Used car suggestions?

Frangible

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Ok, my car is on its last legs, and its KBB value is below $2k so it's not really worth getting repaired if something major goes wrong.

I'm looking for a replacement eventually, the things I am looking for, ordered are:

1. Safety (no small/mini cars due to this, fatality rate too high)
2. Reliability

All other considerations, such as cargo space, comfort, power, etc are secondary.

Also, while I'd love to buy a new car, my financial constraint would be around $6k.

Car would just be used for city driving. I do less than 6k/mi a year.

Thanks.
 

cobb

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Honda? I would just search the classifieds. If you want a warranty and to pay full retail, try carmax.
 

Draco_Americanus

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Finding a good car at that 6 grand price may be hard. I too would sugjest a honda or toyota but at the 6 grand mark, the car would be old(they hold there vaule well so buying an older one IMHO the vaule per mile driven is less) and prone to break downs as well due to the age.
I personaly have had good luck with buicks. I had a 1991 buick century and only had minor problems, the alternator failed and well some moron rear ended Me , When I got the car it had about 90k miles and when I sold it it had about 147k and still ran great but had a smashed rear.I paid 5 grand for that car and it was about 6 years old when I got it and had it for about 4 years.
I would avoid an older ford tarus at all costs as some of them had transmision problems.
 

Draco_Americanus

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I forgot, what kind of car do you have and what condition is it in? if it's in good physical shape and drives well, then who cares about the KBB. KBB is only important if you resell the vehical. an example would be say you have a ford tarus thats worth 2 grand and is in good condition and it blows the transmistion and would cost 2 grand to fix. You could go out and get a replacemnt car for 2 grand but I persoanly would rather put 2 grand into that car and have something that you know it's history and has a trans good for another 100 kmiles. sometimes it's a hard decision to make.
 

cobb

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I agree with the folks here. I think volvo has a pretty good safety crash record, but I doubt you will find anything close to 6 grand that was not too bangged up or runs. Then you got the risk of buying a piece of junk or a flood car from a flood in the past year. Sure they will run well at first but as the silt and other particles that got into the car is worked into the moving parts problems will occur.
 

evan9162

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We just got a 99 Camry with 84K miles for 8900 (and from a dealer). A couple years older and/or more miles and you could probably get to the 6K mark. Reliability and safety are a given.
 

kenny

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I second the Honda. The Accord is a little larger if you're concerned about safety. Here in TX you can get a VERY nice one for $6K. If these cars are taken care of, they will go near 300K. Do NOT shy away from one with under 100K miles that has been taken care of. My extended family has owned 5 or 6 of these and everyone has be a trooper.

Plan on spending $5000+ for a '94 or '95, and leave yourself some money to do the kind of maintenence that should, but rarely, gets done; like, radiator and brake line flushes, transmission fluid change. You should also have the brakes and steering looked at. Otter than that, the rig will give you plenty of years of service.

Toyotas are pretty good too, but if you drive a Accord and a Camry with 100K, I think you'll pick the Accord (I own a Corolla too, so I'm not just trashing Toyotas).

A GM would be your best domestic choice for longevity, but the same goes for all the afore mentioned maintenance, and you'll need plenty od headliner glue, and save $1200 or so bucks to repaint, becasue that will fall off.

Volvos ar ok, but just hope you don't need any parts, you might as well be buying for your Porsche! Just MHO
 

FNinjaP90

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I have a very nice white 1996 Mazda 626 LX V6 with 50k miles for sale for $5k.
 

cannon50

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My daughter just got bought another 98 Saturn at about $3500. Her first one saw her through a 70mph front end meeting with a pickup abandoned on the interstate. It is hard to believe that someone could actually walk away from such a wreck with only minor bruising.
 

BlindedByTheLite

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if you look around you can find perfectly working vehicles for that price.

my first car, a '96 Dodge Neon cost me $1500. then i put less than a grand into it and it worked perfectly fine.

second car was the '97 Pontiac Sunfire i'm driving now that cost me $2500. i've put in about $500 just in the engine so far and it runs as well as you could ask a GM with 100,000+ miles on it to run (unless you're car savvy).

here's the website from one of the local car dealerships here (and by the way, we're known for having more expensive car prices than the southern part of the state): Dave's Auto Sales.
they've got things like the '98 Chevy Blazer LT for $6995 with a $130 a month payment plan. also available @ that price, the Chevrolet Z24 Cavalier. private party sales and more notable used car dealerships will have much better prices and a larger inventory (duh).
 

Draco_Americanus

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I had a chevrolet "Cadavalier" It was beat on by it's former owner when I got it with about 120kmiles, sold it to my sister for 300 bucks and it amazingly made it to about 170k before the motor whent. for the abuse and lack of maintance this thing had I was surpized it made it.

One thing I forgot, if you buy a honda or toyota, make shure the timeing belt is changed, people neglect to replace them when needed and having one break is no fun.
 

kitelights

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A major vote for the Toyota - especially the Camry. I've been involved in buying more than a dozen of them over the last 12 years and never been disappointed. I have two; my daughter and mother and GF all drive one.

You can buy a really nice Camry for $6K. I would recommend a private owner. Do your homework, check the history, make sure that there's a good reason why they're selling it, and have your own mechanic check it out, preferably a Toyota mechanic.

The last one I bought was a 96 Camry this past summer for my mother for $3400. I had to put a $100 hose on it and I planned to spend another $200-250 on it for touchup and detailing (haven't had it done yet). I also spent about $40-50 on Toyota brake pads for the front brakes. This car would have sold for at least $6000 on a dealer's lot.
 

Minjin

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You can buy some very very nice cars for 6k. Its laughable that some of you guys are suggesting that you can't find something that runs for that price. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif I guess we need you guys who can't stand to buy a used car to keep the car makers in business.

That said, we need more info. How many occupants are there normally? Is this just a commuter? How far do you travel every day? You have no need for cargo capacity? Auto or manual? Any preference for gas vs diesel? Do you work on your own cars?

There are tons of great options if reliability and safety are your only real requirements. Definitely look at Volvo 240s and Mercedes 300 series.

Mark
 

Frangible

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Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at the Accord and Camry and both seem pretty nice.

To be more specific, car will be for a single driver most the time, and an additional passenger or two rarely. My commute is about 9 miles/day total (sadly, mass transit isn't an option here, nor is biking). Auto transmission is a requirement. Don't care about gas vs. diesel, and I don't work on my own car. Pretty much all city driving, I don't do highways except maybe 1-2x a month.

Cargo space is nice, but I'd rarely use it. My minivan now has a lot of it, just sits empty and kills my MPG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It looks like the Camry is a little more reliable, but the Accord rides a little better? Is that the case?

My minivan is getting old ('94, 160k mi) and it keeps having weird problems no one can figure out, but hey, if it lasts to 200K mi, I'll keep it. But if the transmission dies tomorrow, I'll happily replace it. Not really sure how much longer it will go, but as much as I dislike it, I'm oddly not in a rush to replace it either.
 

bjn70

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The Accord and Camry are good cars in their category. I like the Camry better myself but that's just me. Unfortunately since they are so good they are popular and that makes their prices higher than their competition, even when used.

Actually I think Mazda and maybe Mitsubishi are fairly good cars and undervalued by the used car buyers so for the same price you can probably get a better car (newer/less mileage) than you can if you are shopping for an Accord or Camry.
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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And Mazdas (at least late model ones) are kinda known for being FUN to drive.

I had a $1500 Toyota (I think it was '85 model) Corolla. Not very fast nor nice, but it was still going strong a year ago by the people who bought it.

We had an '89 Corolla too. It handled mushy compaired to the '85 and had a weird electrical gremlin but it still runs too.

I could do good around here with a $6000 budget!
 

357

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I absolutely swear by the Toyota Camry. Reliable, AND has an excellent ride for its class. Finding one at $6,000 or less will be hard though.

You might also look at the Honda Accord, as reliable as the Camry, but worst ride (stiffer suspension). But, with the Accord they are often priced less than the Camry so you might get better deals.

Or, check out a Nissan Maxima or one of the Suburu models.


Its hard to find a mid-size Japanese car at under 6,000$, but they are worth every penny IMO. Every single American car I've owned has been a reliability NIGHTMARE. I've had Cadillacs and buicks mostly, and they've all suffered major problems before the 100,000 mile mark (typically, either electrical, computer, engine, or transimition in that order). Until I am convinced that American cars improve reliability, I won't be buying anymore American cars.
 

357

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[ QUOTE ]
Frangible said:


It looks like the Camry is a little more reliable, but the Accord rides a little better? Is that the case?



[/ QUOTE ]

Not IMO. The Camry rides much softer (which I prefer). The Accord has a stiffer ride. IMO (subjective), I'd say that the Camrys typically have a MUCH BETTER ride than the Accords.

While both makes are great in terms of reliability, I have a huge preference of Toyota....IMO much more refined than Honda.
 

greenlight

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I bought my Volvo at the city auction. All cars were guaranteed to run. For $850 I got a great car and never had to do any repairs (owned it for 2 years). Buyer beware, of course, but the initial cost is less than an auto repair to fix your broken car.
--------------------
Free E.T.
 

markdi

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my 88 grand am has been very reliable.

the w41 ho quad four blows a head gasket every 90,000 miles
other than that - no problems - 1 fuel injector failed at 168,000 miles - runs pretty good on 3 cylinders- ha ha
good enough to get home from work.

I have modded it to get me about 220 hp - back in 1997 -
still very reliable - never left me stranded any where
I drive it from portland ore to canada or scottsdale az
in the summertime - never left me stranded - no breakdowns on the road.

never trust any one to turn a wrench on your car when time is money - unless you have to.
 
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