We have a bit of a dilemma in our household. We have decided it is time to trade in one of our three cars for a new one. My Mustang is staying so it is not in the running for which to trade in. The two others are almost the same in trade in value (within $500 or so).
Our situation is: 2001 Blazer 4wd fully loaded with 86k miles on it, or 2004 Pontiac Montana (Minivan) also fully loaded with 160k miles. They are both in roughly the same condition body and interior wise. The Blazer has a couple of other (minor in my opinion) issues… the gas gauge doesn’t work (make sure to reset the trip odometer when filling up), and there is a short in the anti-lock “computer” so sometimes you have anti-locks and sometimes you don’t… you always do have brakes, you just have to know if you need to pump or not in the rare case you lock up.
Whichever we keep will be the “third” car as in it will be the one the kids drive and/or the one I take if I think the weather is too bad for the Mustang.
Which do you think we should trade in? It will be traded for a family sedan (probably a 2013 Nissan Altima). I say the Mini-van since it has double the miles, and my wife says the SUV because we have had to make some expensive repairs recently (wheel bearings and intake manifold gasket). I counter that those things are now fixed and it is only a matter of time before we need to do the same for the van. Also, the SUV won’t depreciate much more at this point, and it is handy the couple of times we get a serious snow.
The last thing to consider is the remaining vehicle will be primarily driven by a couple of teenage boys… one of whom has already informed me he would rather have a moped than drive a minivan.
I’d keep the minivan - the Blazer will continue to give trouble, if my friends with Blazers and Explorers are anything to go by. Since it’s got the lower miles and is a bit more desirable, it will probably bring more in trade despite its issues. Just plan on replacing the Montana down the line.
The mileages are amazing. I’m in my 40s and I don’t think I’ve covered 100k miles by car in my lifetime. I average about 5000 miles a year, and that’s usually split between 2 or 3 cars with just me.
Ok, I swear I’m not “that guy.” You know, the guy who asks for opinions and then comes back and tells anyone who disagrees with him that they are wrong. Really I’m not…
But, The mini-van is the one they are offering us more for. They even said that one year from now they would probably offer similar for the Blazer, but the Mini-van would hit the dreaded “10 years old” line and would drop somewhat. Also, this is my second Blazer, so I have 16 combined years experience with them and they have been very trouble free and less cost to maintain than the mini-vans (also have had two for about 13 years of experience).
Normal is considered 1k per month or 12k per year. Based on that the Blazer is way low compared to a normal of 144k, and the Montana is a bit high based on a normal of 108k.
Wife and I combined commute about 25 miles per day, but the big miles were racked up because we have three kids who all play sports at a very competitive level. It is very common for us to have at least one trip of 3-4 hours driving (one way) every weekend, and many with a one way trip of 10-12 hours. This should drop greatly as my oldest is now playing in college so will take the team bus/plane, and my middle is on a team sponsored by a Major League team and will also travel mostly by bus or plane.
Hey, go with what you know. I’m more of a sports car guy but friends with Blazers and Explorers with high miles complain about ECU problems and issues with the catalytic converters, which are apparently pricey to replace. They break into the same litany of woes whenever I talk about getting an SUV. The minivans get beat to hell, but they seem to go and go.
I’d vote for keep the Blazer. Minivan transaxles are ticking time bombs and I suspect as you near 200k on the Pontiac your chances of getting to know your local transmission shop will steadily increase.
I would suggest fixing the little niggling problems on the Blazer, though. These days, what usually kills cars isn’t major drivetrain failures, but a culmination of minor problems that add up over time to make a junker. 86k is super low mileage for an '01, and I’ll bet that truck will last you a long time if you take care of it.
Depends on what you need that third vehicle for, but for me, I’d keep the Blazer. 4WD, and the option to tow something. Although the Montana may be 4WD as well, but you didn’t mention it.
Whatever you trade, trade it on a Hyundai Sonata instead of the Nissan. Also, don’t overlook the possibility of trading both and using the savings to buy something else used and more appropriate.
Ok, so sell me on why. I just got back from looking at several on the lot, but because it is Sunday I couldn’t test drive or get inside one. I’ll admit the Sonata SE looks very comparable to the Altima SV. I like the looks a little better on the Altima, but the Sonata has some nice features too. Why do you feel strongly for the Hyundai?
I agree with your reasoning here. Just because you’ve had a few expensive repairs doesn’t necessarily mean there will be more. Of course, it could indicate the Blazer is a lemon and it’s about to fall apart. Look up both cars on the kbb.com site. They will have consumer forums for each model. Check out real-world feedback. You’ll get a sense of what are typical repairs for each one are.
Miles are the more important indicator of age than actual years. I would expect that things typically break at certain mileages, not years. There may be problems with rubber things like gaskets and belts which decay over time, but the more expensive repairs will be from things which have been used a lot.
I’d go for newer with more miles-this usually indicates highway miles-which are much less damaging. I had a car with 130,000 highway miles that drove like new. On the other hand, 60,000 stop-and-go miles can ruin a car.
And I thought this thread was going to be about buying a used car. How do the resident car buffs weigh in on that issue? Is it better to buy a newer used car with high mileage or an older one with significantly less?
This, very much this. If it were otherwise, I’d say keep the truck, since you mention occasional snows, but the electric problem is a dealbreaker IMO. Sure, the brakes work now…but can you trust your kids to know what to do when they do lock?
A quick point. My wife bought a 2012 Altima and loves it. The 2013 is suppose to be better.
I’d probably keep the Blazer IF the anti-lock brakes can be fixed. Boys need all the help they can get when it comes to safety equipment. Otherwise the mini-van is good enough.
My youngest daughter drove a Mercury Villager mini-van with 190K miles on it through most of college and for a couple of years afterwards. I worked for her as her sport was cycling and she often needed to carry 2 or more bikes.
If the boys don’t want to drive the mini-van, then they can get a job and pay for their own car. That will teach them many good lessons.
I have a cousin who refused to drive a '56 Chevy as it was ‘old’ in 1970. She was, and still is, a fool!
IMHO, the key is just avoiding either extreme. For whatever psychological reason, people much more commonly ignore time-based maintenance intervals than mileage-based ones, so an unusually low mileage car is very likely to have been not properly maintained. With high-mileage cars, even though they’re likely to be highway miles, the tendency there is to try to push the maintenance intervals and so you get the same problem.
Back in the old days, mileage was important because it was a good indication of how worn out the drivetrain was, but these days engines and transmissions will usually last longer than the life of the vehicle IF they’re not abused. Mileage is much less important now, but is still a good indicator of what kind of life the car has lived. If nothing else, more mileage simply means more chances for the car to have been abused.
Let me clarify on the anti-locks and gas gauge… The short in the anti-locks is contained within the control module. I was quoted $1200 for it to be replaced. It went out about 5 years ago, and I’d say they still work fine over 90% of the time (not that we lock up often). It is clear when they are not working and then you pump the brakes like the old days… in a way I think this is a good skill for my boys to learn if they ever drive a car without anti-locks (ok, I’m probably rationalizing).
The gas gauge is caused by a bad sensor in the tank. It is the #1 most common problem in this model and runs around $600 to fix. I suppose both are technically electrical problems, but not what I would consider normal electrical problems in a vehicle.
Other than that though, I’m the original owner of both vehicles so I know how they have been maintained and driven… both very well. I’m more leaning to keeping the Blazer because if we buy a family sedan we have redundancy with it and the van. We got the van so we would have room for all 5 of us and a comfortable way to travel on trips. We rarely have 5 together on a trip anymore, and the trips are fewer and further in between. The sedan should be able to fill the need the van had. The Blazer on the other hand offers 4wd and something I don’t feel bad throwing bags of mulch/rocks/etc. into the back of and backing through the yard to where I need to dump them.
Since I know many of you have spend sleepless nights waiting to hear what I decided… the answer is…
Neither.
Although there is a brand new shiny black Altima SV sitting in my garage, we decided to hang onto both of the other vehicles. Our reasoning was that we will have two kids needing transportation this summer (my daughter home from college and my son) and two adults needing cars for work. We figured for roughly $3k we weren’t going to find a more reliable vehicle than what we have. At the end of the summer we will offer my daughter one to take back to college if she wants. If not, we’ll probably sell one then for as much or more than what we would have gotten in trade.