Author Topic: What would MMM do?  (Read 6541 times)

Maigahane

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What would MMM do?
« on: July 02, 2013, 01:29:03 PM »
Right now I'm driving a 2003 Ford Taurus with 198k miles. It was bought brand new by my parents and given to me after a year with ~18k miles so I know it's entire history. Overall it's been very reliable but it's getting to the piont where we don't trust it to drive on road trips. It gets 23mpg and is worth AT BEST $1k due to cosmetic damage and dirty interior from my dogs. I found this http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/3907975049.html and am tempted (for those who don't want to/can't click it's a 2006 Kia Rio5, manual with 84k miles and looks clean for $3,450). I'm thinking between talking this guy down and selling my car I'd only be out $2k-2.5k and my gas mileage would go up by almost 10mpg.

My husband HATES Kia's and think they're pieces of crap so he's against it but it would be my car and ultimately my decision. I want your opinions: what would you do?


Joet

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2013, 01:30:02 PM »
sounds good to me. any warranty left on that Kia?

Maigahane

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2013, 01:38:01 PM »
sounds good to me. any warranty left on that Kia?

I very much doubt it since it's 7 years old

Rickk

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2013, 01:41:52 PM »
If it were me, I would go to the library and look up the consumer reports ratings on that model year car to see what the reliability has been.  That is an old enough car that any major defects should already be showing up in their ratings.  You can also check what prices someone like CarMax charges for similar cars to get an idea of what they retail for.  Between those you can tell if it is a good deal.  If there is any mention of transmission issues, or other major engine stuff then skip it, otherwise if it comes up as a well designed car then I would go with it.

I don't have any personal history with Kia's - so can't help you there -- but overall your plan sounds great!

Maigahane

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2013, 02:22:46 PM »
If it were me, I would go to the library and look up the consumer reports ratings on that model year car to see what the reliability has been.  That is an old enough car that any major defects should already be showing up in their ratings.  You can also check what prices someone like CarMax charges for similar cars to get an idea of what they retail for.  Between those you can tell if it is a good deal.  If there is any mention of transmission issues, or other major engine stuff then skip it, otherwise if it comes up as a well designed car then I would go with it.

I don't have any personal history with Kia's - so can't help you there -- but overall your plan sounds great!

I did a quick search and reviews overall are pretty good and I didn't see anything about tranny or engine (though it was a very quick search since I'm at work). I would probably take it to a mechanic before I bought it too. It's worth as much as $6k according to KBB and still around $4k at "fair" quality, he said it's priced to sell since he's moving out of state.

TrulyStashin

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2013, 02:26:09 PM »
If it were me, I would go to the library and look up the consumer reports ratings on that model year car to see what the reliability has been.  That is an old enough car that any major defects should already be showing up in their ratings.  You can also check what prices someone like CarMax charges for similar cars to get an idea of what they retail for.  Between those you can tell if it is a good deal.  If there is any mention of transmission issues, or other major engine stuff then skip it, otherwise if it comes up as a well designed car then I would go with it.

I don't have any personal history with Kia's - so can't help you there -- but overall your plan sounds great!

I did a quick search and reviews overall are pretty good and I didn't see anything about tranny or engine (though it was a very quick search since I'm at work). I would probably take it to a mechanic before I bought it too. It's worth as much as $6k according to KBB and still around $4k at "fair" quality, he said it's priced to sell since he's moving out of state.

Make sure to specifically search CONSUMER REPORTS and not some other reviewers.  CR is independent and will give you repair history and reliability info you can trust. 

tooqk4u22

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2013, 02:40:27 PM »
Overall it's been very reliable but it's getting to the piont where we don't trust it to drive on road trips.


Why don't you trust it if it has been reliable.  And what makes you think that buying a car with 84k miles on it and is only a couple of years younger than your car will be any better. 


Maigahane

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2013, 02:54:35 PM »
Overall it's been very reliable but it's getting to the piont where we don't trust it to drive on road trips.


Why don't you trust it if it has been reliable.  And what makes you think that buying a car with 84k miles on it and is only a couple of years younger than your car will be any better.

In the last 4 years we've put 3 new alternators in the Taurus. That's the only things that's broken on it so far but it's left us stranded in the middle of Iowa twice now and I'm afraid there's an underlying problem causing them to go out.

The big appeal of the Kia is the 32/city 35/hwy mpg plus it's a hatchback and a 5 speed so it fits my 3 requirements for a car (that I had LONG before I found MMM). Even if it's no more or less reliable than my car it would pay for itself in gas alone in about 2 years

katieboo

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2013, 03:45:01 PM »
Lol. Has your husband owned a Kia before? My SO hates any car that does not have an American name and really hates Chevys, thinks they're crap cars. He thinks Fords are the only cars worth owning.

I owned a Ford escort, bought it new and had nothing but problems. Then bought a 2005 Kia Spectra hatchback new and I've never had any problems. Still going strong at 67K miles.

So, I'd recommend taking it to a mechanic if you have doubts about the Kia's reliability, which all depends on how well it was taken care of, not necessarily the fact that it's a Kia.

Are there any men out there who really lust after Kia's? I don't know of any. They are just cheaper cars, mine was cheaper than its Mazda counterpart  and I thought it looked cute.

And by the way, my SO for some reason doesn't mind owning a Kawasaki motorcycle.  But that's different....

Emg03063

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2013, 06:42:13 PM »
If you're continually killing alternators, there's a decent chance you have a bad voltage regulator, FYI.

Maigahane

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2013, 09:58:11 AM »
Lol. Has your husband owned a Kia before? My SO hates any car that does not have an American name and really hates Chevys, thinks they're crap cars. He thinks Fords are the only cars worth owning.

I owned a Ford escort, bought it new and had nothing but problems. Then bought a 2005 Kia Spectra hatchback new and I've never had any problems. Still going strong at 67K miles.

So, I'd recommend taking it to a mechanic if you have doubts about the Kia's reliability, which all depends on how well it was taken care of, not necessarily the fact that it's a Kia.

Are there any men out there who really lust after Kia's? I don't know of any. They are just cheaper cars, mine was cheaper than its Mazda counterpart  and I thought it looked cute.

And by the way, my SO for some reason doesn't mind owning a Kawasaki motorcycle.  But that's different....

We've never owned a Kia. Between the two of us we've owned 4 Tauruses (3 of them at the same time which made our insurance agent laugh), an Escort, a Chrylser Concorde, and a MazdaSpeed3. Three of the Tauruses have been great cars, one was a Taurus SHO (Yamaha high performance engine, only way to get a Taurus in a manual) and a complete money pit. My Escort was an awesome piece of machinery. My parents bought it brand new in 1994, put about 275k miles on it, taught my sister and I how to drive a manual in it, had multiple major accidents (where it almost got totaled more than once) and when they finally sold it it was still on the original everything and got 40mpg. The Chrysler was okay (only had it for about a year before we sold it) and the Mazda's been pretty good (6 years old, 105k miles and no major issues but it's expensive to drive since it's a Speed).

DH just hates Kia's. Used to hate Hyundias too but warming up on them. Hates Dodges just because he doesn't like any of the cars they have out and not a big fan of Chevy's for the same reason. Like's Fords, Mazdas, and Toyotas and is okay on Hondas. I don't think any men lust after Kias, heck even I only remotely like them for their gas mileage :)

And Kawasaki's are awesome motorcycles. We have 2 Ninjas (well, we still have one and sold the other to our roommate) and a friend of ours who is a mechanic and hates most foreign cars won't own anything except a Kawasaki motorcycle

Maigahane

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2013, 10:01:03 AM »
If you're continually killing alternators, there's a decent chance you have a bad voltage regulator, FYI.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to look into it if it goes out again. Last time we were in the middle of a 10 hour drive so I just wanted it replaced so we could get back on the road. I also wonder if it's because we're not getting OEM (last two were Autozone or similar). My dad has had problems with other parts that were solved when he went back to OEM

Forcus

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Re: What would MMM do?
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2013, 11:47:59 AM »
Old Kia's (pre 2000's), yes, not great cars. The one you are looking at looks like a great deal. I'm a fan of keeping older cars running but there is a bit of a dimnishing return after 200k (IMO). Also, reliability needs play in to it. If you use it once a week to go 5 miles is one thing, relying on it for work and/or travel means that a failure on the road isn't really acceptable (unless you are just one of those people who is wired for adventure).

As you noted sometimes the rebuilt alternators aren't necessarily great. I've heard stories of the companies basically blasting and painting them, taking components out of a bin that are servicable, throwing them together and reselling them. So could fail in an hour, a year or who knows. On most cars, getting to the alternator is such a hassle I'd spring for the quality new / rebuilt item every time. I've had this problem with alternators, water pumps, and brake components that have been reman'd.

 

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