Which used car? (gasket, alarm, all wheel drive, buy)

[Adriatica]

Which of these used cars would you buy? This is for a secondary, around-town car. All are automatic.

2004 Toyota Corolla
$4998
90k miles
1.8L I4

2001 Subaru Legacy sedan
$5980
35k miles (not a typo)
2.5L H4

2001 Subaru Forester
$7990
87k miles
2.5L H4

2001 Mercedes C320
$6990
78k miles
3.2L V6

[Chris V]

2004 Toyota Corolla. Proven reliability by decades.

[Rynldsbr]

Corolla will be less expensive to own, repair, and maintain over time than the other options. Practicality and affordability for a second car.

[ukrkoz]

Corolla hands down.

[unit731]

Some Subaru's can be expensive to repair when they get old.
Much more complicated as it is All Wheel Drive.

Did you do a CarFax?
I'd check to see if multiple owners.
All things being equal, I'd buy a one owner car first. With no accidents.

[Vision67]

The Corolla engine has a timing chain, the Subarus of those years use timing belts. Replacing a belt is an expensive repair on a Subaru.

[Dburger]

Corolla without question. Low miles, the lowest price of the choices, and Toyota reliability.

[bmwguydc]

On that list, the Corolla would be the car to consider. The Subaru with 35k miles and the Forester are in the danger zone for head gasket failures with the 4-cylinder Legacy. The Forester is also a bit steep for a 15-year-old car. The Corolla is a good bet, and the price is also a benefit, as pointed out above, it will cost much less to operate. I would avoid the Mercedes because it's 15-years-old, and that series C-Class is not known for high reliability. The 3.2L engine is good, but the rest of the car has some components that showed the cost cutting under the Chrysler years, hence, I'd not pay $7k for one.

[28173]

Starting with the assumption that none are accident/flood/lemon vehicle, MB is in a different class then the rest of econo-boxes.

Since it is second car I'd go for MB but of course given the year, I'd have a mechanic check it out for alarm codes, etc.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Adriatica

Which of these used cars would you buy? This is for a secondary, around-town car. All are automatic.

2004 Toyota Corolla
$4998
90k miles
1.8L I4

2001 Subaru Legacy sedan
$5980
35k miles (not a typo)
2.5L H4

2001 Subaru Forester
$7990
87k miles
2.5L H4

2001 Mercedes C320
$6990
78k miles
3.2L V6

I would opt for the Corolla if it does have side airbags (they were optional on the lower trim models during that time period) or pick the Legacy with the low miles. It is the series of model years that did feature leaky head gasket and early failure for Legacy's, however. Timing belt and water pump will need to be changed at 105K or close to that per owner's manual.