[justincampbell]

So the transmission just went out in my wife's work car. While it has been a pretty good car, it is not really worth the cost of a rebuilt trans. I have been looking around a little a have found a 2000 Ford Focus and a 2001 Taurus, but both of these cars seem to have quite a few complaints.

If you were searching for a decent work car, front wheel drive, automatic, under 100k miles, no more than $4000, what would you search for?

Does anybody have any input on the above cars?

[Ben M.]

Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. May not get the under 100k & $4k in the same car, but you likely won't have any problems with them for 200k miles either provided basic maintenance is done.

Friend bought a Ford Focus for cheap and while it's been a decent car, it's needed a LOT of work he didn't intend to do (nor did the previous owner know about). He spent around $3500 and has probably put in another $3500 fixing all sorts of problems like leaky engine seals, leaky transmission (almost to the point of failure), etc. The Ford Taurus I am not overly familiar with, but they seem to suffer from a bland styling and potential transmission issues based on reading I've done.

[cuz68]

My neighbor has a ford taurus and had to put a rack in it it needs a tranny mount now he has spent to much on it. I would go with a honda accord, My wife and i got a pontiac vibe 6 yrs ago with 21-k on it just turned to 50-k, one set of tires, battery last year, brake pads, eazy on gas and lots of room in it, Thay have toyota drive tranes in them, Try one out.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by Ben M.

Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

Anything Honda or Toyota will run forever with almost zero maintenance. Stay away from the V6 Hondas with auto transmissions - they didn't figure out how to make them last over 100K miles until very recently. Driving one of their 4 cylinder cars 300,000 miles without any engine or transmission work isn't even a big deal.

[67drake]

I'm in the same boat. I just junked my daily driver 98' Lumina LTZ. I'm looking for a car with a stick,smaller,and around $2000.
I'm looking at old Honda Civic's and Toyota Corolla's. I prefer the Civic,as I owned a 5-speed 98' years ago,and at the time I drove the Civic and Corolla and thought the Civic was built a little "tighter",so that's what I bought.
I would also consider an Escort if the price were right. I also think the Taurus is a good dependable beater car,but just a little too big for my gas milage needs driving down to IL to work everyday.
I've heard the Focus has dependability issues,so I crossed that off my list. I see Hyundai's (SP?)and Kia's selling for a song,but I don't trust them as I know of nobody with a high milage old one.

[PMD1969]

[QUOTE=Ben M.;5121626]Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. May not get the under 100k & $4k in the same car, but you likely won't have any problems with them for 200k miles either provided basic maintenance is done.

Friend bought a Ford Focus for cheap and while it's been a decent car, it's needed a LOT of work he didn't intend to do (nor did the previous owner know about). He spent around $3500 and has probably put in another $3500 fixing all sorts of problems like leaky engine seals, leaky transmission (almost to the point of failure), etc. The Ford Taurus I am not overly familiar with, but they seem to suffer from a bland styling and potential transmission issues based on reading I've done.[/QUOTE

+1 for Honda's. I have owned 2 Accords and one Prelude and they do go forever. The key is to make sure to do the timing belt change at 100k and all regular scheduled maintenance and it'll be extremely reliable. Good gas mileage and a nice ride. Personally I am not a fan of foreign cars and my size I don't fit that well but the Honda's seem to be the most comfortable and have better quality. FWIW I have owned a Honda Valkyrie since new in 99 and it too has been a great bike.

[GMCPerson]

May be a little bit of your price range but I love my 05 Grand Prix. 3.8L engine and the seats fold flat so I can carry lots of parts. My 99 GP was also an excellent vehicle. Just watch out for hidden rust under the rocker cladding.

[Cerberus]

Friends don't let friends drive Fords.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Friends don't let friends drive Fords.

I don't agree with that; I've had several older F250 & F350s that gave great service even being worked mercilessly that other makes would not hold up to.

Ford Contours are great cars if you want to keep your mechanic busy, and the 3.8 Ford V6 is the headgasketest blowing POS engine around,.

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

Funny thing about Camry's. (I Own a 2010 SE). I used to work for a public auto auction. The cars they sold were junk. If it could run through the auction under its own power, it was a sale-able car. These were cars that seriously were at the end of their life.

We used to get Camry's in all the time with 300,000 miles or more all the time and they still ran through the auction. They were the only cars that would come in "sale-able" with those miles.

IMO seems most 4 banger imported cars are not sold or traded until they're on their death beds.

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

If you want a GM/Toyota made in the US (Calif.) car the Vibe would be tough to beat, bought one for my wife new in 2008 and it now has around 165,000 on it now. Tires brakes and a tune up with regular oil changes is all I've done to it so far. We even pulled an enclosed 6X10 trailer with it 1600 miles with it when almost new, and have used it to pull that trailer and even haul tow dollies with cars on them since then. They hold their value well and used ones bring decent money. A toyota Matrix is not the exact same car and many parts don't interchange between the 2 cars. Many do, but not all parts interchange.

O.

x 2 on the Vibe; engineer at work has one he commutes in. 200K + and he has nothing but praise for the car. Pretty decent car and the fuel economy is supposed to be pretty good too -

[geeteeohguy]

X3 or 4 on the Honda or Toyota. Honda's are a bit more complex and tend to have more issues after 200,000 miles. The 4 cyl Toyotas typically pass 300,000 without issue. Also, they have non-interference timing belts, unlike the Hondas. Found my brother a mint '98 Camry with 69k on the clock for 5 grand....he put 25k miles on it in the first year, had zero problems, and averaged 34 mpg. (4 cyl). Have worked on a ton of these cars, and all they every need is brake pads every 90k and oil changes. Had a Camry come into work years back for a front alignment, and I assumed the car had about 50k on the clock due to its mechanical condition.....backing it off the rack, noticed it had 365,000 miles on the clock. Can't beat a lowly 4 cyl Toyota for value.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Found my brother a mint '98 Camry with 69k on the clock for 5 grand....he put 25k miles on it in the first year, had zero problems, and averaged 34 mpg. (4 cyl)..

Strange - I've got a '99 4 cyl Camry that I'm lucky to get 22 mpg out of. that's lower than my V6 Acura that has about 140 more HP. All short trips with that car, though. 190,000 miles now - I've had it for about 5 years (it was passed to me through the family), and I've only changed oil and filters in it. That's it.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

Strange - I've got a '99 4 cyl Camry that I'm lucky to get 22 mpg out of. that's lower than my V6 Acura that has about 140 more HP. All short trips with that car, though. 190,000 miles now - I've had it for about 5 years (it was passed to me through the family), and I've only changed oil and filters in it. That's it.

Funny thing about Camry's. (I Own a 2010 SE). I used to work for a public auto auction. The cars they sold were junk. If it could run through the auction under its own power, it was a sale-able car. These were cars that seriously were at the end of their life.

We used to get Camry's in all the time with 300,000 miles or more all the time and they still ran through the auction. They were the only cars that would come in "sale-able" with those miles.

[John V.]

After driving a Safari van for 11 years, my wife got tired of 16 mpg and problem after problem that kept me busy with one repair after another. Plus, kids were grown so she was more than ready to downsize.

So we bought a new '08 Civic EX 4 dr. sedan. She absolutely loved it. In 2012, we needed a car for my son, so he got the '08. She got a '12 Civic EX-L. There was limited selection at the time (tsunami) and she debated it vs. the Elantra. Nothing wrong with it really, she just never fell in love with it, especially the color which I talked her into. She still likes the '08 better.

My son has the '08 in Boston. My wife cringes to think how "her" car is taking a beating up north. It didn't help when somebody punctured the front bumper with a hitch or whatever while he was parked on the street. No note, no sorry about that. Just a hit and run.

I would encourage you to try and boost your budget.

I've never had a Toyota so I would cast a vote for the 8th gen Civic ('06 thru '11 I believe).

Keep in mind, if you bought an '08 Civic for $8000 this year (what I valued mine at on my financial statement last summer) from an original owner private seller, next year it would still be worth about $7200. If you buy from a Dealer, it'll cost you more. When buying used cars, I have always tried to cut out the middleman, and buy direct from the owner to save money.

A $4000 car is not an easy sell, so it is a tempting purchase. But it not an easy sell because it will be typically nearly 15 years old, most people don't need the aggravation. All sorts of things will start to break if they haven't already. How happy will your wife be when it stops making heat. Or it dies on the side of the road with a failed fuel pump? That is the norm for old cars and why they sell cheap.

Sure they can be fixed. But there is something to be said for reliability.

Before you buy used, take a look at new too. Consider the cost of tires, maybe a battery, and realize that you can use that money to help pay for new. And the warranty means no surprise expenses.

When I bought my first new car in '80, the fuel economy savings vs. my old car helped offset about 25% of the payments, helped make it affordable.

And always remember, your payments aren't pure cost. Much of it is your equity. Your real cost is depreciation. If you can swing the payments, there is a lot to like with new.

The '08 hasn't had any real hiccups but it is now over 5 years old. It is just a matter of time before it will need some expensive repairs, maybe brakes too. It has been nice to avoid repairs to this point. Had battery post corrosion issues, caused a no start from time to time. When I replaced the battery, installed felt washers and seemed to cure that problem.

You might find the proverbial creampuff in a $4000 used car. But most $4000 used cars will be nightmares as Old Blue points out. Those cars go on the Si Habla used car lots. Sold to people who can't get credit anywhere else for prices way higher than their value. And the poor get poorer.

I don't know about high cost of parts, only thing I've had to buy from Honda are wiper refills for both Civics and they are very reasonable.

BTW, not sure since when, but the Civic no longer uses a timing belt, even in '08 that was not a service issue.

The '08 gets 35 mpg at a steady 78 mph on the highway, always more than 30 mpg around suburbia. The '12 gets a tick better on the highway. It'll do better than 40 mpg but I can't drive that slow on the highway.

I drive a '04 GP GTP, 3.8 SC since new. It gets 24 mpg on the highway. 100K on the odo. I'm a Pontiac guy but I would not recommend my car to somebody looking for a reliable, economical used car.

Last thought, I HATE the headrests on the Civic. But the fuel economy makes me forget how much I detest them.

[justincampbell]

I understand that there are better buys out there for more money. But unless I have some money just fall from the sky, the $4000 is pretty much all I will have to spend for this.

I also understand that a 10-15 year old car will not be without some trouble from time to time. But if I can find something that will be as good as her current car(2000 Hyundai Elantra) has been up to this point, I will be pretty happy. The thing got great mileage(avg 31-32) and had not previously had any difficult or expensive repairs. All I have done to it in the 85k since we have owned it is: plugs and plug wires($30), a little part related to fuel system(I can't even remember what it was exactly now, $26), brake pads($13), RH drive axle assembly($48), RH wheel bearing($16). While not trouble free, I'd say that is still pretty low maintenance for the miles I got out of it. FYI, I suspect the drive axle and bearing may have come to their end earlier than they should have due to the accident it had been in when I got it(it had been hit in the right front corner hard enough to total it).

[justincampbell]

What about a 4cylinder '91 Grand Prix? I found one of those with 60k for $2000.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

What about a 4cylinder '91 Grand Prix? I found one of those with 60k for $2000.

don't touch that car with a ten foot pole. To many reasons why at this point. Also stay away from the Focus. The early models had quite a it of problems. Ford has even admitted to that.

I have to agree with everyone else here. Honda or Toyota anything really. I wouldn't tend to lean more towards the Civic. I see them with well over a hundred thousand miles on used car lots every day. The feel a lot more like a solid car than a domestic car of the same age and mileage.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

don't touch that car with a ten foot pole. To many reasons why at this point. .

Out of curiosity, why not?

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

Out of curiosity, why not?

Those cars don't age very well. That's just my opinion. That was a first generation of a different kind of car for GM and we all know what that means. One with low miles like that will just start spewing fluids all over the place when it gets driven on a regular basis. They just seem like fragile cars after 23 years.

Again. Just my opinion.

[justincampbell]

I appreciate the feedback on the Focus. I was really excited when I found it because it seemed ideal(small wagon, 4 cyl, lots of underhood room to do any repairs), but it sounds like I would be buying it twice with potential repairs.
I have made my fair share of jokes about Fords, but the most indestructible vehicle I have ever owned was a Ford.('85 Escort hatchback w/4spd.)

[Sirrotica]

Damn, what's wrong with an American car? I bought a 1991 3.1 Z24 cavalier in 2000 for $200 that needed some body work on the front end from a wreck. The car had 110,000 on it when I bought it, at just over 200,000 miles in 2009 the nylon timing sprocket let loose and bent some valves so I junked it for $350. Tough to do that with a furin car. Other than general maintenance items, brakes and tune up parts it ran me from Memphis to Pa many times and all over Ohio and once to Prescott Az.

If you want a GM/Toyota made in the US (Calif.) car the Vibe would be tough to beat, bought one for my wife new in 2008 and it now has around 165,000 on it now. Tires brakes and a tune up with regular oil changes is all I've done to it so far. We even pulled an enclosed 6X10 trailer with it 1600 miles with it when almost new, and have used it to pull that trailer and even haul tow dollies with cars on them since then. They hold their value well and used ones bring decent money. A toyota Matrix is not the exact same car and many parts don't interchange between the 2 cars. Many do, but not all parts interchange.

Being a former tech in a Honda dealership the factory parts are way overpriced on Hondas as well as Toyotas. Most aftermarket parts for either brand DON'T work nearly as well as factory parts do or last as long. JMO.