Used car buying advice

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am in the market for a used car, is there any good advice I should get on how to select one that is reliable?

One thing I am thinking about is the 100k mark. Part of me wants a car with under 100k miles, but another part of me realizes if a car has closer to 130k miles, then it is likely all the 100k maintenance has already been done, including expensive things like the timing belt. Plus a car isn’t going to make it to 130k miles unless the previous owner did basic maintenance on it. A car with lower miles may have been abused but just isn’t old enough to show it yet.

2

My personal policy on used cars is to select from the demographic that is most likely to take proper care of them. The extremes would be a Camaro owned by a teenager, vs a Lincoln driven by a doctor’s wife.

In my opinion, modern cars are extremely well made and reliable (with very few exceptions). Your biggest reliability indicator ends up being the previous owner.

Short version: Buy from old people who treat them gently and replace them often.

3

I think I’d prefer a high mpg economy car (civic, yaris, hyundai, lancer, etc).

I would hope that because the people who buy those are probably short on money, maybe they were more proactive to keep it running well. Then again if they were short on money maybe they skimped on maintenance and repairs as they came up.

4

I would think there is a real good chance that the 100K maintenance was not actually done. I no longer take a chance on a used car.

5

Are you on an extremely tight budget? The only time I ever had to buy a used car with 100k+, is when I had to get something for $1000 or under, on three days notice.

By contrast $5000 bought me a 4 year old Hyundai, with 28k on the clock, that was still under transferrable warranty.

I think it should go without saying that you do better in private sale – even with the cost of private inspection – than with a dealer.

6

I’m not really on a tight budget, but since cars lose so much value so fast I can’t justify a new car. The ‘newest’ car I’d buy is one that is 3 years old since those have lost about half their value.

When did you get that hyundai? Looking around now 5k will get you a 6 year old model with 70k miles or so. The recession has increased the demand for used cars, and high oil prices are pushing up demand for high mpg cars.

7

I usually try to shoot for just under 100k when I’m buying a “nice” used car these days. 100k is what 50k was 20 years ago, both in terms of longevity and maintenance schedules (and prices!). I generally won’t trust a previous owner to have done anything beyond oil changes unless they’ve got some pretty good documentation, but with most cars these days there isn’t much that needs doing before 100k, somewhat mitigating the effects of typical owner neglect.

You’re going to pay a ridiculous premium for a Honda or a Toyota used, so if you want one of those you probably are just better off buying new. On your list in post #3, I’d drop the Lancer and add in the Focus, which are pretty good bets from the 2006 MY or so and are generally pretty cheap. Mazda and Nissan have some pretty nice cheap cars that don’t quite command the premium of the Honda and Toyotas, so they’re probably worth a look too.

You can also still take pullin’s advice with some of the smaller American mid-size grannymobiles out there like the Malibu, LaCrosse, Taurus or Fusion, which are all pretty reliable, depreciate pretty fast, still get respectable mileage and are cushy to boot.

8

Buy a Honda, Toyota, or possibly Nissan that had as few owners as possible, preferably senior citizens.

9

I don’t look at mileage so much as age. Last time we bought cars the magic number as 3 years old*. Under 3 years and dealers will try to sell them for much more than NADA listed prices. For any trade-ins that have reached 3, the dealers look to dump them quickly. First off their lot and then they go to the auctions. So late in the model year is a good time since dealers want to clear out stock that’s about to get turn 1 year older.

Used cars with cosmetic damage like scratches also go for cheap.

We bought our last 2 cars from dealers looking to dump cars ASAP. Got NADA private seller prices. Both cars have turned out really well. (Toyota Corollas.)

Check out the annual Consumer Report auto issue (at your local library if you don’t have one handy). They list best value cars in different categories and price ranges. That will give you an overall idea of what brands hold up well, etc.

Also check with a NADA price guide. That’s the one the dealers around here use. Simplifies negotiations.

*May vary by region and might have crept up since then.

10

You’re right Wesley – Prices have gone up quite a bit. At the time, it was a stripped down model that cost under 10k off the lot. I don’t think you can buy a new one for so little any more.

Note that infrequent driving is NOT good for the car as most people suppose. Sitting unusued is bad for most of the parts in your car and usually requires the more frequent/rigorous maintenance schedule listed in the manual.

11

Most cars today should be expected to get well over 150k miles in their lifetime. So, a 2007 Civic with 105k wouldn’t scare me a bit. Of course, the asking price and the assumption that the car was well-maintained should be considered.

12

My strategy is to get the best balance of age/miles/options/reputation for my buck.

Typically, I:

  1. Get a sense of what sort of vehicle I want
  2. Look into what the reputation/value of a basket of vehicles is (Usually use consumer’s reports. You can get their guides in the library)
  3. Look online at what those vehicles cost
  4. Try to get the newest/most loaded vehicle for what I want to pay.

Trust the used car review books. They have the big picture. Don’t trust your friends’ impressions. And once you know the 2-4 vehicles that could do what you want, let the asking prices determine what you get.