Car help

[Brittney]

So, devil car finally did it in for me. It officially died on me on my 53 mile journey back home from work. I took it to the shop and it needed a new engine. Was going to cost me $4,000 for that. All after I just spent $1000 getting a tune-up on it in January... Of course! I was sick of the troubles it has caused me, so I sold it for $600. Now I'm on the search for a new car. I have a meeting today at 3:00 to check out a 1999 Dodge Ram with 180,140 miles on it. Owner says he has kept up on the maintenance but I don't know if that's just too many miles regardless of if it was well kept of not. Any ideas? Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[alli713]

I would never buy a car with that many miles on it, but that's just me.. My car's at 140,000 right now and I really am only hoping to get a year or two more out of it, and I've kept it up real good. I just don't trust that high of mileage. At that age things just start going wrong, at least in my opinion.

 

[Sdo9396]

I agree. The older the car, the more problems are likely to appear. I would prefer to buy a car less than 5 years old if possible. If not, try to buy something at least under 100,000 miles. I know for Hondas, the timing belt has to be changed around 90k miles, no matter the model. So, the higher mileage cars bring on more maintenance. I always use cars.com to research any car I'm thinking about purchasing. It will also allow you to read reviews from previous/current car owners. Also, you can check kbb.com for the value of the car you're interested in to make sure someone's not overcharging you. ) Good luck in your new car search!

 

[addictedtochins]

How much is the truck? If it checked out great I would pay $600 for it I guess. Why would you get a truck with the extreme high cost of gas and your long commute? A Toyota could last 250K miles if well kept. I loved my Toyota Terecel. A Subaru is good too. Our dune buggy has 1984 Subaru GL station wagon running gear and it has over 250K miles and runs like new. Tell me what kind of vehicle you want or need and how much you can spend, I'll see if I can help more.

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

I'd probably go for someone more economical myself. I'm a cheapie of sorts, whenever we buy a vehicle we pay cash, no car payments, but then again my husband does mechanic work on the side, so it works for us, but that is a lot of miles, and like Theresa said, with your commutes being so long, I'd opt for something else.

 

[Riven]

I doubt the truck is $600.

I would not buy a big truck with that many miles on it if I was driving that far each day to work unless I needed a truck for some other reason.

I would buy a Toyota with that many miles on it. My car is almost 7 years old and has over 160K, never had any issues, I've always kept it up, I'd trust it to take anyone anywhere. In fact less than a month ago we took it to Washington state pulling a trailer!

I guess you never really said WHY the car needed a new engine... and I've never had a tune up cost $1000 either.

 

[GorillaJTA]

$1000 tune-up is crazy....
All it is is changing plugs and wires and checking the PCV valve (which you would know was clogged anyway). Unless it was more than a normal tune-up.

I would not buy a dodge truck with that many miles. Less concern about the engine than the transmission. How many miles did your car have?

 

[threewingedfury]

I would not suggest a Dodge Ram with that many miles either. I had a 99' 1500 and had to put a new transmission in it at 70,000 and 105,000 miles. Anyone can say a car has been well kept - but that's a heck of a lot of miles to buy a used car unless it's a killer deal.

 

[ticklechin]

Also with the Dodge trucks, the intake manifold gasket will blow internally, it will consume oil like crazy and no one can tell until you own if for a few hundred miles. I have had a couple of customers get burned by Dodge trucks because of it. 180k on a honda or toyota for a cheap price maybe, a Dodge truck, no.

 

[3CsMommy]

Look into a used Honda or similar, unless you truly need that kind of payload. A Ram is going to guzzle gas; most pickups except the Toyota and Ford hybrids (which are hard to find) do. Everything we needed for the dog, the chins, ourselves, etc. fit into my ex's Honda Accord w/ no problems.

 

[Spoof]

I agree with everyone, there are certain vehicles you can take to 300K, Hondas, Oldsmobiles, some Toyotas and Buicks. Never seen a Dodge get that high.

I have 140K on my 1989 Olds and expect to get another 140K.

I also wouldn't pay more than $600 for anything that had that high of mileage, you just don't know what you are getting and for how long.

 

[Ash]

A dodge near 200k? No... a ford? Yeah... but it's going to eat gas like crazy.

 

[Brittney]

I ended up not going to look at it. I called a guy about a 4runner and told him I was on my way with cash, and of course, when I get there, he had already sold it. I'm running out of time and it's frustrating.

 

[SamiJami]

I agree with everyone about the Hondas. They last forever! A timing belt is generally $60-80 and needs to be changed every 60-90k miles, depending on the model. You can normally find a late 1990's to early 2000's Civic for around $1,000. Good luck!

 

[Spoof]

Probably a good thing, 4runners are scary, lol.

 

[ticklechin]

3.0l 4runners had a BIG issue with blown head gaskets again and again, some automatic transmission problems and the fan housing blows up.

 

[StevieP]

Hey Brittany, what do you want... Pickup, suv, car? What is your budget? Maybe we can tell you what makes/models are good or bad. For example the 4 runner head gasket as Dawn said, some ford explorers have bad timing chain tensioners,

 

[Brittney]

I would like to have a midsize truck or a midsided sedan. Right now I'm driving a 2011 Ford Fusion and I love the size. Larger than normal but not too big. I can only budget 3,000 right now.

 

[LovinTheSmallAndFurry]

I've got a soon-to-be twenty three year old Toyota Corolla (4-door), and it still runs great. Never had any problems with it *knock on wood*, and it has over 180,000 miles. Great on gas, never died on me in the middle of traffic, etc. Supposedly the year it was made was, "the year Toyotas were made TOO well." Sounds about right,

I know some of the Toyotas as of late have been questionable. But everyone in my family drives one of some kind, and we've always been incredibly pleased.

 

[AZChins]

Maybe a older Taurus? Those have a lot of room in them and still get very decent gas mileage...and are still pretty cheap so you wouldn't feel bad about putting a lot of miles on one or beating it up with all the driving.