Best Make for a Used Car?
- Thread starter T'Baio
- Start date
I think a lot the VW unreliability stories may come from electrical problems; it was a major issue with their models between 1999 and 2002.
Apparently I was lucky in that I bypassed that completely with my 99 jetta; I had friends with 02's who had nothing but trouble.
More Anecdotal evidence but I drove my VW Jetta 10 years before I had my first problem with it. Up until this summer (I bought the Jetta new in '99) it was pristine.
At 10 years and 111,000 miles, the problems are starting. The coolant system went out over the summer, and the transmission is going. Everything else so far has been routine maintenance.
Also, avoid the Ford Taurus like the plague, unless you like replacing your brakes every 15,000 miles. That car was my dad's bread and butter (he owned a re-manufacturing plant for brakes, rack and pinion steering and axles). He warned everyone he knew to never to buy a car model that made him so much money, and he wouldn't put any of his family inside a Taurus, for fear of brake failure.
I have a '93 with 170k and it's in great shape . . . the 4.0 I6 is one of the most reliable engines out there . . . some say bulletproof (I wouldn't want to test it)
What else would you expect with an engine that with a tweak here and there was in production for nigh on 40 years....
After driving an '08, I can't say I blame her. I was very happy to climb behind the wheel of my Grand Am again after driving that POS.
I came this close to buying a Forester...I kinda liked the look of the car, it fit my body type when I sat in the front seat - but I *hated* the controls, particularly the shift lever (I hate those ones that follow the snake-shaped track, that you have to sometimes move back and forth in addition to forward and back). So I went with my Honda CR-V which I absolutely love.
My car is a 1999 Outback Sport, which isn't quite the same thing as the standard Outback (it's based on the Impreza). Despite too-infrequent oil changes and other poor maintenance on my part, it's still trucking along great after ten years and 130,000 miles.
Marian
imo Chevy's offer up a mostly bullet proof no frills transportation alternative.
I use to buy new every 4 years but stopped in '90. Now we pay cash for used Chevy's and never more than 2500-. Every 6 months or so I may have to put 500 into 'em, so what, we have no monthly payments.
Since adopting the 'less is more' transportation philosophy we've paid off the mortgage, got replacement windows and did a half dozen or so big home improvements.
Yeah I'd like to own a new vehicle but after seeing what we accomplished without monthly payments I'll pass...only regret not doing this sooner when we first got married...
...and I like to thank the foreign auto makers for forcing Detroit into making a better product.
I use to buy new every 4 years but stopped in '90. Now we pay cash for used Chevy's and never more than 2500-. Every 6 months or so I may have to put 500 into 'em, so what, we have no monthly payments.
Since adopting the 'less is more' transportation philosophy we've paid off the mortgage, got replacement windows and did a half dozen or so big home improvements.
Yeah I'd like to own a new vehicle but after seeing what we accomplished without monthly payments I'll pass...only regret not doing this sooner when we first got married...
...and I like to thank the foreign auto makers for forcing Detroit into making a better product.
The real problem is that they're so light. We live in Wisconsin. We've been in the ditch with the Impala in bad weather conditions that the Buicks would just laugh at at 80 mph. The Impala went in at 45.
Naw, give me my '00 Century, even with some of the knucklehead repairs I've had to endure. It goes. And goes. And goes. And says, "Fuck you, winter!"
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