Used Cars

[Zoom-boing]

Ok, so college kid is used-car shopping. We're trying to go private party to keep the costs down and have mostly been looking at Honda (Civics and Accords) and Toyota (Corolla and Camry). 1995-2000, under 120K. Price - as little as possible! $5,000 MAX. $3,500-$4,000 is more realistic.

Any suggestions as to other cars that we're overlooking? We don't care about name brand but do care about reliability (which is why we've been looking at H and T). Is Nissan a reliable brand? What about Kia? I saw a 2001 Kia for sale for $3,800 w/66K but when I read the consumer reviews, most rated it as horrible for reliability.

I won't let her buy any car that the government has it's paws into.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Oddball]

The AWD of Subarus makes them as safe a car as your will find out there.

 

[eots]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

 

[Zoom-boing]

The AWD of Subarus makes them as safe a car as your will find out there.

There's a Subaru for sale by owner parked at the local Fire Department parking lot. I just called the guy for more info.

It's a 2002 Outback, AWD, alloy wheels, 127K, clean, interior good condition, exterior minor dings/scratches,AM/FM/CD. He's asking $5,500 - negotiable.

The timing belt and water pump have not been changed; trans never flushed, no accidents, clean title (haven't run the VIN yet).

I looked up consumer ratings on Edmunds and the overwhelming complaint I saw was blown head gaskets, numerous times in the same car. Problems w/the engine around 120K or so.

Reliability rating per Edmunds - it got a green check on everything.

 

[Oddball]

The head gasket thing with late model Subies is true.

Probably a good idea to budget for having them replaced if you consider buying that one.

 

[Zoom-boing]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

Define 'older'?

Are they reliable? Do they break down (not normal maintenance stuff, big expensive fix things)?

 

[Zoom-boing]

The head gasket thing with late model Subies is true.

Probably a good idea to budget for having them replaced if you consider buying that one.

From the consumer reviews I read it sounded like it was an on-going problem; e.g.: one car needing the gaskets replaced several times. Hmmmm. . . .

 

[Oddball]

Multiple failures would point to shoddy shop work, to me.

You can avoid this by getting an older model with the 2.2L engine.

 

[eots]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

Define 'older'?

Are they reliable? Do they break down (not normal maintenance stuff, big expensive fix things)?

nothing before 95..or beyond 2000...very reliable..its our second car and what my woman drives ...200,000 miles and still rolling fine with only basic maintenance

 

[RetiredGySgt]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

Ford makes two kinds of cars, VERY reliable and lemons. Used cars generally are not the lemons because those quit running long before they got old enough to be used cars.

Every Ford I ever owned was an amazing car. Reliable as hell and tough as hell too. Owned 2 Escorts and both were great cars.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Multiple failures would point to shoddy shop work, to me.

You can avoid this by getting an older model with the 2.2L engine.

Thanks, I'll add them to my list.

 

[Zoom-boing]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

Define 'older'?

Are they reliable? Do they break down (not normal maintenance stuff, big expensive fix things)?

nothing before 95..or beyond 2000...very reliable..its our second car and what my woman drives ...200,000 miles and still rolling fine with only basic maintenance

Thanks, I'll look for them as well. 200,000 miles works for me!

 

[Zoom-boing]

the older model...ford escorts are decent vehicles

Ford makes two kinds of cars, VERY reliable and lemons. Used cars generally are not the lemons because those quit running long before they got old enough to be used cars.

Every Ford I ever owned was an amazing car. Reliable as hell and tough as hell too. Owned 2 Escorts and both were great cars.

Thanks. I've owned 2 Mercury's (they own Ford or the other way around, right?) We hated the cars, they were expensive to fix and had major breakdowns. I think that prejudiced us against Fords in general. I'll have to investigate Ford cars.

 

[Big Black Dog]

It's been my experience that if you keep the oil changed regularly in a Toyota it ran forever. I've had a couple of used Toyotas and they worked out just fine.

 

[strollingbones]

subbie are the way to go...awd..anti lock breaks...driver/passenger air bags....plus they dont go real fast..take that into consideration...nothing fast...go with a subbie legacy....but watch the year...a few years did have problems...

 

[strollingbones]

my son drives a toyota.....after an hour i got to have something for my back...rides like a damn bump car

 

[Dis]

Ok, so college kid is used-car shopping. We're trying to go private party to keep the costs down and have mostly been looking at Honda (Civics and Accords) and Toyota (Corolla and Camry). 1995-2000, under 120K. Price - as little as possible! $5,000 MAX. $3,500-$4,000 is more realistic.

Any suggestions as to other cars that we're overlooking? We don't care about name brand but do care about reliability (which is why we've been looking at H and T). Is Nissan a reliable brand? What about Kia? I saw a 2001 Kia for sale for $3,800 w/66K but when I read the consumer reviews, most rated it as horrible for reliability.

I won't let her buy any car that the government has it's paws into.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Saturns are also decent cars... I have two college kids that work for me (both drive Saturns), and amazingly enough, they never call in with car problems, and one lives about 20 miles away..

 

[Zoom-boing]

Ok, so college kid is used-car shopping. We're trying to go private party to keep the costs down and have mostly been looking at Honda (Civics and Accords) and Toyota (Corolla and Camry). 1995-2000, under 120K. Price - as little as possible! $5,000 MAX. $3,500-$4,000 is more realistic.

Any suggestions as to other cars that we're overlooking? We don't care about name brand but do care about reliability (which is why we've been looking at H and T). Is Nissan a reliable brand? What about Kia? I saw a 2001 Kia for sale for $3,800 w/66K but when I read the consumer reviews, most rated it as horrible for reliability.

I won't let her buy any car that the government has it's paws into.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Saturns are also decent cars... I have two college kids that work for me (both drive Saturns), and amazingly enough, they never call in with car problems, and one lives about 20 miles away..

Isn't Saturn part of the companies that got government money? No thanks.

 

[Zoom-boing]

I will say, we signed up for Autocheck for 60 days and it's already paid off. We were going to see a 2000 Civic tonight and I ran the VIN this afternoon. Red flags all over the place. It was a rental, had been in accidents, junk title, salvaged title. Well worth the money for AutoCheck. Wish this had been around back in the day.

 

[Dis]

Ok, so college kid is used-car shopping. We're trying to go private party to keep the costs down and have mostly been looking at Honda (Civics and Accords) and Toyota (Corolla and Camry). 1995-2000, under 120K. Price - as little as possible! $5,000 MAX. $3,500-$4,000 is more realistic.

Any suggestions as to other cars that we're overlooking? We don't care about name brand but do care about reliability (which is why we've been looking at H and T). Is Nissan a reliable brand? What about Kia? I saw a 2001 Kia for sale for $3,800 w/66K but when I read the consumer reviews, most rated it as horrible for reliability.

I won't let her buy any car that the government has it's paws into.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Saturns are also decent cars... I have two college kids that work for me (both drive Saturns), and amazingly enough, they never call in with car problems, and one lives about 20 miles away..

Isn't Saturn part of the companies that got government money? No thanks.

What does whatever the government is, or is not doing right now have to do with some car someone bought 10 years ago, and is now looking to sell? Not like you're going to a Saturn dealer..

I would think the deal you can get, and the reliability/safety (and their crash/safety rating IS one of the best) of the car would override mostly everything else..