ARGH! NOT AGAIN!

[Phoenix]

When I was shopping for a new car, I did a lot of research online at Consumer Guide Automotive.  If you find a make of a certain car, you can look at the recall history and how they felt about it. But let me tell you... every car is different. If you take two lets say Jeep Grand Cherokees that have the same mileage, same year, same accessories... guess what, they won't be the same. I have two friends in the local area that have Jeeps. One has no problems with well over 70,000 miles and the other has tons of problems and less than 60,000 miles. Both take it in for regular maintenance and everything.

Unless you go out and buy a brand new right off the truck car, you don't know what the previous owner has done to it. Some people luck out and get good used cars. I did with my first used one, until I hit 80,000 miles and then it was down hill from there on. Faulty part, expensive part too. My second used car (a Toyota, you know, the ones that are suppose to last!), well.... not even a year after having it the axle was ready to snap in two. Thank goodness it was still under warranty (50 miles to spare!!!). Right now, I have a PT Cruiser. Its ranked near the top in its class. I enjoy it for the most part, yeah, the engine is a little annoying after long trips, but its due for a little loving in the next 200 miles.

Anyway, the point of this is that you never know when you're going to get a good car. You never know how well it will stand up to your driving. You never know until its too late and you've already laid down thousands of dollars.  Its kinda like Russian  Roullette, except there's more than one bullet :p

[klork]

*blink* why do people always try to lead me away from my top favorite cars?

Hey, I went through the same thing while trying to get my liscense. I kept thinking about how cool it would be to have one of those Jeeps but my family kept on warning me about how easily those things can flip over in an accident.

They *can* be dangerous, but like anything tricky you just have to learn how to use it safely and you won't have a problem, really.  I've had my wrangler for 4 years and have never once gotten it into an accident.


Speeding ticket however.......

[klork]

Unless you go out and buy a brand new right off the truck car, you don't know what the previous owner has done to it. Some people luck out and get good used cars. I did with my first used one, until I hit 80,000 miles and then it was down hill from there on. Faulty part, expensive part too. My second used car (a Toyota, you know, the ones that are suppose to last!), well.... not even a year after having it the axle was ready to snap in two. Thank goodness it was still under warranty (50 miles to spare!!!). Right now, I have a PT Cruiser. Its ranked near the top in its class. I enjoy it for the most part, yeah, the engine is a little annoying after long trips, but its due for a little loving in the next 200 miles.

Anyway, the point of this is that you never know when you're going to get a good car. You never know how well it will stand up to your driving. You never know until its too late and you've already laid down thousands of dollars.  Its kinda like Russian  Roullette, except there's more than one bullet :p

Definitely agreed.  I lucked out MASSIVELY with my jeep, mainly because we know that the previous owner didn't do *anything* with it.  My main problem was the muffler because it was rusted through, and the battery dying because it was the *original* battery from 1992.  My wrangler just hit 100,000 miles and it's still sailing smoothly, and from what my father says whenever he looks at the engine, it'll probably run for another 100,000 more. (Though, honestly, I'm probably gonna end up cleanin' it up real nice and then selling it to someone who will retire it into a nice Mudding life before it gets there. )

My husband has had much worse luck with his used cars--his LeSabre has been good to him, but his previous Honda Civic just outright bit it OVER and OVER when we were up in school.  The only thing wrong with the LeSabre has been his driving--but like roll-over crash rates on Jeeps, honestly that's based more on the driver's carelessness than the actual car itself.  99.9% of people know they roll easily when they buy them, it's just those that don't care and feel they can do anything that end up hurt in them.  (Honestly, Jeeps anywhere before 1995 were not meant to go over 70 mph unless you want the entire thing to essentially turn you into a milkshake, yet I see people flooring it over 90 on the freeway between here and Seattle, and changing lanes erratically.  People are so used to things adapting to them that they don't realize they have to drive a car different from a truck, a jeep different from a sports car.)

....and I'm rambling again, but my main point was....essentially Phoenix's....  Oy gevalt.

[Aignatius]

Heh... one must face the facts, cars are expen$ive.

You can buy a new or almost new car, and make payments, and if under warranty, it shouldn't give any trouble. Sadly, I've known people who had new cars who have had troubles with them, and dealing with the dealership (pardon teh pun, not intended) it was one long series of headaches.
Me, I'm usually the last owner of a car. Down to the dregs. But the cars I've had were pretty good for the price.

What it boils down to is 2 things:
a) what you can afford to buy
b) what you like so much you don't mind putting money into it

The decision hinges on whether it's worth putting more money into it, or turning around and buying another car, and possibly dealing with its problems, if any. Usually the biggest factor is rust. Rusted cars ultimately aren't worth fixing up.

The other thing is, how you treat it. If you don't tear around town like most people, then it will last longer. If you change the oil and maintain it regularly, it will last longer. If you live in a place that does not have harsh weather conditions, like salted roads in winter, etc. then it will last longer. If you don't have to commute every day to work it will last longer. In other words, in a perfect world, it will last longer.  

The car manufacturers don't want their cars to last too long, or they will go out of business. Look what happened to the Checker cars. Sure, they were bought up by the cab companies, but you probably could put half a million miles on them, and so after a while, no one is going to need to buy another. You could buy a used Greyhound bus, those last a long time... many of those literally have a million miles on them.

To be honest, if I may ramble on, the newer cars to me seem too flimsy and don't hold up long after they're paid off. Older cars may be clunky and not good looking, but they are better built. Having driven a few rental cars over the years, the only one I liked was the Nissan Altima. The Buick Century was atrocious, and the 2000 something Chevy Astro van, ehh, wasn't bad. Toyota pickup, gah, no power, and a pathetic little horn. The Subaru Outback is nice, but it doesn't last. The engine plppts out at about 130K miles.

Probably not very helpful commentary, I don't exactly fit the status quo, LOL!

[Lisardo]

I was just gonna say buy a new Bug maybe, but after all these reviews that they aren't reliable, perhaps you shouldn't.  I didn't know they weren't reliable.  But they don't seem like the most economical car, that's for sure.  I myself am happy with my Saturn.  The top three cars I hear the most reliable and ecomonical are:

1) Honda
2) Toyota
3) Saturn

The cheapest being Saturn, which is another reason I went with them.  Do online searches, saves a lot of time (how I found my car actually).  And like others have said check places that aren't so finicky about your credit.  Most places also do a 'Car Facts' or whatever youc all that shows the history of the car and any possible accidents it's been in, though you can go online and do it too.  Good luck though and sorry for your car troubles.

[Brinatello]

Saturn was one of the top choices I was looking for when out buying a new car.  I really like the look of them, they get good gas mileage, fairly reasonable-priced, and the most important, it gets me from Point A to Point B.  Although, Christine went on about how great Rav4 vehicles are.  They're not SUVs, or more like a smaller version of them where I won't get yelled at by other drivers.  SUV drivers get such a bad rep.  But, Toyotas are very good cars.  Our 1985 Camry before the Rav lasted a very long time, but when it started to go, it scared me while driving.  I don't feel scared driving the Rav and it's a '99.