Good "used" cars to buy?

[disneysteve]

Scanner, I've had a 1982 Datsun, a 1991 Toyota and now a 1998 Toyota. My wife has had a Toyota since 2000. My mom has had 3 since 1985. We've never had any difficulty or delay in getting any needed part. The Hondas and Toyotas are mostly all made in the US anyway.

Besides, that slow boat wouldn't be coming from China anyway. It would be coming from Japan.

[bjl584]

Actually, the slowboat probably would be coming from China. That's where the majority of replacement auto parts are made. But, I currently own a Hyundai, and I haven't had trouble getting parts for it. A few years ago, this may have been true, but it is becoming easier and easier to find replacement parts for foreign vehicles. Certain makes and models will cost you more, but availability is usually not that big an issue. Granted, certain parts may take longer to source, especially ones that are less common. But, common parts like brakes, rotors, etc. are readily available at any parts store for most cars.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

My toyota has had less repairs than your chevy blazer same year, mostly oil changes and 30, 60, and 90k services. I did my brakes and my tires. That's it.

The ford, well whole other can of worms. Enough to build a new car. And I won't compare prices, but since I paid less on average because all I did was routine maintanence, then I still have to believe Toyotas win out.

Especially since I still have my corolla but you dumped your blazer. Why so? According to mechanics who have seen my corolla should last another 10 years at this rate. Ridiculous.

[Scanner]

The Slowboat from China is just an expression.

I was really angry about that with my old Nissan. Can any of you imagine being out a car for 2 weeks?

I will say this about the ol' Amercan vs. foreign arguement.

Styling. . .no comparison. . .the foreign cars seem to just have it. I love Nissans for style.

But I haven't owned many cars in my life. Here they are:

1973 Mercury Comet
1980 Dodge Colt
1989 Nissan Sentra (not 97 - that was a typo)
1992 Buick Regal
1997 Isuzu Rodeo
1999 Ford Taurus

I am 39 y.o. so 6 cars. I started owning a car at 16, so that's 23 years.

The best cars dependability wise have been my Ford Taurus and my Buick Regal. Admittedly, the 1980 Colt and 1973 Comet American cars were bombs, especially the Dodge Colt.

The Sentra. . .while I loved the drive. . .and I swear the air conditioner ran off of 2 of the 4 cylinders (ice cold) was a repair hog. The Rodeo I lost when the head gasket blew. I tried to claim it as a casuality loss on my taxes but my accountant wouldn't let me.

My wife owned a Honda Civic 1992 and the air conditioner never got cold after multiple times taking it back to the dealer.

Again, I think there is a Honda and Toyota cult. My wife has a Toyota Matrix now so I know about this group marriage thing and gas being Blue Kool-aid.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Scanner

The Slowboat from China is just an expression.

I am 39 y.o. so 6 cars. I started owning a car at 16, so that's 23 years.

I was just busting on you. I know it's an expression.

I'm 43 and on my 4th car in 28 years. When I first started driving in 1980, I got use of the oldest family car, a 1973 Chevy Impala. That got wrecked (not by me) with 113,000 miles. I got a new 1982 Datsun Maxima, then a new 1991 Toyota Camry, then a used 1998 Camry that I still have.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

My toyota has had less repairs than your chevy blazer same year, mostly oil changes and 30, 60, and 90k services. I did my brakes and my tires. That's it.

The ford, well whole other can of worms. Enough to build a new car. And I won't compare prices, but since I paid less on average because all I did was routine maintanence, then I still have to believe Toyotas win out.

Especially since I still have my corolla but you dumped your blazer. Why so? According to mechanics who have seen my corolla should last another 10 years at this rate. Ridiculous.

I dumped my Blazer because I needed a full size truck. There wasn't anything wrong with the Blazer when I traded it. I now have a 2006 F250 Powerstroke Diesel.

[InDebtInDC]

Originally Posted by bjl584

I dumped my Blazer because I needed a full size truck. There wasn't anything wrong with the Blazer when I traded it. I now have a 2006 F250 Powerstroke Diesel.

I have a 2004 Ram 1500 with a Hemi. My other car is a Nissan with a GM small block V8.

I don't like driving anything with less than 8 cylinders

[tabbycat31]

Originally Posted by bjl584

1999 Chevy Blazer.

New Rear Brakes and Rotors = $80
New Alternator = $85
New Transmision Module = $52
New Front Passenger Side Wheel Bearing = $120
Total = $337
I owned this one from 2001 until 2008

1985 Bronco II

New Front Brakes and Rotors = $80
New Fuel Tank = $100
New U-Joint = $10
New Power Brake Booster = $50
Total = $240
I owned this from 1997 until 2000

1994 GMC Sonoma Pickup

New Fuel Injectors = $300
New EGR Valve = $180
New Brakes, Rotors, and Shocks all around = $150
New Fuel Pump = $85
New Front Driver Side Ball Joints = $50
Total = $765
I owned this from 2005 until 2008

those American vehicles are considered trucks. The American carmakers have long touted their truck quality, but the problem is that the quality ends at trucks. The day they put the same effort into their cars as they do trucks/vans/SUVs then I will consider it again.

I had an American car, and it died suddenly at 116K miles.

[Brokemofo]

I'm looking at cars now. I ONLY look at Toyota, Honda,NISSAN, Lexus, and Infiniti. American cars suck and when you go to sell them, they aren't worth a dime. The one other car I"m considering is a MINI Cooper due to its great gas mileage and extrememly good resale value. Although , MINI's are not the most reliable.

[InDebtInDC]

Originally Posted by tabbycat31

I had an American car, and it died suddenly at 116K miles.

Respectfully, I do not think this a fair characterization of American cars. For your one dead American car, I can cite two of my dead Japanese cars. Having one car die is not enough to establish statistical significance.

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

I ONLY look at Toyota, Honda,NISSAN, Lexus, and Infiniti

I personally do not like Nissan and Infiniti, even though I've owned and repaired many of them. The quality just isn't as good as Toyota or Honda.

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

American cars suck and when you go to sell them, they aren't worth a dime

While this may be true, it's also worth noting that foreign luxury cars depreciate a lot as well. So poor resale isn't limited to just American cars.

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

The one other car I"m considering is a MINI Cooper due to its great gas mileage and extrememly good resale value. Although , MINI's are not the most reliable.

I agree. I have always had a hard time working with Mini's. I don't have half the tools needed to work on these cars.

[bjl584]

People will often base opinions about certain makes and models of cars based on personal experience. In reality, it just isn't possible to own or drive every car that is out there for an extended period of time. Unless, you work for Consumer Reports or Car and Driver. Otherwise, what you see is someone saying something like, "I hate Ford. I had a Ford minivan, and I had nothing but problems with it." While that may be true, Ford makes dozens of different models and makes of vehicles. Painting such a broad brush about a company is unreasonable based on such a narrow experience. All cars, no matter who makes them, are machines. All of them have parts that wear down and fail over time. Nothing is invincible. There is someone out there that will have good and bad things to say about every car company and every car model. Everyone has had good and bad experiences with cars. Sometimes they are unlucky, sometimes they bought a model of car that was a lemon or had a history of component failures. But to say that a certain car company is no good based on a single or a handful of personel experience is like saying, the entire medical industry is no good because there were X amount of botched surgeries last year, or, the entire education system is no good because X amount of people failed out of school last year. Unfortunately, the world that we live in tends to paint a broad brush about everything.

[InDebtInDC]

Originally Posted by bjl584

People will often base opinions about certain makes and models of cars based on personal experience. In reality, it just isn't possible to own or drive every car that is out there for an extended period of time. Unless, you work for Consumer Reports or Car and Driver. Otherwise, what you see is someone saying something like, "I hate Ford. I had a Ford minivan, and I had nothing but problems with it." While that may be true, Ford makes dozens of different models and makes of vehicles. Painting such a broad brush about a company is unreasonable based on such a narrow experience. All cars, no matter who makes them, are machines. All of them have parts that wear down and fail over time. Nothing is invincible. There is someone out there that will have good and bad things to say about every car company and every car model. Everyone has had good and bad experiences with cars. Sometimes they are unlucky, sometimes they bought a model of car that was a lemon or had a history of component failures. But to say that a certain car company is no good based on a single or a handful of personel experience is like saying, the entire medical industry is no good because there were X amount of botched surgeries last year, or, the entire education system is no good because X amount of people failed out of school last year. Unfortunately, the world that we live in tends to paint a broad brush about everything.

Excellent post!

I try not to critique companies on the whole. Instead, I try to critique the design because the design is consistent across every car that leaves the factory.

Some companies design better cars. Some companies design poorer cars.


As an example, let's look at doing oil changes, and specifically placement of the oil filter. This small fact has the largest affect on maintenance because oil changes are the most routinely performed maintenance item.

Some vehicles place the filter in easily accessible locations, making it very easy to remove and install new oil filters. Other vehicles place the filter in difficult to reach places.

As a result, oil changes on these difficult vehicles tend to be slightly higher than easy cars. As standard practice, most garages will maintain a consistent oil change price. As a result of this, owners with easier vehicles subsidize owners with difficult vehicles.


I think it's valid to critique the individual design of the vehicle because the design is universal to every car built with the same configuration. Realize that when professionals make a blanket statement, this is what they really mean. Most laypeople misunderstand, and think they're talking about the whole company.

Saying that one type of car is bad based on anecdotal evidence is therefore discouraged.