Need advice about buying a 2nd car (used)

[DustMolecule]

I've finally got to "bite the bullet" and buy a 2nd car for the family...my teenage daughter is driving now :eyes:

I know a guy who's the manager over at a local car dealership and asked him if he would keep his eyes open for a nice-condition, "safe" car (safe doesn't mean "big monster" to me, btw) that he gets on a trade-in or lease-return, etc.

I know to look at the tire condition, mileage (of course), check for any visible rust. I can look at comparative value of what he's got over at Edmunds.com.

Right now he's got a "higher mileage" Honda versus a "lower mileage" Chevy Cavalier. I'm not sure how to evaluate the differences between these two, in terms of reliabilty and/or maintenance costs, etc.

Is there anything else I should look for/know when evaluating buying a used car? Any/all advice thoughts would be welcome and appreciated.

TIA

[bif]

1. Get a used Saturn

I've got a 2003 L200 and love it!

[Blue Gardener]

39. I still have a '92 Saturn

And it still runs great. I have several family members with Saturns as well.

[smbolisnch]

2. I know very little about cars

however I do know that Hondas will run FOREVER if they are taken care of! I am sure someone else can give you better advice than that, but I thought I would give my 2 cents! :D

:kick:

[democracyindanger]

3. Buy an old Volvo

Safe, the run forever, and just dorky enough to temper a teenager's driving hormones. Unless you're gonna get an amazing deal through the guy you know, you're doing yourself a disservice by not expanding your search.

[spinbaby]

9. No Volvo

Worst lemon I ever had was a Volvo. And it costs a mint to repair them.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. You got that right

We bought used Volvo sedans for our kids as they came of driving age. It was on the recommendation of our brother-in-law who owns an automotive clinic. We took each car over to this place to have it gone over before we bought it, and we got great deals.

The main thing was that the kids were safe. They weren't thrilled, at first, but when they got a little older, they were grateful. Now, they read about kids getting killed at 16 in their SUVs, and they understand why we did it the way we did it.

[DustMolecule]

11. LOL@driving hormones!

Well, I have gone around to other dealerships too, but unfortunately seemed to have gotten the quinssential "used car salesman" practically every time (I guess a petite-ish woman walking ALONE into a car dealership screams out, "Look! 'Another sucker' just walked into the lair" - lol. They don't know that my dad used to restore cars and I've spent a good amount of time in garages listening to him and his car buddies...I still don't know a LOT, but I think I know a little bit more than "the average bear".)

I've heard that Volvo's are very safe. I'll look around a little bit and see if there are any around here. Thanks for the suggestion.

[outraged2]

12. I have had two and agree

The only trouble is that the older ones go through a LOT of gas, especially if you live someplace warm and run AC.

[SmokingJacket]

22. I will ONLY buy Volvos now

If you have a decent repair guy, you can't go wrong. We had a 1986 sedan for years, only little things ever went wrong, biggest repair was only a couple hundred bucks, and that was only once. They drive like boats and are safe and sturdy.

1986 was a bad body rust year, though, so I'd get one either older or newer.

My main piece of advice, though, is to tailor your used car to the best mechanic in town. We had a datsun when the nicest, coolest guy in town only took subarus and nissan/datsuns, and that was SMART. Sometimes, he wouldn't accept any money (but he'd take a six-pack).

[mark414]

4. if it's between the honda and the chevy

i'd go with the honda; a lot more reliable and will last MUCh longer...you can drive those things into the ground

[Zenlitened]

5. Can he print out the maintenance history for the Honda?

I believe all that stuff is databased these days. Might give you some peace of mind to know for certain that it's been well-maintained.

[DustMolecule]

6. Not sure, but I will certainly ask

n/t

[warrens]

7. Higher mileage

You might check where that mileage occurred. A lot of highway miles is a lot better than a lot of stop and start miles in a heavy commute every morning.

But the Honda is probably the better bet. Depending on how low the mileage is on the Cavalier. I've driven them as rentals and wasn't very impressed, but they're not BAD cars, just dull.

[DustMolecule]

13. I don't know if I'll be able to learn whether the miles were city

or highway driving, but you bring up a good point! Thanks.

[catmandu57]

8. Given the choice, I take the honda

and would any day, I don't care if the cavalier is low milage, it's junk, and unreliable, given the way teenagers drive, the Honda is the safer and more reliable of the two.

[AlCzervik]

14. I second the Honda, I bought a new accord in the summer

after my Acurea got stolen and i have no complaints at all, I plan on giving it to my daughter in 5 years for her 1st car.

[Midlodemocrat]

37. I second that

I had a honda for years before I got my minivan. My next minivan will be the Honda Odyssey. You can't beat them. Toyota and Nissan are good, too, but between those two, go with the Honda.

[Lex]

15. When I bought my used car last year, the dealer offered

.
to run some sort of Used Car Report (forgot the actual name) that gave a lot of information about the car--when it was first put into service, who owned it and where, if any major repairs had been done to it, etc. I'm glad I had that information before I agreed to buy the car.

There is a database service that will run those reports upon request--they use the VIN (vehicle identification number), which is a permanent number on the car.

[catmandu57]

34. Carfax

they do the car history.

[Lex]

40. Yes!

That was it. It was pretty detailed, I thought.

[lojasmo]

16. VW new beetle....check it out.

Safest compact car on the road, and if you can find a TDI, it's rated at 42/49

There are scads of them on cars.com

front and side air bags
3 channel 4 wheel abs standard.

[Bariztr]

17. Like VW but not to own

VW's have some of the best cars in the class when you look at performance and amenities. That GTI is awesome. However, i have found them to be some of the most mechanically troubled cars that you can buy. Damn Shame.

I will pile on and also say to go with the Honda once you check out he history.

[lojasmo]

18. TDI is one of the most reliable engines ever. Rated to 400k

Actually, it's an industrial engine, and is rated to last 10,ooo hours of use.

[grace0418]

25. That's what's so odd about VWs

Certain things are really good about them, but if the engine is great while everything else is falling apart it doesn't help you much.

[lojasmo]

26. You're not familiar with the current generation....

They're much more akin to current generations of Audi vehicles than to former generations of VW vehicles....

[grace0418]

24. Beetles are cute but I find that ALL VWs

have weird problems with little things breaking all the time. I carpool with a guy who has a Beetle and in the past year his clock broke, the trunk latch broke, the check engine light kept coming on for no apparent reason, the passenger door handle broke, the heat broke, the radio broke, the remote broke, some of the lights in the instrument panel stopped working and so on... And he's a careful driver and takes good care of his car. My Honda Civic is 3 years older than his Beetle and has never had any of these problems. He was complaining about it to me and then I remembered another good friend who was always having problems like this with her car. And she had a Golf. We actually started asking around my office and everyone who had VWs (which is a lot of people in my office because there are a lot of hipsters here) had the same kind of complaints. It seems like overall they drive pretty well, but the little things that keep breaking add up. It changed my mind about buying a Beetle, and I'd had my eye on a lime green one since they came out.

[LeftyMom]

30. Burns oil

or so I've read

[lojasmo]

35. Diesel fuel, but.....

It can indeed be fitted with a secondary tank to burn SVO (straight veggie oil) after the oil is heated by fuel returned from the engine...
also, you can make your own fuel with waste fryer oil in a fairly simple manner....end cost is fifty cents per gallon.

[LeftyMom]

36. No I meant it has a habit of burning off

the Penzoil/Quakerstate/Valvoline whatever. Lubricating oil.

[lojasmo]

38. Ah, well there are three types of engines for newer VWs

I haven't heard of any specific engine having a problem burning oil....I can say for sure that the TDI does not....I also belong to a club of 1.8t entheusiasts, and have heard of no problems. Perhaps the base 2.0l naturally aspirated engine does, but I'm not aware of it, if so.

[Cornjob]

19. Suggest a third option...

a Geo or Chevy Prizm. They are actually Toyota Corollas at a considerable savings.

Although the Cavalier is reliable it's not particularly safe, especially in side impacts. The high mileage Honda may look good on paper, but could burn your wallet if it needs a timing belt/water pump replacement (Honda's engines will tank if the timing belt breaks). Many older Honda's need the belt every 50,000 mi (need to change the water pump at the same time). Hondas and Acuras tend to be hard on brakes and rotors as well (I've owned three of them). Finally Hondas are terrible on snow.

The Corolla/Prizm is a very reliable and safe car. It's pretty good in the snow and rather cheap to maintain.

Good luck to you!

[B Calm]

20. Look for an older Buick LeSabre. They are well built and

get excellent mileage. My old 1990 LeSabre has a very peppy V6 motor, 28 MPG and a stainless steel exhaust that never wears out.

[B Calm]

33. 6 below zero, 1990 Buick sat outside all night and started

right up, purred like a kitten..

[Trailrider1951]

21. Wow, I bought both the Cavalier and the Honda Civic for my

Daughter. The Chevy was newer with the same number of miles on it at purchase, 1988, about 65,000 miles. It was a total piece of trash. After a year, I was tired of it falling apart and needing monthly repairs. I sold it and bought a 1986 Civic hatchback. It ran like a Timex watch: "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking". She wrecked it twice, put it in the ditch, and it still ran when she sold it 3 years later, with 150,000 miles on it! Get the Honda, you won't be disappointed.

[grace0418]

23. I would always choose a Honda over a Chevy

Hondas aren't glamourous but damn they are reliable. There's a 1981 Honda Civic hatchback that's been floating around to various family members on my husband's side since it was purchased new 24 years ago. It still runs just fine.

[bobbobbins]

27. a BMW Z4...thats what i want

[Droopy]

28. I've heard that the best thing you can do

when buying a used car is to get it checked out by an independent mechanic. Especially if you don't know a lot about cars. If the dealer won't let you do this then take your business elsewhere. It will cost you a little money, but it could save you a lot more. If the car has some flaws, but you decide that you still want to buy it you have more bargaining leverage with the dealer.

[progmom]

29. I have found cars.com to be a great resource

Both for finding out info on car ratings, reviews, pricing, etc, and for finding used car listings.

[LeftyMom]

31. I'd go for the Honda

unless you live someplace where it snows, in which case I'd look for a Subaru. The poster who mentioned the Prism/Carolla was right, it's a great car and the Geo/Chevy verson tends to be cheaper even though the Chevy has a nicer interior. They handle well in the weather too, I have a relative who has no problems driving hers through mountains and snow (she has the stick, she swears by them for rough driving conditions.)

Consumer Reports has a nice used car guide they put out every year, which helped me a lot when buying my car, since it broke down reliability to specific systems. I liked that because I wanted to avoid electrical problems at all cost, having encountered them in the past.

PS Used Saturns are pretty cheap and I love mine. It drives great in any weather I've ever encountered and it hasn't needed any serious repairs yet.

[Heddi]

32. Honda! Honda! Hubby and I had a 1993 Honda with about 250k miles on it

He bought the car new in 1993. We sold it in 2001 when we moved to Seattle. That car had over 250k miles on it. It ran like a dream ALWAYS.

Only had 2 tuneups, none of them more recent than 1995. Only repair that needed to be made was a replacement of the CV joint. We had the belts replaced once, and I think the brakes replaced once. And changed the oil once a year or something.

That is IT. Never any other maintenance. Hubby isn't a tinkerer so it's not like he was out there tweaking and fixing things under the hood. NEVER happened.

That car ran like a dream and the only reason we sold it was because we couldn't drive from SC to Seattle and it was too expensive (at that time) to have it transported out there. If it weren't for the cost factor, or if we weren't moving, we would still have that car and I'm quite certain it would still be running as perfectly as it was the day it was driven off the lot in 93 (which was just a little better than the day the new owner of the car drove it out of our driveway in 2001).

On the otherhand, I've had friends that had Cavaliers aroudn the same time that the Civic was bought (93-98 time frame). CONSTANTLY in the shop for repairs. I had THREE FRIENDS who had to get new transmissions within 4 years of owning the cars. Something was always breaking on it or in it and they weren't reliable at all. There is no way any of my friends who had Cavaliers back then still had them 7 years later. They weren't built for long-term use, as the Honda was. They're cheap disposable cars mainly built for teenagers and old ladies and people who don't know better (sorry, but I think it's true).

I see alot more 90-era Hondas on the road than I do 90-era Chevy's. Hondas are much more durable, much better cars, and the mainteance on the honda (when we occasionally got it) was absolutely no more expensive than any other domestic car.

Don't be fooled (like some poeple I know are) and think that HOnda=Japanse=expensive maintenance. They're japanese design, but I think our Honda was made in Ohio. THey're considered domestic. They don't have expensive fancy parts that have to be ordered. We never had a problem finding a good reliable mechanic to work on the car and never paid more than you would pay for the Chevy...
...except that you WILL pay more for the Chevy because you're going to have to take it into the repair shop at least 3x's as often as you will the honda.

Before you buy either.....make sure the airbag is still in tact. WHen we got to Seattle and were looking to buy a new car, it seemed that alot of the Hondas we looked at were in "perfect condition, lacking airbag"---which I thought was odd.

Good luck!

ps. Did I mention you should go with the honda :)

[MNBiker]

41. Honda Accord....

[Schema Thing]

42. Check edmunds, Kelly, AND NADA

...and if you can get ahold of the dealer version of the NADA book, that's the one that your dealer buys and sells from most likely. In any case, use the lower end of all the price guides. Realize that the dealer paid a great deal less than "trade in" value. Much less.

Also-- Be Agressive! Start very low. All they can do is say no. If you offer 800 dollars less than you think they will possibly take, and they don't take it, but do take 500 dollars less, well, that was the easiest 500 hundred you'll ever make.

A Honda with 75000 miles on it will last longer and be a more enjoyable drive, than a Cavalier with zero miles, imo.