Being without wheels makes some jobs hard

[franciscanheart]

So today I'm supposed to be at an appointment in 15 minutes but my father has yet to show up to take me. The emissions on one of our cars went out for the second time in a year and a half about two weeks ago. We have had probably 10-12 cars in the last 8 years. We never have a car for a good period of time and I think it's actually kind of wasteful. We never feel like we can afford a new car or 'slightly used' car so we end up with these cars that fail on us every couple of months.

Now that I'm finally making a decent amount of money and on a consistent basis I'd like to find a RELIABLE car that will last me a while.

Where do I look?

--I'm really picky.--

[sweetpea316]

Did you want like a new car, or a slightly used one? From a dealership or what?....

[franciscanheart]

i dont even know. new would of course be preferred but anything used and in good condition would be okay for now.... i can save up for my dream car later....

[annie]

better to buy a 2 or 3 yr old car, then you don't have to eat the depreciation. Stick with Honda...

[RC_]

Get a Toyota--they run forever

[Thumper]

[quote name='RC_' date='Nov 1 2005, 05:27 PM']Get a Toyota--they run forever
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Toyota! They are lovely. Also, for a cheaper version on the Toyota-theme, check out the Geo Prism rather than the Toyota Carolla. Same car, the Prism just costs less.

As Annie pointed out cars depreciate like made--unless you are buying something vintage, be under no illusion that you are making an investment.

Check out consumer reports--just because a model is good one year, doesn't mean that is the next. Look for cars that are rated relatively high across the categories, have a good re-sale value, and that are less expensive to repair. Gas mileage is also a good thing to have under consideration.

[Sojourner]

I have owned a Kia for the past seven years. I bought it new, and just turned over 100,000 miles on it. I've only had minor repairs, although I think I'm fixing for a major one in the not-too-distant future.

[morostheos]

Look for cars that are for sale from individuals rather than dealerships - you can save a lot of money that way (for used cars, of course). Places like craigslist are good if you have that in your area, or autotrader.com is good as well. On autotrader you can look up reviews for cars as well.

[Andrea348]

consumer reports all the way!!!!

they can tell you what used cars are the best by model and year. sometimes a particular model is good one year and bad the next.

personally i'd recommend toyota. that's what i drive and i've not had a single problem.

[scardella]

Check JD Power and Associates, Consumer Reports and/or Edmunds.com. Edmunds also has average prices for used cars, invoice prices, MSRP and option prices.

In general, Japanese cars have the best reputation for reliability, but I've also seen many American cars on the road that are 10+ years old. It really depends on the specific model you're talking about. European cars have had a deterioration in their reps for reliability.

[b]Most cars produced today can last you 100,000 miles or more as long as you take care of them.[/b] The only caveats to that are so-called lemons (a car that slips through quality control w/ defects. They're fairly rare, to my understanding.)

I've got a 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R w/ 70k miles on it. I've only needed routine maintenance and some body work (accident), so far. I plan on keeping it until it's got approx 100k miles. (I drive a lot and got it Dec '02.) My parents have had a number of Chrylser/Dodge minivans w/ 100k+ miles on them.

If you're looking for a used car, look for lower mileage ones. A friend of mine got a used Buick, b/c he reasoned that a Buick owner would more likely take care of the car and not drive it hard. If going used, it might be worthwhile to buy one from a little old lady who only uses it to drive to church and the supermarket. Get a Carfax sort of sheet or a factory-backed certified car.

Since you're from Dallas, you don't have to worry about snow or salt. As for safety, you'll want airbags, ABS and preferably side-impact airbags. Considering your claimed lack of budget, stability control and traction control are not likely to happen.

Finally, your sentiments about spending more money on the clunkers is probably spot-on. Slightly used has lowest total cost of ownership. Old ones wind up needing lots of (usually) costly repairs and new ones wind up depreciating just by driving off the lot. The only equalizer I'd see for the clunkers is if someone is particularly adept mechanically.

Edited November 1, 2005 by scardella

[franciscanheart]

all the recs for toyota are good because i really like the toyota 4runner!!

[Iacobus]

I have the best rec of all. For reasons thus,
1) Uses no gas.
2) No motor to fix.
3) Uses no oil.
4) Doesn't pollute.
5) Cheaper then most cars.

[url="http://www2.trekbikes.com/"]http://www2.trekbikes.com/[/url]

[jgirl]

I have a honda civic, and I love it. It's a year and a half old. My last car got passed onto my sister. It's a 1996 Honda Accord that has never had any major problems despite having a good 130k miles on it. It's also been in a few minor accidents, and it looks beautiful (we had the paint redone this summer to fix all of them). My 2nd car (and sister's 1st) was a 1995 ford taurus. It had the same amount of miles as the accord now, and we got rid of it because it needed its third transmission.

Don't buy a Ford. Buy a Honda or Toyota.

[Iacobus]

I drive an Audi I bought for 202 dollars. Want to know how much I drive? Over the summer, driving my 5 speed 5 banger 2.5 liter Audi as hard as I could, I avg. about 25mpg, I have a 13 gallon tank. I filled up May 30th and that was it. I did the rest on bike or leeched.

[corban711]

i recommend asking Our Lady to go car shopping with you. well, i recommend that you ask her to always be with you...but especially with things that cost a little bit more money. she is the best at helping you to find good (or great) things for cheaper than normal prices. i promise she will help if you really ask her too. she picked out my guitar, my car and other things. interestingly enough...all of them are blue!!! hehe. i love shopping with Mary!

[phatcatholic]

laura....................buy your neighbor's car, silly!!! :

[franciscanheart]

yeah my neighbors have a car and its in really good shape. the mieage is pretty low and all it really needs are some new tires (after sitting there for a while). i really dont like it though. is that wrong of me? am i being silly? its a green saturn. i hate saturns (no offense to those who drive them). i like BIG things.

[doc]

[quote name='hugheyforlife' date='Nov 2 2005, 10:30 AM']yeah my neighbors have a car and its in really good shape. the mieage is pretty low and all it really needs are some new tires (after sitting there for a while). i really dont like it though. is that wrong of me? am i being silly? its a green saturn. i hate saturns (no offense to those who drive them). i like BIG things.

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I recomend to see what you need, big cars are really nice but they cost alot to mantain(gas, tires, and the list goes on). My dad use to buy use cars all the time and for some odd reason they se to break down, but all the money he used on thise old cars he couldve saved it and buy a new one.

So one day I told him that we should get a new one and we did, We got a Toyota Rav4 2003(it was fresh) Its a nice small SUV. I recomend it, eventho we trad it for a Subaru Legacy 2005...lol. Its a fast car and you dont even feel it. But Toyotas are reliable and so are Hondas, but mainly the civics. I dont like the new models of the corollas...lol...I like the old corollas and civics(specially the 1990 for both cars)...lol.. they are awesome,,,lol

[Theoketos]

[quote name='hugheyforlife' date='Nov 2 2005, 08:30 AM']yeah my neighbors have a car and its in really good shape. the mieage is pretty low and all it really needs are some new tires (after sitting there for a while). i really dont like it though. is that wrong of me? am i being silly? its a green saturn. i hate saturns (no offense to those who drive them). i like BIG things.

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Yes that is silly.

Big things are wasteful. You can not afford to be wasteful. ;0)

[Cow of Shame]

[quote name='hugheyforlife' date='Nov 2 2005, 08:30 AM']yeah my neighbors have a car and its in really good shape. the mieage is pretty low and all it really needs are some new tires (after sitting there for a while). i really dont like it though. is that wrong of me? am i being silly? its a green saturn. i hate saturns (no offense to those who drive them). i like BIG things.

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beggars can't be choosers. You'll drive something you hate now, be frugal & responsible...when you get a real job & are a real person later in life, then you can buy whatever the heck you want....even if it's some stupid-@ss H2....

I had a friend in college that had to drive some crappy car because he had no money. It even *caught fire* once. He just kept fixing it up & driving it 'cause he didn't have another option. Now that he's graduated & is gainfully employed, he drives something much nicer.