Buying a second hand car........advice?

[williamssam81]

Hi Friends.

Some nice fellow has recently plowed into the back of my car while i was waiting at a red light. His car was a nice big SUV. My car, while functioning perfectly, is now considered a writeoff which is quite irritating.

As a result im starting to think about buying a new (well, second hand) car. I probably have a budget of 5g's which i know aint much, but yeah, quite poor atm. A mid 90s corolla is what comes to mind at the moment. The problem is, im not really experienced in this area as my last car was bought off a family friend.

Any of you guys ever gone private? Used car dealerships? Other? Had any luck with private? What things have you done to ensure the car aint going to fall apart? Yeah pretty much screwed without a car so i need to get the ball rolling on this kinda soon. Any help is very much appreciated.

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[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

When you consider nothing buy the engine, yes toyota and honda have a clear superiority over mazda and most other competitors.
Even though the engine will last well over 200k miles, a number of other parts start to fail after that many years have passed. My brother has a 1994 acura with 250k miles on it. But the window motors are long gone, sunroof motor has seen better days, rear windsheild wiper doesn't move, plus a long list of other small problems.

When choosing between a super reliable toyota from the early 90's, or a lesser, but still reliable mazda from the early 00's, I'd go with the newer car.

a 2002 mazda vs a 2002 toyota, at the same price, of course the toyota is the better choice. But when you realize that your paying almost twice as much for a car thats 10 years older, you start to question whether or not your getting a better deal by going with what everyone else sees as the most reliable car on the market.

Demand increases prices. Everyone is flocking towards toyotas and hondas. So if you think about it, the price of toyotas and hondas are going to climb, while the price of other cars that are not as well known are going to drop. So go for the 3rd best option, not the first.

There is also a driving impression, build quality and fit and finish factor. On top of that it isnt like your protege was much cheaper than a corolla of the same year.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Yes it can last as long if you take care of it, but you can't abuse it at all. You have to granny it the whole time. Watch these videos to see how well Toyotas hold up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Tell me of any american car that will hold up to that abuse and still run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrk6vsb77xk

That's cool, but I'm 18, do you really think I baby my truck? lolno.

I don't have anything against any make of car, but it's time for you to get off the Japanese car dick. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae1gLl-YfJo&feature=related

See this, this is a truck identical to mine. And that's a V6 Dakota, not even a V8.

Beat that. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Edit 2: The videos you posted showed NOTHING relating to mechanical abuse. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Post something relevant to the thread next time, thanks.

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

That's cool, but I'm 18, do you really think I baby my truck? lolno.
I don't have anything against any make of car, but it's time for you to get off the Japanese car dick. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae1gLl-YfJo&feature=related

See this, this is a truck identical to mine. And that's a V6 Dakota, not even a V8.

Beat that. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Prettysure any dumbass can do donuts.

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

since we are pulling pointless vids from our *****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ7gFfWZKWU&feature=related

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Prettysure any dumbass can do donuts.

Wow fucktard:

Yes it can last as long if you take care of it, but you can't abuse it at all. You have to granny it the whole time. Watch these videos to see how well Toyotas hold up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Tell me of any american car that will hold up to that abuse and still run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrk6vsb77xk

Well, it's pretty clear that both the engine and transmission in that Dodge vid I posted were abused. That thing was banging off the rev limiter in the entire video lol.

So clearly, the video shows that you don't have to "granny" an American car the whole time, in order for it to last.

The video FurbiesAndBeans posted showed no sign of actual abuse to the drivetrain at all. The video I posted did.

Any more questions, newfeg?

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

I'm just sayin'

I work at a shop that deals a lot with drift cars. Some of the guys do carnage in cars that shouldnt be on the road. Whatcha know about donuts in a cargo van or malibu wagon?

Edit these are not the drift cars but random beaters.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

I'm just sayin'

I work at a shop that deals a lot with drift cars. Some of the guys do carnage in cars that shouldnt be on the road. Whatcha know about donuts in a cargo van or malibu wagon?

What?

 

[nastyaudioman 10+ year member]

Shit, you are crazy. Those 4 cylinders that yota made for GM were shit. Didn't last over 125k miles if they got there.

I know a head mechanic at GM and a bunch of the 4 cylinders were built in merge with yota for GM. Get a real car, Ford. I know MANY 2.3, 4.9, 5.0, and 4.6 with over 200k miles and no issues. Hell my 88 ranger had over 275k when I sold it 7 years ago (still running today) and all replaced was clutch. I put that ***** through hell as well.

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

what 4 cyl did yota make for gm? answer: none. There were various cars as joint ventures over the years but there were no toyota engines places in GM chassis. Spectrum, Sprint, All GEO had chassis built by other people.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Shit, you are crazy. Those 4 cylinders that yota made for GM were shit. Didn't last over 125k miles if they got there.
I know a head mechanic at GM and a bunch of the 4 cylinders were built in merge with yota for GM. Get a real car, Ford. I know MANY 2.3, 4.9, 5.0, and 4.6 with over 200k miles and no issues. Hell my 88 ranger had over 275k when I sold it 7 years ago (still running today) and all replaced was clutch. I put that ***** through hell as well.

I don't even like Ford, but it's pretty well known that those Rangers last forever.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

I'm just sayin'

I work at a shop that deals a lot with drift cars. Some of the guys do carnage in cars that shouldnt be on the road. Whatcha know about donuts in a cargo van or malibu wagon?

Edit these are not the drift cars but random beaters.

Any RWD car can "drift". //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

Any RWD car can "drift". //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

I realize that. it is my point. Any dumbass can do donuts. There was a guy in d1 a few years ago with a bad *** elcamino.

The vehicles I was referring to were in sad shape though.

 

[nastyaudioman 10+ year member]

what 4 cyl did yota make for gm? answer: none. There were various cars as joint ventures over the years but there were no toyota engines places in GM chassis. Spectrum, Sprint, All GEO had chassis built by other people.

Umm, the 80's Nova had one. You have no clue what you are talkin about.

Answer: Ha

 

[nastyaudioman 10+ year member]

I don't even like Ford, but it's pretty well known that those Rangers last forever.

Ain't that the truth. Hell we tried to kill it. Always shift red line, run through creeks deep enough water in floor, junped RR tracks at 80+, sand dunes jumping shit, and many many more good times. Super reliable and strong.

 

[Upgrayedd 10+ year member]

Umm, the 80's Nova had one. You have no clue what you are talkin about.
Answer: Ha

uhh. The 80s nova was a corolla chassis. Try again.