[mrrat1]

The taurus have rust issues at the top of rear 1/4's so look in the wheel well good and feel around up in the backside of lip.

Kirbans GP is still in the 4 sale section, real nice clean GP. If I didn't have an 02' I'd jump on it!

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

I understand that there are better buys out there for more money. ...
I also understand that a 10-15 year old car will not be without some trouble from time to time. ...

without quoting too much of what has been said, or getting into hte whole import vs domestic deal, please allow my contribution...

We just sold my wife's '00 Ford Focus last month, and when we sold it, there were ZERO issues with it;

I understand that with age problems arrise, and this is where maybe taking time to find a low owner, well maintained car comes in;

My wife was (to the best of our knowledge) the second owner of her car, the previous owner was an older lady who primarily used it to go to the store;

My wife was also brought up to know that you have to keep up on maintenance, so where ever she lived, she would find a good shop, and get it checked up during oil changes ect - this from what I've understood is quite uncommon these days;

For the past twenty years it seems as though the auto manufacturers have been (successfully I might add) grooming the public into streching out intervals between service, to the poitn that cars tend to have an expiry date on them...

Were I in your shoes I would be looking for a compact, with a four cylinber (for mileage), and probably be looking at a Focus, Sunfire, or Cavalier, as they can all be had for a smoking deal, and depending on your market, it is often a buyers market ~ so you can simply wait till the right car to pop up.

I would stay away from cars with more options, or v6's (the latter kicks the Taurus out of the running btw).

I have found that servicing the GM's is invariably easier, and parts are often cheaper.

I have never bought into the whole mantra of imports being better than domestics, it all comes down to the car segment you're buying into, and really how well maintained it is;
I have noticed that compact imports tend to be owned by two groups:
1) older people who maintain their car
2) younger people who modify, and bag the living crap out of them

As such I have noticed that unfortunately the vast number of people owning compact domestics fall into these two catagories:
1) middle aged people who don't maintain, or care about their car
2) younger people who modify, and bag the living crap out of them

If you have the patience, I am confident that you can find a good domestic compact to fill your needs, and be well under your price point.

... and that's my two cent's worth

[Stuckinda60s]

Originally Posted by 455Grandville

Taurus with the pushrod "Vulcan" 3.0 V6, worth looking into. That's probably the most durable modern day engine around. DOHC 3.0 V6 - I dunno.

I don't know, Brad. You see an awful lot of GM 3800 V6's for sale with 250-300,000 miles on them. That's really hard to beat.

[justincampbell]

For better or worse we ending up putting a used transmission in the Hyundai.

[Ben M.]

Devil you know...

And unruhjohnny makes really good points as well for anyone else in the same boat.

[Stuckinda60s]

Hyundais are much better cars than they used to be and are rated pretty high for reliability and with their owners. I've looked at a couple Hyundai and Kia SUV's that were up on a lift and was impressed with their ruggedness.