Used Cars

[ides]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this but here goes. When we move to Abq this summer we will need to get a car. It will be used and probably about 10 years old (I would prefer not to go older). Our budget would be 3k to 7k. Ofcourse dh wants the low end but I'm not sure we'd be able to get a reliable car for that amount. It will be our only car and we won't have lots of cash on hand for repairs and such. It needs to have things like working air conditioning and a working radio/stereo. I would prefer a vw jetta or passat, subaru or volvo (really like). I'm trying to be flexible with brands/models but definetly want a sedan or 4 dr hatch back. I'm not really a wagon person but I could do that too. As well we will only have about a week to get a car. Ack! Does this sound reasonable? Any brands to recommend that will be solid 10 years out? Any other advice?

[Michele]

I loved my Mazda 6 wagon. Russ drives it now since I drive the minivan. We've both had Hondas that have lasted 10 plus years.

First of all I guess I missed that you are moving to ABQ, yeah! I have never purchased a car, they've always been hand-me-downs but I have some experience with which ones lasted and which ones didn't. My sister had a Jetta that would not die, the thing was awesome. It had a few things go wrong, but nothing that was a deal breaker. I think it was a 1980s model. It was an awesome car. My parent's have a very used BMW that has fared well but it's a 1989. It's still trucking along, although it has always had really bad de-fogging issues. My mom really only "retired" this car because she wanted cup holders.
I know that you said you wanted a sedan or a 4 dr hatch back but my favorite car ever was my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4, that thing was a HOSS, we just sold it last summer before we moved (it guzzled gas and my parent's gave us a sedan as a wedding gift) and I MISS it. It had over 200k miles on it and still drove great. It had no AC but otherwise it was in great working condition. We sold it for $2500 b/c of that (and the years of dog hair I just couldn't vacuum up). We still have my husband's 2000 which is not 4WD and is a V6, I also love that thing. But we need an SUV for the dogs, they don't fit in anything else.
I have also heard really good things about subarus although I'm not sure what the price point would be on those. Probably not the most helpful response but it's all I've got!

[v-girl]

Hubby has a '92 Accord and I have a '97 CR-V. I'd go with a Honda.

[oceanchild]

If you want to stay newer than 10 years and reasonably low mileage, you'll probably have trouble finding a Honda or Toyota or Subaru in that price range. I'd start looking at ABQ craigslist and cars.com to get a sense of what's out there. And spend some time on kbb.com once you've seen a few things. I have an 8 year old Saturn with ~85K miles that I bought used, private party, and it has had very few problems. But the used Mercury Sable we bought when we moved here (similar age and miles) was nothing but trouble. It's so hard to know with cars.

I don't like dealerships and prefer the private party route, but DH felt much more comfortable with dealerships. Of course, the Sable came from a dealership...

Probably none of that is very useful, but good luck!

[ides]

I'm not really against suv's either. Some jeeps look nice & land rovers are excellent but I highly doubt I'd find one in our price range. I have been cruising abq's craigslist and there are a couple that look promissing but there isn't much. Lots of Chevys, Pontiac's & Fords. We'd rather go through a private owner instead of a dealership since dealerships are often really shady. I do like accords - well I'm not fond of their look so much but I drove my parents when we visited them in October and it drove well and seemed solid (theirs is about 10 yrs).

[Meenah]

In my experience Hondas and Volvos never die!!! Volvo repairs are pricey, so I would look for a Honda.

[ladymoreta]

I've had fantastic results with my Nissan Altima. My advice would be to not necessarily look for specific brands, but look for the lowest mileage among reliable brands. Call around to those shady-looking independently owned places. Most dealerships won't keep older cars around, even with low mileage, and they sell them to the independent places. As a bonus, they'll usually give you a discount for paying in cash.

[spotty_dog]

We've always bought private party before. I'd find a car in the classifieds or on Craigslist, test drive it, find a reliable mechanic and get it checked out. I think you'll have a lot of room to negotiate the price of a 10 year old vehicle; the dealer trade-in values on them are going to be so piddling that people are going to be willing to take something significantly below blue book. Our Subaru for example is a 2000 Legacy Outback that the dealership has offered us $2-2500 on. We feel it's worth at least $5-6K but if someone offered us $4-5K we'd be really tempted.

Have you checked out some of the tools on edmunds.com?

Also your DH has a point -- save some of your budgeted car money for future repairs. The 10 year mark is where my vehicles always seem to end up needing some semi-major repairs: pumps and gaskets and such. Not as expensive as a transmission (THAT was fun) but still over a grand at a time once you factor in the labor.

[MDPhDWife]

I drive a Honda Accord & it's 8 years old with just over 100K miles. The extent of my maitenance has been tires, brakes, & oil changes & it runs like a charm! I LOVE IT! Before that I had a Honda Civic that was the same way until I totaled it in a 6 car pile up. DH had a 1986 Accord when I met him & the thing never died, it was totaled by his mom. This was in 2003. So I don't think you can go wrong with a Honda.

I hate dealerships so I'd go through a private party.

[DCJenn]

My BFF in DC has a 1989 Accord and it's still going strong. They bought a VW wagon that was nothing but trouble and traded it on a Honda Odessey minivan.

J.

[OrionGrad]

I've always had really good experiences with Hondas. They may not be the sexiest cars around, but most of the time they last forever. In fact, DH and I sold our old Civic (not sure what year, but I think '97) to NYCHoosier and her hubby when we left med school and moved out west for residency.

[Meenah]

I sold Carolines's '95 Civic to our Nurse's son 5 years ago, and it is still running. He just drove it from NJ to Florida for school in September.

[ides]

Thanks for all the input. We will definitely keep our eyes out for an accord. The civic is a bit small. Hummm, if only my parents were generous enough to give us there's. We don't actually have the money yet -lol- we will have to ask for a loan from my parents. Not sure they will give it to us, otherwise we will all be taking the bus & walking. I really like volvo's and that would be my first choice. They are solid & appear to last, like the accord, but with more style IMO. We hope to get dh a scooter since there is no way we could swing a second car. Guess we'll roll the dice and see what happens ooff.