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Welcome to GBS posted:Honestly haven't seen a ton for sale in my area. I posted the fit, and I probably could have looked more closely at a few Civics, but I had one from 96 as my first car and while it was decent, it felt boring. I don't know as many people who work on Japanese cars. I'd like to get something that excites me a bit and feels like a reward for finally getting a decent job. I guess I should rephrase that I'm not super worried about maintenance costs because I'm going to get reimbursed well for the travel that I do (over 50 cents a mile) and plan on using that money directly for maintenance, especially if I can keep my fuel costs low. In your price range, and with what you'll be using the car for, you want boring. Exciting is expensive, unreliable, and can easily blow right through the IRS mileage rate (which is supposed to exactly cover all operating expenses of an average car). It's not like an automatic Passat is going to be way more exciting to drive than a Civic, anyway. From the BFC side of things, don't go "rewarding" yourself with a large ongoing expense, with money you haven't even made yet.
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Sep 5, 2017 17:20
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Space Gopher posted:It's not like an automatic Passat is going to be way more exciting to drive than a Civic, anyway. now now, having the mechatronics unit fail on a DSG box is very exciting in a certain kind of way
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Sep 5, 2017 18:07
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My 05 Pontiac Vibe with 170k miles on it was totaled by a low speed collision where a semi rear ended it repeatedly. Insurance payout is looking to be under 3k. I'm in Chicago. Are there any official resources by big name publications I can share that explain why used rental cars or Mitsubishis/Nissans are cheap for a reason and not actually a good deal, and how ten year old Priuses (or whatever else) are not actually lemons that are going to immediately break down? I have to get past this hurdle before looking for replacement vibe/matrix/Honda fit/manual focus/mazda3, assuming the latter can really fit baby seats + gear. The word of internet friends means zilch.
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Sep 5, 2017 18:21
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CopperHound posted:As far as I can tell from my experience; if you can work on American cars, you can work on Japanese cars. Most *cars* sold in the US are Japanese, it's been that way for a while. Camry, Accord, Altima, Civic, CRV are consistently top sellers in their segments year after year. The Detroit 3 are up to about 50% if you include pickup trucks, but if you are on the coast and not a place where farmers buy millions of white work truck spec F250s every year, chances are most of the vehicles on the roads are going to be Japanese. Service and parts for Japanese cars will most likely be cheaper and easier to get than American cars. This isn't the 1960s any more. Don't buy a Sebring over an Accord because you are concerned about repair or parts. Welcome to GBS posted:I will clarify with my friend about the BMW, but I appreciate the input. I'll probably go with something else. Some of the options I'm considering: You shouldn't usually make generalizations about cars but if you want reliability and MPG then German cars are not for you. All VWs get significantly worse fuel economy and are much less reliable than equivilant Japanese cars. There is no time period when this isn't true. VW will go bankrupt before this changes. EDIT: If you have to get one the manual transmission Rabbit is the least bad one, I guess.  
Throatwarbler fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 00:12
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if you want to get intimately familiar with single use clips and bizarre fasteners then I can highly recommend VAG
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Sep 6, 2017 14:43
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What is this thread's opinions on rebuilt titles? I may have been wrong, the BMW is not salvaged but rebuilt. Also the Honda's I like in my price range seem to be rebuilt as well. At least the Beamer comes from a guy I trust.
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Sep 7, 2017 06:42
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Welcome to GBS posted:What is this thread's opinions on rebuilt titles? I may have been wrong, the BMW is not salvaged but rebuilt. Also the Honda's I like in my price range seem to be rebuilt as well. At least the Beamer comes from a guy I trust. Abort.
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Sep 7, 2017 06:59
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Yeah I figured you'd say that.
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Sep 7, 2017 07:00
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It's still a salvage title.
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Sep 7, 2017 14:20
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If it wasn't a 11 year old bmw with 100k on the clock already, the fact that he knows the guy that rebuilt it might change things, but it's an 11 year old bmw with 100k on it AND a salvage title so lol gently caress no.
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Sep 7, 2017 14:24
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There are generaly no short cuts. Cars that seem unusually cheap are cheap for a reason. A good, solid car is going to cost you and it's worth it unless you want a weekend project car.
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Sep 7, 2017 14:26
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My wife got her license recently and we're looking for a second car. Her main criteria are an automatic transmission and reasonably safe and reliable but she's not really fixated on the type of car it is. This car will mostly see weekend use, I think, because we share a commute. We live in Massachusetts. Our budget is like $7k (ideally less really). What cars should I consider? My sense is that the depreciation on Japanese economy cars isn't that fast and the prices are kind of high so I'm better looking at American ones. Reasonable? Wrong? Help me out here.
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Sep 8, 2017 12:32
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FCA small cars are unmitigated garbage, small Chevrolets up until the Cruze are pretty bad, and the Focus is good except for the automatic transmission. So perhaps a Cruze? I would prefer to go Korean at that point, the Accent / Elantra / Rio / Forte are all pretty decent. There may be other very good specific reasons for buying another car, but I am not sure that if you have no commute requirements that a second car in a household is really a good idea.
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Sep 8, 2017 12:39
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:My wife got her license recently and we're looking for a second car. Her main criteria are an automatic transmission and reasonably safe and reliable but she's not really fixated on the type of car it is. This car will mostly see weekend use, I think, because we share a commute. We live in Massachusetts. Our budget is like $7k (ideally less really). What cars should I consider? My sense is that the depreciation on Japanese economy cars isn't that fast and the prices are kind of high so I'm better looking at American ones. Reasonable? Wrong? Help me out here. If it's mostly weekend use, then you can specialize with it. You don't need two identical cars. An old Miata would be a fun alternative, maybe a small pickup or SUV if you want hauling room. A weekend car isn't going to get a lot of miles, and reliability is much less of a factor - it will break down rarely regardless due to low usage, and can spend a few days in the shop occasionally without it being a hardship. It's still money and hassle, but the point is that a less reliable car that checks a bunch of other boxes is worth considering. There are dozens and dozens of possibilities out there. You and your wife need to sit down and decide what you're really after. It being her first car makes it tougher, as she doesn't have a lot of experience to draw on.
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Sep 8, 2017 13:13
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Don't buy an automatic Miata.
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Sep 8, 2017 13:14
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Just buy a Prius.
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Sep 8, 2017 14:34
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I drive a manual GTI so I feel like the fun car box is kind of checked. Maybe it would be nice to get an SUV for something with a bit more hauling capacity? My wife's main thing is I think wanting the auto and having something she's not going to be too cut up about accidentally scratching or whatever.
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Sep 8, 2017 15:06
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:I drive a manual GTI so I feel like the fun car box is kind of checked. Maybe it would be nice to get an SUV for something with a bit more hauling capacity? My wife's main thing is I think wanting the auto and having something she's not going to be too cut up about accidentally scratching or whatever. Cast a wide net at first and consider all your choices.
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Sep 8, 2017 15:27
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really step one is to figure out what you want the car to do
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Sep 8, 2017 15:42
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:My wife got her license recently and we're looking for a second car. Her main criteria are an automatic transmission and reasonably safe and reliable but she's not really fixated on the type of car it is. This car will mostly see weekend use, I think, because we share a commute. We live in Massachusetts. Our budget is like $7k (ideally less really). What cars should I consider? My sense is that the depreciation on Japanese economy cars isn't that fast and the prices are kind of high so I'm better looking at American ones. Reasonable? Wrong? Help me out here. Buy an old Ranger or fleet spec F-150.
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Sep 8, 2017 16:50
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Welcome to GBS posted:the BMW is not salvaged but rebuilt. This is a state-to-state technicality. Some states have different levels of brand that can be put on a title depending on what is wrong with the car and who fixed it. The real fun starts when a branded car is transferred in or out of states with differing laws. I don't agree with the broad idea of never buying a branded vehicle, but it's definitely pro-level car buying and if you have to ask people on the internet what to buy you shouldn't buy a branded car, or an old German car, for that matter. Throatwarbler posted:Buy an old Ranger or fleet spec F-150. Counterpoint: she just started driving. Don't buy a vehicle that is large, hard to park, heavy, and is more likely to flip over. I would buy an old Forester. You get the utility and driving position of an SUV but in a small car and you can pick them up dirt cheap. Just make sure you find one with timing belt and headgasket records.
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Sep 8, 2017 21:57
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Phone posted:LS400 or 430. Oh, hey. This popped up on craigslist: https://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/d/1998-lexus-ls/6283752125.html  It looks super-fly. Any relatively surefire way to assess if this 2k luxury car a sweet ride or a ticking timebomb? I would probably take it to a vaguely trusted mechanic for an inspection.
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Sep 10, 2017 00:38
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Is there a ballpark mileage where well-maintained cars are expected to start having very expensive powertrain things go wrong? I'm looking at larger highway cruisers like Impalas, and the ones that seem to be the best value are things that have 150k+ miles on them on a 2014 car. Is the expectation that most transmissions make it to 250k+ now?
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Sep 11, 2017 17:28
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The 3.6 and the 6T70 (post 2009) are pretty bulletproof by all accounts. Make sure they've kept up on the maintenance, that's pretty much it. Most will be high miles because people who want them want them as highway cruisers.
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Sep 11, 2017 18:17
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Proposed Budget: 20-25k New or Used: New Body Style: Large hatchback/small sedan How will you be using the car?: Generally commuter - 12 miles round trip to work and back, a couple of ~200 mile trips during the year. I generally average over 6k miles a year. Generally only 1 person as passanger, but with enough back space so that passangers in the back aren't uncomfortably cramped when carpooling every now and again. What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, ability to actually accelerate, manual transmission I live in  , so I don't expect 100% accurate results (what with different available trims and prices), but I'd appreciate some pointers on any other models, other than the ones I've listed below, that I could be looking at. Other than what I mentioned above, I'd also like to be able to connect an Android phone without a hassle for music and preferably GPS (from what I've read that isn't a big problem with Ford and Honda since they're compatible with Android Auto?). The roads are salted here, so I'm not sure if this will affect my choice much (Mazdas were problematic with rust from what I gathered, not sure how it's going nowadays). I've been driving a 2003 Corolla for a couple of years now, so I got used to the reliability and would prefer to have similarily problem-free rides for the 5+ years of so of the new car.Mazda 3 Hatch (~Sport trim in the US) Honda Civic Hatch Ford Focus (~Titanium trim but with a 182HP engine) More-fun/comedy option Toyota 86/BRZ I've also been looking at Volkswagen Golf, but the starting price is a bit too high for a higher performance package over here
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Sep 11, 2017 19:24
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Seat Leon / various Skodas are a better entry in to the wide wide world of VAG. Do you not like French cars because recent Renaults are decent as is the new-ish Peugeot 208
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Sep 11, 2017 21:18
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Seat Leon / various Skodas are a better entry in to the wide wide world of VAG. I think they fell off my radar due to an often repeated 'haha, French cars' attitude over here, but I'll look into them, thanks.
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Sep 11, 2017 21:28
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Market price check: I just heard that my sister totaled her 2006 Prius with 140k miles. It was in decent shape pre-wreck. Insurance is insisting it's valued at $3500, which after $1k deductible means a $2500 payout. $3500 seems low for a 2nd gen Prius, or is that really what they're worth now?
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Sep 12, 2017 02:56
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Hop on your local Craigslist but that doesn't seem horribly out of line. Maybe a little low.
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Sep 12, 2017 03:05
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I've got a 2014 Outback that I'm thinking about trading in. I've never traded in a car before. Should I tidy up the interior and give it a wash before getting an appraisal?
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Sep 12, 2017 03:09
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Thinking about buying a new Skoda Fabia Combi, but Im really dreading the price negotiation stuff. List is about 17k but through a neat website I got an offer for 14.6k, no idea if I can still negotiate down on that. Also can I ask to get wiring plans as a goodie or is that too bold? 
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Sep 12, 2017 22:28
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Twerk from Home posted:Market price check: I just heard that my sister totaled her 2006 Prius with 140k miles. It was in decent shape pre-wreck. My 05 Pontiac vibe with 169k that was totaled last week valued around 2250 so that seems more than reasonable. Now I have to figure out if the USAA car buying deals I see on Ford focus/mazda3 having 5k on the hood for buying a '17 are actually legit.
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Sep 12, 2017 23:54
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mastershakeman posted:My 05 Pontiac vibe with 169k that was totaled last week valued around 2250 so that seems more than reasonable. Now I have to figure out if the USAA car buying deals I see on Ford focus/mazda3 having 5k on the hood for buying a '17 are actually legit. It's just TrueCar. You can haggle better. Don't buy the DCT Focus.
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Sep 13, 2017 00:17
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SEKCobra posted:Thinking about buying a new Skoda Fabia Combi, but Im really dreading the price negotiation stuff. List is about 17k but through a neat website I got an offer for 14.6k, no idea if I can still negotiate down on that. Also can I ask to get wiring plans as a goodie or is that too bold? You can ask, it's just a printout from ETKA and is in theory free (to the dealer). You will not be able to get a digital copy (unless it's a PDF maybe). I am not really sure why you want a wiring diagram, though. You can always try to negotiate but if someone is chopping off 2,400 it may be difficult to do so. Beware of extra fees and nonsense, I don't really know how it's done in some parts of Europe or where you are.
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Sep 13, 2017 11:49
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:You can ask, it's just a printout from ETKA and is in theory free (to the dealer). You will not be able to get a digital copy (unless it's a PDF maybe). I am not really sure why you want a wiring diagram, though. I believe Skoda's document system is called "erwin" just like VW and the others, I want the plans so I can install some auxiliary electronics without having to re engineer half the car. Was incredibly convenient on my old RAV4 to have plans of all the connectors and cable routes. Too bad new cars don't have half their service documentation leaked online, usually.
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Sep 13, 2017 14:04
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I've got a 2002 Volvo V70 that I love, but it's beginning to have regular issues every few months and my monthly cost of ownership has started to go back up. Nothing all that difficult to fix or get repaired, but it's becoming inconvenient and I'd like to start looking for a replacement vehicle ahead of time. Plus the transmission is starting to act funny... Price Range: $10k Priorities: Reliability, cargo space. I would prefer basically no tech features whatsoever. I haul around a lot of audio stuff and love that I can fit a sub, mains and monitors and a couple of guitars in my wagon.
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Sep 13, 2017 15:02
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SEKCobra posted:I believe Skoda's document system is called "erwin" just like VW and the others, I want the plans so I can install some auxiliary electronics without having to re engineer half the car. Was incredibly convenient on my old RAV4 to have plans of all the connectors and cable routes. Too bad new cars don't have half their service documentation leaked online, usually. ErWin is for independent shops and ETKA is oem/dealer. I was never able to tell a real difference between the two though.
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Sep 14, 2017 04:24
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In my never ending search for a better family car that isn't a minivan, I realized what it is that I'm looking for. I want an SUV with captains chairs in the second row for easy access to the third row. After looking through the list of cars which offer this option, here are my remaining choices that I'm interested in. Ford Flex GMC Acadia Chevy Traverse Toyota Highlander I've driven the Highlander (didn't really care for it) and Flex. Any thoughts on the other two?
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Sep 14, 2017 19:07
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Jiminy Christmas! Shoes! posted:Any thoughts on the other two? Other than them being literally the same vehicle with different grill/badging/options - they are underwhelming and full of the expected General Motors inferior quality materials all about the interior. If you add the Denali package to actually get a decent looking/feeling interior you've bumped the MSRP to $45k. I assure you it's then no longer completive for what else you can get for that kind of money. If you want reliability go buy the Highlander. If you want more "sporty" looks get the 4Runner. If you want something fun and inspiring or whatever increase your budget and start looking up market.
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Sep 14, 2017 21:41
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Just buy a minivan.
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Sep 14, 2017 21:58
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