You are here: Forums Smart Shopper Selecting and Buying My First Car

Selecting and Buying My First Car

764 messages,  Last post on Aug 17, 2009 at 12:29 PM

You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester

What is this discussion about? Car Buying

Messages Page 19 of 77 1 ... 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ... 77 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

#181 of 764 Re: Current favs [latham] by qbrozen Feb 16, 2005 (6:56 pm)
Replying to: latham (Feb 16, 2005 5:55 pm) I think you should be able to get that Prizm for $6K without much of a fight ... and that would be the pick of the list, in my opinion. I mean, you figure the 23K and 24K miles the other 2 of the first 3 have puts them about 2 years closer to the grave. As much as I'm a fan of the Protege, it would need to represent a bigger savings over the Prizm to justify itself.   The Corolla COULD be ok, but the lack of information is not very helpful. If its a completely stripped base model, I don't think its so hot.
#182 of 764 Re: Current favs [latham] by jlawrence01 Feb 16, 2005 (8:15 pm)
Replying to: latham (Feb 16, 2005 5:55 pm) >>Which do you think is the best long term value? <<     I haven't gone back and read your earlier posts but the question I would counter you with is which one are you going to be most comfortable driving for the next 10 years or so? The best "deal" that I ever received in a vehicle (60k miles for $1500) was in a vehicle that I never liked.   Personally, I would lead toward the Prizm.   You really need to be "pressing the flesh" - that is visiting car lots and seeing what is available and gathering specific information rather than reading ads all the the time. That will get you to your goal more quickly.
#183 of 764 Re: Current favs [latham] by kirstie_h HOST Feb 17, 2005 (4:02 am)
Replying to: latham (Feb 16, 2005 5:55 pm) i'm biased toward the Mazda since I had a Protege, and it was one of the best-ever cars I've owned (out of over 20). It never ate a dime in repair bills and ran on the smell of an oil rag.
#184 of 764 by rroyce10 Feb 17, 2005 (5:40 am)
........ Nothing but good advice here, time for me to move on ....                                          Terry.
#185 of 764 the next step by latham Feb 17, 2005 (9:36 am)
Thank you all very much for your input. It's very helpful to me to know I'm getting some impartial advice from those more knowledgable than myself.   jlawrence, that's a good point about trying the cars themselves. That's the next step for me I think. I'm going to try to go this afternoon with my wife to see and drive the Prizm and the Protege. As you can probably tell from the links, it looks like the Prizm is being sold by a dealer and the Protege by a private party.   Do you have any advice for this stage of evaluation? Should I try to have the cars inspected? After I choose one, perhaps? Should I try to bargain for a better price from one or both?   I also signed up for CARFAX at this point, and ran the Prizm through (I emailed the owner of the Protege for the VIN but haven't gotten it yet). It turns out the Prizm is a former rental vehicle. Is this good, bad, neutral? Is there a reason they wouldn't list this in the ad? Here's a link to the report for the Prizm.   I really appreciate your input. Replies to this message: jlawrence01 (Feb 17, 2005 12:13 pm)
#186 of 764 nissan by latham Feb 17, 2005 (9:47 am)
I just found another interesting one. It seems like a good deal (too good?). The ad says "Nissan GXE" which I think means Sentra.   $6200 - 2002 Nissan Sentra 38k miles automatic link   Would you choose this one over the Prizm and Protege? Replies to this message: steine13 (Feb 17, 2005 10:16 am) latham (Feb 17, 2005 10:17 pm) kirstie_h (Feb 18, 2005 6:19 am) kyfdx (Feb 18, 2005 7:59 am) nsiriann (Mar 10, 2005 9:25 am) and 7 more...
#187 of 764 Re: nissan [latham] by steine13 Feb 17, 2005 (10:16 am)
Replying to: latham (Feb 17, 2005 9:47 am) No. -Mathias
#188 of 764 Re: the next step [latham] by jlawrence01 Feb 17, 2005 (12:13 pm)
Replying to: latham (Feb 17, 2005 9:36 am) During the negotiations process, you let the seller know that you want to have the car inspected by YOUR mechanic. You let the mechanic look it over and give his opinion.   YOU are paying for the inspection ($75 or so). How many do YOU want to have inspected?   Generally, the car has to pass by me first. If I don't like the looks or the drive, the mechanic will not see it.
#189 of 764 Protege is a salvage too by latham Feb 17, 2005 (12:33 pm)
I just got this reply from the owner of the Protege:   Hi, it has a salvage title, But the car has no accident I bought it from auction it was missing the seats, wheels, stereo ,and the driver side wendow was broocking so I got the seats the wheels with new tires the stereo and new window. you can come over and check it your self and you are more then welcome to take it to any mechanic to check it for you to see if the car ever had any accident or not so this is like a clean title car and you are getting it for very less price cuase the blue book for this car is $7300. And I'm selling it cuase I bought one more car together with this car from auction and the other one is a 1999 toyota corolla CE and it dosen't matter wich one I sell cuase they both good cars if you want the corolla this one had a very miner damge from the driver side fender so I got it fixed and painted It has 107000 miles and i'm asking $4650 this car is also nice and very clean so please think about it Like I said take it a mechanic then you'll know if I'm writh or not.   Is a salvage car just not worth considering? In any case, I guess I'll pursue the Prizm now. What about it being a rental? Replies to this message: steine13 (Feb 17, 2005 12:41 pm) latham (Feb 17, 2005 12:53 pm)

Messages Page 19 of 77 1 ... 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ... 77 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

You are here: Forums Smart Shopper Selecting and Buying My First Car