Proportionally more, yes, and in better shape. If you have around $6K to spend, I sure as hell would get a 2001 or so Passat or A4 before a Honda or Toyota of that age.
Of course the OP does not have $6K to spend, or else she would not have posted here. It doesn’t help her to suggest stuff that’s well outside her budget.
I’ve owned an 01 Passat , several Hondas, and BMW’s of that era. I got rid of the Passat when the engine sludges on me. The dealer tried to screw me but I had meticulous oil change records so they bought and installed a new engine.
The 92 accord went around 290k, the current 96 accord has 170k and the 97 bimmer has 172k.
I’d say go honda. The plural of anecdote is not data. That said, my direct experience supports the premise that Hondas are cheaper to maintain.
To be fair, though, it does seem from her post that she would consider a loan with $250 monthly payments, as long as there were no requirements for a down payment. That would easily get her into a $10,000 car, even with the exorbitant interest rate that they want to charge her.
When you are talking about older cars, the past owners have a lot to do with the condition of the car, maybe more than the maker. It seems to me that the owners of German cars tend to be a little more attentive.
That can’t possibly be true, even in the realm of tuner cars. Honda Civics with fart cans are LEGION.
As for unmodified cars, that statement can’t be true either, simply due to sheer volume of sales.
ETA: for example, Honda alone sold 1,207,609 vehicles in 2001 in the US.
How about Audi + VW that year?
About 350,000 for the whole VW group and only about 80,000 for Audi. Do you live in Wolfsburg or something? There is definitely nowhere in the US that you see more old VW’s on the road than Hondas.
Central Ohio, and yes far more. If you stand on w 5th ave and watch the cars go by, at least half are German, and a good proportion are VW/Audi. Close to half if not more than half are German cars.
I do not believe this statement. Sorry. Sounds like confirmation bias to me.
Not at all. Often 4 German cars are at the stop light looking at each other. It’s a neighborhood close to where a wide range of classes live, but a lot of young professionals live close by. All I know is that I see a lot more old VWs and Audis than old Toyotas or Hondas, and in better shape!
Riiiiiiiiiight.
Can you give us a street view link that will give us a feel for this veritable Stuttgart of the Midwest?
Have you tried Capital One? I was able to get a post-bankruptcy loan for a new Honda Fit last year at 7% or so. Before my bankruptcy, they gave me a used car loan for 11. something percent and in both cases, I did not provide a down payment. My only complaint is that they reported my first loan as included in the bankruptcy when I had affirmed the loan and paid every penny but since they were the only ones that would give me a reasonable loan after the BK, I have nothing but good to say about them.
Addressing the original question: Not knowing what’s wrong with your car - whether it’s a $200 fix, or a $2000 fix - it’s hard to advise. However, I will say that just last year, I replaced the motor in my 1999 Chevy Suburban 4x4. Perhaps that seems like a silly move, but I really don’t think so. In total, we spent about $6000 on the motor, water pump, new tires, and some other maintenance/repairs/replacements on a 15-year-old truck. However, that 15-year-old truck now drives like new, and insures like an old beater (I think it’s about $15.00 per month.) We don’t have a payment, so we can afford the slightly higher maintenance costs. It can haul the whole gang (four kids, two dogs, two adults.) Even if it weren’t gigantic and bright red, it’s not the first vehicle anyone would steal. Had we replaced it with a comparable new or new-ish vehicle (and we need the 4wd, due to road conditions,) we’d have spent a minimum of $20,000 on a used vehicle, plus the cost of financing, plus the extra insurance costs.
BUT (and there’s always a “but,” right?) we bought the truck from my dad. We knew its service and maintenance history, and how it had been driven. I don’t know that we’d have made the same decision if we’d bought it used from a stranger.
I’d get an actual “diagnosis” before I made a decision, though. Even if son and future FIL have to spell it out for you to Google, or (better yet) post here for advice from the board’s resident experts.
(As to the hijack on Honda/Toyota vs. VW/Audi? Yeah. I’ve owned Honda and Toyota, and a couple of old school VW Beetles. Those are easy enough to work on. In fact, we bought my son a little used Tacoma, precisely because it’s dependable and easy enough to work on. Never owned a newer VW nor an Audi of any stripe, but I have friends and family who have/do, and they aren’t cheap to maintain. Parts cost more, labor costs more. A well-maintained used A4 or Jetta might be very dependable, and it might be worth the money over the life of the car, but I wouldn’t be tempted to buy one used from a stranger.)
Well, the insurance is cheap because the book value of the truck is low. That’s one of the big problems with fixing up an older car. Spending a bunch of money to fix an older car that’s in good condition or you know the history of may very well wind up giving you better service than spending the equivalent amount of money on a newer used car, but the problem is that in the event of a total loss (which doesn’t take much on older cars) you’re only getting the book value of that car. So if, say, you take $6k to freshen up a car that’s maybe only worth $3k on paper, you’re basically risking the other $3k every time you take a drive. I wouldn’t let that be the deciding factor, but it is something to think about.
Good point, and it’s a bit less risky with a big Suburban than with a Honda. Our last two deer collisions resulted in a single broken signal light - $25.00 to replace. I doubt that a car or smaller truck would have fared as well. (In fact, my husband hit a deer with his patrol car around the same time as that first deer vs. truck, and the damages were about $3000 to the Crown Victoria. A colleague of his recently hit a deer in her brand spanking new Charger, and that was a $10k repair bill… on a car that had hit the road for its first shift only six hours earlier. :eek:)
Basically, though, my point is that higher maintenance and repair costs can easily be cheaper than a car payment plus higher insurance plus regular maintenance on a newer car.
I live in the Cincinnati (also in Ohio) area and have never seen what you describe. Sure, there are Audis and VW’s on the road, but nowhere near the proliferation you describe. Now are they the tuner car of choice like Hondas are, mostly I assume to availability of parts due to sheer volume of production, as well as an extremely lively aftermarket scene for go-fast goodies.
How about w 5th avenue at Broadview Avenue, Columbus Ohio
all I’m saying is a 1999 Passat is likely a better investment than a 1999 Honda.
I googled up that intersection and the car driving toward the camera here is a VW (I think; blurry photo):