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2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying?

13 messages,  Last post on Dec 27, 2011 at 7:43 PM

You are in the Toyota Corolla Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Corolla, True Market Value (TMV), Sedan

Messages Page 2 of 2

#4 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by astaroth

Apr 12, 2010 (9:39 pm)

I really don't know what the deal with ABS is, which is why I am asking. I already know I have misconceptions about it, I am just trying to clear them up. Does anyone have any statistics on how many cars on the road today have ABS, or how many cars sold in the last 10 years have had ABS etc? It seems that most people don't think it's essential really but if available there is no reason not to get it, which is what kind of bums me out about this. My insurance will be $3 more due to lack of ABS, I know this is peanuts but I'm just mentioning it. Frankly the lack of ABS doesn't really bother me so much because I've never driven with ABS before anyway.
 
In any case, I talked to the seller tonight and I mentioned that there would be $1500 of repairs to do soon after buying the car, so he dropped his asking price down to $7500, but mentioned that he has already had that amount offered by someone else. I have priority because I showed interest first, and I said I would give him my decision by Thursday. I think $7500 is not totally unreasonable and he IS throwing in winter tires and a remote start key, but I would have felt a lot better about paying $7000. I can't really offer lower than $7500 at this point because (unless he is bluffing) he will just go to the other buyer.
 
In the meantime I'm trying to find out more about what these repairs entail and whether that engine oil leak would require a very invasive repair, which I want to avoid, and also trying to come to a conclusion with regard to ABS.

#5 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by backy

Apr 13, 2010 (7:02 am)

Replying to: astaroth (Apr 12, 2010 9:39 pm)
Frankly the lack of ABS doesn't really bother me so much because I've never driven with ABS before anyway.
 
So then this is really a non-issue, isn't it? How will statistics on how many cars sold in the last 10 years have ABS help you? You aren't buying all the cars sold in the past 10 years... you are looking to buy a 2004 Corolla S w/o ABS.

#6 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by terceltom

Apr 13, 2010 (8:14 am)

Replying to: astaroth (Apr 12, 2010 3:00 pm)
Don't be looking at "Good Condition" prices. A car that's selling for $7500.00 and needs immediate repairs of $1500.00 is far from in "Good Condition".

#7 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by astaroth

Apr 13, 2010 (12:17 pm)

Good condition price is $8500, which is what he was originally asking. With the repairs in mind, he has dropped down to $7500. If you drop the condition down by one step on the TMV, it goes down to $7100ish. So he didn't reduce his asking price enough, but at the same time I don't really seem to have any room to bargain if someone has already offered that. I know that the other buyer offered this without getting an inspection though, so basically he will be pretty surprised by the repairs he will face, or maybe he won't even care. In any case, the repairs this car needs are minor compared to other cars I've seen. I saw a 2005 Subaru which needed $4000 worth of repairs pretty much right off the bat.
 
The reason I asked about statistics was to get an idea of whether a 2004 car without ABS is something unusual, and how that fits into the context of the past decade or so in terms of ABS adoption over this time.
 
Just from talking to people, there seem to be really varying opinions. People who don't have ABS say they don't need it and have no problem, some people who have ABS say that they couldn't do without it, other people have ABS but had never really noticed and don't care either way.

#8 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by backy

Apr 13, 2010 (12:30 pm)

Replying to: astaroth (Apr 13, 2010 12:17 pm)
I think ABS is very important... but because my wife and soon my daughter will be driving my car, not because of me. I learned how to drive in the early '70s, in Minnesnowta, and didn't have ABS on a car until 1995. I bought my last car w/o ABS, a 2000 626, in 2006. If it were just me driving a car, and the car stopped OK in the dry w/o ABS (some don't), I would go w/o ABS. But all drivers of a car need to be considered, as I said before.
 
I have followed the car market closely for over 30 years. I can tell you with some certainly that a 2004 compact economy car without ABS is NOT unusual. I'm not sure where you'd get stats on that, unless you want to look up all 2004 model cars and see if they came with ABS standard, or not. That would take a lot of time, though, and I think you've already answered the question for yourself--you said you know how to drive w/o ABS.

#9 of 13 I guess I don't quite get.... by ghulet

Apr 13, 2010 (1:05 pm)

....why, if ABS is important to you (and it seems that it is), and it needs $1500 of work, you'd even consider this car. Is the pool of used $7000 cars that small where you live?
 
You might want to consider, perhaps, a Civic EX, they've had ABS standard since the early '90s, though Civics used tend to be a bit pricier than Corollas. If you MUST have a Corolla, just know that the vast majority of '04s will NOT have ABS. Toyota dealers tend to have cars with 'regional' equipment groups, i.e., most in any region will have more or less similar equipment. So while some equipment was 'technically' available, most 'on the lot' cars didn't have ABS, and dealers didn't encourage special orders, of course.

#10 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by terceltom

Apr 13, 2010 (1:06 pm)

Replying to: astaroth (Apr 13, 2010 12:17 pm)
Don't believe his B.S. ! Offer him 5K and walk away. If he takes it fine, if not, nothing lost but a fixer upper car.

#11 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [astaroth] by carstryke

Apr 13, 2010 (3:28 pm)

Replying to: astaroth (Apr 12, 2010 3:00 pm)
From someone who lives where there is still snow on the ground (we just got more on the 10th) i don't care for abs and survived perfectly fine without it for the last 9 years.

#12 of 13 Re: 2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying? [carstryke] by ghulet

Apr 13, 2010 (4:09 pm)

Replying to: carstryke (Apr 13, 2010 3:28 pm)
I'm mostly in agreement. Let's face it, unless you're quite young, or your parents happened to have a Mercedes or BMW 20 years ago, most of us of a certain age learned to drive without it. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice safety feature, but (maybe because I've ONLY had used cars), not having it wouldn't deter me from buying most cars, at least up to a price. If you know how to drive, it's not going to make a huge difference either way, IMO.

#13 of 13 Spare key for manual locks by oldguyfrombay

Dec 27, 2011 (7:43 pm)

I have a 2004 Toyota Corolla CE (the basic low end model). My car has manual windows and door locks. I misplaced my spare key, I'd like to get another one. I see lots of warnings about how expensive it is to get replacements for the smart electronic keys, but nothing about the "dumb" mechanical-only keys like I have. Does anyone have any insight?

Messages Page 2 of 2

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