Looking to buy a used car but.......

[Napoleon the Clown]

Your best bet in a used car would be nearly anything Pontiac. They just...take a licking and keep on ticking, especially with regular maintenance. My mom's '94 Bonneville is still going strong after over twenty years, and it runs like new, while my '97 Sunfire has been driven to hell and back, and is still going; I only had to replace the battery, the shifter cable, radiator hoses, and the oil pressure sensor in four years(had to replace more major stuff than that in half the time in the '86 Taurus I had before the tranny finally gave up the ghost).

It's been Fords which have been hit or miss, IMO, especially anything made in the 80s or early 90s. Any Ford made in the 70s is pretty decent.

On the subject of Pontiac, their resale is really damn low because people think "Pontiac doesn't exist anymore, how will I find parts!" without being aware that GM shares parts across every make and a surprising range of models. Which is a win for the buyer, really. Parts are just as easy to get for a Pontiac as a Chevy from the same year.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Depends on the part. A shifter cable for any 1997 J-body with a 2.4 V4 and a sealed transaxle is harder to find on the aftermarket than Lord Lucan and his horse. Everything else, piece of cake.

[Venator]

Sorry for the delay. $5000 I am willing to spend\finance for a used car and I am avoiding private sellers like the plague. Strictly dealerships. I'm putting aside asian cars for now because I already know that they are generally known for reliability and decent fuel mileage.

I'm looking at cars that are smaller than my 1999 Cadillac DeVille. Preferably 4 doors, must have automatic transmission. Don't care if it is a sedan or a hatchback.

I am also (because of constant nagging from my wife) looking at inexpensive new cars. I am only comfortable getting one financed for around $10K +\- $1000. With that, I've only found one that matches my criteria, a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage.

I thought that American cars would offer cars of the same price range but nope.

The Mirage is in that price range because it's worth that much; it's absolutely woeful (every review I've read, limited personal experience). The bargain-basement models of the Nissan Micra and Versa are better bets, and bigger, more useful cars too.

From my friend's and coworkers experience on the above;
- If treated well, Pontiacs do seem to do well compared to other GM products.
- The Toyota Echo mentioned above is also a rather rough-edged but hardy and resilient.
- Ford Rangers and Escapes are very tough, but may eat their suspension components over time.
- Mazdas tend to be much more fun to actually drive than most other options.

Based on personal experience and that of other friends, I would only ever buy Japanese, but they do retain value annoyingly well. Hondas and Subarus in particular; Nissans depreciate more normally but also aren't as reliable overall (one of my employees had a relatively recent Altima grenade on him on the highway).

[Elheru Aran]

Ended up getting a Honda Odyssey, 2004.

Why?

One owner. 213K miles... but, all maintenance was done on schedule, apparently even at the Honda dealer. Transmission replaced/rebuilt, timing belt replaced at ~130K miles so we have about 17K miles to go before we have to replace that, all fluids fine, brakes fine, air works, inside looks pretty minty. A few worn places, but you'll get that with a 12-year-old vehicle. And, we scored it from a private seller, paid in full, $3900-- and then the same seller bought our old Cobalt and paid 250 for it, which helped cover the tax payment when we got our tag. So really it was more like $3650.

Not a bad deal, and given that it's in pretty excellent shape (hell, it even looks garage-kept), I'm expecting it to last a few years. Fuel mileage is kind of eh, but I can live with it.

[Darth Nostril]

But seriously: Fords leak oil, always, the transmission may be a little iffy depending on how it's been treated, and the computer system will die at some point, but they are otherwise pretty solid in general, from my experience growing up in a Ford family and operating one professionally.

This must be an american Ford thing I guess, seeing as my trusty Focus Ghia hasn't dripped a drop in the two & a half years I've been haring around Dartmoor in her.
(Wish the same could be said about the thermostat housing, which idiot decided to mount that on the side of the engine directly under the oil filler cap? You know right where spilled oil would trickle down, seep under the housing and fuck up the o-ring.)

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Nissans depreciate more normally but also aren't as reliable overall

Shame, really, as the old Datsuns were some pretty solid vehicles, before Nissan brought them all under the parent company's nameplate. A buddy of mine still has his old 210, and it still runs like a top.

[Broomstick]

But seriously: Fords leak oil, always, the transmission may be a little iffy depending on how it's been treated, and the computer system will die at some point, but they are otherwise pretty solid in general, from my experience growing up in a Ford family and operating one professionally.

This must be an american Ford thing I guess, seeing as my trusty Focus Ghia hasn't dripped a drop in the two & a half years I've been haring around Dartmoor in her.

I've owned two Fords. I'm trying to recall any oil leaks. Nope.... can't recall that.

Then again, I'm not a cabbie charging around Denver for a living, either. Could be my Fords haven't be used quite so much.

[Simon_Jester]

My Ford Taurus had an oil filter leak that dribbled on the starter motor. Turns out parts of the starter motor are oil-soluble. Joy.

But to be fair, that was a filter, and those are replaceable parts, not built-in parts from the factory.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Ended up getting a Honda Odyssey, 2004.

Why?

One owner. 213K miles... but, all maintenance was done on schedule, apparently even at the Honda dealer. Transmission replaced/rebuilt, timing belt replaced at ~130K miles so we have about 17K miles to go before we have to replace that, all fluids fine, brakes fine, air works, inside looks pretty minty. A few worn places, but you'll get that with a 12-year-old vehicle. And, we scored it from a private seller, paid in full, $3900-- and then the same seller bought our old Cobalt and paid 250 for it, which helped cover the tax payment when we got our tag. So really it was more like $3650.

Not a bad deal, and given that it's in pretty excellent shape (hell, it even looks garage-kept), I'm expecting it to last a few years. Fuel mileage is kind of eh, but I can live with it.

Keep a close eye on the transmission. If it starts acting funny, get thee to a transmission shop. That era of Honda automatic is notorious for just not being very reliable when mated with a V6. The specifics are kind of boring, but the short is that they don't use the classic automatic transmission due to budgetary reasons early on and what they've got isn't quite as durable. Of course, if the transmission got rebuilt or replaced semi-recently it should be a lot more solid. On the whole, I think you'll be happy with the Odyssey. I mean, a minivan isn't going to be all that fun to drive but it will be very good at actual utility.

[Broomstick]

It being a one owner vehicle and having a pretty complete history on it helps, too. That, and a history of regular maintenance.

[Venator]

Congratulations on the purchase!

A guy I work with used an Odyssey inherited from his parents to drive all over the province for a sales job. It lasted him solidly till he started doing well at sales and replaced it with one of those hideous modern Lincolns which is basically a Taurus but much more expensive.

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, it hits its 1-week anniversary with us today

So far I'm reasonably impressed. The inside is fucking immaculate for its age, honestly. Past owner was a schoolteacher with one kid, who the seller (owner's father) described as "grown up", so presumably when the teacher bought the car the kid wasn't young enough to be mucking up the car much.

And while it's got a lot of miles, I'm realistic-- I'm not expecting more than a few more years out of it. Cars tend to average ~3 years with my wife and I. Partly that's because we generally can't afford better vehicles on payment plans... we prefer to pay it all off at one whack. Maybe when we pay off the house (ha!) we'll shell out for a new car?

[Venator]

Maybe when we pay off the house (ha!) we'll shell out for a new car?

"Why wait! For just $105 bi-weekly - that's less than groceries! - we can sign you up for a easy, manageable, 208-month lease at only 5.8% APR!"

'scuse me while I go exorcise me keyboard for typing that...

[Elheru Aran]

Well... 'new car' is probably wrong... a car less than 5 years old would be more like it

(Seriously, the youngest car we've ever driven was that 2006 Cobalt... which we bought in 2013. Though there was a 2002 PT Cruiser that we bought in 2010...)

[JI_Joe84]

Well after the GM starter switch issue I don't know if I would even look at them. I have Ford cars, nothing wrong with them other than things that are unavoidable in cars. Rubber stuff just plain wears out. It may last 200k miles but that's the out side. Rust happens just don't jump into a rust bucket.
If people will just service their vehicles @ the prescribed times in their manuals they will last and work better.
One issue that turns me away from more vehicles than any is not changing the transmission fluid. That part can total a vehicle and not getting the thing serviced is a shure way to kill it dead.
Are you aware of car fax thingy?

[Enigma]

I already posted in the Venting thread but I bought the 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage yesterday.