First Car Purchase (Used)
Cowboy-Bebop
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm 20 years old and live in New York. I'm looking to purchase a used car and I have about $5000 to work with. I'm looking for efficiency and reliability over style, something that will last and be able to take me to and from school, in Ontario. I've asked around and the major suggestion seems to be get a Honda Civic. Is this really the best option for my price range? When buying a used car, what should I be looking for?
Essentially any advice about used cars is welcome. This whole process seems really daunting to me.
Essentially any advice about used cars is welcome. This whole process seems really daunting to me.
Cowboy-Bebop on
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Ideally what you want to find is something rust-free, with everything working (including the less crucial parts such as radio etc, because that shows a level of care for the vehicle) and low mileage. Get a (trusted, as in yours not theirs) mechanic to check it out and tell you where any weak spots in the vehicle may be. In your price range I'd be looking for something privately owned, as it typically means its cheaper (so you can get something newer and/or nicer) and if you get it checked out should be just as safe as buying from a dealer.
The main thing to keep in mind is that the most reliable vehicle will be the most simple one. Manual windows (the moving mechanism for them) are less likely to break, a manual transmission (if you know what you're doing) will probably last longer than an automatic, etc etc. The less things there are to go wrong, the less things are likely to go wrong. That said, automatic transmissions and window switches aren't particularly unreliable, so its not really something to worry about.
Also, since you'll be out of country a lot, check out the rules on taking a car into Canada for 8 months of the year (I'm assuming you mean university/college when you say school) and ask your insurance company if theres any issues with that (I'm pretty sure last time I was getting insurance quotes one of the questions was will the car be leaving Canada for more than x months of the year, so I'd assume theres something similar in the US)
Just to be sure but are you planning on registering the car in Canada or in the states? Depending on the length of time you are there you may well have to register it in Canada meaning you'd have to get Ontario plates.
Insurance is also something you will want to check out.
As far as mileage is concerned, normally under 100k is optimal. Not to say that you couldn't find a great car with more. My third car (the best car I've ever owned) was a 1990 Honda Accord with over 420k on the engine and it still purred like a kitten. Sadly I had to get rid of the car because of the body but I only ever had an issue with the engine when the oil pan got a hole in it and had to be replaced.
Re: mileage, around 12K per year is an average number to go by.
Get a carfax/autocheck account and use it. Worth the $25 bucks or whatever. You still want a mechanic to check it out, but the report you'll get from either of these companies will show title changes, major accidents, et cetera.
Also consider how much parts will be for said vehicle and common things that go wrong.
Hondas and Toyotas are fine and it is true there are lemons but a Camry with 150,000 miles is barely broke in IMO.
Also one more thing, just be upfront about what you want. Sacrifice some but ultimately get what makes you happy.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
Don't limit yourself to one make or model. American cars usually don't deserve the negative reputations they have. You can sometimes save thousands by getting a competing model because some people just have huge boners for certain models which drives the price up.
o_O Hell yes they are.
They want as much money as the can for their "baby"
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
"Thoughts are a persons imagination going rampid…" - ME
This thread will be helpful when you actually start looking at cars.
Generally civics in the 1999-2000 range have a very good life time and only 2 major problems that are an easy fix on them. The bushings on the suspension dry and crack over time and need to be replaced. And the oil pan gasket tends to do the same thing.
So should I be looking more for a deal/well maintained car as opposed to a reliable model?
I know jack shit about cars so if someone could give me a breakdown or at least a direction to go in in terms of how I should narrow my search I'd really appreciate it.
Probably. Mileage and maintenance are key on newer cars. "Reliable" is a relative term, and a Honda or Toyota that are otherwise "reliable" aren't going to be quite so if they have been driven into the ground or not properly maintained.
The "ideal" used car is one that is pretty new, has lowish mileage (about 10k per year on average, which is why newer is better), and has had regular oil changes and maintenance. Look for that over make and model.
Check for leaks, if it's leaking oil don't bother with it.
For 5,000$ you have more than enough to purchase a fairly nice used car. Real dealers tend to have the most reliable used cars but they also charge ungodly expensive prices for them (1/2-3/4 the new price isn't uncommon). Used car dealers are very shady and but if you have a mechanic friend who can look over everything it's possible to get amazing deals on cars that the dealers think are shit.
I was able to purchase a ford escort with one broken window and a stolen radio for 500$, 500 to fix the window and radio and a quick tune up and it lasted for another 200,000 miles. Keep in mind that if your commute is more than 10-15 minutes you can easily run up the milage very quickly. I put 25k on the car each year.
2003 Audi Allroad Quattro 2.7T - $4,500 - really this ones just for awesomeness, its got some luxury to it, and would be a nicer car than a civic or the like in terms of comfort and utility. Get an insurance quote before buying, as its almost certainly going to be a higher insurance rate than most cars. Also should note it doesn't list its mileage, may want to ask about that before going to see it if you're interested.
2000 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon (AWD) - $4,499 - Depends on what you think of the styling, as it is a little different. I hear good things about them for the most part but an Edmunds search seems to indicate some reliability issues, but to my knowledge Subarus are usually fairly reliable.
2001 Subaru Outback Limited Sedan - Same as above except not a wagon and a slightly higher trim level. A little high on the mileage side of things though. Could turn out to be great, all depends on how well it was taken care of.
2001 Toyota Prius - $4,999 - If you're into the whole saving the planet thing this is pretty much the Hybrid everyones talking about (albeit the older model.) Most people won't recognize it and due to the mining of nickel for the batteries you really aren't saving the environment at all, but it should get good gas mileage and probably be fairly cheap to insure.
2002 VW Passat GLX V6 - $5,000 - This one is more here because if it weren't a salvage I'd say its a pretty good bet it'd be a good car, but because it is a salvage title it probably has a few problems. They say it's been repaired, but buying it would basically be taking a bet on the quality of their repairs.
2004 Chevrolet Impala V6 - $4,590 - I'm not a big fan of GM, but this car is within budget and seems to be a fairly good deal on the surface. If GM vehicles are your thing then it might be for you.
2001 Ford Taurus SES - $4,590 - Looks like a reasonable vehicle. Tauruses are known as being the "family sedan" of choice for alot of people.
2003 Nissan Altima - $4,100 - Nice styling, should be reasonably reliable, comfortable.
2005 Nissan Altima - $4,995 - Honestly, this would probably be my pick if its in good condition.
2005 Acura TL - $4,599 - I have a feeling it might be a scam attempt, but if you contact them and it turns out to be true and in good condition (make sure you physically go see it) it could turn out to be a great car. Acuras are basically Hondas with a little bit more "premium" trim. This is the equivalent of the Honda Civic, 'cept its nicer.
And now... I've gotten bored of searching. But to heres some sites to search yourself to find more ads:
Craigslist
Kijiji
AutoTrader
And for insurance quotes:
Kanetix - You just fill it out once and it'll find you quotes from a bunch of different companies.
Just watch out for scams, some common ones include an e-mail that says "I'm a woman and just divorced my husband, because I'm a woman I have no need for a car", "The car is in ________ once you pay the money to some middleman company, I'll ship the car to you, you have 10 days to decide if you want to keep it or not and then after that they give me the money", and anything mentioning ebay that you didn't find on ebay is a scam. Under no circumstances give anyone any money until you have physically seen the vehicle and take delivery of it.
Mmmm, depends. Sometimes a really high mileage car, thats functionally fine, will be alot cheaper than KBB value. But as long as you don't give anyone money before seeing/receiving the car, the only thing you're really risking is getting a scammy email to laugh at. My bet would be the Audi and the Acura on that list are scams, but its worth a try sending them an e-mail to see if they're actually true.
My bet is that the newer of the Nissan Altimas will probably be the best value of the non-scam sounding ones.
I don't think the photos are suspicious at all for the Prius - except maybe removing the license plate but alot of people blur or delete it anyway. I'd say the Prius is worth an email. The thing is I'm used to checking car ads in Canada, where its easier to see the scams because they usually say miles instead of km, and usually dont have license plates on the front, but since alot of places in the states dont require front plates its harder to say that means its a scam.
I'm not sure if KBB has been adjusted yet for "OMFG CAR INDUSTRY COLLAPSING" so that may be a source of some of that. Again, can't hurt to send an e-mail and find out.
Just my two cents...