucks. You can find some good cars for that.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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We have a '93 [Edit Mazda] 626 with 236,000 miles on it. No problems so far. (Knock on wood.)
We've also had good luck with Hondas and Toyotas. But we also like stick shifts, so I don't know if that makes a difference.
[Edit: D*oh! What an idiot! Honda 626. What was I thinking? I even sat here and asked my husband was kind it was (of course, I did the same thing for the post at the other site where I mentioned this.) I think I was just thinking about other cars we'd had good luck with and Toyota and Honda were on my mind.)
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Our 95 chevy cavalier has treated us pretty well, and it was used for an hour long commute for well over a year and other than a few months of 15 minutes, has been taking my husband on half hour long commutes for six years. We've had the power steering pump replaced, and other than a factory defect from when we first got it, it has been a very reliable care.
Heck, I would trust it cross country, and we've been planning on selling it for about 1500. We just changed the tires, we are religious about keeping the oil changed. Problem: it doesn't have air conditioning.
Posts: 3495 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Buy a Camry. Period. End of story. I've never seen a Camry as bad as my 93 listed for more than $1500 and mine still runs perfectly only problem is with the AC which can be fixed for $700, but since I plan on getting rid of it by the Summer in favor of a new Camry I don't see the point in spending the money. Camrys are also safe and get relatively good gas mileage. There is a reason why they are the best selling car in America.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Don't buy anything turbo charged that has anything approaching 100K miles on it--a friend of mine who is an amazing mechanic has warned me that turbo charged engines tend to fail at about 100K miles in some very expensive ways.
My '98 Jetta TDI just turned 160k miles. Should I be worried?
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I agree on Corollas -- they do really well for a really long time.
As far as buying used cars goes, try the local car rental places. They retire cars when they reach a certain age (two years, I think), but are still usually in great condition. Might be outside your budget, but I'd think it can't hurt to check.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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You can check with your Mission President, too. They sell the missionaries' cars cheap when they get new ones.
Posts: 1379 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I think that as far as American cars go the Taurus is the best bet. My parents have one with 150,000+ and it has never been in the shop except for routine maintince...brakes, and they needed a new muffler once because they hit some debris on the road.
It is rated bery high in used car circles, adn would be cheaper than an import.
Civics, Accords, Corollas, and Camerys are all great too, although from what I have seen Hondas hold up as good if not bettern tah Toyotas.
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I have a '99 Mercury Sable Wagon and it has been great... but it might be a shade out of your budget...
Nissan Sentras seem to be near bulletproof and quite inexpensive... unlike the Civic, which has gotten pretty expensive due to its excellent reputation. You'd be hard pressed to find one under ten years old for $2500. and if you are going to go that old you'd be better off with an Acura Integra (which you could gte for near the same price).
But mid sized sedans like the Taurus/Sable, Dodge Intrepid, Buick LeSabre, etc. are going to give you the most car for the $.
Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Repair costs are killer on Mercedes and Volvo. But if dad wants to work on that kind of car, they are really great, even older ones. Maybe outside the budget right now, but perhaps in future?
Honda and Toyota are probably the best bet, as other's have said. If you get a Honda, check with the previous owner when the timing belt was last changed. It really needs to be done every 60,000 miles to avoid the one really expensive pain-in-rear problem with Hondas -- failed timing belt=need new engine or complete rebuild!
I'm not sure about Toyotas, but I do know people who have gotten LOTS of mileage out of them.
I'd second the Subaru claim. They seem to go for 250,000 miles without too much trouble.
Another gambit is to spend less money on the car and figure on replacing it in a year or so. Buying a succession of $1,000 cars and NOT spending money to keep them running is not a bad strategy. Especially when just starting out. Just have to resist the temptation to spend any money on the car. Consider it a throw-away item and just move on to the next one if anything serious happens.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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"Repair costs are killer on Mercedes and Volvo."
Please, please believe him! Many of the parts are Volvo-only, and not available anywhere except the dealership. My husband found a place online that sold replacement parts, but they were fakes. They worked, but not as well. Very finicky cars, and you are best to get a Volvo-savvy mechanic. there are people who just love to fix them, for sure.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Not to contridict Kwea, but DO NOT BUY A TAURUS. My parents each had one and they both had horrible transmissions.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Yeah, DeLorean was a weird guy for choosing the worst of the worst to put in his vehicle. Many of them went out with Renaul engines. What a joke! I mean, of all the engines in the world to choose from, why would he choose Renault?
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I have a 89 Plymouth Voyager. It works pretty well. It has almost 190,000. I think if you managed to find one from the 90s it would be a good bet.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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OK, the Impreza gets good reliability ratings in the late 90s, the Forester does not, and I couldn't get info on the Outback/Legacy. The site returns an error for the Legacy.
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Subarus are GREAT cars. We own a 95 Legacy, with about 160,000 miles on it, and it is in excellent condition. They last for forever if babied just a little, and arent that expensive to fix. Not as cheap as a toyota, maybe, but a hell of a lot more fun in the snow. I used to own a Subaru SVX, and that little sports car did better in the snow than my big ol' Dodge Ram Charger.
Posts: 499 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote: If you were in the area, I'd tell you to come down and have my husband take care of you.
Kylie wanted me to OOC this for her because she's not logged in, but I can't find the thread. You got lucky this time, ketchupqueen.
Posts: 1658 | Registered: Sep 2003
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If I remember correctly, the "renault" engine in the Delorian was actually a joint venture volvo mercedes renault iron-sleeved-aluminum V-6. A pretty good engine but there were slight changes depending on what car you got it from. And it needed it's timing belts changed on time.
But why anyone would condsider buying a Delorian at all is beyond me. It's like buying a studebaker. There's NOBODY that knows how to fix them and buying parts is an exersize in archaeology. The only people that should own a Delorean are Jay Leno type machine geeks with tons of cash.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: Yeah, DeLorean was a weird guy for choosing the worst of the worst to put in his vehicle. Many of them went out with Renaul engines. What a joke! I mean, of all the engines in the world to choose from, why would he choose Renault?
This is what happens when the owner of an obscure car company fronts it to buy lots and lots of coke. Then snorts it like a fiend.
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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