Author Topic: buying a car with 100k miles on it?  (Read 55047 times)

Freedom2016

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buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« on: December 02, 2012, 10:21:14 PM »
Hello, mustachians!

Car question here. I have a 2003 MINI Cooper that is no longer practical given that we have a 7 month old kiddo and the car seat really does not work well in it. The car is worth about 6k and we'll either sell it ourselves or trade it in.

We are looking into the wagon or SUV (don't kill me) direction and want to spend about 10k. To get something like a Subaru Outback or Nissan Murano, we're looking at 2005 or 2006 models, with 100k miles.

Should I be nervous to get a car with so many miles on it? Does it depend on the make/model? Does it depend on how well it was maintained by previous owners? Something else? If it matters, I'm not a home-car-repairs type of person, and I'm not going to start anytime soon.

If I asked my dad about this (car buying is a hobby for him), he'd heavily criticize me for getting something with that kind of mileage. Of course he would also push me into car loans or leasing, which is why I don't plan to ask for his input.

Thanks for any input you can provide!

Paul der Krake

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2012, 05:52:02 AM »
Should I be nervous to get a car with so many miles on it?
Yup. Nervous excitement from all the savings you're going to make.

Does it depend on the make/model?
Absolutely. Do your research. Some people drive their cars until the wheels fall off around 300k miles.

Does it depend on how well it was maintained by previous owners?
Correct. You want to buy from a meticulous-looking seller, ideally someone who doesn't need the money and is selling because of relocation or something like that. Ask for every routine maintenance records they have. Ask if the car was garaged in the winter if you live in cold climates, that sort of things. Take your time when you inspect and test drive the car, and take it to a mechanic you trust for a second opinion. This will cost you a little, but  could save you from buying a shitty car.

Now you better have a valid reason for wanting to drive an SUV with just a toddler. :-)

Your Dad sounds a little suspicious: a car hobbyist encouraging leasing?

MMM has a good article about used cars here, in case you missed it:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/28/new-cars-and-auto-financing-stupid-or-sensible/

« Last Edit: December 03, 2012, 05:55:59 AM by Paul der Krake »

frugal_engineer

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2012, 06:27:09 AM »
Should I be nervous to get a car with so many miles on it?
Yes.

If I asked my dad about this (car buying is a hobby for him), he'd heavily criticize me for getting something with that kind of mileage.
He is correct, but not about loans / leasing. 

The problem with buying cars with that many miles is that you need to have expert level experience in auto maintenance and issue diagnosis in order to determine if the car is a POS.  @ 100K many things may (will) be ready for replacement: shocks, bearings, pumps, bushings, ball joints, cv joints, tie-rods etc, etc.  Cars where these items last to 200k+ are the exception not the rule.

You need to be able to check these during the buying process to be a successful used car buyer.

When buying used, the best thing to do is to "think old in years - young in miles".  A 2010 with 100k miles on it is an OLD car. A 2000 with 50k miles on it is a YOUNG car.

Freedom2016

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2012, 06:46:20 AM »
Thanks for the input!

So I'm on sites like kbb.com and edmunds.com, and reading 'best car' lists on usnews, but is there a good (different?) site for finding car reliability info?

And as for my dad, maybe I used the wrong terminology. He loves the 'hunt' when he's buying a new car. He lives in Nebraska and has purchased vehicles in Texas and Massachusetts because, after days/weeks of exhaustive research, he's determined those are the very best deals to be had in the COUNTRY and he doesn't mind traveling that far to pick up the vehicle (which I think is ridiculous). He couldn't believe it when I bought my MINI after just a couple of short weeks of research and one or two test drives (plus an inspection by a Car Talk Guys endorsed garage).

frugal_engineer

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2012, 06:53:26 AM »
And as for my dad, maybe I used the wrong terminology. He loves the 'hunt' when he's buying a new car. He lives in Nebraska and has purchased vehicles in Texas and Massachusetts because, after days/weeks of exhaustive research, he's determined those are the very best deals to be had in the COUNTRY and he doesn't mind traveling that far to pick up the vehicle (which I think is ridiculous).

This is perfect.  Your dad sounds like mine in fact.  Last year my dad bouht a 2004 Pontiac Bonneville from Tampa Bay Fl, he lives in Buffalo NY.  The car had 10k miles on it, and he paid $7400.  This thing was owned by an old lady that had passed, and it was spotless and perfect in every way.  At 10k any car is basically BRAND NEW, and he got an awesome cruiser for $20k+ off the new MSRP price.

Based on your posts so far, I'd enlist your dad for the search, maybe even hire him to pick up a car out of town for you.  He definitely appears to have the right idea as long as he isnt going for loans.  Doing a longer more detailed search can only work in your favor.  Quick decisions have a higher chance of backfiring when buying used cars.

chicagomeg

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2012, 08:14:40 AM »
Thanks for the input!

So I'm on sites like kbb.com and edmunds.com, and reading 'best car' lists on usnews, but is there a good (different?) site for finding car reliability info?

And as for my dad, maybe I used the wrong terminology. He loves the 'hunt' when he's buying a new car. He lives in Nebraska and has purchased vehicles in Texas and Massachusetts because, after days/weeks of exhaustive research, he's determined those are the very best deals to be had in the COUNTRY and he doesn't mind traveling that far to pick up the vehicle (which I think is ridiculous). He couldn't believe it when I bought my MINI after just a couple of short weeks of research and one or two test drives (plus an inspection by a Car Talk Guys endorsed garage).

Best resource is Consumer Reports for reliability info. It's about $7.00/month or $35/year, but I think it's money well spent. You can also probably borrow the auto buying guide from your local library.

rtrnow

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2012, 08:15:52 AM »
We have a 2005 Murano that we purchased 5 years ago with 45k miles. It has been a great car and now has 93K miles. The one issue to be aware of is that this was the early years of CVT transmissions. Because of a lot of issues, Nissan extended the warranty on some Murano transmissions (i know it covers ours) to 100K miles. So if you go that route you may want to look for something in the 85k miles range so you have some time under that warranty. We have not had an issue with ours, but that is a very expensive repair should you have to pay for it. Perhaps you could even find one that has had the transmission replaced recently.

capital

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2012, 09:59:52 AM »
Thanks for the input!

So I'm on sites like kbb.com and edmunds.com, and reading 'best car' lists on usnews, but is there a good (different?) site for finding car reliability info?

And as for my dad, maybe I used the wrong terminology. He loves the 'hunt' when he's buying a new car. He lives in Nebraska and has purchased vehicles in Texas and Massachusetts because, after days/weeks of exhaustive research, he's determined those are the very best deals to be had in the COUNTRY and he doesn't mind traveling that far to pick up the vehicle (which I think is ridiculous). He couldn't believe it when I bought my MINI after just a couple of short weeks of research and one or two test drives (plus an inspection by a Car Talk Guys endorsed garage).

Best resource is Consumer Reports for reliability info. It's about $7.00/month or $35/year, but I think it's money well spent. You can also probably borrow the auto buying guide from your local library.
Consumer Reports is indeed very helpful. They do big member surveys for reliability data. They have a lot of info out there for free, and your library almost certainly has their magazines & books.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/the-best-used-vehicles-for-under-20-000/index.htm
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/03/best-used-car-deals/index.htm

Is there any reason you need an SUV, beyond wanting 4 doors and a hatchback? One car seat doesn't call for a huge car. Something like a Honda Fit, Mazda 3, Toyota Matrix, Subaru Impreza, or Pontiac Vibe can get 30+ MPG while still having plenty of room inside for people and stuff. And if you want to trade upfront costs for low cost of operations, there's always the Prius.

thurston howell iv

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2012, 11:07:50 AM »
These days 100k miles is no big deal. (I have a Honda with 208k, a Subaru with 158k, a Ford with 103k--- no problems)
You don't have to be an expert to tell if a car is a POS... If you're uncertain you can always get an inspection like you did for your current car...

SUV?  Might be a bit big for your application- Beware, they are gas hogs!  I have an Expedition with 3rd row seating. It's a monster- my best hwy was 18mpg.
Subaru Impreza Wagon is probably ideal for you (They're not that great on gas either 23-27mpg)

If you buy the car cheap enough, it should offset the less-than-stellar mpg.

Freedom2016

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #9 on: December 03, 2012, 11:26:03 AM »
Thanks for the further info & links - I'll look into them!

There are two main reasons for going in the SUV direction, and I fully admit that mustachians will likely pooh-pooh them, roll their eyes, and/or punch me in the face. I should say that we don't want a huge full size thing (my dad has a Suburban - that thing's ridiculous); we're looking at crossovers.

Reason 1 is legroom/headroom in both the front and back seats. I'm 5'9" and H is 6'1" and 250 lbs. We can't deal with cramped back seats anymore. Both the MINI and our other car (Volvo sedan) are very tight in the back. I hate it, not only for me, but for the PITA it is to get my son in and out of the back seat (the front seats are pushed back so far that navigating his car seat around those seat backs, while bent over in an uncomfortable position at the side of the car, means that I am jostling the kid around a lot before I can snap him in. I have cussed out the cars on more than one occasion).

Reason 2 is cargo space size and ease of getting things in/out. We store a pack'n'play, snap'n'go, & lawn chairs (that have been surprisingly handy year-round) permanently in the trunk of the Volvo -- these would move over to the new family car. I want it to be easy to add other things to the trunk/cargo area - luggage when we travel, hand-me-downs between our families (these come as bins of clothes, toys, other gear on a pretty regular basis), and other random crap that it feels like we're often schlepping somewhere.

I'm not sure how well the smaller cars suggested do on those fronts...?

PS - I realized I should say that we do hope/plan to have a 2nd child in the next 18-24 months and since we plan to keep the next car for quite awhile, we want to buy for the larger family we're (hopefully) going to have.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2012, 11:33:22 AM by course11 »

Paul der Krake

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #10 on: December 03, 2012, 11:45:08 AM »
Have you looked at the larger sedans, like a fairly recent camry? The increased cargo between a 1998 camry and a 2009 is mind-boggling, especially on the XLE models. Hell, the GF drives a 2010 corolla LE and we cram soooo much crap in there, including my antsy 6' frame. With just one kid, you can also store a decent amount of stuff on the backseat next to him.

It could be a good idea to "test-load" a friend's car of the type you have your eyes on, see how things go.

bogart

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2012, 11:53:36 AM »
Just to give some sense of my "old car credentials," DH and I have driven 2 of the 4 vehicles we've done in since getting married over 200K miles, and the other 2 around 180k before deciding needed repairs exceeded the cost/irritation of replacing them.  And when I bought a "new" car to transport my kid in, it was a 10-year old Ford Taurus station wagon with 120K miles for which I paid $2.5K cash (that's one of the 2 that we only drove to about 180K).  So my propensity to dash out and buy new (or to replace)  vehicles is no more than moderate.

That said, my own sense of the current car market -- on which I am not myself entirely current (my last purchase was ~1.5 years ago of a used Pontiac Vibe that had 17K miles) -- is that it is not a great used car market, that cars are holding their value pretty well (at the time I bought the Vibe, a friend bought a Mazda 3 new for less than he was finding used ones listed for).  As an example, there are 2 new Subaru Outbacks at my local dealer listed online at (just) under $25K.  So of course, they'd probably go for less, and if you're figuring a car goes for 200K miles (which is usually what I expect), and planning to drive it 'til it drops (which I do), well, versus paying $10K for something with 100K on it ... you're the one getting to enjoy the car's trouble-free years, and to know from the beginning that it's well-maintained.  On the downside, you also pay higher taxes and insurance in the early years, and of course if you are borrowing to buy new rather than used, then you have to figure those costs in (but if you have a good credit rating, interest rates are absurdly cheap at the moment).  I'm not sure what they are, but whatever safety improvements exist between ~2006 and ~2012, you get those too.

I know it's not the mainstream view on this board, and I do believe it hinges in part on a willingness to drive the vehicle until it keels over, but it's really not obvious to me that in this market, buying used is a money-saving strategy in the long term (again, contingent on assorted conditions). I'd do the math carefully for whatever used car(s) you look at before you decide.

PJ

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #12 on: December 03, 2012, 12:00:04 PM »
When buying used, the best thing to do is to "think old in years - young in miles".  A 2010 with 100k miles on it is an OLD car. A 2000 with 50k miles on it is a YOUNG car.
 
And a car like mine, a 1993 Grand Am with 86,000 km (approx 53,000 miles) when I bought it?  Young or old?  Hard to think of a 20 year old car as "young," but it's certainly young for its age! 
 
I don't know enough about cars to advise on make and model, but from my experience buying an older car, a few thoughts ... 
 
You don't have to personally know cars well to know whether a car is in good enough shape to buy - I took a car I was thinking of buying to my mechanic friend for a once over.  It cost me, IIRC, about $100 at the dealership where he works.  He ended up advising me not to buy it because it would have needed a lot of repairs, but found me another car that the dealership had taken as a trade in but was planning to send for scrap purely on the basis of age.  Yes, I had to pay again for safety certification and emissions testing on that car too, but at least then I found out that the tires and brakes were new, etc.  There was no visible rust at the time (I've found one spot since then) and I believe it had probably been parked in an underground parking garage - the former owner was an 80 yr old lady who probably only drove it to church and the grocery store!  You wouldn't want to pay $100 multiple times, but when you've narrowed it down to a strong possibility, you can at least make sure you're not making a horrible mistake.

Also, let people know that you're in the market for a older car with decent mileage.  I talked to one friend the week after they sold a great older Toyota with reasonable mileage to another friend for a great price.  I still cry a little over that one, as they would have been meticulous about maintenance and I'm sure the car was in fantastic shape.  Then I got a lead on another car from another friend (it was her sister-in-law's car).  That's the car I took to my mechanic friend - at that point, he knew I was seriously in the market and went looking for me. 

Now, cost/repairs.  With a much older car comes more repairs, but at a much cheaper purchase price for the car, you may be able to afford them.  I paid only $400 for the car itself.  Emissions testing and safety certification, a few minor repairs, initial licensing fees, and a gift certificate to a local steakhouse for my friend (who had come in on his day off to make the needed repairs) - I think I drove off the lot for $1100 or so.  Compared to the $10000 you're planning to spend, you could bank quite a few thousand to cover any repairs that would come up :-) 

And then there is insurance.  With such an old car, that cost me so little to buy, it was an easy decision to go with the bare minimum of insurance allowed by law.  That saves me money on insurance every month, and if something ever happened to the car, I'd look for another similar car so I could keep my insurance costs lower.

Ok, so I'm not necessarily suggesting that you get a car as old as mine - the gas mileage isn't great, I'm transporting just myself and my dogs, not children, etc.  So YMMV.  But I am suggesting that if you widen your range of make/model, age, mileage and price, you might find a great car that saves you money in one area or another, and still gets you what you want. 
 

Scottma

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2012, 12:23:23 PM »
Definitely second the recommendation for Consumer Reports. My wife and I knew we were going to be trying to have a baby in the near future when we had to replace my last car, and so we had some of the same constraints you have. I'm 5'11" and very pleased with the Toyota Matrix we bought for around $8k and 100,000 miles. No major repairs have been required yet.

Definitely do your research on Consumer Reports and be open to trying out cars that you hadn't thought of but that score well for reliability and safety. And craigslist is your best bet for buying a reasonably-priced car and for selling your current one at a reasonable price. And be sure that you take any car you're thinking of buying to a mechanic you know and trust. They can spot signs that a car hasn't been maintained well. It's a gigantic pain in the ass, and not ever seller will let you do that, but I would never buy a car without that check.

Oh, and the Edmund's owners reviews were very helpful...we were able to avoid a reasonably priced Lexus wagon because owner after owner posted on the board over there that their transmission had failed. Some multiple times...

Jamesqf

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2012, 12:29:50 PM »
Realistically, these days a Honda or Toyota isn't even broken in until it hits 100K miles.  The only vehicle I've bought in decades that didn't have over 100K when purchased was my Honda Insight.  That had 50K when purchased, and is still going strong at 160K (though I am going to have to do something about the floor mat before long).

Comfort, leg room, and so on are pretty subjective.  To me, the SUVs I've ridden in feel a lot more cramped than the Insight, because they force me to sit bolt upright, instead of in a normal semi-reclining position.

mindaugas

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #15 on: December 03, 2012, 12:58:23 PM »
The best free thing you can do is lurk the forums for whatever make/model you want. You'll discover which years are best, what goes wrong, general maintenance, etc. We have a 9 month old and we bought the Outbacks for that reason. We didn't want an SUV, we wanted AWD, and something with decent space. they don't get the best gas mileage, but there are far worse choices out there. Plus they are awesome in the snow. I bought one of my '02 Outbacks with 120k on it 3 years ago and it now has 150k. I have not had to replace any major parts. There are some wear and tear parts that need done like the struts and rotors. Before that I bought a '99 Legacy with 200k on it cash, put $600 in it so it would pass emissions and drove it for 2 years without any issues. No one ever complains about Subaru's reliability so any Outback with over 100k should be fine.

Nords

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #16 on: December 03, 2012, 01:01:11 PM »
So I'm on sites like kbb.com and edmunds.com, and reading 'best car' lists on usnews, but is there a good (different?) site for finding car reliability info?
Another vote for Consumer Reports, either by going to your local public library or by paying for online access.  Worth every penny.

CarFax:  buy the "five reports for a discount" option.  Ask every owner for the VIN and run every VIN that you're seriously considering buying.  It's amazing what pops up on a title search.

If you're a USAA member (or if you're eligible for auto insurance membership) then take a look at the used-car search part of their Auto Circle:
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/12/03/usaa-military-transitions-home-circle-auto-circle/

Six months ago our daughter bought a '99 Honda CR-V with 163K miles on it.  So far so good!

MountainFlower

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #17 on: December 03, 2012, 02:03:53 PM »
I think that a Japanese brand vehicle at 100K is fine.  HOWEVER, many need the timing belt replaced at about that mileage, which is expensive.  It was $900 on my SUV.  OUCH!!

chucklesmcgee

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #18 on: December 03, 2012, 05:01:06 PM »
Definitely do your research on Consumer Reports and be open to trying out cars that you hadn't thought of but that score well for reliability and safety. And craigslist is your best bet for buying a reasonably-priced car and for selling your current one at a reasonable price.

I was having a tough time finding a Toyota, Honda or Hyundai in good shape on craigslist in my semi-rural area so i turned to CR. Was able to find a top-rated 2000 Lexus in great shape for a lot less than any of the other Toyotas and such. 163k miles, no problems in the last 6 months. Probably should go another 70k or so without any issues.

100k miles is just getting good these days. Personally, if I had a choice, I'd go with a newer car with higher mileage than an older car with lower mileage if they were the same price. The safety, efficiency and amenities of more recent cars are just so much better. Plus you can be sure that parts will be available for a bit longer.

$_gone_amok

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2012, 05:04:29 PM »
I bought a honda CRV with nearly 100K miles on it for ~$6K and now it has more than 210K miles. I only did the regular oil changes and replaced timing belt/water pump at 160K miles. My mechanic said the car is in such a good condition it has no problem of going over 500K miles.

 I suggest looking at the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4.

matt_g

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #20 on: December 03, 2012, 05:12:50 PM »
How about getting a smaller car seat?  Diono RadianR120?

unimaginitiveusername

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #21 on: December 04, 2012, 11:54:29 AM »
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned carsurvey.org yet.  Over 100,000 user reviews, covering just about any year/make/model combination.  Worth looking at.

Freedom2016

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #22 on: December 06, 2012, 10:57:57 AM »
So I'm on carsurvey.com and it's hard to make sense of the reviews. There might be 4 reviews for the model/year I'm considering, and two will be over-the-top positive, while two are in-the-gutter negative. This pattern seems to be holding true across several different makes and models, so it's hard to know how to weigh the bad? For kicks, I looked up my current car (the MINI), and there are equally negative and positive reviews; my own experience has been in the middle. 

I'm cross-checking against Consumer Reports and Edmunds, but ugh! I don't enjoy this kind of research. :(

chicagomeg

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #23 on: December 06, 2012, 12:22:50 PM »
So I'm on carsurvey.com and it's hard to make sense of the reviews. There might be 4 reviews for the model/year I'm considering, and two will be over-the-top positive, while two are in-the-gutter negative. This pattern seems to be holding true across several different makes and models, so it's hard to know how to weigh the bad? For kicks, I looked up my current car (the MINI), and there are equally negative and positive reviews; my own experience has been in the middle. 

I'm cross-checking against Consumer Reports and Edmunds, but ugh! I don't enjoy this kind of research. :(

I took a quick look at CarSurveys too and it didn't seem to be more than anecdotal evidence. There just aren't enough people using it to have real data. Consumer Reports is still my recommendation.

Freedom2016

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #24 on: December 30, 2012, 09:06:07 PM »
Update:

We pulled the trigger and purchased an '07 Murano on Friday with 44k miles. We probably deserve a face punch because we upped our budget to buy it, but we did keep it to an all cash deal and paid $800 below blue book value for it. We also resisted pressure to buy an extended warranty. My favorite feature: a cassette deck (!).

We had some 'adventures' dealing with dealership salesmen, not to mention my dad who tried to convince us to lease or at least buy 'more' car than we wanted to pay. We got the car checked out by our mechanic beforehand, and are covered by a manufacturer's warranty on the transmission for four years.

Now: fingers crossed that it'll run to 200k miles or more!
« Last Edit: December 30, 2012, 09:32:38 PM by course11 »

Jack

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Re: buying a car with 100k miles on it?
« Reply #25 on: December 30, 2012, 10:48:03 PM »
My favorite feature: a cassette deck (!).

Hey, don't knock it -- if you want to hook up a smartphone or MP3 player then cassette deck adapters work a heck of a lot better than those stupid radio transmitters, and cost a whole lot less than devices that get wired into the aux/CD changer input.

When the factory radio/cassette head unit broke on my Beetle, I replaced it with another cassette one instead of upgrading to a CD player for exactly that reason (and also because I didn't want to go aftermarket since Beetle stereos have round face plates and rectangular stereos look funny in them).
« Last Edit: December 30, 2012, 10:51:17 PM by Jack »

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!