We've had only three ourselves, but I figure #4 is on the way sometime in the not-too-distant future. All three of our Hondas were great cars. The only thing I really disliked about any of them was the automatic seatbelts on the 1990 Accord.
BTW, WHAT'S UP WITH THIS ORANGE? Did Edmunds merge with Home Depot :P ?
This one is getting a little too old for my tastes...
Plus.. he thinks it is the clutch cylinder... If the clutch isn't working, it might be hiding all kinds of problems.. If you are only risking the $300, then no big deal... But, if you have to drop $1000 total on repairs, and then find out it still has major problems?
Who puts a new paint job on a 1983 truck, that is only worth $1200 in excellent condition?
Oh, wait... this is CCBA... by all means, go ahead and buy it!!
I'll drive it first... it's not like you "need" a clutch to drive and shift... you just need it to get going... strong starter, 2nd gear, you're good to go... If it runs alright, I'll buy it. -m
grab it. Heck, I would if it ran OK, based on the pictures. Perfect spare vehicle for me, and great to teach my son to drive on.
Besides, you seem to be somewhat handy (and know some people in the biz), and a clutch on one of those is pretty simple. It's not like you are dealing with an Audi Quatro here!
Jump on it! If the clutch is all that's wrong with it and it runs good, you could always get your money back out of it. I'm betting it will get 25 mpg highway if not more.
My dad is always on the lookout for little trucks like that b/c they are so easy to sell.
Hey, what's up with the emotorcons? All but the :lemon: look a little :sick: .
Hey - I've been an Edmunds surfer for years now and I have been reading the posts in this Chronic car Buyers forum...
I have to admit it - I am possibly the worst Chronic car buyer of all time!
I have bought and traded in cars for many years but in the last 10 years have been the worst. I have traded cars so many times I have honestly lost count.
Let me try to remember so you can see how bad I have CCB sickness...
Since 1996 i have owned:
7 Mazda Miata's! a 1991, two 1993's, 1997 two 2001's and currently a 2006.
5 Honda's - 2 Civics, 2005 and a 2006 (currently), an Element, a S2000 and a Fit.
3 VW New Beetles, one hardtop, two convertibles.
2 BMW's - a 530I and a Z4 (I had a 330i on order, could not wait and bought the 530i instead)
A Mercedes SLK, a Lexus RX, a Hyundai, a Kia, a Mazda 5, a Saturn SL1, a Nissan Sentra, A Saab 93, a Toyota Camry Solara, A Mini Cooper Convertible.
That's 27 different cars in 10 years...
I wish there was an award for this, it might make up for the thousands of dollars I have lost trading in nearly new cars on different ones.
Scott, do you still have the Land Rover LR3? I have an '06 HSE and really enjoy it.
You and "akangl" (Jolie) have to meet to talk cars, she and her husband might have you beat on 27 cars in 10 years. :P
Also, what do you have currently in the stable? It was a little hard to tell from your list. Looks like you have an '06 Honda Civic and an '06 Mazda Miata? Surely, you don't just have two cars! You will lose your membership to CCBA right quick! :surprise:
Mark156
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
I sold off my others to buy my house and I satisfy the CCBA itch by driving a new demo every other week or so.
Currently I have a nice little freelander as it is the most fuel efficient vehicle we have on the lot. This is actually a good freelander and I am just amazed at how well they handle on mountain roads. No heavy soft roader like the freelander has any right to handle as well as it does.
That's why I keep hanging on to my 6 y.o. bmw 5-series (besides that it's a great car): The $18-$20K that it might take to trade for a new acura RDX, say, would at least make a small dent in the down payment for a nicer house.
Here's a house in CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine I almost bought 3-4 years ago, but chickened out. Now it's FS again, & I'm still drooling over it. It's 10 min. S. of Portland, & a mile or less from the ocean. (For those who don't know, CAPE ELIZABETH is one of the 2 or 3 nicest areas around Portland, & Mt. View Park is one of the nicest areas in C.E.) I'm not sure if the link will work, but here goes:
Check out the "additional photos" too--it's hard to tell from the outside pic, & actually the interior pics don't really show how incredibly cool the kitchen is. Any feedback, or comments? (I'm trying to break my own record of getting as OT as possible......)
I almost think if I owned that house, I wouldn't even care what kind of car I had (heresy, I know).....
Unfortunately, this one doesn't show the inside pics......but I can e-mail the other one to anyone who wants them. P.S. you can sign up on the Coldwell Banker site in a jiff & see tons of listings in E. Mass, ME, & NH. Doesn't have all the ones in VT, but some (check out Woodstock VT for one of the most beautiful small NE towns).
I don't count my wife's cars - see has had about 6 in the 10 years also (mostly from my suggestions) - the Land Rover LR3 was hers.
My current cars are the 2006 MX-5 Grand Touring in Red and a 2006 Honda Civic EX with Navi. My wife has a 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI. So we have three total, just two are "mine".
I think the picture of the jeep and my old demo discovery makes it on topic.
Also just a note those photos were taken with a very cheap digital camera so they are not so great. Also take note that the house had been unoccupied for about three weeks when those photos were taken so the yard and gardens were really overgrown.
To the Edmunds forums?? It says CarSpace Automotive Forums :confuse:
Forgive me, we were off fishing for the past few days. I still don't have my black Ram back, but the red one did a great job towing........averaged 13 mpg towing the TT, that's more than the V10 could average empty!!
I am 26 and my wife is 24. The jeep is her daily driver until the Eos comes out in large numbers then we will probably by her one of those. After the jeep becomes my four wheeling rig.
With no great want or need, I bought a neighbor's RX300. It is a 2000 with 123K miles in perfect mechanical condition and all service is up to date. It needs a little body work where the bumper cover and just a little bit of the rear quarter scraped a pole. Inside, without a doubt, it is the most disgusting vehicle I have ever seen. Twin 5 year old boys have ground gum and other food products into the carpet, written on the backs of the front seats with a ballpoint pen, spilled drinks and done various other things that are beyond belief. It looks like wild animals have lived in it. Every door opened, every mat lifted, every crack examined revealed further untold horrors. But, everything works well inside, even all of the little compartment hinges covered in gelatinous former beverage products.
I couldn't resist the challenge. I paid $8,000 for it.
It is now as almost as clean as your average high-mileage 2000 model, but it will never be up to my standards. It still smells a little bit inside. I have added new floor mats ($120) and new eBay 18" RX400H wheels and tires ($800). I have $8910 in it. It still required around a $1000 of bodywork to get it looking right.
I have a friend who wants to trade with me, and I am willing. He has a 2000 Honda EX V6 sedan with 124K miles on it. Tan leather interior isn't perfect, but nicer than mine. Mechanically great with receipts since day one. The dark green exterior has a couple boo-boos a paintless dent guy could get and a good knock to the rocker panel/lower door. You could probably make the exterior great for less than a $1000. It got a brand new transmission at 40K, and been great since. Most importantly, it does not smell bad.
This guy is a great friend, so nobody should get an upper hand on this deal. (Neither one of us would have hard feelings if the engine blew a week after the trade either). The only difference is the difference, as they say. So what is the cash difference between these two paragons of excitement?
Nothing at the moment but I will by doing somethign to that lowest terrace level by the driveway. Currently there is barely enough room to make the left turn into the garage because the retaining wall for the terrace is too close to the driveway. I am either going to completly remove the lowest level of the terrace or cut it in half from about 8 feet wide to four feet.
Even I have a hard time backing down that driveway as it is very narrow, curves fairly hard to the right as you are backing down, has a steep downward slope and is over 100 feet long.
My wife cannot backdown it at all she has to do a five point turn in the narrow upper portion of the driveay to get her jeep pointed the right way.
My wife drove it about 10,000 miles before trading it in, it was mostly highway miles.
It was reliable except for one big problem - at about 6,000 miles the air suspension quit working, we got a warning light, the vehicle was stuck in the fully lowered position. So we took it in to the Phoenix Land Rover dealer and it took them awhile to find the problem - it needed a new air compressor. Well of course the dealer did not have one and it was backordered from England, it took them over a month to get the part and fix the pump!
In the meantime they did give us a dealer demo LR3 to drive for the month. We put 2,000 miles on it while we had it!
BUT - as I brought the demo LR3 back to the dealer to pick up my LR3, the same warning light on the dash came on indicating that it too had a problem with the air suspension!! The demo had about 5,000 miles on it.
So due to relibility concerns and (mostly) gas mileage (it got about 13 city, could do about 17 all highway) we traded it in and got a 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI.
Looks good! (And good thing you have AWD vehicles....with that narrow driveway in CT winters.....that you have to back down?) Your first house? That's sometimes the most exciting one......
Who woulda thunk it......a low mileage LR (2, in your case) with a major problem? When I owned my '98 Range Rover with 36K miles, 1/2 of the driving I did was to the dealer for repairs.....the other 1/2 to the gas station (to fill up for more repair trips).
I back down it normaly cause I am driving the rovers with the asymetrical rear window that lets me see the road even with the severe down slope. I will say it is harder in the jeep even with the window rolled down and your head sticking out but my wife is just not comfortable with backing up over that kind of distance. That is the main reason for taking that lower terrace level down so she can easily turn around at the top of the driveway.
As to the Land Rover well you couldn't pick about a worse year to own then a 1996. I think that was rovers worst year as far as quality goes ever. All early build LR3s had their air compressor replaced with a larger more high capacity unit. Of all the LR3s I have sold only one had the suspension fault like he described. The others had the air compressor replaced as part of an upgrade campaign.
I have a friend who wants to trade with me, and I am willing. He has a 2000 Honda EX V6 sedan with 124K miles on it.
My take on it - his car + 4500 gets yours.
My advice - don't do it. The 98-02 Accord Sedan is one of the ugliest cars I have seen in modern times. Now if it was the coupe, it's a different story.
I cringed when I first read your original description of the RX300. Personally, I'd never touch a vehicle with such a bad interior, unless maybe it was 1/2 price. And if you sold it on ebay, what would the listing say?:
"Smelly 123K mile Lexus, formerly inhabited by Wild Animals" Part of the problem is, you can't really describe smells in ads, unless like Emiril (SP?) says, you can provide "smell-o-vision".
Selling the new rims & tires separately might be a good idea if you're not keeping the car.....
Didja ever think about just buying a 50K mile car in really nice condition? But if you can raise $4500 cash, like the previous poster said, by trading for your friend's accord, & it doesn't smell, I'd say go for it........
Funny thing about the interior - now that I have it cleaned up, it looks like that of most cars you see on used car lots. I wonder how many cars are just pots of filth until the day they are put up for sale.
I already have two cars in nice condition, a 2006 Pilot EXL with 5K miles and a 2005 G35 with 8K miles. I just like messing around with stuff for fun. Isn't that kind of the point of this forum?
I sold a discovery one time that when we got it as a lease return was covered in so much white dog hair that you could barely tell it had black interior.
After the detail guys spend half a day cleaning it it looked brand new.
I sold a discovery one time that when we got it as a lease return was covered in so much white dog hair that you could barely tell it had black interior.
After the detail guys spend half a day cleaning it it looked brand new.
I know me personally I'm very picky about animal hair in my vehicle, so my dog rides in the back of the truck. We try to clean our trades up before we trade them in, just seems to be the right thing to do.
We spent 8 hours detailing (even used a clay bar and waxed it) the 99 Ram before we traded it in, must have worked, after they saw it they put more $$$ into it. They sold it in 1 week, which I think is a record for a V10 these days, lol. The Titan I cleaned the interior and conditioned the leather, but didn't wash the outside, didn't have time since it had the problem with the rear end right before I traded it.
When we were looking at used 1-tons last month we looked at a bunch of them that were either smokers (no way) or dogged out (stinky!). I won't give them a second look.
My Sebring was a smoker's car, but it sat for 3 years with the sunroof open and aired out. Plus I *think* the price was low enough to overlook that small detail.
Comments
jeffreyg: To say we have had our fair share of Hondas would be an understatement. We give new meaning to the phrase "stick with what you know".
BTW, WHAT'S UP WITH THIS ORANGE? Did Edmunds merge with Home Depot :P ?
If Home Depot starts giving a discount for Edmunds members, I'm all for it!
link title
whaddaya think?
-Mathias
Plus.. he thinks it is the clutch cylinder... If the clutch isn't working, it might be hiding all kinds of problems.. If you are only risking the $300, then no big deal... But, if you have to drop $1000 total on repairs, and then find out it still has major problems?
Who puts a new paint job on a 1983 truck, that is only worth $1200 in excellent condition?
Oh, wait... this is CCBA... by all means, go ahead and buy it!!
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
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If it runs alright, I'll buy it.
-m
Besides, you seem to be somewhat handy (and know some people in the biz), and a clutch on one of those is pretty simple. It's not like you are dealing with an Audi Quatro here!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
My dad is always on the lookout for little trucks like that b/c they are so easy to sell.
Hey, what's up with the emotorcons? All but the :lemon: look a little :sick: .
:surprise: :confuse:
:sick:
are feeling kind of sad.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The Sandman
I'm pretty sure everyone here is over the age of 18.....
Well, yeah, technically they might be... but it's the behavior that counts.
-Mathias
I have to admit it - I am possibly the worst Chronic car buyer of all time!
I have bought and traded in cars for many years but in the last 10 years have been the worst. I have traded cars so many times I have honestly lost count.
Let me try to remember so you can see how bad I have CCB sickness...
Since 1996 i have owned:
7 Mazda Miata's! a 1991, two 1993's, 1997 two 2001's and currently a 2006.
5 Honda's - 2 Civics, 2005 and a 2006 (currently), an Element, a S2000 and a Fit.
3 VW New Beetles, one hardtop, two convertibles.
2 BMW's - a 530I and a Z4 (I had a 330i on order, could not wait and bought the 530i instead)
A Mercedes SLK, a Lexus RX, a Hyundai, a Kia, a Mazda 5, a Saturn SL1, a Nissan Sentra,
A Saab 93, a Toyota Camry Solara, A Mini Cooper Convertible.
That's 27 different cars in 10 years...
I wish there was an award for this, it might make up for the thousands of dollars I have lost trading in nearly new cars on different ones.
Tell me I'm crazy - I deserve it.
Rocky
You and "akangl" (Jolie) have to meet to talk cars, she and her husband might have you beat on 27 cars in 10 years. :P
Also, what do you have currently in the stable? It was a little hard to tell from your list. Looks like you have an '06 Honda Civic and an '06 Mazda Miata? Surely, you don't just have two cars! You will lose your membership to CCBA right quick! :surprise:
Mark156
I sold off my others to buy my house and I satisfy the CCBA itch by driving a new demo every other week or so.
Currently I have a nice little freelander as it is the most fuel efficient vehicle we have on the lot. This is actually a good freelander and I am just amazed at how well they handle on mountain roads. No heavy soft roader like the freelander has any right to handle as well as it does.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Here's a house in CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine I almost bought 3-4 years ago, but chickened out. Now it's FS again, & I'm still drooling over it. It's 10 min. S. of Portland, & a mile or less from the ocean. (For those who don't know, CAPE ELIZABETH is one of the 2 or 3 nicest areas around Portland, & Mt. View Park is one of the nicest areas in C.E.) I'm not sure if the link will work, but here goes:
http://www.newenglandmoves.com/Listings/SingleFamily_Non_NewEnglandMoves.htm?id=- - 1010699074
Check out the "additional photos" too--it's hard to tell from the outside pic, & actually the interior pics don't really show how incredibly cool the kitchen is. Any feedback, or comments? (I'm trying to break my own record of getting as OT as possible......)
I almost think if I owned that house, I wouldn't even care what kind of car I had (heresy, I know).....
I sure would like to see it; I've never been to Maine and I wanted to see what a nice piece of Real Estate was going for.
Mark
http://mreis.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=750946568&s=MRE&t=MRE
Unfortunately, this one doesn't show the inside pics......but I can e-mail the other one to anyone who wants them. P.S. you can sign up on the Coldwell Banker site in a jiff & see tons of listings in E. Mass, ME, & NH. Doesn't have all the ones in VT, but some (check out Woodstock VT for one of the most beautiful small NE towns).
My current cars are the 2006 MX-5 Grand Touring in Red and a 2006 Honda Civic EX with Navi. My wife has a 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI. So we have three total, just two are "mine".
Scott155
I even forgot one - a new 1996 Mustang GT convertible!
Scott155
Mark
I think the picture of the jeep and my old demo discovery makes it on topic.
Also just a note those photos were taken with a very cheap digital camera so they are not so great. Also take note that the house had been unoccupied for about three weeks when those photos were taken so the yard and gardens were really overgrown.
Forgive me, we were off fishing for the past few days. I still don't have my black Ram back, but the red one did a great job towing........averaged 13 mpg towing the TT, that's more than the V10 could average empty!!
Mathais......buy the truck!! Its cute!
british_rover.......nice house!
Great pics, but didn't know that you had a Jeep.
Mark
Well, how much is silver spraypaint these days...about $3.99 per can? :P
With no great want or need, I bought a neighbor's RX300. It is a 2000 with 123K miles in perfect mechanical condition and all service is up to date. It needs a little body work where the bumper cover and just a little bit of the rear quarter scraped a pole. Inside, without a doubt, it is the most disgusting vehicle I have ever seen. Twin 5 year old boys have ground gum and other food products into the carpet, written on the backs of the front seats with a ballpoint pen, spilled drinks and done various other things that are beyond belief. It looks like wild animals have lived in it. Every door opened, every mat lifted, every crack examined revealed further untold horrors. But, everything works well inside, even all of the little compartment hinges covered in gelatinous former beverage products.
I couldn't resist the challenge. I paid $8,000 for it.
It is now as almost as clean as your average high-mileage 2000 model, but it will never be up to my standards. It still smells a little bit inside. I have added new floor mats ($120) and new eBay 18" RX400H wheels and tires ($800). I have $8910 in it. It still required around a $1000 of bodywork to get it looking right.
I have a friend who wants to trade with me, and I am willing. He has a 2000 Honda EX V6 sedan with 124K miles on it. Tan leather interior isn't perfect, but nicer than mine. Mechanically great with receipts since day one. The dark green exterior has a couple boo-boos a paintless dent guy could get and a good knock to the rocker panel/lower door. You could probably make the exterior great for less than a $1000. It got a brand new transmission at 40K, and been great since. Most importantly, it does not smell bad.
This guy is a great friend, so nobody should get an upper hand on this deal. (Neither one of us would have hard feelings if the engine blew a week after the trade either). The only difference is the difference, as they say. So what is the cash difference between these two paragons of excitement?
We have owned 38 cars since May 1995. We seem to have settled down more recently though .....
britishrover: Nice place. Any renovations planned?
Even I have a hard time backing down that driveway as it is very narrow, curves fairly hard to the right as you are backing down, has a steep downward slope and is over 100 feet long.
My wife cannot backdown it at all she has to do a five point turn in the narrow upper portion of the driveay to get her jeep pointed the right way.
It was reliable except for one big problem - at about 6,000 miles the air suspension quit working, we got a warning light, the vehicle was stuck in the fully lowered position. So we took it in to the Phoenix Land Rover dealer and it took them awhile to find the problem - it needed a new air compressor. Well of course the dealer did not have one and it was backordered from England, it took them over a month to get the part and fix the pump!
In the meantime they did give us a dealer demo LR3 to drive for the month. We put 2,000 miles on it while we had it!
BUT - as I brought the demo LR3 back to the dealer to pick up my LR3, the same warning light on the dash came on indicating that it too had a problem with the air suspension!! The demo had about 5,000 miles on it.
So due to relibility concerns and (mostly) gas mileage (it got about 13 city, could do about 17 all highway) we traded it in and got a 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI.
Scott155
PS--what's the E320 CDI like?
As to the Land Rover well you couldn't pick about a worse year to own then a 1996. I think that was rovers worst year as far as quality goes ever. All early build LR3s had their air compressor replaced with a larger more high capacity unit. Of all the LR3s I have sold only one had the suspension fault like he described. The others had the air compressor replaced as part of an upgrade campaign.
My take on it - his car + 4500 gets yours.
My advice - don't do it.
The 98-02 Accord Sedan is one of the ugliest cars I have seen in modern times.
Now if it was the coupe, it's a different story.
"Smelly 123K mile Lexus, formerly inhabited by Wild Animals"
Part of the problem is, you can't really describe smells in ads, unless like Emiril (SP?) says, you can provide "smell-o-vision".
Selling the new rims & tires separately might be a good idea if you're not keeping the car.....
Didja ever think about just buying a 50K mile car in really nice condition? But if you can raise $4500 cash, like the previous poster said, by trading for your friend's accord, & it doesn't smell, I'd say go for it........
Neither is really all that good or bad, just inoffensive.
The Accord coupe is just a two door sedan, and that is something for which I have no use.
I already have two cars in nice condition, a 2006 Pilot EXL with 5K miles and a 2005 G35 with 8K miles. I just like messing around with stuff for fun. Isn't that kind of the point of this forum?
After the detail guys spend half a day cleaning it it looked brand new.
After the detail guys spend half a day cleaning it it looked brand new.
I know me personally I'm very picky about animal hair in my vehicle, so my dog rides in the back of the truck. We try to clean our trades up before we trade them in, just seems to be the right thing to do.
We spent 8 hours detailing (even used a clay bar and waxed it) the 99 Ram before we traded it in, must have worked, after they saw it they put more $$$ into it. They sold it in 1 week, which I think is a record for a V10 these days, lol. The Titan I cleaned the interior and conditioned the leather, but didn't wash the outside, didn't have time since it had the problem with the rear end right before I traded it.
When we were looking at used 1-tons last month we looked at a bunch of them that were either smokers (no way) or dogged out (stinky!). I won't give them a second look.
My Sebring was a smoker's car, but it sat for 3 years with the sunroof open and aired out. Plus I *think* the price was low enough to overlook that small detail.