Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A couple things to look for to make sure you are getting a good quality car:
No leaks from the rear main seal on the drivers side under the car.
A new evaporator, all of them fail sometime, chances are it's already failed and been replaced. If not ask for a concession.
PVC system cleaned within the last 60k (needs to be done every 60k)
Records that indicate fluid changes such as oil, coolant, and tranny
Timing belts MUST be done every 70k/5-6 years and associated components (tensioner, pulleys, and waterpump) SHOULD be done every 140k
Do a compression test to make sure the engine is in good shape
If all checks out these cars go 300k with minor mx each year (around $800-$1k/yr retail or around $200-$300 doing it yourself). The 98's are also extremely easy to work on.
I was about 5 mins too late to the dealer to buy a 98 V70 w/ 73k on it, they wanted $5900, it was a steal. Somebody beat me to the punch . I would've been driving that car when I was 40! And I'm 27 now.
My father bought a 98 Subaru, I have their previous 95 Volvo, absolutely NO COMPARISON to which is the better car. Subies are good reliable cars but don't compare to the luxuriousness and "fun to driveness" of the Volvos. Plus I'll take Swedish built over asian built (and their lightweight components) any day.
We went with an 01 Subaru Forester for my teenage daughters to drive. AWD which helps in NH. Side airbags. Easy to handle. Easy to see out of... With AWD, the car sits lower on the ground than a 4WD vehicle; doesn't feel like a truck. It has been great so far. 2 1/2 years.
The only Subie with the third seat is the Tribeca.
OK this is amusing. I sent my wife out to buy either a Subaru Legacy or a volvo V70 and she called and said she found the car. A 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. LUkily she called before buying it so I am having her take it to a dealerhip accross the street and have it checked out, but this is nto what i had in mind at all. At least it is 4x4 and the crash test ratings are pretty good I think. The thing that I gfound gave it four stars. But then it did nto say if that is four stars out of ten or four out of five.
Gas mileage is not so good (17 mpg) but then the volvo and the subaru are only in the 21-23 range so that is really not a significant difference.
I have never been inside a grand cherokee and have only seen them from the distance. SHould I panic? She is really sold on this car and when it comes to choosing a car, she is really really stubborn (I have a long story about a stupid Hyundai Excel that she absolutely had to buy because it had cute gold Enkei wheels - who in the heck puts Enkei wheels in a hyundai excel? What a piece of junk that thing was. I hope that we are not heading down the same path
If anyone has any comments in the next hour or so (before it is too late) please let me know it is 2 pm eastern time on Friday. Thanks
IMHO the Jeep is not near as good a vehicle as the other 2 you are looking at. I think the MPG difference is going to be more like 15 vs 25 - this will be significant money if you rack up a lot of miles.
The Jeep is probably not reliable enough to really get in your pocket for gas though - it will be getting to you by being in the shop a lot.
Rather than try to buy something and take it to Chicago this weekend (bad juju to rush the purchase, worse juju to immediately take off on a road trip with a just-purchased older used car...) by all means rent, some of the rental companies give a hefty discount over the weekend)
Last edited by M3 Mitch; 06-05-2009 at 12:20 PM..
Reason: add comment on juju and rent
IMHO the Jeep is not near as good a vehicle as the other 2 you are looking at. I think the MPG difference is going to be more like 15 vs 25 - this will be significant money if you rack up a lot of miles.
The Jeep is probably not reliable enough to really get in your pocket for gas though - it will be getting to you by being in the shop a lot.
Rather than try to buy something and take it to Chicago this weekend (bad juju to rush the purchase, worse juju to immediately take off on a road trip with a just-purchased older used car...) by all means rent, some of the rental companies give a hefty discount over the weekend)
Thank you Mitch;
I read a lot of reviews online and they are all over the place. Some say the Grand Cherokee is great and they have 250,000 miles with no problems at all. Others say loads of problems. Most say that the engine is great but other things do not hold up well (radiator, exhaust manifold, ball joints). Not too many comments about replacing transmissions. I suppose on the plus side parts are readily available unlike the volvo or subaru. I would prefer one of those.
We have been hunting for a car for them for months and months and really getting no where. We just decided it was time to just buy something. I have wasted hours and hours looking at cars that turn out to be junk, or the price is bait and switch. Since we are looking at really cheap cars, renting a car will eat up a lot of what we have to spend on a beater for the girls. a $300 to $400 rental is a lot when we are looking at cars fo $4000 or less.
Meanwhile, we are laoding 5-8 people into my dads Ford Ranger that we borrowed and that is really unsafe. I will not be able to do anythign with the stupid van until next weekend and it may take more than one weekend to deal with the converter problem, so we are looking at a couple of weeks not just the trip to chicago. We really need to get a back up car now. Since I cannot spend any more time on it, I turned the responsibility over to wifey - ooops? Well maybe I can talk her out of it and get her to go look at the subarus and volvos that I spent hours locating. Grrr. Why dont wives just do what you tell them? What is this having a mind of your own thing?
Finding a used car is frustrating. I have been looking for a truck since January to no avail. Most of them sell before I can get there, or I look at it and want to do some research and it is gone the next day. Used pick up Trucks seem to sell like hotcakes. I gave up on an avalanche becuase they are too new. We have less money now due to some crises and I need to look at trucks older than 2002. Besides, I think that it may be better to get a 1998 pick up with 98,000 miles on it (if I can find one) than a 2002 avalanche with 160,000 miles or so.
I'd go with the V70- but I'm prejudice. I have a C70 'vert. Love the car. And if I were to add to the stable, it would be another "C" for sure. But I'd take a "V" also.
The only con is the electronics, (they're a little weird for those that don't know the working end of a combination wrench) but once I understood the "mapping" of the system it's pretty easy and straight forward.
Last edited by K'ledgeBldr; 06-05-2009 at 01:41 PM..
The 1998 Subie 4 cylinder motor suffered greatly from head gasket issues. If the motor is sound and the head gaskets have been replaced with the latest updated version, then it has been fixed. But without proof of that work ... and with the latest version gaskets ... do not buy one of these unless you're willing to take the risk of blown head gaskets/possible engine overheating and severe damage. They are expensive to fix if overheated, and frequently crack the block as well as warp the heads.
Otherwise, these cars are exceptionally sturdy, reliable, and easy to drive in adverse weather conditions. Mine gets 27-28 mpg in a combination of around town and highway driving. I bought it very cheaply because it had the overheating symptoms, and the owner couldn't sell it or trade it in for reasonable money with the radiator blowing coolant out of it in a three mile trip. The motor wasn't damaged, and the heads were straight ... so it only took head gaskets to repair it. Sor far, so good at 100,000 miles since the repairs.
I have neighbors with the Volvo V-70, and they've had motor problems (head gaskets) with that car, too. A friend with a Volvo specialty shop says that he sees a lot of these cars in with major issues and they've been good for his planned retirement.
Given my choice of the three cars under consideration, I'd buy a Subie with the head gaskets replaced as that appears to have fixed the only flaw in the car ... other than the higher than common fuel consumption among FWD wagons of it's class and size. If you don't need the AWD wagon for adverse driving conditions in your climate area, then it's a wasted expense that is ongoing with the fuel economy issue. There's other station wagons that are far more efficient and just as sturdy.
Last edited by sunsprit; 06-05-2009 at 02:37 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I would've been driving that car when I was 40! And I'm 27 now.
