Okay, here goes . . . I’m a woman and HATE HATE HATE(did you hear me?) salesmen and their gimmicks about how “you look like an intelligent little lady” and “I can have you driving that out of here today” So here’s my advice for anyone buying a car whether they are male or female.
You obviously have access to the internet so surf the web about cars and make a decision about the brand of car you want before you ever go to a dealership. There is a lot of info out there as well as message boards about pros and cons of each vehicle.
Then when you know what you want go and find it at two different dealerships and do their little dance about trade-ins, monthly payments, etc. The idea is to NOT leave the dealership in a new car but to go home, think about it and go see if the other dealer can match or beat it. After a few visits back and forth where you mention that so-and-so down the street can beat that then you will have their absolute best deal.
Very time consuming, I know, but well worth it money-wise.
Also, check what the insurance will be before you buy anything. You don’t want to buy something and then get a shock later on about how high the insurance will be. And a lot of the time car insurance places will tell you what your safest bet will be in a car. They have access to all the safety tests done and will happily share what they know.
Oh, I have something to say about Saturns. There was something faulty about the way the seats were bolted in. DISCLAIMER- this was at least 5 years ago so the problem may be fixed now. But when they are involved in minor wrecks a lot of the time the front seats would come unbolted from the floor which was a real hazard to anyone in the back seat. The reason I know this is because my aunt rear-ended someone on the freeway and while it was a relatively minor accident her seat came unbolted (or the track that lets it adjust forward and backward stripped or something) and she hit the carseat behind her and tore it up. Luckily my cousin wasn’t riding in it.
After that my aunt got on the internet and looked it up and it was a problem with a lot of Saturns at the time. But again, it was a few years ago and probably is fixed in the new models now.
Now I’m over my 2 cents. ::sigh:: Just put it on my tab.
I’d like to throw in a vote for either a Honda or a Toyota, but how much are you planning on spending? Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys can get somewhat expensive and still cost quite a bit if they’re a few years old, but Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas are much more affordable.
If a used car is in your future, I recommend you spend a few bucks to have your final choice inspected by a reputable mechanic before you buy it.
Your mechanic may find things that the seller didn’t divulge. You can still buy the car but it gives you more bargaining power.
Secondly, the only way to successfully way to negotiate anything is your willingness to walk away from the deal. You have to be willing to walk away if you can’t move the seller to your terms.
First, I owned a 94 Chrysler LeBaron GTC. I ran it into an old lady trying to make a left turn from the right lane. (The old lady was, not me.)
Then came the 95 Eagle Summit, which is identical to a Mitsubishi Mirage. After the power steering and a/c belt broke seven times, it started leaking antifreeze and oil. The engine locked up and solidified.
Then the 94 Pontiac Grand Am. BLECH!!! It was shitty all around. The oil leaked, the alignment started going off, the CV’s were going bad. ETC ETC ETC.
Then I got a 93 Grand Prix…bad idea. I still am not really sure why that car died.
Then I had a 96 Jeep Cherokee…Wonderful car, Had to give it up though. My mom is going to New York and I can’t make car payments and get an apartment.
I’m only 21, and only have 4000 to spend. In two years i’ll finish college and be able to buy something else. I need it to last at least two years.
You know what I really want??? I really, really would love to have a Nissan 240SX. Those are so cool!!!
I would recommend a cavalier. I love mine. Granted, I did just buy it but almost all my friends or family members have owned one or more and none of them ever had problems.
Ah, I see your problem – you like sporty cars that are high on looks and low(er) on reliability! (Just kidding – never owned a car like that myself.)
My 3 cars have been:
Pontiac Ventura (1974 model): drove it 10 years/150,000+
Pontiac T1000 (Pontiac’s version of the Chevette): Drove it 8 years, 175,000+ miles
Mitsubishi Expo – 10 years (so far) 142,000 mi.
But I come from a family that doesn’t trade cars frequently and drives them to high mileage. I think the biggest secrets to keeping cars going is to drive conservatively and tend to regular maintenance.
I’d definitely go with a Honda or Toyota. Those cars last forever. I’ve had a Toyota Corrolla and 3 Honda Accords, none of them less than 4 years old when I bought them, and never had any problems with them.
Japanese cars last. Honestly, patriotism and what not aside, American cars are crap and will have all sorts of expensive problems popping up after a few years. Stick to japanese cars.
If you’re planning on buying a used car, try to take it on an unsupervised test drive. Drive straight to Autozone or whatever you have nearby that gives free diagnostic checks. It takes them about ten minutes to tell you any problems with the car. Cheaper than a mechanic and usually more reliable.
If it isn’t too late, I say Toyota. Not the most beautiful cars out there (at least not the old ones - I LOVE the new Corolla and Matrix) but man, can they ever LAST! I have a 7 year old Tercel thats in fantastic condition for its age, and I drive it about 90-110 km every day during the week, plus several 800km drives (each way) through out the year to see my family. Before that, I drove an 84 Corolla that rusted away on me (but it had spent most of its life next to the salty St Lawrence river, not doing much other than rusting). The engine was good for another 5 years or so (according to our mechanic), but the body just died. My dad drives a Tercel. My brother used to (sold his car when he moved to Montreal). I might pass my Tercel on to my aunt, whose VW Golf is way past due for the junk yard.
Get an early-to-mid 90s Toyota Camry or Corolla. Buy it from a person, not a dealer, if you want it cheaper. I bought my van from an individual about 4 years ago–found it through internet classifieds and I’ve been very happy with it…
Unless you’re rich, then you want to ignore the first 3 and get a Lexus instead. Friend o’ mine bought one brand spanking new in 1999 and has had zero problems with it.
And you want to buy it on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. This is because on Christmas Eve, the salespeople want to go home and they will do anything to make you go away. On New Year’s Eve, they are trying to reach year-end quotas. Bust their balls!
Edmunds.com is the car buyer’s friend, for both new and used cars.
Kelly Blue Book (possibly kbb.com, check Google) is the used car buyer’s friend as well.
You can get a lot of car for $4k, if you check the reliability records. My first car was a ten-year-old Honda (built in America), that cost me $2k. I drove that car for 4 1/2 years, until it died on me. Even for its age, it gave me very little trouble.
Buy a Honda Civic or Accord. We’ve been driving them since 1983, and they’ve all been reliable. The two Chrysler cars we have owned were nothing but trouble.
I’m afraid I have to differ with Scuba_Ben on this one. Edmunds.com is fairly accurate but Kelly Blue Book is about 20% high on most of the cars I check there (and I check there often - occupational hazard). Our local dealers even put the Kelly Blue Book webpage on the window with their sticker pointing out that “Our Price Is Even Lower Than Kelly Blue Book!!!” There is a good article on Edmunds.com about why KBB is not an accurate representation of the actual selling price but rather the asking price.
One of the best sites, IMO, is NADAguides.com. This database is from actual dealer’s sales and not just some yo-yo’s opinion as to the value of a car.
Any car you buy will require maintenance. There’s no reason for your vehicle to have “leaking oil”, “leaking antifreeze” and “belt broken several times”. You have to factor the cost of maintaining the car into the bottom line price. Some of the cars already mentioned in this thread are very expensive to maintain even the simple stuff like spark plugs and oil filters.
I repeat. Find a mechanic that you can trust and get his/her opinion about different makes and models. When you find a car that you like, take it to the mechanic and have it thoroughly checked out.
Taking it to a place like AutoZone may not give you enough information to make an informed buying decision. They may “hook up the computer” but what do you do when the employee says, “The code means that the left bank is lean?”
AutoZone and their ilk would like you to think that all you need to do to diagnose an engine problem is just plug the car into the diagnostic computer. The reason that they can do this for free is that the know you will likely buy their parts which may or may not actually fix the problem. If it doesn’t fix the problem, what are you likely to do? Go back to AutoZone and buy more parts (see a trend?) until you either fix the problem or run out of money.
A mechanic will also be checking for poor maintenance, leaking fluids, and the like that “hooking up the computer” won’t show.
