[Polar Bear]

I have a son who needs to buy a cheap car. (Yes...he's very young compared to most Villagers' kids I believe...heheh.) I like to think I can give my kids reasonable advice on most topics. But not this one. I'll listen to any advice offered...

Many cars he's seeing ads for sound pretty good for the money (of course), but they're likely to be quite a few miles away. I'd like him to pay a trusted mechanic to take a look at the car, but with cheap cars, is that possible? We're looking at Kelly Blue Book and other places to make sure we know a basic value of any car, but the mechanical condition of the car is hard to know.

Anyway, I could go on about questions, doubts, etc., but you probably have an idea of what I'm getting at already, so I'll just stop.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Kids!!!

[outahere]

I haven't purchased a used car in many years, but we have had reasonably good luck with Ford products, for probably 20+ years. We currently have a 2013 Focus and a 2010 Mercury Mountaineer that really haven't given us much trouble. Our son drives a 2008 Fusion that he "inherited" from us, and that car has been dependable as well. Now that I've probably jinxed us, I need to "knock on wood".

If he is local I would suggest taking any car he's interested in to Wildwood Tire, on 44 near 301, and ask them to check it over. Yes, it will probably cost a little, but I completely trust those guys.

[jnieman]

I would pay the $50 or whatever to get it looked over by a trusted mechanic. Watching Judge Judy enough to know many times there is a reason to get rid of a car and many people are not honest about the reason.

[Topspinmo]

How cheap is cheap?

[Wiotte]

Find a car which has the lowest residual value. That will be the biggest bargain !

[autumnspring]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

I have a son who needs to buy a cheap car. (Yes...he's very young compared to most Villagers' kids I believe...heheh.) I like to think I can give my kids reasonable advice on most topics. But not this one. I'll listen to any advice offered...

Many cars he's seeing ads for sound pretty good for the money (of course), but they're likely to be quite a few miles away. I'd like him to pay a trusted mechanic to take a look at the car, but with cheap cars, is that possible? We're looking at Kelly Blue Book and other places to make sure we know a basic value of any car, but the mechanical condition of the car is hard to know.

Anyway, I could go on about questions, doubts, etc., but you probably have an idea of what I'm getting at already, so I'll just stop.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Kids!!!

You've not stated what he will use the car for. Highway cruising, off road, towing a boat, two seat sports car,
etc.

You/he might start looking in the April issue of Consumer Reports. After you've narrowed your choices down, in my opinion far easier to do using consumers reports you would then be wise to look at the Kelly Blue book for owner reviews etc..

Bringing the car to a mechanic is of course a great idea.
You/he probably has no good way to look under the car. We've used Sumpter Tire and Auto, 810 N. Main Street, Wildwood for a tire repair.
It looks like the kind of place that would have or know of inexpensive used cars. We were impressed with the old time service and reasonable prices.

You have not stated what you/he expects to spend. Consumers lists best used cars in several price categories.

[Carla B]

Just sold my 13-yr-old car. It was an "old people's" car, a 6-cyl. 2004 Mercury Sable LS with leather upholstery. When we bought it originally as a dealer courtesy car, I didn't consider the "old people" style, just the good price. We are a two-car family. It was garage-kept, had 61K miles and one door ding in all those years. The only flaw was the Michelin tires were six years old and I thought needed to be replaced 'cause I read that somewhere. It went for $3,000. There were no mechanical issues at all, but my husband pushed the change because "It is a teenager now and you know how they are."

So, the moral of the story is that if you look for out-of-favor cars with low mileage and preferably one owner, you should find one at a really good price.

[ColdNoMore]

A second here, on looking at Consumer Report's list of best used cars for each price category.

[manaboutown]

Toyotas last and last.

[Topspinmo]

No car last without scheduled routine maintenance. So IMO the first thing you want to see is maintenance log. No history? If you are seasoned mechanic and can tell when checking the fluid if they are burnt dirty and especially LOW that's big money problem.

Then there are the routine parts that wear out, brakes usually go between 40 and 50K miles depending on driving conditions. Tires dry rot at rate around 6 years reguardless of miles. Front end parts usually start to go around 70k miles depending on circumstances.

Water pumps and radiators can go if antifreeze wasn't changes about ever 5 years. Usually take about 7 to 10 years if fluid changes wasn't done to rear there ugly head. Bottom line there is no crystal ball that can garrentee used car will not have major repairs shortly or few years down the road.

You can increase you your odds by getting one with maintenance log history. Any car off used car lot is roll of the dice? They didn't get there by chance. Now days it's hard to find car with less that 20k year use. The quality a lot better than even 10 years ago. Now days 100k in 3 or 4 years is normal. The big question was the fuild changes routine intervals.

IMO engine oil should be changed twice year, before summer and before winter, others may disagree, but they usually don't keep car pass 4 years so their lack of oil changes really affects the next owner

[dewilson58]

Was a mechanic for years. There's not a lot a mechanic can do except some basics and maybe see an obvious. I agree with some of the other posts.......it's worth $50, routine maint is key, Toyota's go forever.

We purchased a couple Toyota's for our children.....a Camry with 100,000 miles on it, now has over 200,000 miles. And a Corolla with 85,000, now has 150,000 miles.

I'm not big on buying rentals.

Good Luck.