Posted by Sarah T. on August 30, 2005, at 19:43:30
In reply to Anyone wanna talk cars?, posted by All Done on August 29, 2005, at 16:59:09
Hi.
Whatever you do, have your mechanic thoroughly check out the used car before you buy it. If your mechanic is the one selling the car to you, then have another mechanic (at another shop) examine it. Get the vehicle identification number of the car you're interested in buying, and you can easily get a vehicle history on it to see how many previous owners the car had and whether it's been in any major accidents, etc. I strongly urge you NOT to buy a car that's been in a major accident. I did that once, and the car had chronic problems with alignment, suspension. I had to replace the struts and several other expensive parts several times. The alignment was never right because of that previous accident. Also, log onto the Kelly Blue Book web site AND the Edmonds.com website. Both will not only tell you how much money a particular used car should cost, but they also have many links to other helpful articles on how to shop for a used car.
I prefer Japanese cars like Toyotas and Hondas, but as others have said, the parts and repairs can be more expensive. On the other hand, those cars can go several hundred thousand miles before you have to give up on them.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide!
poster:Sarah T.
thread:548268
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050828/msgs/548891.html