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O/T Dependable car for grand daughter

3

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
One of my granddaughters is going to gradguate from high school in June. The wife and myself would like to help her get a used car to comute to college. Any ideas on a car brand I should be be looking for, maybe even a pickup? Is 6-7 thousand a realestic number for a dependable used car? Thanks for any help. Stan
 
I'm sure you'll get a whole lot of conflicting answers to that question :)

If it was ME, I would look around for a ~10-year-old Honda Civic with less that 150k. Those will be in the 5-7k range and the cars have a good reliability reputation, not to mention the gas mileage which is a major concern for college students (and me too for that matter).
 
(quoted from post at 22:45:23 04/09/12) I'm sure you'll get a whole lot of conflicting answers to that question :)

If it was ME, I would look around for a ~10-year-old Honda Civic with less that 150k. Those will be in the 5-7k range and the cars have a good reliability reputation, not to mention the gas mileage which is a major concern for college students (and me too for that matter).
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HOW DARE YOU????????? You must not be planning on retiring or getting old :roll:

Just had a thing on the radio about used cars (gotta love armed forces network).... Talked about cars that started good and got bad, started bad and got worse, started good and held up, and started good but just needed extra maintenance.... Across the board best was a honda (accord??) worst was the acacia (sp?) , ford edge, and some chrysler suv...
Consumer reports.org was the website they were quoting but I don't know if it's a free site.
VW Golfs are real good cars also (at least here in VW land). CA has different standards and considerations on used cars tho don't they?

Good Luck,


Dave
 
I would suggest a Ford Taurus, in my area for 6-7 grand you can find a 4-5 year old Taurus with less than 50K miles. I bought my son a 2000 model 5 years ago that had 90K on it for $3500. He has driven it all through college commuting 100 miles a day. All I've had to do is buy tires and an ac compressor. It now has over 200K.
 
Yeah, dave2....in CA, EXISTING causes cancer. (does that qualify for a roll? oh, crap, I cant remember the applicable emoticon!) but yeah, keep them coming....we need enjoyment on this side of the pond. Some of us are still enrolled in "Dullness 101". (and our test scores are astounding!)
 
I have heard those Jeep Cherokee? are a really good unit not the greatest M.P.G. but it is simple and rugged and with a little care will run almost forever get one with the straight 6
 
(quoted from post at 02:40:59 04/10/12) Pontiac Vibe is a good commuter. Good gas mileage and plenty of room for her cargo.
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That was one of the "underdogs" on that report I heard this morning...

Guess it depends on the agenda of the folks doing the studies.......
 

May be older than your thinking of, but the dodge neons and stratus' were pretty good cars. We bought a 97 stratus new and replaced it at 14 years. Kid we sold it to is still using it as a DD....
 
We've had two Cavaliers and a Sunfire (2.2 liter) for my daughters. They seem to be dependable and get very good mileage.
 
I would buy her a car rather than a pickup... front wheel drive is better than rear wheel drive - at least if she lives where it will snow.
 
I can't say enough about Nissan

I had a Maxima that I beat the living daylights out of, and it just kept going and going.

I changed the oil MAYBE every 30,000 miles, at BEST.

Didn't do ANY tune ups. Changed the timing belt at about 160k miles, just because it made me nervous. Needed a new muffler once. Tires of course.
After 200k I just expected it to curl up and die - I WANTED it to die -I wanted an excuse to buy something new just because I had been driving it for so long. But figured I'd just wait till I used it all up...

But it kept going and going without a hint of a problem

I finally just gave it to my brother when he moved to mexico.

It turned 300,000 miles down there and ran no different than the day it left here.

He had to change the alternator once.

He finally left mexico and gave it to a friend of his down there, at about 330k and I'll bet it's still going strong.

I also had a nissan pathfinder that I loved. Fantastic in the snow - very comfortable, handy size vehicle. That one was a lease so I can't tell you how long it lasted, but I can tell you I never had a single problem with it.


Others in the family have owned nissan's with similar experiences - all very positive.
 
(quoted from post at 08:29:00 04/10/12) One of my granddaughters is going to gradguate from high school in June. The wife and myself would like to help her get a used car to comute to college. Any ideas on a car brand I should be be looking for, maybe even a pickup? Is 6-7 thousand a realestic number for a dependable used car? Thanks for any help. Stan
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Honda are a Toyota.... Explain what the gauges and lights mean, how to mounter them and treat the maintenance guide as a bible...
Learn whats normal gauge readings and report to you if a gauge is not reading normal and CALL you if a light pops on as soon as possible are do not drive the car till the one that is going to pay for the repair gives them their blessing to do so its their money let them make the call to park it are drive it....

I hope you have a local mechanic that you trust to evaluate the car before you BUY not after you Buy... I can find plenty of cars in that price range that need sever thousand dollars worth of work,,, that's not what you are looking for,,, personal I want prof and not someone's word on that...
 
(quoted from post at 15:39:36 04/10/12) I can't say enough about Nissan

I had a Maxima that I beat the living daylights out of, and it just kept going and going.

I changed the oil MAYBE every 30,000 miles, at BEST.

Didn't do ANY tune ups. Changed the timing belt at about 160k miles, just because it made me nervous. Needed a new muffler once. Tires of course.
After 200k I just expected it to curl up and die - I WANTED it to die -I wanted an excuse to buy something new just because I had been driving it for so long. But figured I'd just wait till I used it all up...

But it kept going and going without a hint of a problem

I finally just gave it to my brother when he moved to mexico.

It turned 300,000 miles down there and ran no different than the day it left here.

He had to change the alternator once.

He finally left mexico and gave it to a friend of his down there, at about 330k and I'll bet it's still going strong.

I also had a nissan pathfinder that I loved. Fantastic in the snow - very comfortable, handy size vehicle. That one was a lease so I can't tell you how long it lasted, but I can tell you I never had a single problem with it.


Others in the family have owned nissan's with similar experiences - all very positive.
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I left Nissan out of my post,,, thur the years I have despised them But lately they are winning me over.. (those with the V6 anyways) They take a lick'n and keep on tick'n... Their is a 04 are so model 4 cyl. that the converter starts coming apart and eats the piston rings up,,, If I were look'n at one I would investigate that issue...
 
Husband says when we buy a used automatic - we take it in and have the tranny fluid (& tranny filter if there is one) changed and he puts a new timing belt on. [On our newest Toyota pick up this also included a water pump...recommended to change pump/belt at 90,000 miles - we just bought the truck at 130,000, so we did it to be on the safe side).

We have also had great success with Nissan... old 1994 pickup still going strong at over 200K no major repairs, and old van still going at over 200K - believe it needed a water pump last year and it is a 1993. They"ve been great - but we have never had one of their cars yet.

Also had a Toyota pickup that husband drove until there was almost nothing left of it but the motor and frame.
 
cant go wrong with a honda, there reasonably priced, most real mechanics can work on them, plenty of parts support, and if given reasonable care, they'll run a very long time, i personaly know of 2 here in this county with over 300k on the original drivetrain, and their still going, my sister now has mom's 1990 model, and its still in great shape too
 
I would say a Ford Taurus or the Mercury version of it. Always been good cars and last several years. A lot of the new Nissan cars I've been around lately have been having electrical issues with everything on the cars. Mainly been Altima and Maxima. My girl friend has a Toyota that she bought new and it has a little over 40k on it now. I'm not impressed with it at all. Something else to look at may be a Impala or Malibu. Hope this helps.
 
I agree with the Taurus recommendation. Pretty good cars at a very cheap price - especially the 2007s and older. Any mechanic can work on them and the parts (from tires to sensors) are also dirt cheap.
 
wow stan, thats a tough question. lot of good stuff out there. honda, toyota on the import side. the ford focus, taurus, chrysler neon, breeze ect are good inexpensive and economical. gm has the cavalier, malibu ect. 4 doors are generally safer in an accident, and roomier. i'd stay away from a european import, except for the vw, which is a good car with low maintenance. my choice for my daughters first car is this chevy pickup. short bed, 4wd. its a tank. good in the snow, standard cab so there is only one or two passengers. bad on fuel so she doesnt just cruise around. has a small lift kit and loud mufflers. i know exactly what time she gets home!!

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37 chief here at the car dealership we recomend cars with the 3.8 gm motor. they run 300000 with no major problems. I see some recomending the ford taurus and vw's. Make sure you drive the taurus long enough to get the tranny good and warmed up. We see more tranny problems with them than any other car. Any VW's we get in on trade imediatly go to a auto auction.
 
1. Tacoma pickup. 2.7L 4 cyl. Vertually indestructible. (Important for a teenager) The Taliban use them for weapons carriers (Hilux)don't even change the oil. Greasable driveline.
2. Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic.
3. Volkswagen Jetta diesel. I had one and @ 150K the car started falling apart around the engine. Engine was excellent. It was the rest of the car that caused me to trade it in for a new Subaru Legacy wagon. The mistake I made there was opting for the standard txmn to save $$$$. The clutch went out @ 200K and took the flywheel with it. Only clutch I've ever had fail and my driving was 99% hiway. Hardly ever used the clutch. From what I'm told, the Subarus w/AT are much better but the rural mail carriers didn't have very good luck with them in almost total stop & go driving.
4. Some big old US bomb like a Crown Vic. Lots of weight. Cheap to buy. Who cares if it gets hit, etc. My 2cents. (;>))
 
If it were my granddaughter I would be looking for a pontiac Grand Am or any of the GM sister car's with a 2.0 echo-tec engine. Good gas milage, plenty of power, easy to maintain & runs perfectly on any cheap gas you throw at it. Excellent in inclimate weather. If you look at an import check the gas requirement. Several only run on high test and college kids can't afford it much less the high maintenance cost on those suckers. JMO
 
Had a 95 Cherokee country and it ran strong. Sold it with 220,000 miles on it. Had to replace the a/c compressor ($800) but the rest of it was original. The reason we got rid of it was the plastic had started to break everywhere. Back door armrests broke off and no one was ever in the backseat. Dash cracked and so on.
 
I have a kid soon hitting that driving age. I'm gonna stick with a GM 3800. Good, dependable, and easy to maintain. There are plenty of other good vehicles out there that others have mentioned, too, though.

Nice thing about that 3800 platform is you have a decent amount of selection. Grand Prix, Bonneville, Impala, LeSabre, Regal, Intrigue. I'm sure Im missing some, but you get the point.

I agree that alot of the imports are very dependable, I have an uncle who has put unreal miles on jettas, but he is a maintanance freak.

In my area anyway, finding a quaility shop to diagnose and work on imports is tough. If she has trouble away from home, the domestics are more standard, and it's alot easier for you to pick up the phone, and figure out if she is being treated fairly or not. BW
 
Any GM with the platform using the 3800 engine. Or a Dodge Neon. Early Neons had a head gasket problem at about 40K miles, but once it was replaced nothing else ever went wrong with them.

When I was working vehicle service contracts, we found the myth about imports being more trouble free and reliable than domestic was just that--a myth. Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans had just as many serious problems as domestics, and usually cost several times as much to fix.

Plus a lot of parts for imports are dealer only items, and a low usage item may actually have to be ordered from overseas. Parts for domestic vehicles are all over the place.
 
I vote for a Mercury/Ford Sable/Taurus from the 06 or newer area.

I would skip the GM cars from 2001-2005 because of the electrical problems. I had a 01 Monte that gave me nothing but fits with doors, sensors, and trac control. Mine had the 3400 in it and that went through two sets of head gaskets before I threw in the towel. After 100K it became a lemon.
 
I ran the motor pool for our County for several years. The old Ford Taurus from 2000 to 2007 was hard to beat for reliability and used to be dirt cheap because Ford was dumping so many of them into fleet sales. However the last few I sold off went for prime dollar at auction and the last ones are from 2007 they were mostly fleet only and are now 5 years old so you'd be the 3rd or 4 owner. I personally am running a Honda Accord that's 21 years old and at 275,000 miles. We bought it new and it's never had a major repair BUT maintenance is expensive, parts can be dear to buy and resale is high on them. I like our Honda but being objective I think you might buy something else and get newer and fewer miles for your dollar. Bottom line WHAT DID I PUT MY DAUGHTER IN WHEN SHE HEADED OUT TO COLLEGE? A Ford Fusion, I bought it 3 years ago for about 11K with less than 60,000 miles. She is at 80,000 mile now all we have done is oils changes and brakes. This also reflects my experience with the Fusions I had in the county's fleet. I'd stay with the 4 cylinder model it'll get in the mid 30's on the highway. If you shop careful you should be able to find one pretty close to your budget.
 
Wasn't going to say anything......

They stopped making the Neon and Stratus because they were having too many warranty issues.

Pre 2002 Tarus were not very good, tranny issues.

Around my neck of the woods I wouldn't touch a Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia or VW.....no dealer support. Toyota is 30 miles and has a poor rep, the others are all 90 miles.

2 year models of the 3.8 GM could be a problem, I think 97/98 but you may want to check on that.

Rick
 
The 3800s we had were nothing to brag about. We had 4 of them that were 2000 and newer. 3 were in Buick Park Avenues and one was in a Bonneville. All 4 had blown intake manifolds. 2 had failed oil pumps that cooked the engines.

None of the 4 made it past 140K before we sold them to get rid of the problems.
 
Stan, you're in California, right? If thats where this car is goin to be used or purchased, with the emission controls on them, hard saying. Don't they have laws there that say if automobiles and trucks are brought into California that they have to be retro fitted with the same gizmos that the rest there have? If any of thats the case, got me. I know some folks that moved from there to here in rural Indiana, and those cars were beasts of their own. Know one guy that brought a Ford van to Lake County, IN where they do or did have emmisions testing because butts up to Chicago, IL and therefore high pollution area, and you talk about screwed up. His van had even more stringent anti-pollution stuff on it, but could not pass the emissions exam in Lake County because they have different gizmos on their vehicals and thought that he was tampering with the factory stuff. In a way, that was funny because two separate anti-anti-anti-pollution epa guys could not understand each others anti-pollution stuff. Was a big hassle for the guy though. Had to send away for all kinds of paperwork to prove he didn't alter stuff.

Mark
 

Lol they had to stop calling the "Neon" "Neon" in Canada for the 2003-2005 model years due to bad reputation of the earlier cars. The US had a "Neon" in those years, Canada had the SX 2.0, same car, different name!!!!

Having said that, a late production Neon in the 2002-2005 model years are CHEAP and reliable, I had a 2002 that I am kicking myself for selling, hardly had to do anything to that car in 8 years.
 
(quoted from post at 08:29:00 04/10/12) One of my granddaughters is going to gradguate from high school in June. The wife and myself would like to help her get a used car to comute to college. Any ideas on a car brand I should be be looking for, maybe even a pickup? Is 6-7 thousand a realestic number for a dependable used car? Thanks for any help. Stan
Click to expand...

Its hard to figger out what is good and what is not,,, allot depends on how the owner maintained it... I can tell ya when most American made cars blow a engine are a trans they are only worth scrap price,,, all the Toyota and Honda's that have those issues I work on folks will come far away and fight over it so they can fix it and resale it... I have brought in the last few years 3 Toyota's and 3 Honda's that needed major mechanical repairs,,, I lost my arse on one of the Honda's and fared real well on the others.. I can not do that with a American (GM, Ford , Chrysler) made car...

In my area if the AC does not work you are stuck with it till you fix the AC it does not matter make model are how good the car is...
 
We bought our daughter an 04 chey cavalier when she turned 16, gets good milage,red 2 dr,pretty car. Out side of normal maintenance had to repl. both window motors in five years. A couple weeks ago when she was home from college I asked her what kind of car she was going to buy when she graduated next year,she said she hated to think about it, she liked the cavalier and hoped it lasted forever.
My son has a chevy cobalt bought new in 09. It's only been back to the dealer for two recalls in about 50k miles and gets middle 30's in milage.
A pontiac vibe is another car that you don't hear many complaints on.
 
Mechanic says the Taurus/Sable that has engine problems should be scrapped.I would ask mechanics,they have to work on the junk being built now.
 
??

I have client who is a "Used Car" buyer for regional dealerships would politely disagree with your assertion. I happen to own a 2008 Mercury Sable with 0 problems and an engine that has twice the guts that a similarly outfitted Impala which I test drove at the same time before making my decision.
 
Since the ford taurus is being thrown around, I owned a 1998 taurus before and at around 50,000 miles we started having electrical gremlins as well as the dash and trim coming loose.

That car is the reason I've not bought another ford.


I'm in the same boat but looking for my daughter.

I've got my mind set on something from toyota with the 22re motor in it.
 
Sorry to hear that but the used car buyers I know will tell you what cars are lemons as models and what ones are sound as a whole. The 2005 Sable/500/Taurus were terrible for reliability but that was the year they made considerable changes to the car. The GM cars of the 2001-2006 are know very well on the forums to have lots of faulty electrical components and the mechanics that worked on my Monte said they chew through head gaskets at least once though after the first set they usually go to 150k, mine died an early death.
 
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