Speaking of cars vs transportation appliances:
Kudos to Dodge. It’s a helluva send-off!
Chevy will be ending production of the Camaro after the 2024 model year. I doubt their send-off will be as substantial as the Challenger’s.
I’m in the market for a new (to me) daily driver ad have narrowed it down to two cars, both at regular
(non-Toyota) dealers. One is a 2016 Toyota Corolla with 18,000 miles and the other a 2020 Corolla with 46,000. The prices are almost identical and both cars appear to be in very good shape with good service records and clean Carfax. The newer one still has some manufacturer warranty left and has brand new tires and front brakes. I’m not a big bells and whistles guy but is there any fundamental mechanical difference between these model years? The dealer with the 2020 is trying to include a Stargard for $995 that I don’t want or need. We haven’t entered real negotiations yet.Thoughts?
New EVs coming in the next few years.
They’re both Corollas, which are great cars, so you can’t go wrong here. Assuming they’re optioned similarly, I think I’d get the newer one. It’s of a later generation, so benefits from a complete redesign. Probably slightly safer and more efficient. The newer one has been driven more, but in a car that can easily go over 200,000 miles, 40,000 isn’t much.
+1 … I’d go on the newer one as well… an easier sell later on, i venture this guess
Without knowing any other details, I concur with the previous respondents. Did you see the recent thread with a very similar question about two Ford F150s, one with very high mileage for its year? The consensus there was similar - all else equal, higher mileage but more recent model beats lower mileage older model.
Agreed. It’s only a 32K mile delta. Get the newer one.
Hmm. 4-0 in favor newer, so far. I though there’d be a little more difference of opinion. I was leaning toward the older one while, at the same time, thinking the mileage difference wasn’t that much in the big picture. The way the dealer of the newer car simply added this Stargard to the deal without even mentioning it irks me. I was thinking of telling him that, if I can get it knocked off completely we have a deal. Otherwise, I walk. And I will walk. I’m pretty sure I can’t go wrong with either car.
You have a good point about working with a dealer you can trust. I’d make the Stargard a deal-killer too - it’s nice to have a backup deal all ready to go.
I suggest going to a Corolla specific forum to see what the major differences are between the two generations. You might favor one over the other based on the difference.
You’re probably right. If we’re trying to make this a purely Vulcan-like logical decision, which car will provide many years of reliable transportation, then the answer is indeed either of them.
So go ahead and bring emotion into it. Does one of them appeal to you more in some other way? Does one of them have features you like that the other one lacks? (I will point out that the newer one will have a backup camera, a very useful safety feature. The older one most likely won’t.) Do you like the color of one of them better?
I should stay out of this. I always go for the older car… having “modern bells and whistles” is a negative, because I hate almost all of them.
Though as I get older, I’ll succumb to lane alerts and a backup camera (when I can no longer turn and look out the back window).
If the newer one didn’t have anything I found objectionable, I go for it. I’d look it over carefully to be sure no major repairs have been done (look at the bolts* holding the body panels on). Check the weather-stripping around the doors. Check under the seats, adjusted as far forward and as far rearward as they can go. You are looking signs of rust or for a light, but even, layer of dirt which might indicate it’s been in a flood. Yeah, the CarFax should show this, but there are ways to keep such info away from CarFax.
With the newer car, parts will be available for a longer period of time. I believe current law requires the manufacturer to maintain a part inventory for 10 years after production ends. Not just mechanical parts, but cosmetic parts as well. For example, let’s say a door panel fails in 5 years. You probably won’t be able to find an aftermarket part for either vehicle for the door panel. With the 2016 vehicle, you might have to settle for a junkyard part (with as much age as the one that broke had). With the 2020 vehicle, a factory replacement part would be available.
*Generally, the factory paints the vehicle after it is assembled, so the bolts should be painted the same as the vehicle. Chipped paint on the bolts indicate they have been removed).
If the newer car’s dealer are jerks, ref Starguard or anything else, I suggest you call the older car’s dealer and tell them you want the newer car at the other dealer but they’ve been jerks and you want to give these folks the business. You might be happily surprised at what happens next. Or not, but a phone call is a cheap play. If you get them both fighting for your money you win every time.
Believe me that the sales managers and staffs know exactly how the game is played at each of their competitors. Who’s honest, who’s a scammer, etc. And they love to score points against the opposition since they’re all competing for favor at the regional level.
Not sure where else to put this, but wow. I’ve had my windshield shattered by a lost wheel, but this is another level.
Oil change question.
I usually change the oil in my cars myself. I have been doing it all my life. Well, the past 40 years or so. The few times I have paid for an oil change, they invariably screw something up. They’ve replaced the oil plug with an impact wrench, stripping the threads in the oil pan. I’ve also had them not tighten the oil plug, so it dripped. They’ve lost the oil filler cap. Things like this don’t happen every time, but for me it has been at least one out of 4.
So, whenever I can, I do it myself. Unfortunately, as I get older, crawling around on the ground under a car is not as much fun as it used to be. So, when my car was down a quart on the dipstick and had to go it the shop for another issue, I told them to change the oil while they had it.
I pick up my car. They fixed what was wrong and I drove off. I stop at the grocery store and check the oil. It is still a quart low. So, I take it back and tell them they didn’t change the oil. They talk to the mechanic who worked on it and he said he didn’t do as he was only told to fix the repair I had needed. So, they take the car back and about 30 minutes later they say it’s good to go. The counter-guy walks me out to the car, I open the hood, and check the oil. It is now just a half-quart low (mid-way between the full and the add-a-quart line on the dipstick). I show the counter-guy, asking why they didn’t fill it with oil. He looked at it and said, “Oh, that’s where it is supposed to be.”
Now, I realized that this guy was lying (a complete oil fill should go to the “Full” mark on the dipstick). I also realized that he knew he was lying. In fact, he knew that I knew he was lying. I told him it should be to the “Full” mark if it was full. He looked at it and said “No, there’s nothing wrong with that, you’re good to go.” Not wanting to argue with someone willing to tell blatant lies, I left.
As I was driving away, I realized they probably do this to all the cars. The oil was supposed to be Mobil-1 0W30, which costs about $10/qt retail, so in bulk, perhaps they’re paying $3 a quart. If they do 100 oil changes a day, shorting each change 1/2 quart, that’s $150 in their pocket.
Now my question. Is this common practice for commercial oil changes? My recollection is they are usually within 1/16" of the full mark. Sometimes under, sometimes over.
When I go to my oil change place they show me the dip stick at the end of the process, oil to the full line.
I’ve never changed my own oil. In 30 years of driving they haven’t messed me up once that I know of. I vaguely remember one of my cars needing to have the oil plug gasket replaced from overtightening.
This. The only thing against the older car is that the rubber bits and bushings might need replacement sooner than the new car. Call the salesperson on the rug and say no Stargard or no sale. He’s just trying to increase his take.