Buying A Used Car
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- pinkfloyd
I never bought a car before. Any good recommendation for car insurance? Also, how much mileage is too high especially if I want to take long drives (4-14hours)?
- pinkfloyd0
Oh yeah, what are some of the reliable used car brands? I hear volkswagons have a lot of problems with their engines. I'm leaning towards a toyota, honda, maybe a ford.
- waterhouse0
Are you looking to buy from an owner or a dealer?
- I'm open to both, unless there's a disadvantage to one of thempinkfloyd
- EquilateralDSG0
Even if you buy the car you would want to rent a car for a long drive like that.
- panacea0
Where are you located? I can give you some for Florida.
- d_rek0
buy used from an owner, not a dealer, with cash.
if you buy from a dealer you're likely to get a shit deal which you will have to finance anyway. In that case, you might as well finance a new vehicle and pay a little extra per month to have a shiny new piece of crap.
- pinkfloyd0
I plan on using the car only on weekends to go on mini trips. I live in NYC, so I don't want to get a car that's too nice. I'll pay everything in cash.
- waterhouse0
Me, I'd try to buy from an owner. That way, you can glean a lot of honest knowledge on the car's maintenance and ownership history.
Makes like Mercedes, Honda...if they're cared for with regular maintenance, you'll make a wise purchase.
- pinkfloyd0
How much mileage is considered too high where the car will be less reliable? I don't want to be stranded on a highway if I take a 2-4 hour trip. I know it varies between car makes, but I just wanted to get a rough idea.
- Depends...But, generally I'd sleep well at night with a car under 100K miles.waterhouse
- Great, so 60-80k will be fine for me.pinkfloyd
- it's the maintenence intervals, with some cars, every 30k you have to do $1000 in service...vaxorcist
- waterhouse0
Do you have an approximate budget in mind?
- It's open, but i'd like to spend the least as possible.pinkfloyd
- That doesn't tell me anything.waterhouse
- $10K?
$30K?waterhouse - I don't want to spend that much for a car. It's for occassional driving, so 5k I think.pinkfloyd
- sine0
this is how i've always gone about buying a used car...
once you've decided on a budget look around at what's available in that range. do some research on the make/models. narrow it down to a shortlist and go and look at and test drive the cars. once you've decided on one, ask to take it to an independent testing facility or mechanic. over here the AA has it's own roadworthy testing facilities and they can tell you everything you need to know... like if the car has been in a serious crash, if there's structural/chassis damage, if all the parts/engine is original and any work that might need to be done (now, or soon).
- vaxorcist0
MSN.com can be useful for reliability ratings of which years of a car suck and which are okay....
- you can write down the VIN number (ask to see it) and check for accidents on http://www.carfax.co…vaxorcist
- vaxorcist0
I'm mister 250,000 miles, so for me, I may be different from most other people..... If you're willing to spend time, and listen very carefully to your car, check fluid levels once a week, and know at least 2 trusted mechanics, you can make a car last a damn long time as long as the previous owners were not idiots....
My current ride has 167,000 miles.. and I've driven it on trips from Chicago Tennessee, Chicago to Minneapolis, Chicago to Detroit,etc without any problems this year. It currently should have a new CV joint/axle in the next few months.... $250 repair I'm planning for....
The previous owner was very careful and kept a book of all maintenence records. I also know the dealer looked at the van 1 year ago and said it needed a new transmission and over $2000 of other stuff or it would supposedly "be a death trap on wheels" according to the dealer tech.
I took it to 3 different used-car mechanics locally and got 3 different estimates of everything that was wrong with it, and got the words of a smart mechanic who said "just add some transmission fluid every 2 - 3 weeks and you'll be fine for a couple of years, once it starts to give you the transmission clunk, you can replace the Transmission solenoid for $400 or so"
I just throw $100 a month into the "anticipated repair cost" account... and I change the oil every 3k miles, get a complete check each time, etc.... and I whenever you get a mechanic to look at things, ask carefully how urgent each thing is to fix, most used cars need $500-$1500 in repairs to "be perfect" but are "mostly ok" with half of that or so....
- vaxorcist0
When looking at a used front-wheel-drive car, open the window and driver very slowly in a parking lot, from a slow roll, turn all the way to the right and left while listening very carefully and driving less than 5-10 miles per hour... you should NOT hear any weird clunk/click/roll-clicking sounds, if you do, the car may need new CV axles, joints, etc....
These are common repairs and cost $250-$700 or so...
If the car is otherwise fine, make a note of this to the seller, ask him to lower the price $250-$400 and then get that fixed yourself....
- UKV0
I've owned over 40 different cars. Its really hard to not get screwed when you are buying a car, new or used. The more strategy you use, the better. There is a good book, "What car dealers dont want you to know", talks step by step on how the dealers run the game.
- pinkfloyd0
These advice have been gold and very helpful. Thanks!
- vaxorcist0
How many miles? It's the maintenance intervals that matter. Check this info online once you find the car make/model/year you're looking for.
First thing I ask with a Honda / Acura is when the previous owner replaced the timing belt. I do NOT ask "did you replace the timing belt" because people will probalby say "yes" in order to sell it... I ask WHEN, and wait for the response....
For example, if you have a Honda with 70,000 miles, that car might have just had it's 60,000 mile service done, and it's probably in great shape.
Compare that to a Honda with 65,000 miles that has NOT had it's 60,000 mile service done, and/or even the 30,000 mile service done, that car may need thousands in repairs....
Most hondas and many other cars have "interference engines" where you HAVE TO replace the timing belt every so many miles, if you don't, and the timing belt breaks, the engine is massively messed up. Replacing this timing belt is $200-400 or so.
If a timing belt breaks on a "non-interference engine" car, it's no big deal except you're stranded on the road and have to pay $250-400 to fix it, your engine probably won't be fried....
a list of older cars with interference engines:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/ti…I'd ask a mechanic if the model you're looking for is an interference engine or not.
- Frosty_spl0
- I miss my volvo, it was great, except parts were expensive and the local dealer was a total asshole...vaxorcist
- section_0140
I'm driving my second Honda civic and the biggest problems combined were a faulty strut and a transmission sensor. The strut was under warranty and the sensor I changed myself in 10 minutes (I'm no mechanic by any means). I'll never buy anything but a Honda for a daily driver.
Parts are cheap, they're easy as shit to work on and their dependable. Not much more to say there.