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The small difference in gas costs, is not even worth considering.
What is important in an old cheap car, is what condition it is in, and what may cost you to keep it operating.
Forget brands, and people telling you that being a Lexus it is better. Both are a lot of prior operating mileage, and how well they were maintained is the test, not which brand they are.
If you have a regular mechanic, take each car to him/her (yes there are women mechanics) and let him/her make the decision for you. One can cost a fortune due to the way it was maintained or what it will very soon need that costs money to keep it operating. The other hopefully will be in better condition and will not be as expensive to maintain.
The answer as to which car is the best to buy, is not something that anyone on this chat line, can advise you, as we are not in a position to evaluate each auto. You may be told, you should not buy either one, as they will both need serious work costing big bucks in the near future, and to look for another car.
When buying that cheap of a car, brand means nothing. Current condition and potential for a problem soon, are what is important.
Hell you spend more than that at McDonald’s every month. Funny how people say that if the $22 a month is a deal breaker or not, don’t even think on how much money they blow every month on useless stuff.
Hell you spend more than that at McDonald’s every month. Funny how people say that if the $22 a month is a deal breaker or not, don’t even think on how much money they blow every month on useless stuff.
Stand in line at any urban convience store in the morning and watch people drop $20 after $20 just to buy coffee, snacks and smokes just to get thru their work day.
Lexus will be more costly to repair in the event problems arise but there is likely a better chance it was properly maintained at least in its early years.
I was looking at a 2004 ES Lexus with 20mpg for city and 2002 Corolla with 32mpg for city. I calculated (taking into account premium gas price for Lexus) for 10 miles per day or 300 miles per month and it turned out to be $22.50 difference per month. (Corolla being $22.50 per month and Lexus being $45.00 per month)
Is it worth driving a Lexus rather than Corolla for $22.50 more per month? '
Turns out to be $270 per year and $1080 per every 4 years.
No.......redo your calcs with the lexus and non-premium fuel and you will never buy the Crapolla!
Lexus is made by Toyota, and the two of them are the most reliable car brands out there. Having said that, if the cars are 15+ years old, I'd say you still want a thorough pre-purchase inspection done by a mechanic on the car that you pick. Most any older car might need some work, but you don't want to sign up for a new engine or transmission or all new brakes and suspension in the first year. - any of which could coast as much as the car. I agree that dollar-wise on gas, if you're just driving 10 miles a day, gas cost is not worth worrying about. Lexus parts no doubt cost more, and the labor might as well, if you service at the dealer. The factors I'd weight most (a) how much I liked each car and (b) what the condition of each car is.
No.......redo your calcs with the lexus and non-premium fuel and you will never buy the Crapolla!
That Lexus will run perfectly fine on 87 octane.
I 100% agree. I've owned 4 cars since 2007 that required premium gas; I've only used regular and I've never had any issues. Impressively, I tend to get better mileage on regular than on premium too (I did a few comparison tests when I got my first "Premium Only" car and regular was 1-2 MPG higher consistently).
Lexus is made by Toyota, and the two of them are the most reliable car brands out there.
There is no such thing as a reliable car brands. No one relies on brands. There are only reliable cars. Every company produces cars that are reliable and cars that are not reliable. you must learn to rely on the car, not the brand. A brand will not get you to work. In fact, it will not get you anywhere, it just sits there looking spiffy.
I 100% agree. I've owned 4 cars since 2007 that required premium gas; I've only used regular and I've never had any issues. Impressively, I tend to get better mileage on regular than on premium too (I did a few comparison tests when I got my first "Premium Only" car and regular was 1-2 MPG higher consistently).
When they added a TRD supercharger to my Tacoma, they recommended moving up to 92 octane, Premium. I did, because I really don't need detonation in an engine already being squeezed for pretty much 30% more HP and torque vs. stock, barring other engine changes. I should really add a fifth injector rail to that bad boy, but no matter. I call that cautionary.
Also, any normally-aspirated, stock engine making 100hp (or more) per liter of displacement pretty much always gets 92 octane, same theory. That they run at all on pump gas is pretty impressive to me.
When they added a TRD supercharger to my Tacoma, they recommended moving up to 92 octane, Premium. I did, because I really don't need detonation in an engine already being squeezed for pretty much 30% more HP and torque vs. stock, barring other engine changes. I should really add a fifth injector rail to that bad boy, but no matter. I call that cautionary.
Also, any normally-aspirated, stock engine making 100hp (or more) per liter of displacement pretty much always gets 92 octane, same theory. That they run at all on pump gas is pretty impressive to me.
You have to remember though that you're buying a mass-produced product. They can't engineer it to explode on anything less than 92, or else their warranty claims would bankrupt them. The computers are sophisticated enough to handle regular gas on any engine, but moreso, the engineers don't push the engines right to the edge of the limit.
If you're concerned about getting every last HP, then sure, use premium. But if you're like 95%+ of the public who drive normally, let the computer handle the work and save the money at the pump. Again, I found it to give better MPG too so it's a double savings. And I've never had any adverse issues. For that matter, ever since I stopped buying American cars back in 1998, I've never once had an engine issue of any sort. I've had trouble with other parts, but never the engine.
You drive 3600 miles a year. The price of gas is irrelevant.
If I drove that little, I'd go find a gas hog that was either fast or coddled me... or both.
Also, those cars are old. Most of the longest lasting vehicles have V8's.
Go find one in good shape and you may never have to buy another.
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