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Well maintained means different things to different people. To most it means they had the oil changed regularly and had the tires rotated. Rarely does it mean they spent a couple grand to have the struts replaced, the timing belt changed, tranny fluid changed and so on. That's the reason they trade them off, so they don't have to deal with that stuff.
So, IMO, no, your average used car isn't worth the price for a vehicle that essentially is pre-destined, purposely designed, to be toast at around the 150k mark. Your better bet would be to simply take your best shot at a new vehicle or pick up Granny's old low mileage car for a couple thousand and drive it till the flatbed catches up with it.
Many modern cars don't need much over 100K miles other than oil changes, fluid changes, and air filters. Spark plugs, platinum or iridium, last 100K more on many cars. I just replaced the plugs on our 2006 Pilot with 135K miles - they are iridium and the new ones looked hardly better than the ones that came out. And the engine was running fine at the time. The timing belt was replaced as per Honda's schedule. The original brake pads on the that vehicle lasted over 80K miles.
If I were considering a higher mileage used vehicle I would want to know what kind of maintenance it has - if it should have a TB replacement I want a receipt or proof. Otherwise a per-purchase inspection ($100-
$150) should uncover any other problems.
I don't agree that the typical car today is purposely designed to be toast at 150K.
No two used cars are the same, even same age and model. They need to be evaluated on their own merits and it is silly to paint too broad a brush on them.
No two used cars are the same, even same age and model. They need to be evaluated on their own merits and it is silly to paint too broad a brush on them.
I agree. My car was inspected both at the dealership and by a private mechanic (who I had a history with and trust) and it was said to be in excellent mechanical condition. So much for that. . .
This car really opened my eyes to the risk one takes with financing a higher mileage car.
I agree. My car was inspected both at the dealership and by a private mechanic (who I had a history with and trust) and it was said to be in excellent mechanical condition. So much for that. . .
This car really opened my eyes to the risk one takes with financing a higher mileage car.
If you want to post up what you have done to your Suby, and what you think it may need in the near future, there are several Suby gurus on the board who can evaluate. It could be you just bought the car when it had a few needs, now you have taken care of them, and should be reliable and low-maintenance for a while now.
We have a 92 Legacy, 260K on it, runs well, uses almost no oil, about all I have had to do is replace one ball joint and the front half-shafts.
If you want to post up what you have done to your Suby, and what you think it may need in the near future, there are several Suby gurus on the board who can evaluate. It could be you just bought the car when it had a few needs, now you have taken care of them, and should be reliable and low-maintenance for a while now.
We have a 92 Legacy, 260K on it, runs well, uses almost no oil, about all I have had to do is replace one ball joint and the front half-shafts.
The problem has only been partially diagnosed. Diagnostics were done at my independent Subaru shop and they tried to replace the ECM (it was throwing a bunch of faulty codes and the gas pedal was unresponsive). Due to Subaru's security policies, I had to have the car towed to a dealership to have the ECM installed and programmed. At this point my car sat at the indy shop for 2 weeks and is now at the dealer. Total bill thusfar: $400.
The dealer did their own diagnostics and want to *start* with replacing the throttle body. They said the faulty throttle body could have fried the ECM. They hope that replacing these two things will fix the problem. 2500 to fix both of these. Not certain whether this will fix the problem though.
About a year ago the secondary air intake system went bad and the CEL has been on ever since. I was quoted $2k minimum to replace this system by the indy shop.
This is all before the 105k maintenance which was quoted at $900 by the indy shop. I'm hoping to break even on my car loan by trading the car after the new throttle body and ECM are installed. The secondary air intake system does not affect driveability, but it will need to be fixed to pass emissions (CEL = failure regardless of what codes are present).
Previous repairs include new clutch (second one was apparently almost dead when I bought the car), differential issues, various oil leaks, 4 new tires (not Subaru's fault, I hit a HUGE pothole at night and got two flats), exhaust system issues, a couple sensors, the list goes on and on. I bought the car banking on Subaru's reliability record but I guess I was pretty unlucky.
I don't agree that the typical car today is purposely designed to be toast at 150K.
Take a day and go to your local pick n' pull junkyard and take note of the average mileage on the vehicles within. Go through a variety of makes just to be fair and leave out those junked due to a crippling accident. You'll be shocked, not surprised, but shocked at how low the miles are on your "average" car. I've seen thousands in yards and the dead-zone mileage starts at around 120k and tops out at about 180k.
Every appliance, which is all a vehicle really is, is designed to give the original "new" purchaser a certain period of basically trouble free operation. After that it really is pot luck as to whether or not the appliance will give further trouble free service. There's no shame in that and no dishonesty from a manufacturer. It's simply the way it is in the real world.
That's not quite true. I can point out '60s and '70s cars I've owned and cars of people I know who easily passed the 100,000 mile mark with the original, non-rebuilt engine and transmission. Hey, my '66 Dodge Dart GT V-8 already had 109,000 when I took ownership and it had a lot of life left in it.
oh I am not dissing 60's and 70's car because whrn the engine or tranny needed a rebuild it was easy and rather cheap to do. it also gave the car a whole new life after a engine refresh and tranny rebuild. now it is cheaper to buy a new engine over a refreashed re-man not many people rebuild their base 2.0 liter toyota 4 bangers like they did back with the ford 302 and chevy 350 small blocks of the 60's and 70's
oh I am not dissing 60's and 70's car because whrn the engine or tranny needed a rebuild it was easy and rather cheap to do. it also gave the car a whole new life after a engine refresh and tranny rebuild. now it is cheaper to buy a new engine over a refreashed re-man not many people rebuild their base 2.0 liter toyota 4 bangers like they did back with the ford 302 and chevy 350 small blocks of the 60's and 70's
I know, but the point is that many '60s and '70s cars lasted far longer than 100,000 miles before needing an engine or transmission rebuild.
I think I'm tainted by my current car which is a Subaru I bought at 78k miles. It hasn't really run well since a couple months after I bought it and maintenance/repairs have been very expensive.
Maybe 100k isn't near the end of the car's useful life, but I don't want the car to have 160k by the time I pay it off and finally own it. I'm seeing asking prices for reputable cars at 150k are still over $8k!!
I bought my BMW 740iL for $7500 at 143k miles. 5 years and 40k+ miles later it's still a great car and still worth at least $5k. Yes, at 185k miles.
100k is often just barely scratching the surface of a modern (last 20 years) car's life.
I got a used car pretty cheap. I have absolutely no complaints with it. Used cars can be a good idea if they're in good shape, for the simple fact that they're cheaper, and if you can access the car's history it's probably easier to find out whether it's a problem vehicle or not, as opposed to a brand new one that hasn't been used for any amount of time.
I guess if you wanted a 3-5 year bumper to bumper warranty and could find a way to go over the 4K budget
maybe getting one of those base model KIA's I see on TV advertised for $9995.99 during the year end super summer fun fest blow out where the prices are "so low they are going out of business" speil might be a way to go.
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