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Car problems
ChadTower:
Okay, thinking it was a good idea, and backed by Consumer Reports, anecdotal evidence, and every other piece of info I read, my wife and I bought a 97 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon about two years ago. It had about 75k miles on it. A Subaru should last a long time, yes?
Well, we've put 2500-3000 in repairs into this stupid car. I'm done. I want to replace it, at this rate we're paying like $220/month payment + an avg of 200/month maintenance into it. That doesn't even count downtime or hassle.
I hate cars, so I'm not really up on the latest models. One of our main goals in replacing it is avoiding hassle. That means I'd like to buy a new one this time, buying the used one always seems to screw us over. I'd like to buy something similar to the Legacy Outback, AWD if possible (it's rough driving half the year here). A new Legacy is out of our price range... anyone have any suggestions? I was just looking at the Hyundai Tuscon and that looks pretty good at an invoice of less than $17k.
DrewKaree:
The secretary at work traded her Elantra in on one last October-ish, and she loves it. It was costing her more per month for her Elantra than for a brand new Tuscon, and she really likes the room, the better riding position, and the general feeling she gets while driving it. She feels "safer" driving it, and for the money, it's a nice little car, sez she.
After borrowing it from her several times to pick up lunch, we would have been buying one this year if my mom wouldn't have given us her old new car. The Tuscon not only seems to be a VERY nice car, it's one of the cheaper ones around with that nice Hyundai warranty on it, so it should give you YEARS of good reliable service.
Hers didn't have any traction-type controls on it (AWD, 4WD), and we live in WI, so I'd guess if they offer traction controls, it'd be EXACTLY what you are looking for.
paigeoliver:
If you are financing a car more then a few years old then you are really going to be getting the short end of the stick. As you will be paying for both a payment, and for the higher maintenance associated with older vehicles. It is especially bad in that 80,000 - 130,000 mile range, which seems to be the time when most of the major expense (but non-fatal) things break on cars and need to be replaced.
My suggestion, buy something with cash, the odds of racking up more than $2400 a year in repairs on an older vehicle are very, very slim. I have driven almost nothing but older vehicles, and I have probably only spent $2500-$3000 in the last decade on repairs (not counting tires or brake pads, which every vehicle needs from time to time, new or old).
Because of price differentials I suggest either buying a cheapo used american car, or going with the no hassle plan detailed below. The reason I suggest American is because word of mouth about quality actually makes used Japanese cars from the good makes a terrible buy. You can get a pretty nice American used car for $2000. By the time the GOOD Japanese cars drop to $2000 they are complete turds. V6 equipped Ford Rangers (anything other than the 2.9 liter engine, that engine was a defective design), can and will do incredible mileage, and they are cheap too. Before I sold mine last month there were 3 Rangers (out of about 30 vehicles) in my little apartment complex, all of them had over 200,000 (and mine was knocking on 300,000), and 2 different guys at my church have gotten 730,000 and 304,000 out of their rangers (the 730,000 one was on it's third tranny though).
Or if you want no hassle, buy a brand new Honda Civic or Accord and keep up on your maintenance. My old Accord blew up at 180,000 which is actually low for an Accord, but the sucker never needed a single repair in the six years it had been in my family (all post 100,000 miles).
ChadTower:
No one in New England gets 200,000 out of a car. They rot out way before they fail. Salt, snow, harsh winters destroy your car well before regular mechanical failure does. You don't see beat up old trucks around here because the undercarriage rots out before they reach that age.
As for buying an older car with cash, not really going that route for the car that carries my wife and kids. The reliability and safety issues are more important than the cost.
I talked with my wife last night. At least for now, we're thinking mid sized sedan, four door. That 5/10 year warranty on Hyundais sure looks good to us right now.
Stingray:
--- Quote from: ChadTower on March 17, 2005, 11:05:31 am ---No one in New England gets 200,000 out of a car. They rot out way before they fail.
--- End quote ---
Statements like that sure do make me glad I live in the middle of the continent where rust is almost non-exisitant.
-S