Does this site cause poor judgement?

[TominMO]

The nice thing about keeping her current car running is, of course, that you and she know its history. With a different car you can check some things, but not necessarily everything, so she might end up spending more on it than her current car.

[scitzz]

I've always considered Toyotas to be very reliable, and easy to work on too.

Mechanically, yes, but the interiors seem to fall apart if you stare at them hard...

[Tommychu]

Overall cost-per-mile (purchase price, maintenance, insurance, fuel, fixing things I broke, fixing things my brother broke when he borrowed it, etc...) on my Toyota has been the lowest of any car I've ever owned. It's also the longest I've owned a car, 4 years and I don't see myself driving anything else as a daily anytime soon. Comparing to my Festy apples to apples isn't possible because I hot rod the Festy, but if I'd kept it stock and just ran it I imagine they'd be pretty close.
Scitzz: I basically use the Matrix as a pickup truck and the interior's stood up to my abuse incredibly well. Lots of scratches but all of the plastic is intact except the spare tire cover, and that's because I dropped the hammer drawer of my toolbox on it when I was moving it to my current shop.
3 ballpeens, a 4lb club hammer and 2 dead blows, and it only cracked about 4 inches.

[Zanzer]

The nice thing about keeping her current car running is, of course, that you and she know its history. With a different car you can check some things, but not necessarily everything, so she might end up spending more on it than her current car.

^^X2

Sometimes when you buy a used car you are just buying another persons problems. One of my neighbors has been working on a Dodge Intrepid for the last few days and has borrowed a few tools from me. When I asked what they were doing to it they said the car is from Ohio and everything on the bottom side is rusted out so they've been patching brake lines and such just so they can take it and trade it in. After witnessing their handiwork I feel really sorry for the next person who gets this car.

But, using the same car as an example, sometimes when a car gets so bad that there isn't much that can be done for it you just have to push that ship out into the harbor. Although I'm usually the one who keeps yelling "CLEAR!" and hitting it with the defibrillator until there is no possibly of life left. Which for me is usually excessive rust, anything else can be replaced or swapped.

I've found it best to try and "trade up". When I needed something newer for the long drives between NC and NJ I found a good deal on my used 08 Mazdaspeed3 and it's been one of the best car purchases I've ever made. I'm not saying a newer car isn't going to have some problems, I've had to do a few things to it. But for the most part it's just been fill it up with gas, change the oil, and enjoy the drive.

[Bert]

Folks that don't service their own cars really need to steer clear of older stuff. It's commendable (as a garage owner/auto tech) to recommend extending service life but I sense that most people get resentful when they've spent a couple of grand on a good used drivetrain install only to discover they're in for new brakes/shocks/bearings not long after. So much easier to buy an older lo-mile garage queen and start over. Somebody else paid the depreciation and new owner benefits from the under-used mechanicals.

[moz]

Orlando.
You can go to the garage section and create a build thread. Then you can post photos of your pride sedan to your hearts content.

Random.... I guess random in this case means something that doesn't make sense.
(Eg. A photo of a philippino pride sedan with fluoro Japanese writing on it in the middle of a conversation about a korean Hyundai).

[db2u]

The main point that sticks out to me is the willingness to only spend $1200. I dont feel that toyotas/subarus/hondas cost more to "fix" than mazda nissan etc. Where the difference is is in the demand. High demand vehicles are going to get you worn out poorly maintained junk for that price range. Something that is not "cool" will have a lower asking price, and thus a $1200 Festiva, Sentra, 323, etc will need less work than a $1200 Civic.

I will admit that complexity plays a part in repair costs. Head gaskets for example on a Subaru... since its a boxer, there are two, one on each side of the engine. compared to a car with a I4 it will have one, and will be on the top of the engine. As far as brakes, belts, any other normal maint item, my experience is its all about the same pricewise.

[Movin]

I guess the important point is being totally unbiased, not influenced by what we like, what we own and to take our "fix it yourself" out of the equation.

In this case the customer likes and needs a small car. She realises that the least expense to keep a car on the road is a top priority. She cannot jump into the 30 k to 100 k arena and avoid the big services that way. This places her in the 100 k plus category and looking for a car that the owner just took a big service hit and is selling. Subaru's are known for their expensive timing belt and oil leak service. Followed by more oil leaks ! Honda's have their vtek failures, toyota's have their bucket shims and expensive kits to go with timing belts. Looking at actual records for cars in this area the least expensive 100k to 200k is mazda's , nissan's, suzuki's and the related domestic imports. Do not mix in automatic transmissions, bigger cars, 4wd, or anything you yourself have owned...and be purely unbiased !

Cars that have complex air bags, electric windows, locks, ect turn into throw away cars and add to the expense through out their life span.

Does this make something like a metro the number one choice? I personally prefer the Festiva but !!!

[drddan]

That is a good point.
Try maintaining a 2000+ vehicle after the owner is done with it, the warranty has run out, and it is sitting in a used car lot, and the electronics start going bad.

$$$$$$!!!

Come to think of it, these cars will always have to have a warranty purchased or you wont be able to afford to fix it.

[scitzz]

Scitzz: I basically use the Matrix as a pickup truck and the interior's stood up to my abuse incredibly well. Lots of scratches but all of the plastic is intact except the spare tire cover, and that's because I dropped the hammer drawer of my toolbox on it when I was moving it to my current shop.
3 ballpeens, a 4lb club hammer and 2 dead blows, and it only cracked about 4 inches.

huh.Haven't seen much of those yet. I know the door handles on the insides of the Camry is prone to breaking. A lot. Some of the Corollas have some other issues. Those are the two that stand out in my mind where I notice tons of interior issues, and the owners generally complain of it. The Camry is one of their more popular cars as well. Just my own personal experience though, glad you are having a better one!

[db2u]

One advantage newer cars have is safety. Some people WILL NOT drive a car without airbags, ABS, side impact beams etc. As if the first 100 years or so of the automobile not having airbags makes them so much more dangerous without. What cracks me up is some of the people with these attitudes will drive motorcycles without thinking twice about it.

[drddan]

Not a big fan of ABS. I think it adds to accident rates in slick/snowy/icey conditions.
If going in a straight line on dry pavement, they work great! But the ABS system doesnt know what to do when encountering a spinning vehicle on slick roads.
If you listen, you can hear the ABS valves engaging/disengaging when a vehicle spins out, and you have lost personal control of braking on your vehicle.

Maybe i'm crazy out of my mind, but this is something i've experienced as i've had both ABS and non-ABS vehicles.

[sketchman]

^X2
I rented an ABS equipped vehicle once. Scared the bejeezus out of me when I late braked into a corner. Still had plenty of grip, and I never expected it to even care, but it freaked out anyway. Instead of any kind of intelligence controlling it, it's like it just went into panic mode, pulsed the brakes on and off, and tried to kill me by not letting me apply all the braking force I knew I could.

I didn't care for it. :evil:

[db2u]

I'm not a huge fan of ABS either. I do like AWD, and I think some of the new asleep at the wheel technologies are promising, but I don't really consider AWD to be a driving aid, and the latter is a safety item that I would not be opposed to as long as it wasn't extremely intrusive.

Beyond that, I like as little to come between me and the control of my vehicle as possible.

[Movin]

Well, the gentleman called and we had a great chat. I went over the prefered repair to the Hyundai and some guestimates . We entertained the possibility of a lower mile car and bringing a lower mile car up to a maintained level. At this point we will start looking for qualifying cars. Fixing her old one is on the table as a back up plan if nothing is found that is 1200 better than where she is at. I really think this site influenced my advise but in a good way, there are some cars that come with a community of like owners that share all aspects they experience with these cars!