1998 mercury sable yay or nay. I really just need something to get me through college
Yea, when I was living in California, I bought 3 out of my 4 cars on Craigslist.
Check for car history with Carfax, that usually is one of the best and easiest checks.
Bring a car friend to check out the car with you.
Go check it out on a sunny day, to be able to see imperfections
Ask for records and documentation (oil changes, repairs, scheduled maintenance eg. 60,000 miles, 120,000 miles, etc etc)
Ask them WHERE they did the maintenance, and CALL THAT SHOP to see if they are lying, etc
Check for rust, check for oil leaks
Check for the title, registry, etc. Make sure that the owner actually OWNS the car.
Check the car title if itās be stolen/rebuilt/etc
If you have one you like, bring it to a reputable shop to get it checked out, it usually costs like $80-100 for a FULL inspection, but it will be worth it
But with civics and stuff, honestly, there are so many of them that if itās in ok/above average shape, it wonāt be too hard to buy used parts for repairs
Late 90ās Honda Civic or Corolla.
Great on gas, cheap car.
Iām not that familiar with non-sports American cars, so I canāt give proper judgement.
same, all my cars are from CL.
Do his checklist. If the title is not clean, walk away. And make sure you get a PPI (pre-purchase inspection). It will cost around a $100 but will save you headaches if there is something wrong that you couldnāt see. I usually stay away from modded cars. Also, if the car has rims, I assume the kid before used it to show off and race so I walk from those also. I rather buy from a mom or old man or woman than any teen
what about mileage? seems like all the cars on craigslist have like 150k +
Very nice!
Hondas and Toyota with 150+ is no problem. Well for most cases anyways.
like this price seems bullshit to me: 2008 Honda Accord EX-L 4D Sedan LOW MILES*****************************
Extreme bullshit.
Unless the dude has a severe drug problem, and needs drugs asap.
thoughts on this one? 2005 TOYOTA CAMRY SE V6
(I promise not to spam this thread up with CL linksā¦)
that looks good to me. Of course do everything you can to check into it some more, but seems like a good potential candidate for a nice value priced reliable carā¦
Whatās the purpose of the car you want to purchase?
Is it strictly for daily driving and commuting to school/work/whatever?
How long do you plan on keeping the car?
Do you plan on modding it in any way (new stereo, wheels)?
What would your budget be like for general maintenance of the vehicle you plan to purchase?
Yes, daily driving, sitting in traffic (you know how it is in LA), and the occasional trip to vegas/san diego/etc
Ideally I wonāt need the car for more than 5 years, but I donāt want to bet on that
Wouldnāt plan on modding it
Not sure what my budget would be like for maintenance, but Iām thinking something exotic like bmw etc would be too risky at this time in terms of future possible repair work
You know how it is down here, and with my job I basically need something nice for not a whole lot
Iād probably want to look at a 2000-2002/3 Toyota Corolla. Very reliable, runs forever, amazing gas mileage, parts are affordable for when shit happens. Oh, and youāll probably spend less than $10k.
how do i do the inspection thing if Iām seeing some car on craigslist 45 min out of town or something? Do I get to drive it all the way back to LA just to get it inspected to potentially buy it?
go to any local indy shop. if there is none around, then you sort of on your own
that mercury sable Iām thinking of gettting always has all the records and tags are current to oct. It also only has 100k miles for a car that is like 12 years old that is good. I doubt I find a car that old with less mileage on CL. I really just need a joint to get me through college so if it can run 3 or 4 years Iāll be good for the price.
I know grand marquis are reliable as hell but I know the other older brand of mercs are boo boo. If i was you ill cop a grand marquis or police interceptor
yo are you on SOHH, this is Zeu$. thanks fro the info tho
Sooo, Iām a shitty driver and I blew a hole in the engine of my 05 mini cooperā¦ I was doing ~80 on the freeway and accidentally shifted into 3rd instead of 5th. This was followed by smoke and rattling soundsā¦ I took it to a mechanic and he told me itād be about 11grand to fix everything. Iām not informed enough about engines in general to even accurately report here whatās wrong (plus it was about 2 years ago) so I have no idea if thatās a reasonable estimate or not. All I know is thereās a hole in the motor and I need a new one.
I really want my car fixed.
How can I do it for a little bit of money at a time?
Whereās a good place to buy a complete engine for a reasonable amount online? Google lead me hereā¦ anybody dealt with this place before? Prices here are better than what the guy quoted me (but he quoted me for new) so itās a start in the right direction for me. Any better suggestions?
How much damage have I done to the rest of my car leaving it in a garage for 2+ years?