Car Query Corner

[John Junk 2.0]

I've been in the market for a used car for like six months but it has been a motherfucker of a ride.  I got a question: Which is more important when you're looking at used cars; age or mileage?  I live in L.A. so there's always a lot of freeway miles, so I guess like 60,000 miles of freeway miles is a whole other animal than 60,000 miles of "urban" driving, but it's kinda freaky to be asked to drop 8 grand on a Subaru Forester (not Jeep) that already has about 60 or 70 k in the mileage department.  But if it's like a 2002 or 2003, is it young enough that that's not as bad?  I don't know, someone explain everything to me!  This is tricky cause our budget taps out at 7 grand but we want to get like a jeep.  But fuck, i'd like to get something newer and with less mileage than the piece of shit I have now! ('98 chevy cavalier with 160k miles).  I think we may have already had this conversation on fotchan, but I need a refresher course, cause that thread was wiped with the GREAT PURGING that happened there.

[masterofsparks]

Both are important (especially as they relate to one another - for instance, I'd be suspicious of, say, a 2-year old car with 80,000 miles on it) but I'd say mileage is a bigger concern. Whenever I ask someone about the life of a certain part, it's always expressed in number of miles rather than a length of time.

[Sarah]

That thread was almost the end of this board, Junk.  How dare you mock.

[Patrick]

whatever you do, dont buy a jeep.  its a bad idea.

buy a foreign car, like a Subaru wagon.  they last forever, get better gas milage then SUVs and most have as much if not more room then "mid size" SUVs.  Also they are some of the safest cars ever built.   plus if you are looking at a jeep for its off road capabilities, Sabaru will drive over and through most everything that you can manage to get yourself into in normal driving conditions.  

john a quick question, why do you want to buy?  you could Lease a new car, or finance a new car, put maybe 2500 down and use the rest to make the payments. sure it will end up costing more in the long run.  but if you get a new car you get the full warranty.  plus if you buy a Foreign car they keep their value much better, in five years you'll have a car still worth 10 grand...

like ya'know whatever

[John Junk 2.0]

That thread was almost the end of this board, Junk.  How dare you mock.

I know, you're right, that thread, entitled "Wah, tell me about cars Anonymously!  ", was divisive and hateful.  I shouldn't play with fire.

Patrick, you are right!  I have been corrected by my significant other: we are looking at Subaru Foresters, not jeeps.

The reason we want to buy is because we both will be having massive student loan debts and lots of other bills, so we don't want to make those payments.  Personally, I was turned down for a car loan, and already have a lot of student loans and credit debt, so I don't think I'd even qualify, in this climate, for a car loan of the ilk that would allow me to buy new.  One thing we're thinking is going through a dealership and putting down like 5k up front and then just paying the rest off over a year or two, but generally we're not in the position to buy new, but we need something soon because we're both sharing one car.  I don't really know how leasing works, but from talking to people it always sounds like it sucks. 

[Spalding]

Subarus are expensive to maintain - my brother has one and the price of replacement parts for it are outrageous.

If you've got a lot of debt, I'd go for the most reliable boring Japanese car you can find - If you can find a well-maintained Honda Accord (for example) with less than 150,000 miles on it, you could probably get two or three years out of it.

[yesno]

Last car I bought, I was looking for a used car but ended up buying a new car instead.  I'm glad I did.  It was only a little more expensive to get a cheap new car, than to get a quality used car, and I ended up with the all important warranty.

[Andy]

find a japanese car that's a couple of years old at the most but has a ton of miles for a car that age.  make sure that you check it out to make sure it was taken care of (usually they are).  the fact that they have a lot of miles so new means that they are probably highway miles.

I'm in the new car market (although my situation is a little different) and I'm looking at 2006 models with around 50k.  They are about half of the original price and the cars will often last forever.  Honda or Toyota.

a real world example: My dad just bought a certified preowned 2006 Lexus LS430.  New price was in the 60's, he paid $30k and it has 30,000 miles.  It's his third one and he's put 250,000 miles on both of the previous cars.

If you were looking for a truck or something, I would say buy new because they are so cheap due to the oil prices, but otherwise, let someone else take the depreciation hit on the vehicle. 

Also, you can get an especially good deal if you look at models that have had a major redesign recently (like the Accord.)

[Andy]

what are you looking for, specifically?  4 door? 

[jake8jazz]

I would suggest a small (but totally worth it) investment into getting an online subscription to www.consumerreports.org.  They  do an annual questionnaire to all their subscribers in regards to their automobiles (year, make, model, mileage, etc) and give you answers to the questions you are asking.  It has been the best $ I have spent in a long time!

[Andy]

JJ- I have a subscription to consumer reports online you can use if you want, but they mostly tell you what you already know (good used cars- toyota, honda; bad used cars: bmw, gmc, etc...)