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No child under 12 in my house, mister And one's a driver.
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Another lackluster car that makes a pretty good value as a used car would be a Saturn. Plain, bland cars that seem to hold up pretty well. Not a car that inspires much passion but not bad cars for the money in my not so humble opinion.
See, I got it back on track!
Also I saw that 1999 Corolla CE with 88,000 miles and the guy is offering it to me for $5800, which is about $100 more than KBB private party but it was in quite good shape. Which of these two is a better deal?
Many thanks!
Peter
I think that you generally do better buying Saturns at non-GM dealers if you are looking for great deals.
I think the newer saturns have stopped using plastic though because it has gotten to expensive. Improvments in sheet metal stampings have made it much cheaper to use steel.
The Corolla twin, Chevrolet Prizm, has been recommended on these boards by people who know. Same car, but resale values are a lot lower (though with gas these days, Prizms are harded to find.) Something like this.
If the budget is around 6k, I would also look at a 2001 (maybe even a 2002) Protege, maybe a manual transmission Mazda 626. Altima, Taurus/Sable are good choices. May be possible to find an Impala in that price range, too.
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I didn't say that they didn't fit, I said it worked better. It's easier to get into, they sit up and can see better, and you can recline the seats a little for better comfort. Plus, if you slide the back seat all of the way back, they have a lot more leg room and don't knee my in the back, which is always a good thing.
I am unlucky that I live in a smaller town and most people here sell pickups/SUVs. It does also seem that there aren't many used cars available in the 4-7 year old range, at least on respectable dealer lots. If they have any they want a lot for those cars (like one Chevy dealer who had a $7000 sticker price for a 1996 Accord with 160 K miles!). In the paper I see very few ads (10-20% of all car classifieds) of people selling their car privately. I guess most people opt for the trade-in "deal."
Thanks for the tip on the Prizms! You're right they are hard to find, a quick search on autotrader only yielded 1 result in my area and it's rather far (1 hr drive) away. I made an offer of $5800 for the used Corolla CE (1999 with 88 K miles), which is about $50 higher than the KBB but the guy had the car in good shape. From the reviews posted on the Corolla forum those cars last forever and get the highest JD Power ratings I've seen yet. (5/5 for long term (5 yr) dependability)).
I have looked at several cars so far and it's a crying shame how people abuse their cars (let the dog tear out the back seat doors, mud all over the carpet, piles of leaves on the a/c intake, etc. So far the Corolla is the one I best like. I guess when searching for a used car one can't be too choosy.
My car got was burglarized on 2/15. After police made the report, i called my car insurance directly as a procedure and gave them the police report. But since this was my first experience, i did not know that agent would automatically filling my report as a claim. Then, i found out the estimation below my car insurance deduction. So, it will not worth to file a claim for this burglary. But the insurance adjuster told me that i already filled my claim, i could not cancel it. Is that really like that? I think that adjuster just wanted to earn some benefits from this filling.
I just think that even i can't cancel the claim, as long as i never send them the bill of the reparation, it means that i don't want to claim to insurance. Is that right?
Anyway, cancel or not that automatically filling claim, will that hurt my insurance premium later?
I need all folks advices.
Since that experience, i just think that if we get an accident, we should not call our insurance right away as a procedure. Because if we do it, they will put our report automatically as a claim. Am i right?
If you file a lot of them, they may assume fraud and cancel you... but, it isn't like having a lot of at-fault accidents..
regards,
kyfdx
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(I suppose that if you're a 22 year old male, though, the insurance company won't be so "understanding". We've been with the same agent for almost 20 years, so that may have worked in our favor.)
But as kyfdx said, it's not likely to affect your insurance rates anyway. You're not going to be getting any money from them since it's below your deductible level.
If you have an accident, you should still tell your insurance company right away (assuming the amount of damage is ABOVE your deductible level).
In my opinion you should ALWAYS notify your insurance company of any accident, not matter how little damage there is. You would be surprised the number of times people make claims month later claiming damage or injuries.
A few years ago, I was rear ended. I was paid $350 in damages for my bumper. A year later, a passenger in the car that hit us filed a large claim with State Farm (the driver's insurance co.) claiming serious injury.
Insurance companies resist paying when they are not notified of an accident on a timely basis.
He learned to drive on an Escort and would probably not mind taking that car, but I don't trust him to stay on top of repairs and don't trust the car to make the 800 mile trip. Besides, our younger son is about to get his permit and needs something to drive around.
Based on what I read here, it looks like a used Saturn or possibly a Mazda Protoge might be a good car for him. Do you think I can get something to fit our needs for about, say, $5k? (or a little more?)
Used Taurus's make great college cars. They are safe, pretty reliable and cheap and easy to fix if there is a problem. OTOH, it make not be the best car for picking up girls and being 'cool'. I think you could offer him two choices. Your original offer of GIVING him the Taurus or he could go out and BUY his own car.
Absolutely!
good grief. "he doesn't like it." gimme a break. I don't like work, but the alternative is being homeless and carless. So I do what I gotta do. That's life for ya. What we want and what we gotta settle on are not always compatible. Better he learns it now.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
He can rent a car a couple times a year to make the trip between Iowa and Texas, maybe rent a car on weekends every so often, and probably still come out way ahead of buying something it doesn't sound like he really wants anyway.
I'd put the $5,000 into a "transportation fund" and give him, say, $1200 a year for the next four years to pay for car rentals.
Thanks.
I'm having the same issue with my daughter, who is also going off to college this fall. Fortunately, it's only 90 miles from home. We've gone back and forth on the idea of a car for her. She currently has a car to use full time - school and work, mostly.
I admit that while on campus she really won't need a car, but getting her home would be a bit problematic. Plus, if we decide to sell the extra car before she goes away, then decide later that she needs a car, we have to start over with payments (wife is not into the idea of a used car .. don't ask).
So, we're still undecided on the whole thing. Like the other poster, our kid isn't into cars, other than the fact that she does not want to learn how to drive a stick shift.
1) At that price range, you are looking at a 5-7 year old midsized vehicle (say a Taurus/Impala/Intrepid) and the like or a much older import.
2) Mazdas are OK but are more expensive to repair than some of the more mundane selections.
3) Whatever car you buy is not going to last very long if the child does not take care of the vehicle. Many students - especially those who are given a car as opposed to spending hard earned money - never have the $20 for the required oil changes.
4) If I expressed my true opinions on this subject, I would probably be banned from the board but the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" might give you the general idea. A couple 800 mile trips on Greyhound may produce the necessary attitude adjustment.
No offense taken. We are looking at those options too but that's not why I posted here.
The thing is he will be doing internships and stuff like that probably starting his junior year. That may mean we put off the purchase another year (he's a freshman now). Our original plan was he got the Taurus, Mrs. Doohickie got a new car. Whether it's this year or next we hadn't decided.
It actually may work out to be much less out of our pocket, though, for my wife to keep the Taurus a while longer since she doesn't mind driving it, and buying junior a used car instead of my wife a new car.
People keep talking about midsize cars, but he prefers a smaller car, I think for parking/maneuvering sake, and also for cost of operation (gas, tires, etc.) It's what he learned on; it's what he's used to.
I'm a Nissan fan from way back, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. On the other hand, a tall-ish friend of mine a couple years ago tested those three cars (and others) and ended up with the Protege because he felt it just fit him better.
You might start looking at 4 year old versions of the above, see if any of them feel comfortable and fill the bill financially.
On a more serious note, have you checked out a Buick (Regal or Lesabre?? I don't know how much less you want to spend, but they have a pretty steep depreciation curve and are pretty reliable as GM cars go.
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
Many people think the mid-90's Maximas were the best of the bunch; that's when Nissan was advertising them as "the four door sports car." If doohickie can find one in good shape for his son, could be a very good college car. And it's not really a big car, so might meet his needs.
Eventhough the interior was very sophmoric, it would be a great 1st car for a college freshman. Remember one thing though, freshman can only generally park on campus on weekends only, so parking could be a real adventure. At least at Tulane it was.
The Sandman
Surely America can do a much better job...are you listening Detroit?
The Sandman
The service writer left and I had to find another guy to ask about my vehicle. At this time it was 6:15 and they came back and said I'd have to leave my vehicle. I guess beggars can't be choosers, but I didn't expect such garbage. If it's longer than a day, I'll switch the Neon out, as it's not back friendly either and just the 10 minute ride home left me almost unable to walk...even with my cane!
Sorry for my rant guys!
The Sandman :sick:
I hope the new Caliber will bring Chrysler to competitiveness in the segment. It's actually the exact configuration I prefer (4-door fastback hatch), so I may look at one down the road. But if they don't have an interior worth bragging about, they'll still do poorly. The Hyundai Elantra I recently purchased is *very* nice on the inside and includes all the goodies like power windows/locks; good, firm seats with lots of adjustment, and enough room for me in the front (and I'm 6-2).
Hopefully the Caliber can compete with that.
The Nissan dealer is having problems diagnosing the problem, so they said just keep the rental...something about a coil or something in my engine gone bad. Could take a few days yet to fix. No matter...the rentals on them!
The Sandman
(Lucky for me this happened now, as my 3 years of warranty is up the end of May.)
We had replaced one coil last year, but another one started to go bad a few months later, so decided to bite the bullet and change 'em all.
This has been a great car and we've had no other maintenance issues, so figure we're still getting our money's worth from it, and then some, considering everything.
The Sandman :confuse: