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Well, I have had alot of OLDER Toyotas, Hondas and Mercedes. All were reliable cars, despite high mileage. Maintainence and care is the key.
I have a 1991 Lexus, with 214K, in perfect working order. I am giving it to my mother, so I bought a 1984 Mercedes diesel sedan. It has 157K (low miles for a diesel), but it was a 1-owner, well cared for car. It runs like a top and its paid for!
As far as miles go on older cars... Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Mercedes of the 1980s can easily go 200K+ miles with good care, but as with any car, especially one that old and high miles, expect some problems from time to time.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
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Thanks for the replies, all. I'll be looking at Hondas and Toyotas and using Carfax to check the previous owners and car history and all that. Thanks again!
I'm going to be looking for a decent used car pretty soon. What are some good older (no more than 10 years, or is that too old?), reliable, dependable cars? I've heard Hondas last forever. Is that true? Any others?
I am sold on Hyundai . They used to have a terrible reputation back in the late 1980's ..but they have done an about-turn ..totally. I have a 2002 Hyundai SantaFe SUV and its the best vehicle ive owned . Even if you buy a Hyundai thats 4 years old, there will be 1 year warranty left for the new owner. If you want real good fuel economy and reliability, then Hyundai Accent will do you good. We've had Hyundai SantaFe's and Sonatas in our family...4 so far...and a Hyundai Tiberon . All of them were good but especially the SantaFe's . They styling is real eye-catchy and after 50,000 miles , the cars are just as tight as the day they were new. The Koreans really have thier act together this time around and have won the confidence of the America Consumer. Hyundai SantaFe SUV is a far better buy than Toyotas RAV4 , and i compared both extensively. New or used, you will be happy with Hyundai ! Git one today !
Thanks for the replies, all. I'll be looking at Hondas and Toyotas and using Carfax to check the previous owners and car history and all that. Thanks again!
Good idea, Houstoner . . . but don't rule out Private Party Sales.
With diligent care and research there are some excellent deals out there and you're more likely to learn the vehicle's true history.
I like to buy from the previous owner, I want to meet this charachter. I like to ask them questions.
In general, look in the Consumer Reports car issue, they have a list of used cars to prefer and avoid. Would be a good starting place. I don't know that they go into cars that you can buy for $3K - you may need to look at one a couple of years old. Local library should have.
I wouldn't get hung up on 10 years old or older. I bought my 82 Scirocco for $1000 awhile back, and it's been relatively trouble-free - bought the 87 Toyota for about $3000, and have had to do some pretty serious work to it, including replace the transmission (auto) with one from a junkyard. But it was previously kid owned and I didn't pick up on the signs of abuse.
But the 'rocco was the better deal. If you can find a water-cooled VW from the early to mid '80's, they are cheap to buy, AND cheap to own. They do tend to have little electrical "gremlin" issues, bad grounds, high-resistance wiring connections, and are worse for this than the Japanese cars of the same vintage. Being able to deal with electrical problems and clean wiring connections yourself is a skill you will really need to play in the old car game.
An older Honda Prelude, particularly from about 1990, is a hell of a good car, good-looking, fun to drive, reliable, etc.
Since you are not in rust country another possible option would be a less-desirably optioned Mustang or Camaro (or any pony car) from the mid to late '60s. Find a Mustang with the old inline 6 and a 3 or 4 speed on the floor, you will get surprisingly good MPG, no depreciation at all, and it's VERY easy to work on. If you don't want to do your own maintenance on it, you will find a good local shop that will be very willing to have your business, they are really easy to fix and it's easy to keep the customer happy with these cars.
One other option then I'll end this over-long post: Older pickup. Again, if you can find one with a manual and small V-8 or I-6, they are fairly economical (provided you don't do a lot of freeway driving, they have worse aerodynamics than a brick and tend to have higher-numerical gearing (3.54, 3.73, 4.11, etc.) so they rev pretty high at 70 - bottom line is they are more economical at lower speeds). Even easier to fix than the pony car, handy to have, and if you want to sell on there is always a market for a cheap, old, but working pickup.
Personally, houstoner . . . when it comes to Used Vehicles, I firmly believe The Seller or Previous Owner is more important than the Vehicle Manufacturer.
Good Luck
I disagree! The manufacturer first, then the vehicle, then the owner... and following this logic, it would be a Honda (for me) or Toyota, then a simple car without expensive accessories to maintain... so a Civic with manual transmission and manual windows, a sedan because coupes and hatches are desired by the ricers, then lastly I only buy from an adult or family that resides in the suburbs.
Hondas and Toyotas can take a lot of abuse. My $500 Civic hatch is going strong after 4 years and 25k miles put on it. I bought it with about 150k miles and the body was a bit beat up from living in the city. But looking beat up on the outside, no one wants to steal it.
My '96 Infiniti with 180,000 miles on it still runs great, is quiet, and looks pretty good. It actually has a nicer ride that most of the brand new cars I test drove over the weekend. I would definitely recommend an old Infiniti.
It's going to be very hard to find something for $3k that's reliable for a few months. $4k will generally get you a dented, 8-9 year old Corolla with 100k+ miles on it. Those Toyotas & Hondas hold their value well.
If you can get a GM boat car, the 3.8 Liter V-6's are generally stout drivelines and can get up to 25 mpg highway. You may be able to find an older Olds 88, Regal, Grand Prix or Bonneville. Beware of the 3.1 and 3.4L V-6's in those cars, unless you can do intake manifold gaskets easily.
It's going to be very hard to find something for $3k that's reliable for a few months. $4k will generally get you a dented, 8-9 year old Corolla with 100k+ miles on it. Those Toyotas & Hondas hold their value well.
If you can get a GM boat car, the 3.8 Liter V-6's are generally stout drivelines and can get up to 25 mpg highway. You may be able to find an older Olds 88, Regal, Grand Prix or Bonneville. Beware of the 3.1 and 3.4L V-6's in those cars, unless you can do intake manifold gaskets easily.
A GM "boat car?" They are not really very big, not the ones from the '90s and later.
The ones from the '50s-'70s were boat-sized (a good thing, IMO). Although, even the '70s Buick Regals and Pontiac Grand Prixs were mid-sized cars.
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