New car: 1998 Corolla versus a 1995 Dakota

tofu

A quick summary: I'm moving away (again) to college so my little brother will be receiving my current 1989 Integra beater. I still plan on taking a car to college but I have two choices.

1) I give my brother the Integra and my dad gives me his 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup. While the Dakota is a considered a midsize truck this one is a V8 4x4 extended cab so it's quite large. It only has about 50,000 miles on it and we have the full maintenance history since he bought it new. No accidents and the radiator and spark plugs were just replaced but it does need a new paint job which I'm guessing will cost around 2000 dollars. Unfortunately it only gets about 14 mpg but it is awfully convenient to have a truck so I can easily transport my bike among other things.

2) I sell my Integra to my brother and purchase my best friend's parent's 1998 Corolla for only $1000. The Corolla gets about 30 mpg but it is, of course, smaller, and I would have to buy an exterior bike rack for the trunk (if anyone has any experience with these I would appreciate any recommendations. Unfortunately they are the second owners of the car and only have their maintenance records for it and while it is 3 years younger it has almost 100,000 miles and has had minor bodywork done (although this was done a few years ago and the car has been fine since so I'm not too worried about it).

I don't have time to make a longer post but I would appreciate any advice I can get, thanks.

tsmvengy

I would go for the corolla just because of gas mileage. A bike rack doesn't cost that much. You could check out carfax to see if that has any dirt on the corolla if you're worried about its history.

Wezoin

Moving away for college the truck could be quite useful for the move-in/move-out. But then again, if your dad is willing to help you on those two occasions you don't really need to own the truck.

I'd bet the truck is in alot better condition too, as although it is 12 years old it has about the same usage as a 5 year old car, whereas the Corolla is slightly over the mileage it should be at for the average.

(All this according to the Canadian lease rules where you're limited at 20,000km/year before you start getting charged excess mileage. And since it's fairly early and I'm lazy I just used a conversion of 1mile = 2km. And yes I realise it's possible to get bigger limits but apparently that is the average)

Also, Dodge being a north american manufacturer it's likely to be cheaper on parts should it need repairing (and being driven less means its less likely to need a repair.) This could greatly offset the cost difference of gas. Although $1000 for a 1998 Corolla is a great deal (at least it would be in my area) if you have the option of a free 1995 Dodge Ram, in that condition, I'd take it.

Akilae729

I'd take the corolla, much much more practical. Also you will probably still have a little money left over from the Dakota.

My friend drives a 1998 corolla, and its a beast. He bought it with 150000 and it is still running strong 20 or so thousand miles later. Also parts for corollas and such are not difficult or expensive to come by.

Pheezer

Yeah, the whole "imports are more expensive to repair!!" thing is kind of bullshit because not only are most of them actually made in North America these days anyhow, by virtue of the massive popularity of the Corolla parts are mass produced and therefore cheap and easy to get. It's also by a wide margin going to require less money to run, both in gasoline costs and in repairs.

Thanatos

pheezer FD wrote: »

Yeah, the whole "imports are more expensive to repair!!" thing is kind of bullshit because not only are most of them actually made in North America these days anyhow, by virtue of the massive popularity of the Corolla parts are mass produced and therefore cheap and easy to get. It's also by a wide margin going to require less money to run, both in gasoline costs and in repairs.

To elaborate, you're going to need to get the Dodge repaired more, even though it has fewer miles. The Corolla will run forever with minimal maintenance, the Dodge will be on its last legs long before the Corolla will, in spite of the mileage difference. Not to mention the huge gas savings (you really don't need a truck for moving a bicycle around).

supabeast

A used bike rack is a hell of a lot cheaper than the gas for a truck that gets 14mpg, not to mention the inevitable string of costly repairs that an aging Dodge will rack up.

tsmvengy

pheezer FD wrote: »

Yeah, the whole "imports are more expensive to repair!!" thing is kind of bullshit because not only are most of them actually made in North America these days anyhow, by virtue of the massive popularity of the Corolla parts are mass produced and therefore cheap and easy to get. It's also by a wide margin going to require less money to run, both in gasoline costs and in repairs.

Imports are more expensive to repair - but japanese cars like the corolla are made in North America. Foreign cars like Volkswagens and such are still expensive to repair, because they don't make the parts here I believe.

EggyToast

A new bike rack for 2 bikes is about $150, straps on to the trunk. Super easy to put on and off -- we stow ours in the trunk 95% of the time.

They'll probably both last about the same amount of time. My wife and I have a 98 corolla with 118k miles on it and the engine itself is great. It's got some dings, but we just take it in for regular maintenance (brakes, spark plugs, certain belts, etc.). We've never even considered a new paint job for it, since there's no rust spots or anything anywhere. We've never been stranded by it.

Why do you think pickups are more "useful?" For hauling things? How much are you planning on hauling at college? Moving in and out? Unless you have big things, you can squeeze your stuff in cars, or rent a UHaul for $30 for the day. That's about how much one single fill-up will cost for the Dodge.

I'm at a loss as to what other things you'd be hauling regularly that would necessitate such a large vehicle with an open bed. My wife and I have bought big shit at IKEA as well as 8' long lumber and simply slid it into the opened back seats in the corolla. But you're not going to be buying lumber, landscaping materials, or big ikea furniture while at college, I assume...

tofu

Unfortunately the Corolla is the lowest level model and the back seats don't fold down in the back. Even so I think you're right, it's not that I would use the truck bed often but it's so convenient when I do.

Fats

Thanatos wrote: »

pheezer FD wrote: »

Yeah, the whole "imports are more expensive to repair!!" thing is kind of bullshit because not only are most of them actually made in North America these days anyhow, by virtue of the massive popularity of the Corolla parts are mass produced and therefore cheap and easy to get. It's also by a wide margin going to require less money to run, both in gasoline costs and in repairs.

To elaborate, you're going to need to get the Dodge repaired more, even though it has fewer miles. The Corolla will run forever with minimal maintenance, the Dodge will be on its last legs long before the Corolla will, in spite of the mileage difference. Not to mention the huge gas savings (you really don't need a truck for moving a bicycle around).

What's going to break on the Dak? I assume it's got the 318, which is an old workhorse. As long as it doesn't have the auto I don't see any reason why it won't last as long as the Corolla.

That said, you should get the Corolla for the gas mileage.

hambone

get the 'rolla

b0bd0d

I'm going with the truck. You're not really going to be driving in college anyway. Just when you wanna move stuff or do your biking thing. What, are you living in like a dorm or some apt where you're gonna walk to take a bus to/around school? I don't drive now but my school is in the middle of nowhere so I don't really have anywhere to go. And once I gotta truck, I started doing all type of truck things. They're fun.

Hewn

The responsible choice is the car. The fun choice is the truck.

Do the pros of the truck outweigh the cons? Aside from gas millage, sounds like you'd enjoy the truck more. Sometimes the extra gas money is worth the experience. Depends if you'd actually use the truck for things other than driving around urban areas.

I'm an urban driver, so I have a Camry. Sucks when I need to haul or move something, but for 95% of my needs it's been the fiscally responsible choice.

MrBallbaggins

I would go for the Dakota. I used to have a 92 Dakota extended cab that had well over 220,000 miles on it and I still sold it for 850.00 with a heavily dented body and paint shot all to hell. It'll have better resale value and be much safer in the winter.

Blake T

I have a 92 corrolla which I've owned since 2000 it's had the following work done to it.

Tyres and brake pads (duh)
General oil and filter maintinence
Shock absorbers
Alternator (the brushes apparently wear through quick on it)

I drive it about 30-40km Monday to Thursday on it and a little more on saturday and friday and usually not too much on Sundays. I go through a tank of petrol about every 8 days on average.

It doesn't go like the stink or anything close to it but it does the A to B thing well.

As for having the tray in the truck it is usefull but you'll always be able to be able to borrow it off your old man.

Keep in mind Truck = Fun Corrolla = dirt cheap.

tinyfist

I worked at a Chrysler dealership for 5 years in the service department, and I would have to agree that the Corolla is the more sensible bet.

I'm going to agree with people and say that the Corolla will actually be cheaper to service in the big picture. Corollas are easy to repair and parts aren't really much more expensive than "domestic" cars. Also, the Dakota being a 4x4 will cost you a lot more for anything transaxle related, including regular maintenance.

The only thing that I would hesitate on with the Corolla is the mileage. 100,000 is pretty high. How long do you plan to keep this vehicle for?