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Well, not really new.

I've been doing some shopping around looking for a car lately. I was looking primarily for a Toyota, Honda, or Nissan. Knowing I was *only* going to be looking at used cars, I immediately ruled out the possibility of an American car. Sorry if that offends anyone, but based on my own experience, American cars, especially ones from the era I've been looking at, just don't hold up well. I was hoping to find something along the lines of an Accord, Camry, or Altima, mid to late 90s, with relatively low miles, and no major mechanical flaws. My budget was $3500.

After looking at a few cars (including one Accord with a failed inspection sticker that billowed more smoke than a Grateful Dead concert), I finally found what I had been looking for. It's a 1994 Toyota Camry with 126,000 miles on it. The timing belt, radiator, water pump, and starter have all been replaced within the last 2 years. The tires are only two years old. The car has had one owner, and has been meticulously maintained. I test-drove it today, and honestly, it drove like new. I was amazed. I managed to find one of those "blokian" car deals for myself, and got this awesome little Toyota for an even $2000! I honestly can't wait to pick it up next week, once I get it registered and insured.

Bloke, I hear you on the gas concerns....I would have liked something with a little better milage (not that the Camry has bad milage...about 26mpg), but since my commute to work is less than two miles each way, and most of my driving is city driving anyway, it doesn't much that much of a difference. I'll still get plenty of use out of a tank of gas.

I agree and typically buy used cars. However, we are not in typical times. There are some unbelievable deals right now on new cars. Our Saturn SL2 that we bought NEW with the intention of "good consumer report rating, buy American, rah rah( is about to s%$t the bed at 110,000 miles). To boot, we need to replace one of the coil springs and due to the collapse of GM and suppliers, we can't get something as simple as a spring from the company and there isn't an aftermarket part available.

So as of this morning, even if the part comes in, I'm done buying "American" cars. They've had plenty of time to get their act together. They've lost my business by being bufoons. We're now looking at a new Corolla ($15k new), a new Civic ($16 k new) or maybe a Toyota Matrix (comparibly priced). At least I know that those cars will go 200k + miles.

I am still driving my Ford Ranger and happy with it. I'll likely consider another Ford truck as they've always done me right.

My wife and I both drove 94 Camrys for quite some time. When I sold one of them with 75,000 miles, it still had the orginal brakes. Only one caution however... the 94 to 96 model year Camry was known to develop an oil leak out of the head gasket. Not necessarily major until the oil drips on to the hot engine and you can smell smoke. Both our 94 Camry's had to have a new head gaskets installed. The mechanic said the '94 - '96 yr design had a narrow area of gasket material near one of the head bolts that would blow out after time. They strengthen the new gasket with FIPG (flow in place gasket material).

Good luck with your new... or newer car. They ride very nice.

Tim,

Does this mean that your 199X Ford Tempo is for sale?

Sweet...................

Sorry Jon, I sold that Tempo a few years ago, and replaced it with an Escort, which is now gone. That Tempo was a good little car, even if it looked like hell. Looks like you'll have to look elsewhere to replace that Geo Metro.

HA!
I actually had to get rid of the metro 2 years ago when the brakes went up - the estimated cost to fix it was roughly 12 times the value of the car. I used it's modest trade in value to get a new Nissan. The dealer later told me that a lady tried to buy the metro the following week. It was the only time in his 30 years of selling cars that he had to tell somebody "I'm sorry, that car is too dangerous, I can't sell it to you."

Boy, talk about perfect timing. I agreed over the phone on a good deal for a new Corolla with an area dealer. In trade is our 2002 Saturn, to be negociated on the lot. We had parked it for a couple of days at my workplace. The reason we left it was that it had a broken driver side coil spring and were trying to avoid driving it. That's a broken spring at 108,000 miles. 10,000 miles before that, the tailpipe bracket rusted off so the tailpipe was attached with a piece of metal strapping. Because of the broken spring and messed up strut that accompanied it, the tires had worn in a ripple pattern. To put a cherry on top of it, THE morning that I started it up to limp it to the dealership the 'service engine' light came on. Oh, and it was starting to eat oil.

I was on pins and needles at the dealership hoping they didn't test drive it over speed bumps. Somehow, I negociated them up $600 on the trade in and got the new car.

I'm worn out.

elimia wrote:we need to replace one of the coil springs and due to the collapse of GM and suppliers, we can't get something as simple as a spring from the company and there isn't an aftermarket part available.

That's interesting. I read somewhere, about the time that GM 86'ed Oldsmobile, that auto manufacturers are required by federal law to provide a complete set of replacement parts for all new cars for a period of (IIRC) 8-10 years. I'm fuzzy on the exact number.

Anyone confirm or deny?

JCalkin wrote:I read somewhere, about the time that GM 86'ed Oldsmobile, that auto manufacturers are required by federal law to provide a complete set of replacement parts for all new cars for a period of (IIRC) 8-10 years. I'm fuzzy on the exact number.

Anyone confirm or deny?

Confirm:

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act

JCalkin wrote:

elimia wrote:we need to replace one of the coil springs and due to the collapse of GM and suppliers, we can't get something as simple as a spring from the company and there isn't an aftermarket part available.

That's interesting. I read somewhere, about the time that GM 86'ed Oldsmobile, that auto manufacturers are required by federal law to provide a complete set of replacement parts for all new cars for a period of (IIRC) 8-10 years. I'm fuzzy on the exact number.

Anyone confirm or deny?

Clarify: yes, they still have parts available. The issue was this spring had been on backorder from Saturn for over 6 weeks. No other company had an aftermarket part. They discontinued the S series in 2002, and a 2001 spring wouldn't fit. At some point we had to do something - could only borrow car from friends and do rentals for so long. Plus I felt, with the demise of Saturn, this situation with getting parts would only get worse.