Are you looking to buy a car?

[henrythomas]

Hi Friends.

Some nice fellow has recently plowed into the back of my car while i was waiting at a red light. His car was a nice big SUV. My car, while functioning perfectly, is now considered a writeoff which is quite irritating.

As a result im starting to think about buying a new (well, second hand) car. I probably have a budget of 5g's which i know aint much, but yeah, quite poor atm. A mid 90s corolla is what comes to mind at the moment. The problem is, im not really experienced in this area as my last car was bought off a family friend.

Any of you guys ever gone private? Used car dealerships? Other? Had any luck with private? What things have you done to ensure the car aint going to fall apart? Yeah pretty much screwed without a car so i need to get the ball rolling on this kinda soon. Any help is very much appreciated.

[hbpn]

With 5g you can buy a 2002 or newer Corolla. My 2001-150,000 miles just got total lost last week after hitting another car who ran red light, made left turn. The insurance paid me $4200, I'm looking for 1 similar too. Try to buy from private owner instead of dealer to avoid fees such paper work, license plate bullshit. They are pain in the ass to deal with.
You should look for car with mileage under 100K. Check engine's top & bottom for oil leakage, you cannot use synthetic oil if there's leak. Check body for any sign of damage from collision, best way is get the VIN number to run a history report from carfax.com. Check condition of all tires, new tire could cost $100 each. Test drive the car on highway high speed to see if brakes and wheel alignment are ok.

[bethcs]

xe mới từ hảng ra, chiếc nào cũng phải chất lượng như nhau, nói theo model. Như vậy, tại sao nhiều chiếc chạy hòai không hư, mà có chiếc lại chạy mấy miles hư rồi? ai biết, xin giải thích giùm?

[hbpn]

Originally Posted by bethcs

xe mới từ hảng ra, chiếc nào cũng phải chất lượng như nhau, nói theo model. Như vậy, tại sao nhiều chiếc chạy hòai không hư, mà có chiếc lại chạy mấy miles hư rồi? ai biết, xin giải thích giùm?

Defective parts, sloppy assembling & quality control (especially those built in the USA).

[GioLanh]

Originally Posted by hbpn

Defective parts, sloppy assembling & quality control (especially those built in the USA).

That's correct.
The only difference between the make/model are:
1) how fast do the brokendown parts start? during the warranty period, right after warranty expires, ...
2) how much is the cost to replace it? $300, $600, $900, ...
3) how frequent is it broken down? once a month, a year, 2 years, ...

All of these together will give the reliability of a car (for ex, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, ...)