View Single Post - Cheap cars that are worth the cash.... A pipe dream?

BeerCheeze · Rated XXX

Personally I've had HORRIBLE luck with Toyota's (had both a car and a truck that I could barely keep on the road). The Toyota truck my Dad had when I was in H.S. is, as last I knew, still running though... so who knows?

Yes, I know a lot about cars as I was a licensed auto mechanic. So I can say... it can be just a matter of luck on a used car. Be they Domestic or Foreign they both can be lemons or golden.

Best thing you can do is:

1) Look at the person selling (if you are buying from a person and not a dealer) the car - If they aren't well maintained, what are the odds they kept their car maintained.

2) If buying from the dealer, look at a lot of cars not just the one you want to buy. Look to see what the dealer has done to them. If the engine compartment has been steam cleaned you just lost your best visual for seeing if there are leaks. So ask what their warranty is, if none keep looking.

3) Check the inside and outside and best you can, ask for maintenance, records if they have them (If they do, you're likely in good shape). If they don't have them then you're going to have to take the car into a mechanic and have them evaluate the car for you. I would suggest this anyways. There is no question, or visual inspection that can find the things that a mechanic can.

4) TAKE THE CAR TO A MECHANIC!! Only they can tell you what could be wrong. Things like being able to hook up to the car's computer system can give them a lot of information that is not attainable any other way. As well as they can do compression test, check the oil, and other fluids (brake, tranny, etc) check the life left on the breaks, and hopefully find any possible tranny problems.

Because of the finical position you are in getting a good reliable car is even more important, and they are out there.

Here's another idea... if you for example have that $5k in cash, and you have a job (or other sources of income... hooking, drug dealing, stealing from drunks, etc...) and you have someone that is willing to co-sign for you... Consider a new car. Nothing fancy, but something like a Kia, Hyundai, Saturn, and Ford all have cars under $15K. So if you put $5k down, you'd be looking at around $250 a month in payments at most (depending on the deal you can get, and the financing you could get 4 yrs of payments for under $200).

You're monthly cost will of course be more for the new car, but you won't have to worry about any problems as you will have it all under warranty. You also start establishing your credit, which when you are out of school can be a real help to have some good established credit.