Welp, have to buy a used car now... Any advice??

[darthbatman]

Hey dudes.

My 2000 Ford Focus took a shit. The tensioner for the timing belt somehow bust into pieces, sending shrapnel into a couple of the cylinders.
I cut my losses and sold it to a junker. My gal starts school soon and we need something reliable and good on mpg
to make mostly short trips to surrounding towns just for groceries and shit (we live in the stix). Any tips on what to get?

Also I'm trying to determine whether I can get financed for private seller purchases as opposed to getting reamed by the local used dealers.
Anyone had to do this before? I assume if they say yes I can expect a higher rate. I really can't afford more than like $200 a month absolute max.

I've been looking at a few cars on craigslist. There's a nice focus a few years newer than mine was with 75k mi,
lady says it hasn't had any mecahnical problems. She wants too much for it though, like 7k lol. I can maybe talk her down.
Also I'm looking at a couple 2001 Toyota Camrys right around 100k miles. My mechanic and everybody I've talked to says Toyotas never die.

just wondering if anyone wanted to share some input? Gotta figure somethin out soon.

[Jeff-7]

Your mechanic was right, Toyota's are awesome cars. I'd look at Camrys and Honda Civics.

[kaboom]

i've been driving a '99 chevy metro for like 9 years now, and it just keeps going. it's about as practical as it gets. 40mpg, low maintenance, good for city driving, and it fits my bass, amp, and 215 cab in the back. picked it up for $2k with around 44k miles on it.

[osbornkt]

What about a Volvo 240 sedan/wagon from the mid 80's to early 90's?
It's damn near impossible to kill them, they're cheap and easy to fix if something breaks, and they are pretty safe, and economical for the size you get (between 28-35 mpg out of the four cylinder versions from what I've heard).
You can also get a good one for less than $2500. Less than that if you're comfortable fixing little problems one may have...Usually little things like needing a muffler, fixing a headliner, or doing new brakes.
But yeah...I wish I had bought one rather than what I have now.

[darthbatman]

here's what i'm currently looking at. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4276731358.html
2001 Toyota Camry w/ 99000 miles on it. Just did the timing belt at 90000. $5500 is about as good as it looks like I'll get.
Gonna go thru a local credit union for a four year loan at around 4% interest. About 1000 down gets me a monthly payment right at 100.
I had other options but they seemed shady to me.

[Jeff-7]

Pretty good deal, I always like to take a car to a mechanic first and have them go over it really well. It's amazing what people will hide from you in order to get rid of the car as quick as they can so it won't become their problem.

[Mike]

Did you look up the private sale on that Camry at KBB.com?

They say it is worth $4k in a private sale, max.

[MSUsousaphone]

I recently bought a used car. Here is a list of my criteria:

1) will it fit five car seats?

Hope that helps!

[kbit]

Honda Civics have a really good reputation of running forever. Have heard very similar about Camrys.
Some of the 90's/early 2000s Chevy/Geo Prizms were just rebranded Camrys... might want to look into those.

[rfurtkamp]

Stick with something that's relatively easily maintenanced - not so much as in "turn the wrenches yourself" but "doesn't require a degree or absolutely specialty parts."

Volvos aren't exactly cheap to fix IME when they break, and finding mechanics that are competent with them isn't cheap or easy.

If you're in a metro area that requires smog testing etc. too, make sure it passes and that the car gets a cleanish bill of health from a mechanic. Avoid salvage titles if you're asking questions like this as well.

$100 a month with some down doesn't sound bad, much worse deals to be had if the CU will loan for that.

[blindrabbit]

Toyotas do last forever. For years that was all I drove. Can't really go wrong with one of them.

I'd also suggest you consider an older VW diesel. It'll rock on gas, and they are actually quite reliable. Maybe not to Toyota's level, but far better than most "domestic" makers.

[Iommic Pope]

Japanese cars rule.
Toyotas.
Suzukis are also good if small cars are ok with you. They are also incredibly economic to run.

[odontophobia]

I will pop in this thread to add my Toyota love.

My wife and I have a two-door Solara, so basically the Camry coup. It's running great. It's had one minor issue that is a little expensive to fix because it's one of the few parts we have to buy OEM or fashion our own part for.

My in-laws have a Toyota 4-Runner that they've had for quite some time. It's got 200k. They recently drove it out to Yellowstone and back, maybe two years ago, and it probably had 180,000 back then, give or take.

Currently we're in the market for a second car because job changes and needs. We are only looking at Toyota and Honda. We gave a hard look at Subaru, Volvo and VW. The problem with those is that if something goes wrong you have to take it to somebody who works on those cars quite a bit, not just somebody who works on cars. They're a little more particular and therefore a smidgen harder to work on them if you're less familiar.

On top of this we looked at consumer reports. The reports show that basically everything is shit unless it was made by Honda or Toyota.

We really wanted a wagon but will probably settle with a Honda CRV or Accord or a Toyota RAV 4 or Camry. We'll buy one used, one owner, approximately 150k or less, and pay a reasonable price for it. We know we'll get a lot of mileage out of it.

[culturejam]

Gotta represent Subaru here.

They last a long-ass time (>200K miles *easy*). There are lots of used parts for the bodies if you need something replaced (doors, seats, racks, mirrors, etc). Avoid the 2000/2001 model years, as those had head gasket issues.

I'm on my second Forester now, and the wife has a Legacy. We are hardcore kool-aid drinking Soobie fanboys.

[morange]

+1 Toyota

I've got a 2003 Toyota Matrix (which is a hatchback Corolla) currently at ~140k miles, still no major work needed, besides from me crashing it into stuff.

My dad had an old Subaru Forester that ran great, until someone rear ended it and the insurance totaled it. Next time I buy a car, I'll look at Toyotas and Subarus first.