[2010 Toyota Corolla S] Help me decide on buying this car or not

OverlordPumba

Hey everyone! I'm from upstate NY and looking to purchase my first car. I need a car to take me to and from work (40mi round trip) and maybe a couple of interstate trips a year or so. I just want it to last me for the next 2-3 years hopefully. I came across this 2010 Toyota Corolla S with 109k miles for $6995 (https://www.facebook.com/share/15grss2mCs/).

I went there and drove it around and it seemed fine. There are tiny scratches here and there, the inside is not entirely clean. There is a tiny crack on the center media console (dash), and the engine plastic cover has a crack too (most of these seem cosmetic). I got a mechanic to get it checked as well, he drove it around and he said the car is fine but there are some fixes that he would recommend me to do (he did ask me to drive it for 300miles or so and see how it is). The car has winter tires on the front and all-seasons on the back (is this normal?). He quoted me for about 2.6k . The guys selling there said they could look into the brake pads and the sunroof but other things they wouldn't fix before selling it. There is minimal rust underneath. Carfax says the car is clean with no accidents but my mechanic said the car might have been hit in the back because I could see the bumpers slightly molded or misaligned.

After NY tax the car comes to about 7.5k. Would you suggest I get this car? I tried negotiating but he wouldn't budge because it is Toyota and he will always find someone to buy it as is which I get because these sell like hotcakes.

I already paid like $300 downpayment to hold the car and have a Bill of Sale. And I have until Monday to pay the rest. They said they'll do the NYS inspection and get everything checked out by then.

What should I do? Would you recommend me to go ahead with this purchase? Thanks in advance!

OverlordPumba

Sorry I posted multiple times, and there is no way to delete this. I had an error while posting but it got posted anyways (Something about less than 5 tags).

xwesx

Eh, while the price seems high, it's like you say: Tough to find one for the "right price" that doesn't have more needs, and the seller obviously isn't in a hurry. If there's no record of things like spark plugs and transmission being done in the past, then, yes, those do need doing.

Also, as your first car, this is an excellent car on which to get some of your own wrenching experience. While the mechanic's quote really is quite reasonable for that work, you can save about half (or a little more) of that if you were to do it yourself (parts cost only).

Also, it's not all that uncommon to see folks cheap out with winter tires and only put two on the drive wheels, but it can make for some squirrelly driving due to the dramatically lower traction on the other two wheels. Just be aware and approach slick roads with some added caution so you don't end up putting the cart before the horse.

oldfarmer50

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

stickguy

on the positive side they are very durable, cheap to keep cars if they get basic maintenance. As noted, at that age/miles basically these are all normal items to go. But if the undercarriage is not rusted out, and the engine is strong, you should have a car that will very likely need nothing but routine care (regular oil changes) for a long time. essentially you are looking at a completely sorted Toyota for about $10k OTD that will probably get close to 40 MPG getting you back and forth to work in boring reliability.

even better if they take care of the brakes and sunroof drains first.

OverlordPumba

xwesx said:

Eh, while the price seems high, it's like you say: Tough to find one for the "right price" that doesn't have more needs, and the seller obviously isn't in a hurry. If there's no record of things like spark plugs and transmission being done in the past, then, yes, those do need doing.

Also, as your first car, this is an excellent car on which to get some of your own wrenching experience. While the mechanic's quote really is quite reasonable for that work, you can save about half (or a little more) of that if you were to do it yourself (parts cost only).

Also, it's not all that uncommon to see folks cheap out with winter tires and only put two on the drive wheels, but it can make for some squirrelly driving due to the dramatically lower traction on the other two wheels. Just be aware and approach slick roads with some added caution so you don't end up putting the cart before the horse.

Yeah, he seems very confident that the car will sell and that there will be people who will buy the car as is. I tried negotiating with him using the list of things that needed fixing but he wouldn't budge and stayed firm on the price. He did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof, but besides that, he wouldn't do anything more.

OverlordPumba

oldfarmer50 said:

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

Good to know! I don't think there are any major faults with the car besides the things my mechanic mentioned. Negotiations were unsuccessful as the guy was so sure that he will sell this car to people who will take it as is. He is firm on his price, but yeah he did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof.

He will also do the NYS inspection for me, so I'm guessing they'll have to tidy any leaks and stuff up before selling it.

OverlordPumba

stickguy said:

on the positive side they are very durable, cheap to keep cars if they get basic maintenance. As noted, at that age/miles basically these are all normal items to go. But if the undercarriage is not rusted out, and the engine is strong, you should have a car that will very likely need nothing but routine care (regular oil changes) for a long time. essentially you are looking at a completely sorted Toyota for about $10k OTD that will probably get close to 40 MPG getting you back and forth to work in boring reliability.

even better if they take care of the brakes and sunroof drains first.

This does reassure me. I know nothing about cars and I was just looking at the price and stuff. This does look like a tempting deal. Even with all these fixes and any future maintenance stuff, it should still cost me less than buying a new car hopefully.

The only thing is, since I'll be the third owner if I do resell this after like 3 years or so, I'm hoping to keep it for much longer but worst case I have to sell it, will the price drop significantly?

jmonroe1

OverlordPumba said:

oldfarmer50 said:

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

Good to know! I don't think there are any major faults with the car besides the things my mechanic mentioned. Negotiations were unsuccessful as the guy was so sure that he will sell this car to people who will take it as is. He is firm on his price, but yeah he did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof.

He will also do the NYS inspection for me, so I'm guessing they'll have to tidy any leaks and stuff up before selling it.

————————————————
It sounds like you’ve gotten some pretty good advice from some of the old timers in here. I don’t know what your wrenching skills are but like @xwesx said, this is a good car to learn/hone them. You’ll never be sorry to have those skills even if it’s just knowing that a shop is being honest about what’s needed when you get quotes from them.

As for the NYS inspection, it’s a safety inspection and leaks won’t fail the inspection UNLESS it’s leaking brake fluid. They don’t let that slide at all.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

jmonroe

stickguy

NY is pretty thorough on the inspection. so having that done is important. at this age, having 3 owners is pretty irrelevant. how well you maintain it will be relevant though!

sure, it likely is worth less but probably not all that much. look at it this way. in 3 years say it is worth $5k. You will have maybe 10K in it now. that averages out to about $140/month. You can't get something new for close to that, and every car is going to cost something to own.

OverlordPumba

jmonroe1 said:

OverlordPumba said:

oldfarmer50 said:

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

Good to know! I don't think there are any major faults with the car besides the things my mechanic mentioned. Negotiations were unsuccessful as the guy was so sure that he will sell this car to people who will take it as is. He is firm on his price, but yeah he did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof.

He will also do the NYS inspection for me, so I'm guessing they'll have to tidy any leaks and stuff up before selling it.

————————————————
It sounds like you’ve gotten some pretty good advice from some of the old timers in here. I don’t know what your wrenching skills are but like @xwesx said, this is a good car to learn/hone them. You’ll never be sorry to have those skills even if it’s just knowing that a shop is being honest about what’s needed when you get quotes from them.

As for the NYS inspection, it’s a safety inspection and leaks won’t fail the inspection UNLESS it’s leaking brake fluid. They don’t let that slide at all.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

jmonroe

I've got negative-wrenching skills, lol. Someone asked me to keep looking for a $10K toyota but then again it is still a used car and will still need some repairs. So I just hope this car does not have any surprises.

OverlordPumba

stickguy said:

NY is pretty thorough on the inspection. so having that done is important. at this age, having 3 owners is pretty irrelevant. how well you maintain it will be relevant though!

sure, it likely is worth less but probably not all that much. look at it this way. in 3 years say it is worth $5k. You will have maybe 10K in it now. that averages out to about $140/month. You can't get something new for close to that, and every car is going to cost something to own.

That is also true. I'm a recent graduate who just started working with student loans. So I am being very careful with this because I really can't afford if there are any surprise fixes outside this. I overthink even the smallest thing so this is such a major purchase for me I'm in hyper-overthinking mode.

oldfarmer50

OverlordPumba said:

jmonroe1 said:

OverlordPumba said:

oldfarmer50 said:

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

Good to know! I don't think there are any major faults with the car besides the things my mechanic mentioned. Negotiations were unsuccessful as the guy was so sure that he will sell this car to people who will take it as is. He is firm on his price, but yeah he did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof.

He will also do the NYS inspection for me, so I'm guessing they'll have to tidy any leaks and stuff up before selling it.

————————————————
It sounds like you’ve gotten some pretty good advice from some of the old timers in here. I don’t know what your wrenching skills are but like @xwesx said, this is a good car to learn/hone them. You’ll never be sorry to have those skills even if it’s just knowing that a shop is being honest about what’s needed when you get quotes from them.

As for the NYS inspection, it’s a safety inspection and leaks won’t fail the inspection UNLESS it’s leaking brake fluid. They don’t let that slide at all.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

jmonroe

I've got negative-wrenching skills, lol. Someone asked me to keep looking for a $10K toyota but then again it is still a used car and will still need some repairs. So I just hope this car does not have any surprises.

The bottom line is you have a car with known repair needs that are not serious and can be deferred for some time. The next $10k Toyota might have much worse problems that you won’t know about so get this one, fix the brakes first and then the other items as money becomes available.

You will never find a car that age that doesn’t have some issues and if you did the price would be exorbitant. Don’t get “paralysis by analysis”. Good luck.

OverlordPumba

oldfarmer50 said:

OverlordPumba said:

jmonroe1 said:

OverlordPumba said:

oldfarmer50 said:

No used car is cheap these days. If it checks out with the mechanic you could take his wish list back and see if they will knock more off the price. That list is what I would expect at that mileage so as long as there aren’t any big ticket items like heads or timing chains you should be good.

Yes, putting snows just on the front will have minor effect on handling but I did the same thing on my RWD truck and two mechanics tell me the difference will be small. Just practice normal defensive winter driving.

Good to know! I don't think there are any major faults with the car besides the things my mechanic mentioned. Negotiations were unsuccessful as the guy was so sure that he will sell this car to people who will take it as is. He is firm on his price, but yeah he did say he will look into the brake pads and sunroof.

He will also do the NYS inspection for me, so I'm guessing they'll have to tidy any leaks and stuff up before selling it.

————————————————
It sounds like you’ve gotten some pretty good advice from some of the old timers in here. I don’t know what your wrenching skills are but like @xwesx said, this is a good car to learn/hone them. You’ll never be sorry to have those skills even if it’s just knowing that a shop is being honest about what’s needed when you get quotes from them.

As for the NYS inspection, it’s a safety inspection and leaks won’t fail the inspection UNLESS it’s leaking brake fluid. They don’t let that slide at all.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

jmonroe

I've got negative-wrenching skills, lol. Someone asked me to keep looking for a $10K toyota but then again it is still a used car and will still need some repairs. So I just hope this car does not have any surprises.

The bottom line is you have a car with known repair needs that are not serious and can be deferred for some time. The next $10k Toyota might have much worse problems that you won’t know about so get this one, fix the brakes first and then the other items as money becomes available.

You will never find a car that age that doesn’t have some issues and if you did the price would be exorbitant. Don’t get “paralysis by analysis”. Good luck.

I really like the term "paralysis by analysis". I think I should just get it and slowly fix these things over time. Thank you!

xwesx

Just a side note related to fixing things over time: Start with fluid changes and brakes. Obviously, you want the car to stop you as well as it is capable of doing (plus, it is *really* easy to do, even with "negative" wrenching skills....), and old fluids can cause major issues (such as the premature death of transmissions, engines, power steering systems, brake lines, differentials, etc.).

OverlordPumba

xwesx said:

Just a side note related to fixing things over time: Start with fluid changes and brakes. Obviously, you want the car to stop you as well as it is capable of doing (plus, it is *really* easy to do, even with "negative" wrenching skills....), and old fluids can cause major issues (such as the premature death of transmissions, engines, power steering systems, brake lines, differentials, etc.).

Gotcha! I'll remember to do these first. Thank you

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

Just a side note related to fixing things over time: Start with fluid changes and brakes. Obviously, you want the car to stop you as well as it is capable of doing (plus, it is *really* easy to do, even with "negative" wrenching skills....), and old fluids can cause major issues (such as the premature death of transmissions, engines, power steering systems, brake lines, differentials, etc.).

————————————————-
You left off at least one fluid on your list, like old washer fluid could cake up the squirter fitting.

jmonroe

OverlordPumba

Update:

I got the car! They changed the brakes for me so I don't have to pay anything extra and I am all good! I got it inspected again, just had to change the oil and add washer fluid but nothing else was needed. Excited to drive this baby around! Thanks for the help everyone!

stickguy

Good luck!

jmonroe1

OverlordPumba said:

Update:

I got the car! They changed the brakes for me so I don't have to pay anything extra and I am all good! I got it inspected again, just had to change the oil and add washer fluid but nothing else was needed. Excited to drive this baby around! Thanks for the help everyone!

————————————————
Congrats. Hopefully you’ll have good luck with it.

Just remember to stay on top of the fluid changes. The oil change is a very good first step but don’t stop now. Yep, that washer fluid is a biggie.

Let us know how it’s doing in a month.

jmonroe

OverlordPumba

stickguy said:

Good luck!

Thank you!

OverlordPumba

jmonroe1 said:

OverlordPumba said:

Update:

I got the car! They changed the brakes for me so I don't have to pay anything extra and I am all good! I got it inspected again, just had to change the oil and add washer fluid but nothing else was needed. Excited to drive this baby around! Thanks for the help everyone!

————————————————
Congrats. Hopefully you’ll have good luck with it.

Just remember to stay on top of the fluid changes. The oil change is a very good first step but don’t stop now. Yep, that washer fluid is a biggie.

Let us know how it’s doing in a month.

jmonroe

Thank you! I will keep that in mind!

And yes I'll be sure to update here!