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nm posted:No, because it is cheap. The ones with the big problems are the 5 speed autos on the TL, CL and Odyssey, and some 99-00 4 speeds on the Odyssey and Accord. The RL had a longitudinal 4 speed from 1996 all the way to 2004, same as the old Legend and Vigor. I've read of some isolated cases of problems with the trans mounts on the early 96-99 years but they redesigned it from 2000 onwards. It was a minor issue, on mostly high mileage vehicles, they never had the huge 3rd-gear-clutchpack-disintegrating-replace-entire-transmission-every-15k problem that the 5 speeds had.
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May 27, 2012 23:47
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Throatwarbler posted:The ones with the big problems are the 5 speed autos on the TL, CL and Odyssey, and some 99-00 4 speeds on the Odyssey and Accord. The RL had a longitudinal 4 speed from 1996 all the way to 2004, same as the old Legend and Vigor. I've read of some isolated cases of problems with the trans mounts on the early 96-99 years but they redesigned it from 2000 onwards. It was a minor issue, on mostly high mileage vehicles, they never had the huge 3rd-gear-clutchpack-disintegrating-replace-entire-transmission-every-15k problem that the 5 speeds had.
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May 28, 2012 00:14
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kimbo305 posted:For a car that new, I'd seriously consider bargaining with the dealer on trade-in value. Yes they will stack the whole deal against you, but it doesn't mean you won't get a decent deal for the amount of time invested compared to selling on CL. The dealer offered 16k, hah. Who knew that selling a 2-year old Honda Accord EX near Los Angeles, in excellent condition, would be this hard?
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Jun 1, 2012 02:03
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Mandalay posted:The dealer offered 16k, hah. Who knew that selling a 2-year old Honda Accord EX near Los Angeles, in excellent condition, would be this hard? Mandalay posted:So, I just bought a 2012 Prius. Driving this thing feels kind of like steering a whale. Also bummed that I got it for $1k under invoice and find the same model advertised the next day for $600 less. Blue book numbers aren't always accurate, and it looks like you're being kind of optimistic. Earlier in the thread, you mentioned that you paid $20.6k for the car before taxes, registration, and so on. Taking the blue book private party number as accurate would mean you've taken less than a thousand dollars of depreciation going from brand new and 0 miles to 2-3 years old and (I'm guessing) at least 15k miles. Sure, Accords tend to hold their value well, you got a good price to begin with, and it might be in excellent condition, but even in combination they don't add up to that much. $1k below the KBB price is probably less "priced to move" and more "priced a bit high." Selling newer cars on Craigslist is kind of rough going, because you're way outside the budget of most Craigslist car shoppers. If you want to sell private party, list your car in as many places as possible, and be prepared to wait for bites. If your car was 15 years old, you could have it gone before you could blink. If it was seven years old, it'd take longer. And, at two years, you're looking at prices where most potential buyers have to line up financing and really consider their financial options before they put down the money. And, fair or not, most of them are going to be more comfortable with a dealer than they are with some random person from Cragslist. Selling a car private party is a lot of work, and there are good reasons many people choose to just trade it in.
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Jun 1, 2012 16:05
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Space Gopher posted:Blue book numbers aren't always accurate, and it looks like you're being kind of optimistic. Earlier in the thread, you mentioned that you paid $20.6k for the car before taxes, registration, and so on. Taking the blue book private party number as accurate would mean you've taken less than a thousand dollars of depreciation going from brand new and 0 miles to 2-3 years old and (I'm guessing) at least 15k miles. Sure, Accords tend to hold their value well, you got a good price to begin with, and it might be in excellent condition, but even in combination they don't add up to that much. $1k below the KBB price is probably less "priced to move" and more "priced a bit high." Fair enough. Thanks for the perspective, and the internet-detective-effort-post! Ended up selling it to CarMax for $17,500, which was just $50 off the KBB Dealer Trade-In price.
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Jun 1, 2012 18:53
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Doom Rooster posted:Texas stuff So you're probably looking for a midsized sporty sedan with a high trim level or from a luxury auto maker... doable, but your going to want to be very picky about picking a car that's going to fit your price range. You'll want to make sure all the appropriate maintenance has been done. As long as it has I wouldn't worry too much about mileage as a well maintained car can easily last past 200K miles. I would probably recommend looking at Infiniti G35 or Nissan Maxima Sedans Lexus IS ,ES or GS Sedans in your price range. (The IS seems to hold its value abnormally well so you may not find a model in your price range in appropriate condition) Acura TL or RL sedans (My mom had an RL for a while and it was a very nice car) I would also have you consider a SEL trimmed Ford Fusion, or a Mazda 6s. While not luxury brands, some of those can be trimmed out pretty nice and you'll probably land a newer car for the same money. I would not recommend a German car to you, unexpected maintenance costs can be very significant, and if your not doing your own wrenching, I don't recommend them. As for the financial side of this transaction, if you have a local credit union, go with them. You should be able to put a hefty down payment down and get the same interest rate as if you had good credit. Your much less of a risk if you can put 50% down than someone that only puts 500 or 1000 down on a car. I use RBFCU which I know is starting to move in Austin. Heard good things about Teachers as well. Dealers probably will only offer you second chance financing at an absurd interest rate. Credit Union is the way to go here. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 18:55
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broken pixel posted:Body Style: Sounds like you just want a small reliable, cheap to own driving appliance. Good news! There's quite a few out there that fit your needs and budget. My default recommendation is the Toyota Corolla in this situation, but domestic cars depreciate faster and can be a better value. The Ford Focus is another solid recommendation in this market segment. I'm not familiar with Chevy Cobalts to be honest, so I can't recommend one simply because I don't know enough about their build quality. If it was me, I would probably try to find the nicest Corolla I could in my budget, and fall back to a Ford Focus if I couldn't find anything. Remember, dealer prices are negotiable, so when searching, search up to 9,000 dollars as you can negotiate your way down to 8K out the door.
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Jun 1, 2012 19:10
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A corolla does not fit any of his other conditions. They don't have a very nice interior (honestly, worst in class excluding maybe the caliber) and drive like a wet noodle.
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Jun 1, 2012 22:27
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I think your mixing up my responses to 2 different posters.
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Jun 1, 2012 23:05
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skipdogg posted:I think your mixing up my responses to 2 different posters. You are correct
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Jun 1, 2012 23:28
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broken pixel posted:words If you up the budget by $3000 you can at least pretend you can purchase a brand new 2012 Nissan Versa. No tachometer, no power locks nor power windows but I'd still rather have one then an HHR (please don't buy an HHR, it's a terrible piece of poo poo).
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Jun 1, 2012 23:56
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skipdogg posted:So you're probably looking for a midsized sporty sedan with a high trim level or from a luxury auto maker... doable, but your going to want to be very picky about picking a car that's going to fit your price range. You'll want to make sure all the appropriate maintenance has been done. As long as it has I wouldn't worry too much about mileage as a well maintained car can easily last past 200K miles. A TL in his price range is going to have the ticking timebomb transmission. The IS is a tiny with less interior room than a Yaris. A 10k GS or ES is going to be 10+ years and 100k miles old.
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Jun 2, 2012 01:47
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I swore my next car would be Union -- and it looks like it will be. Soviet Union, that is. I'm looking to buy a Trabant (East German, a Soviet Satellite state but come on that joke had to be made). I know I'll have to do a fair amount of basic engine repair as I drive it but it is a two-stroke engine so it shouldn't be that hard. Has anyone bought one of these? What other things should I worry about?
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Jun 2, 2012 04:23
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Shopping for a replacement for a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, thinking minivan, used, but I don't mind putting 20k into it if it is a ton of car for the money. I generally buy cars that are stripped down, wife usually gets talked into the options package. So we could go either way there and be at least half-happy. we are usually 4 or 5, but third row and possible seating for 7 is the direction we are looking. I don't want to feed it a lot of gas. I don't need multimedia/gps/whatever else. Just move my family plus a friend or two back and forth to places you take family. Don't anticipate towing, but if it didn't add a lot to the cost I could feel ok about the option. Anybody have any thoughts on the Mazda 5? I know they had a fairly recent redesign, and I can wait a year, or maybe even 2 if there is something awesome now that will be cheap and still awesome by the time the jeep finally needs a 1500$ repair, rather than 500$ every 6 months. What else should I be looking at? Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jun 2, 2012 |
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Jun 2, 2012 05:20
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Shbobdb posted:I swore my next car would be Union -- and it looks like it will be. Soviet Union, that is. I'm looking to buy a Trabant (East German, a Soviet Satellite state but come on that joke had to be made). I know I'll have to do a fair amount of basic engine repair as I drive it but it is a two-stroke engine so it shouldn't be that hard. Has anyone bought one of these? What other things should I worry about? Since theis seems like a toy/project and not a financial issue, you might be better served asking in the AI questions thread, or starting a thread in there.
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Jun 2, 2012 05:49
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Slo-Tek posted:Shopping for a replacement for a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, thinking minivan, used, but I don't mind putting 20k into it if it is a ton of car for the money. I generally buy cars that are stripped down, wife usually gets talked into the options package. So we could go either way there and be at least half-happy. The Dodge Journey is the car for you. A used 2009 - 2011 7 seater FWD will do exactly what you want and nothing else, with good fuel economy. The I4 is marginally better on fuel economy since they were saddled with the old 4 speed auto while the V6 got a 6 speed, their prices on the used market don't differ much anyway. Reliability and safety ratings are good for its time, the interior is all hard black plastic and (maybe) cheap vinyl which makes cleaning up after kids convenient - you don't really want to try cleaning vomit off perforated leather. We have one and we love all the nooks and crannies used for storing poo poo - check out the casserole dish under the 2nd row floor. t has all the electronic doodads you might need. Even looks pretty decent. The ride and handling are not very good and the suspension is really stiffly sprung for some reason, not really a big deal for what you or I would use it for. You can pick up a 2009-10 with less than 50k miles for about $15k all day. As a bonus you and your Chrysler/Jeep dealer can stay friends.  The Mazda5 is really small, if you haven't seen one in person. Unless you really want a manual transmission and/or sliding doors I'm not seeing the appeal. They also just aren't that common on the used market.
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Jun 2, 2012 06:36
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Slo-Tek posted:Anybody have any thoughts on the Mazda 5? I know they had a fairly recent redesign, and I can wait a year, or maybe even 2 if there is something awesome now that will be cheap and still awesome by the time the jeep finally needs a 1500$ repair, rather than 500$ every 6 months. I have a Mazda 5 and I really like it. The sliding doors make it so convenient when you have to load kids into the car, and some dickwad has parked six inches from the sides of your car. On the other hand, the back seats are really cramped. I wouldn't sit back there if I was an adult, but a child under 10 would probably be fine. As for the ride, its pretty decent all things considered. It certainly handles better than a minivan and its acceleration is decent for what it is. If you're interested in this car, I'd definitely bring the entire family along and see how everyone fits into it first. For a family of four, its great! So here's a BFC-meets-AI question: I'm looking at buying a Jeep Wrangler for around $5000. My credit union doesn't issue car loans for cars older than 2004. Is it going to be possible to get a car loan for something that's 15+ years old, or am I going to have to take out another type of loan?
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Jun 2, 2012 15:25
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kimbo305 posted:Since theis seems like a toy/project and not a financial issue, you might be better served asking in the AI questions thread, or starting a thread in there. Good call. When I'm closer to actually getting it, I'll start the thread. Trabants are sweet but, yeah, they are definitely toys.
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Jun 2, 2012 15:26
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Hello I am back. I posted before about hatchbacks for under $10k. The preferred budget is actually under $5k. We had pretty much decided that I don't need a car THAT much, when a challenger appeared! My neighbors are selling their 2002 Mazda Protege5. I talked to them about it and drove it around a bit today because why not? I would like your opinion, internet.
I liked driving it and it seems to be in generally good condition. The above is a mixture of my own observations and what the owner told me. I do not really know what I'm looking at so I apologize for the uselessness of my comments. I PROBABLY do not actually need a car, but it'd be awfully nice to have for this summer while my boyfriend is out of state and I can't use his. (eta: You should probably talk me out of it because come fall we would have two cars, one of which would almost never get used and the other only twice a week or so) What do you think, then, car friends? Good deal, meh, run far far away? pants on head fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Jun 2, 2012 |
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Jun 2, 2012 22:55
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I like mp5s and the manual transmissions are fine. Check for rust though if you're in a place where that can be an issue.
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Jun 2, 2012 22:59
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There was a certain amount of rust. The major question is about the mileage. If I get a car with 200k+ miles, am I just signing up to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to keep it running almost immediately? I forgot to mention that the reason they're selling it is that the wife needs a car but can't drive stick.
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Jun 2, 2012 23:01
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pants on head posted:There was a certain amount of rust. The major question is about the mileage. If I get a car with 200k+ miles, am I just signing up to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to keep it running almost immediately? Not really, cars are much better than they used to be. That said, you're probably near the end of the useful life. I'd have them knock some money off. Also, get a compression check.
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Jun 2, 2012 23:04
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I have a 2003 Protege5 but mine only has 65k on the clock. It's a very good car. Reliable, fun to drive, roomy, decent on mileage. I have an automatic but otherwise it's the same vehicle. There are no consumer-level shop manuals available for this car, so if you're into DIY you'll have to locate online the PDF version of the service manual (or I can send you a zip or something). The key for a car with that many miles is to pick your battles. You baby the driveline with all of the regular maintenance (do the oil changes on time, check fluids, do the belts etc. on schedule, and so forth) and you don't spend a lot of money on exterior, trim, or little niggling issues. I think you could get another 50k miles out of it. Maybe a lot more, maybe not. One option (maybe if your neighbor is amenable you could do this before buying it) is to get a sample of the motor oil (after it's been run for a while) and send it to Blackstone. They can tell you some useful info on the state of the engine interior from an analysis and it's not too expensive. I'm gonna run down your list: Miles: 211,530ish High, but doesn't necessarily mean end-of-the line quite yet. Price: $3350 Probably due to condition. Depending on rust and the state of the engine/any work that needs to be done soon, you might talk him down to $3k? Manual transmission Good. Less to go wrong, less expensive to fix than an automatic. Regular maintenance done & I can call his mechanic on Monday. I think they would probably let me take it to get checked out, too. I would get it checked somewhere else - the mechanic is going to want to say his own people have been doing the work right and isn't likely to say "oh yeah that transmission change we did 50k ago? we hosed it up and it needs to be re-done" or anything like that. But then I'm a bit paranoid about such things. The fact you know where the car's been serviced is a good thing though, they can check records and verify when scheduled maintenance was done and stuff like that. Clutch replaced like 50k miles ago No accidents Very good. Most cars of that age have at least had a fender-bender at some point. Shopping on craigslist it can be really hard to find a decent $3k car that doesn't have a rebuilt title or some hidden/shittily repaired damage. Somewhat bumpy sometimes when he first starts it (sorry I can't give a better description. I can't remember if it was a noise bumpy or a feeling bumpy, either.) Was this bumpy while driving? Or bumpy while sitting there idling? A stumbling idle is a different problem from something causing a bumpy ride while driving. Catalytic converter replaced within the last year Good. Some wear on tie rods Not an expensive thing to fix anyway. Some wear on one or the other front tire (They did squeal a bit twice while I was driving it) Uneven wear, or just even wear on the fronts? The tires should be rotated regularly and ideally all four should have matching levels of wear. Having just one tire on the front with abnormal wear suggests it may need an alignment or have something else wrong, or it could just be the owner's been running one tire under/over inflated (but that would suggest poor maintenance habits, so it'd be very good to know which). Rusty brake bits, the bits you can see through the wheel. I only noticed it on one though. On most cars the disks are made of cast iron and will get a patina of rust after sitting for just a few hours in moist conditions, or a day or two even in dry conditions. If it's just a sheen of rust on the disks themselves that's not a problem. On the other hand if the brakes themselves (the calipers, etc.) are significantly rusty, get them checked out. A brake job isn't horribly expensive but you could knock a couple-three hundred off the price if it needs one. CD stuck in radio You can probably dig it out if you pop the head unit out of the dash. Or you could just replace the stereo if you want. Not that expensive if you get a basic head unit and have the stereo store do the work. Foglight covers appear to be missing? The foglights on this car don't have "covers" but maybe you mean the lens is gone and you're looking at bare bulbs or something? That would be weird. Anyway you can replace the fog lamps for fairly cheap. Headlight covers fogged You can polish the headlight lens with a polishing kit, or just replace them. Not too expensive (check rockauto.com). Tires are all season Continental Extreme Contact. A name brand. These might not be great but they're probably not awful. Tirerack.com will list several tire options for a variety of budgets. Avoid horrible chinese brands but most anything else will be OK. I paid ~120/tire to replace mine but you can get away with ~80/each tires on this car no problem. That's for all-seasons. If you live in a wintery state you might want to get a spare set of wheels and have winter tires mounted on them, and put summer tires on your main wheels. That way you can switch twice a year in spring and fall without having to go get tires mounted every time. Owner uses some kind of additive called Techron sometimes to fix a noise that happened once This concerns me a little. Chevron gas has "techron" which is just their brand-name of detergent. Fuel additives like this are intended to clean out injectors and fuel lines and stuff. Not sure why you'd use one to "fix a noise" and I'd be worried if not using the additive regularly meant the noise came back all the time. On the other hand, it's good the owner is noticing noises and trying to treat them. But uh... if the engine is stumbling, or knocking, or pinging, or whatever, that's not a good sign for its longevity... Some rusty parts inside the underhood area Depends on the parts. Some stuff gets rusty pretty harmlessly. But if your (say) shock/strut towers are rusting through, that's bad news. If it's just the exhaust headers, well, those get rusty instantly on most cars and it's not a big deal. No known leaks Good! Hopefully there's no unknown leaks either. All in all I'd say get it inspected, maybe get an oil test report, and if all is good, maybe offer $3k and expect it to cost you ~$500 a year in regular maintenance and occasional part replacements. Might be good for another 100k, or maybe just 50k, it's kind of a tossup at this point.
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Jun 3, 2012 01:17
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What do you love so much about this Protoge that you are willing to spend all this effort on a car with 200k miles? It's not a 288 GTO, there are hundreds of thousands of other 10 year old Mazdas on the road, if you like them so much then keep looking until you find one that hasn't been driven to death. First rule of car shopping (new and used): It's just a loving car man, there are millions of other cars for sale out there, there's no reason to get all weepy and attached to one specific unit.
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Jun 3, 2012 01:29
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pants on head posted:There was a certain amount of rust. The major question is about the mileage. If I get a car with 200k+ miles, am I just signing up to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to keep it running almost immediately? At 200k miles and 10 years old, you're basically facing a choice: it can be either a money pit, a project, or a beater. A lot of parts you don't normally think of as scheduled maintenance will be coming up on the end of their designed lifetime. For instance, you mention a "bumpy startup;" I'm guessing that might be worn engine mounts, which are one of those once every ten years or so items. You could pay a mechanic a bunch of money to change them out if you wanted to keep the car in pristine condition, and you could do it yourself for a lot less if you've got a garage, tools, knowledge to use them, and a free weekend. Or, you could say "eh, still runs, who cares if it's a little rough," and just give it basic maintenance and safety-problem fixes until something too expensive or difficult to fix sends it off to the junkyard. A lot of cars can run for a surprisingly long time with this kind of treatment, and that Mazda's a good candidate if you want to go that route. But, it'll eventually turn into a true beater: full of all sorts of annoying little problems that aren't quite worth the cost or effort of a fix.
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Jun 3, 2012 01:34
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Thanks for the replies. Especially leperflesh, woah.Throatwarbler posted:What do you love so much about this Protoge that you are willing to spend all this effort on a car with 200k miles? It's not a 288 GTO, there are hundreds of thousands of other 10 year old Mazdas on the road, if you like them so much then keep looking until you find one that hasn't been driven to death. Nothing. I'm not in love. We'd basically decided to skip getting me a car but then this one was parked basically in front of my house, a low price, a model we'd been looking at, and owned by people I trust to be honest to the best of their ability. It basically seemed like I OUGHT to look at it since it kinda dropped into my lap. Leperflesh posted:All in all I'd say get it inspected, maybe get an oil test report, and if all is good, maybe offer $3k and expect it to cost you ~$500 a year in regular maintenance and occasional part replacements. Might be good for another 100k, or maybe just 50k, it's kind of a tossup at this point. That is more or less what I wanted to know, whether a 200k mile car was definitely going to die in the next five minutes or not. I know it's always up to luck, but I have no basis at all for making guesses. I wanted to know if it was too good to pass up, or a decent chance, or a big fat no run away. It sounds like it's somewhere in the middle, and I can walk away from that without too much regret. I just have to keep bumming rides for the next three months and deal with it. I wish we had fricking zipcars in my town 
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Jun 3, 2012 04:19
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It's pretty much what you expect for $3k, basically. Either a very high mileage example of a fairly reliable car, or a lower-mileage example of a less reliable car (or a really trashed example of a formerly-luxury car). For $3k you're unlikely to find a car that is reliable, inexpensive to maintain, and of reasonable mileage/condition. Cars like that are just generally worth more than $3k these days. Personally I think the sweet spot for fully-depreciated, still (possibly!) reliable, and still with decent amount of miles left on it (say, 150k or less) is around $5k to $6k. It's still a gamble of course, but substantially less of one. And of course, any car that actually runs, is able to be insured & registered for legal operation, and isn't actively in its death throes, is worth at least $1k. That's including total shitboxes, rusted heaps, and ancient hoopties. There's enough demand for "will get me to work next week and possibly the week after, too" to support that kind of basic pricing floor.
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Jun 3, 2012 04:39
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I have a 2000 Ford Focus station wagon that's starting to show its age. It's running smoothly enough that it may still last for a while longer, but I've actually been wanting something that's more than basically functional. Here are the specific features I've been looking for: -Cargo space at least comparable to Focus wagon, and fuel economy not much worse -Comfortable for long trips -Reliable -Heated seats -Onboard navigation or standard double-DIN opening for aftermarket unit -Rearview camera -iPod connection -Steering wheel audio controls -Radar cruise control if possible I've been looking into the Prius V, which can offer all of that. It looks like I could technically afford it, but I've also been considering less expensive alternatives that would offer everything but the radar. I was originally hoping to get a used vehicle for no more than $20,000 (though I'd be willing to go higher for something I know I'd be happy with until it approaches the end of its useful lifespan), which seems feasible with the Subaru Forester. I've also considered the RAV4 and CR-V, though those didn't get steering wheel audio buttons until after they got proprietary shaped stereos. Plus it seems that hardly anyone bought them with onboard navigation. Ford is also supposed to release their C-Max hybrid this fall, which looks like it would be awesome for what I'd be doing (especially the plug-in hybrid version). If they offer their radar cruise control with it, I'd be all over it. Is there anything else I should be looking at?
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Jun 3, 2012 05:02
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My friend is looking to buy a used car and has $5000 but she wants to pay cash. What is a reasonable markdown for paying cash? Is this a bad idea?
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Jun 3, 2012 06:47
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Almost everyone who buys a $5000 car pays cash. There's no "markdown". What is the alternative - financing? You'd probably have to go to a credit union and it's difficult to get financing on older used cars (which is what you're probably looking at for a $5k car). Private parties don't take personal checks (or are fools if they do). You can possibly pay with a check at a dealership if you have ID and they call your bank to verify funds or something. If you're buying a used car at a dealership, however, the sticker price is almost always a markup which should be negotiated down before buying. Something like 10% to 20% off is reasonable. One should always negotiate a price before discussing terms.
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Jun 3, 2012 06:52
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Cockmaster posted:I have a 2000 Ford Focus station wagon that's starting to show its age. It's running smoothly enough that it may still last for a while longer, but I've actually been wanting something that's more than basically functional. Read a few pages back what I wrote about the Forester. TL:DR don't buy it. The fuel economy is much worse than your Focus and it's an outdated vehicle far behind its competition. Instead consider (in order) Chevy Equinox, Subaru Outback or Hyundai Tuscon instead. If fuel economy is important there is the Ford Escape Hybrid, which gets 32mpg combined, but is otherwise not a great vehicle. EDIT: What's with this obsession with the Forester? Is it like a Japanese VW? Chicks just love it because it ahs a cute name?
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Jun 3, 2012 07:35
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Throatwarbler posted:Read a few pages back what I wrote about the Forester. TL:DR don't buy it. The fuel economy is much worse than your Focus and it's an outdated vehicle far behind its competition. Instead consider (in order) Chevy Equinox, Subaru Outback or Hyundai Tuscon instead. If fuel economy is important there is the Ford Escape Hybrid, which gets 32mpg combined, but is otherwise not a great vehicle. Foresters tend to be cheaper than the Outback buy quite a bit. Also, the new Forster looks better than the new outback (and more SUV like, even with the OB redesign and that appeals to some). Also, the current gen forester started earlier, which means current generation models are even cheaper. That said, it isn't a bad vehicle, and the 4 speed sucks, but the outback isn't really doing much better MPG wise with the CVT as it is larger. The 6-speed in the outback is actually likely going to be more of a problem than the 5-speed in the forester. Unlike the spec-b, the new legacy/outback does not use the (very good) STI gearbox. Instead they bodged together a 6-speed out of the old 5-speed, presumably by using thiner gears. Admittedly, you won't break either on an NA 2.5L subaru, more of a concern with the turbos. As for the AWD, I actually like the all time nature of the center VLSD subarus (as well as torsen audis, which drive basically the same). Much more predictable (as you're used to how the car drives in AWD, rather than just having it come un when you're already in the poo poo), and I think better in the snow and ice. Also, the paint still sucks on both cars (I'd actually venture to guess the Forester has better paint. SVA uses poo poo paint.), but the rust proofing is actually very good on both the new (not the last gen) Forster and outback (last gen outback/legacy also had good rust proofing) based on what I'd seen in Minnesota, which uses salt like it is going out of style. That said, the forester needs the 2.0 and CVT stat. nm fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jun 3, 2012 |
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Jun 3, 2012 07:48
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Anyone have experience with people that go to dealer auctions and purchase cars on your behalf? I'm looking at buying a new (used) car in the next few months and the year/model I want should be coming off of 2 and 3 year leases right about then.
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Jun 4, 2012 06:40
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What are the issues a Toyota FJ suffers from? The car is 4 years old and I've gotten an offer that is 80% of what I paid for it new which was definitely surprising. I'm thinking of selling but want to know what he'll be looking for to take down the price. The car was in a pretty big accident ($10k+ in repairs) 2 years ago but still runs great, I think I'd buy another Toyota honestly.
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Jun 4, 2012 07:50
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Cockmaster posted:I have a 2000 Ford Focus station wagon that's starting to show its age. It's running smoothly enough that it may still last for a while longer, but I've actually been wanting something that's more than basically functional. How about the 2003 Hyundai Elantra Touring? The base model MSRPs at 18.0k, and you can probably find good deals because its radically redesigned successor is coming out this summer. It's pretty drat big (~65 cu sqft with seats down iirc) and even the leather edition is within touching distance of $20k. IMO the major downside is the styling, which is boring as gently caress. But then again it's not like the Prius V, CRV, or RAV4 are beauty queens.
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Jun 4, 2012 16:43
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Throatwarbler posted:If fuel economy is important there is the Ford Escape Hybrid, which gets 32mpg combined, but is otherwise not a great vehicle. Why do you say it's not a great vehicle? I have a 2007 Escape Hybrid that's been nothing short of excellent. Seriously, I'd be interested to know if there is a reason for your statement.
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Jun 4, 2012 20:53
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Can you start the AC in a Prius without starting the engine? Is it possible for me to chill out in an air conditioned Prius purely through the battery?
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Jun 4, 2012 21:16
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CatchrNdRy posted:Can you start the AC in a Prius without starting the engine? Is it possible for me to chill out in an air conditioned Prius purely through the battery? The AC can't run very long before the motor kicks in. The new Prius can run the fans with just the solar panel, I believe.
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Jun 4, 2012 21:19
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kimbo305 posted:The AC can't run very long before the motor kicks in. The new Prius can run the fans with just the solar panel, I believe. That would just be fans though, right? I'm not that familiar with the Prius, but going by the pictures on GIS and physics, it would be pretty tough to run an AC off a solar panel that size.
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Jun 5, 2012 00:18
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Thewittyname posted:Why do you say it's not a great vehicle? I have a 2007 Escape Hybrid that's been nothing short of excellent. Seriously, I'd be interested to know if there is a reason for your statement. I was primarily speaking to the current generation (2008-present) model. Your 2007 was from the previous generation and was quite different, with different engines and transmissions. But what the hell, let's have a chat about it anyway for anyone who might be interested. I'll preface this with the standard statement that even "unreliable" cars today aren't really that unreliable, and unless it's a VAG/Jaguar/Land Rover you're more likely to have a car that doesn't have any problems than otherwise. The 2008+ generation had a number of reliability issues that a used car buyer should be aware of. The Ford 6 speed auto transmission (both 4 cyl and 6cyl used the same unit) had a bunch of issues, there a badly fitted hose to the cooler that liked to blow off, defective seals, improperly balanced and sealed drive shafts, especially on the AWD model,the kind of thing that will cause a lot of problems to a driver who isn't careful. The engines have problems with the VCT sensor. There is a defect in the wiring loom going to the rear hatch that will cause it to fail in short order and kill all your rear lights, the whole car is just badly put together. The Escape is an old design based on an old (Mazda 626) chassis, and thus it has pretty poor crash safety rating, especially compared to new GM, new Hyundai, and Subarus which tend to have best-in-class safety even among new cars. Fuel economy is also pretty bad in comparison to the GM and Hyundai. The interior is pretty bad compared to its competitors, the rear brakes are drums, the driving experience is mostly terrible although to the average driver this isn't a huge issue. Ford never got anyone to buy these with out at least $4k on the hood, most of them went to rental fleets. Hence they are quite cheap on the used market as well. Ironically the hybrid model is usually rated as being somewhat better in terms of reliability because it used a planetary gear type CVT, similar to the Toyota hybrids and actually supplied by Aisin, a Toyota subsidiary, and didn't have all the transmission problems of the conventional version, for that reason it's not a terrible choice if you want a hybrid. As I said, the generation before 2008 was different and actually a good choice if you are looking at cars from that era. The drivetrain is essentially all from a Mazda3 - 2.3l 4 cylinder, 4 speed auto/5 speed manual, only the V6 engine is a Ford unit IIRC. and it didn't have nearly as many problems. The hybrid model continued using the 2.3l up to the present day. A 2004-7 Escape, FWD, 4 cylinder with a manual trans would be a pretty decent pick if you are looking for a $6k family hauler. Throatwarbler fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Jun 5, 2012 |
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Jun 5, 2012 02:42
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