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<blockquote data-quote="1991Brougham" data-source="post: 4258529" data-attributes="member: 584655">Nearly $5000 for that Honda is easy to beat.&nbsp; Go get a Buick LeSabre/Olds 88/Pontiac Bonneville 1986 onwards.&nbsp; They have the 3.8 V-6, which is a fine engine.&nbsp; They get 28-30 MPG on the highway.&nbsp; In town you&#039;ll get 18 MPG.&nbsp; They have tons of room.&nbsp; They&#039;re also cheap and you&#039;ll find plenty of them for under $2000.&nbsp; Spend the $3000+ you saved on a killer stereo, some rims and fix the car up completely as well as take a trip to enjoy it!Things to watch out for on these GM FWD full-sized cars: The struts wear out and since they are pricey to replace, people let the situation go when they&#039;re just going to dump the car.&nbsp; It&#039;s around $500 for parts/labor and the 4-wheel thrust alignment to get the suspension so it doesn&#039;t bounce like a bowl of jello...LOL!&nbsp; If there is no receipt for a changing of the timing belt, get it changed ASAP.&nbsp; If it breaks, your valves will have a collision with the pistons.&nbsp; That&#039;s the end of the engine for all intents and purposes.&nbsp; The A/C will likely be using R-12 Freon so you will need to refit it to R-132.&nbsp; That should be around $200 unless there are more problems with the A/C system.&nbsp; The power windows can be getting slow...s..l..o..w.....s.....l.....o.....w....as the car aged, so if you can find a shop that knows how to service power windows, you can clear that problem up.&nbsp; The automatic transmission is small and light duty so check the fluid to see if it is brown and smells burned.&nbsp; If it is, avoid that car and when you do get one that the fluid is good in, put in a transmission cooler to preserve the transmission.Hondas are not maintenance-free and their parts can get pricey, so when you buy one with lots of miles, figure you are going to have to do some things to get the car up to highly reliable status just as you would do for the GM American-made car.&nbsp; The deal is this: Hondas command an awesome premium over their actual transportation value while domestic sedans are at giveaway prices, so snag the domestic bargain and keep your debt down.&nbsp; There are no free lunches in the car biz but there can be some decent prices if you aren&#039;t stuck on certain brand names.Rick</blockquote>

[QUOTE="1991Brougham, post: 4258529, member: 584655"] Nearly $5000 for that Honda is easy to beat. Go get a Buick LeSabre/Olds 88/Pontiac Bonneville 1986 onwards. They have the 3.8 V-6, which is a fine engine. They get 28-30 MPG on the highway. In town you'll get 18 MPG. They have tons of room. They're also cheap and you'll find plenty of them for under $2000. Spend the $3000+ you saved on a killer stereo, some rims and fix the car up completely as well as take a trip to enjoy it! Things to watch out for on these GM FWD full-sized cars: The struts wear out and since they are pricey to replace, people let the situation go when they're just going to dump the car. It's around $500 for parts/labor and the 4-wheel thrust alignment to get the suspension so it doesn't bounce like a bowl of jello...LOL! If there is no receipt for a changing of the timing belt, get it changed ASAP. If it breaks, your valves will have a collision with the pistons. That's the end of the engine for all intents and purposes. The A/C will likely be using R-12 Freon so you will need to refit it to R-132. That should be around $200 unless there are more problems with the A/C system. The power windows can be getting slow...s..l..o..w.....s.....l.....o.....w....as the car aged, so if you can find a shop that knows how to service power windows, you can clear that problem up. The automatic transmission is small and light duty so check the fluid to see if it is brown and smells burned. If it is, avoid that car and when you do get one that the fluid is good in, put in a transmission cooler to preserve the transmission. Hondas are not maintenance-free and their parts can get pricey, so when you buy one with lots of miles, figure you are going to have to do some things to get the car up to highly reliable status just as you would do for the GM American-made car. The deal is this: Hondas command an awesome premium over their actual transportation value while domestic sedans are at giveaway prices, so snag the domestic bargain and keep your debt down. There are no free lunches in the car biz but there can be some decent prices if you aren't stuck on certain brand names. Rick [/QUOTE]

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