Used car advice

MichaelT

MichaelT

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Location
Charlotte
Ok, i am tired as hell of getting 12-14 mpg. I am gonna break down and buy a small car to get around in. Used defiinately. I do not want to spend more than $4,000 on it. I have a bunch of contacts who are car dealers and will get me one from auction. I am leaning twoards a civic but have not really made up my mind yet. Looks are not that important, but i do not want something that has major dents. I want something that is good on gas and is pretty reliable. What are ya'll driving as far as small cars and what are some reccomendations. Thanks -Mike :beer:
 
I almost bought an Acura 2.2CL.. nice, comfy, quiet, drove nice, was about $4k.
 
Civics and Accords are nice, but now their rep has exceeded their value.
Honestly these days any car w/ a well-known rep for high MPGs will be more expensive (of course at auction, maybe not?).
If you do some digging, there are soem cars which are less known but just as good; e.g., Ford Focus or a Mazda protege. Just don't get an auto tranny b/c mazda-made a/t's are terrible (yet the 5 speeds last forever).
I bought a '95 Merc Tracer at auction for $500. Nobody wanted it b/c, well, it's an Escort at it looked like $hit. But w/ a 5 speed, it lats forever - I bought at 293k miles, drove it 2 years, and sold for $1k at 310k, consistently 34 mpg.
Look for ars that are replicas under a different name (e.g, Geo, Mercury), sine many folks don't know it's teh same car, they don't associate the rep w/ it.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Civics and Accords are nice, but now their rep has exceeded their value.
Honestly these days any car w/ a well-known rep for high MPGs will be more expensive (of course at auction, maybe not?).
If you do some digging, there are soem cars which are less known but just as good; e.g., Ford Focus or a Mazda protege. Just don't get an auto tranny b/c mazda-made a/t's are terrible (yet the 5 speeds last forever).
I bought a '95 Merc Tracer at auction for $500. Nobody wanted it b/c, well, it's an Escort at it looked like $hit. But w/ a 5 speed, it lats forever - I bought at 293k miles, drove it 2 years, and sold for $1k at 310k, consistently 34 mpg.
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I can give some numbers on a focus. I average 23 MPG's in my 2000 focus hatchback 5 speed. It has been a good little car with the exception of the transmission, syncro's went out in third gear. Dealership screwed the tranny up from there. It was still under the warranty so I did not mind. I get 20-21 MPG's running the crap out of it which is most of the time. If I drive it like I have some since I can easily get 25 + MPG's from it.
 
What you really have to ask yourself is how long will it take you to recoup the money that you spent on another vehicle to save gas (don't forget insurance and maintenance costs) that the 10-12+ mpg gain will give you.
 
gmcjimmy88 said:
I can give some numbers on a focus. I get 20-21 MPG's running the crap out of it which is most of the time.
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Holy crap man.. I get 20-21 in my Trans Am and I damn sure don't baby the LS1. (14 gallons, 290-300 miles driven, you do the math)

Methinks you need a tune-up. :flipoff2:
 
awww.lamoviecars.com_4_sale_images_4_sale_ebay_waynes_world.jpg


....Found one for ya.. I wont even charge a finders fee ha ha..

Nissans have always been good to me.
 
InfantryYJ said:
What you really have to ask yourself is how long will it take you to recoup the money that you spent on another vehicle to save gas (don't forget insurance and maintenance costs) that the 10-12+ mpg gain will give you.
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Exactly. Although those fill-ups are painful, it would most likely not pay for itself unless you do a LOT of driving. Honestly, i wonder why gas prices bother people so bad? Gas (in most circumstances) should be a pretty small fraction of the money you spend on a month to month basis.
 
Honda, Toyaota, or Nissan, with a manual tranny.

My son has a 2003 Focus, gets 35 MPG's. Just had the Slave Cylinder replaced cost $800ish, that was with a new clutch. Stealership wanted something like $1500!

My 95 Olds Seirra gets 30 MPG and is comfy to drive.
 
awspence said:
Exactly. Although those fill-ups are painful, it would most likely not pay for itself unless you do a LOT of driving. Honestly, i wonder why gas prices bother people so bad? Gas (in most circumstances) should be a pretty small fraction of the money you spend on a month to month basis.
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Actually, it can make quite a bit of difference IF you are goin gfrom very poor MPGs (like the OP) to pretty good MPGs and do a moderate to high amount.

Here's a link to a wroksheet I made up in Excel awhile ago. Just plug in your numbers in yellow, and read the costs on the chart:
http://www.4rtoy.rewazule.com/Gas_costs_worksheet.xls

Unf I have it starting at 15 mpg, just imagine 12 mpg will be 20% more expensive than 15 mpg.
At 12,000 mi per year, $4 gas....
at 15 mpg, that's $3200.
At 30 mpg, that's $1700.

So if the OP really is < 14 mpg now, then even just 30 mpg, which is perfectly reasonable, can save nearly $2k in 1 year.

Now goin gfrom, say, 30 mpg to 35, that's only $242 saved in a whole year, much harder to justify.

Basically, changing cars makes sense ONLY if you are on the LOW end of MPGs now, where small % = big changes in actual $$.
 
Lets think about this
Someone who owns a truck which avgs 11-15 mpg and drives 400 miles a week with gas prices at $4 a gal
(400mi/12.5mpg)x$4=$128wk
Said person buys a car that gets ~30 mpg
(400mi/30mpg)x$4=~$53wk
Avg savings of $75wkly
$300mthly
$3600yrly
and so on
lets say you take said truck off of the road for a year ie no tags, taxes, incs, etc.
That take out the expenises of said upkeep and you focus on the car. Sounds pretty good to me
 
yes but the one problem people always forget about is ... how long are you gonna keep this "new" to you beater/daily driver car?

90% of most people will get sick of the car and want a newer/different one within 2 or 3 years so the investment of the car vs. the amount of money saved will not equal out..

as for me I can drive the same car/truck for 100 years as long as it drives and not care.. but most can not.. they get vehicle envy when they see co-workers, others on the highways in there newer cars..
 
Your worksheet is designed for people swapping vehicles, whereas some, if not most just tack on another vehicle to their collection, so, you need to throw in the additional maintenance costs along with the additional insurance costs;)

As for taking the low mileage vehicle off the road, really, is someone going to do that?,....doubtful.
 
awspence said:
Exactly. Although those fill-ups are painful, it would most likely not pay for itself unless you do a LOT of driving. Honestly, i wonder why gas prices bother people so bad? Gas (in most circumstances) should be a pretty small fraction of the money you spend on a month to month basis.
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Because no one walks anymore.. soon people will be complaining about power usage on their Segway :shaking:
 
Futbalfantic said:
Lets think about this
Someone who owns a truck which avgs 11-15 mpg and drives 400 miles a week with gas prices at $4 a gal
(400mi/12.5mpg)x$4=$128wk
Said person buys a car that gets ~30 mpg
(400mi/30mpg)x$4=~$53wk
Avg savings of $75wkly
$300mthly
$3600yrly
and so on
lets say you take said truck off of the road for a year ie no tags, taxes, incs, etc.
That take out the expenises of said upkeep and you focus on the car. Sounds pretty good to me
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well there is one small problem..with fuel prices they way they are right now..

it is not easy to find a 30MPG car for cheap..

you can search craigslist and other places but people want gold for them.. and when you get a used car what other expenses are you gonn ahev to pay to make it a good relaible car, and even new cars are not even getting 30mpgs..

so the question still is.. how long will it take for you to equal out and start saving money..

remember most people wil not keep these cars long enough to equal out, or the cheap car you bought will die..
 
honestly your best bet is to go buy a new scooter..

$1500 or less depends on size you buy, and those damn things can get from 50 to 100mpg...
 
InfantryYJ said:
Your worksheet is designed for people swapping vehicles, whereas some, if not most just tack on another vehicle to their collection, so, you need to throw in the additional maintenance costs along with the additional insurance costs;)

As for taking the low mileage vehicle off the road, really, is someone going to do that?,....doubtful.
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Huh? I'm failing to see the diference.
Evenm if you just tack on another vehicle, the expense in GAS is the same as to whether you throw away the old one or not.
Nobody can drive two cars at the same time. If you park one and drive the other, your gas mileage has changed by a proportion of use of each vehicle.
Likewise, if you are driving one in place of the other, your maintanance costs wil lalso carry from the old vehicle to teh new one. The one not being driven will not incur new costs. If you drive it occasionally, yes, it will incur costs - but only at the rate at which it is driven. E.g. 20% use should be aprox. 20% costs.
Insurance - yes, you should consider that. But honestly if you are buying a $2k-$4k car that is gas efficient, the monthly insurrance costs will not be that high. My monthly inssurance went up $6 when I added a car of $1200 NADA value.
But yes, you do have to consider insurrance, and parking, etc.
 
BRUISER said:
honestly your best bet is to go buy a new scooter..
$1500 or less depends on size you buy, and those damn things can get from 50 to 100mpg...
Click to expand...


This is the route that I am considering going, if I can get rid of my cherokee.

Im sure at 6'-5" and 240 lbs, I may provide quite a few chuckles for drivers speeding past me.
 
BRUISER said:
well there is one small problem..with fuel prices they way they are right now..
it is not easy to find a 30MPG car for cheap..
you can search craigslist and other places but people want gold for them..
Click to expand...

That is why I suggested doing some homework for vehicle that people not "in the know" consider to be crap, but really are just fine. Off-the-beaten=path vehicles.
Example - Geo Prism. It's a toyota Carolla. Same drivetrain, same mileage...but people see "geo" and think "crap".
Merc Tracer = Ford Escort = normally crap... BUT, drivetrain made by Mazda... auto tranny is crap, and since this is 80% of them, peole think they are junk. But the other 20% w/ a manual will go forever @34 mpg.
2dr Saturn coupe 5 speed. Cheap car w/ 35+ mpg.
etc etc
 
My daily driver is a 1999 Honda Accord LX with a 4 cylinder/5-speed. I get between 30 and 32 mpg.
 
I hate to say this, and I think RatLabGuy will agree with me, find a Saturn. I've got a twin-cam, 5-speed SW2 with 194k on the clock. If it's driven mostly highway, it gets 35-36 with or without AC. Mixed, usually better than 30. And since nobody wants them, you can still find them for under 2k. Just take a close look at the engine compartment to make sure it hasn't been leaking oil. My front yard is now a superfund cleanup site because of this car! However, it does keep running, and gets killer mileage. Not pretty, not real comfortable, but paid for. :D
 
My 95 PSD 4x4 auto, got 17.5 mpg, going to kannapolis and back the other day. Although I filled up the front tank before I left for $73 and It was empty when I returned. So that part really sucked. Burning $73 in fuel before lunch time.
 
Check into a Geo - my dad bought one a couple of years ago for $100.00 with a full tank of gas! He spent $500.00 to replace the engine (which is a Toyota engine) & averaged around 35+mpg. They're typically inexpensive but they're really reliable cars.
 
fuck buy a horse...

$500 walks all day for $.65 worth of food.
Who cares if you are comforrtable, like it or nor its cheap....


I think Rich has the right idea.
Wife recently got a Bimmer, she loves it and went from 16 mpg in the Hoe (which I can still drive) to 29 in the Bimmer...
 
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