Vehicle price checks please..

I'm searching some sites to buy a good car. I'm not good with cars at all. I just want a decent car for not too much money.

I'll post cars here as I see them, please tell me what you think the value is, so I know what to offer.

Most of the cars have a price with the listing, I just want to see if the price is good, therefore I will not tell you the listing price, just hear your opinions first.

99 Mazda Protege

Im selling a 99 mazda protege that runs good. It recently had a whole new clutch kit and slave cylinder put in along with a new alternator and battery. The tires still have good tread for the winter to come. The inspection is good till Jan. It has aprox 150000 but still runs very good. The car is standard with cruise control, pw, pl, ac cold, good heat. Some dings but its a 99 and a good starter car for anyone. Great on gas only about 39-40 $ to fill it and lasts like 350-375 miles. Great little car. You can text me anytime at <snip> I will accept offers, the worst i will say is no. Text me an offer. Look forward to hearing from anyone.

 

[Charlieb1212]

Meh. What's your budget like?

You have to be VERY careful buying a car with over 130-140 thousand miles on it. Average cars (Mazda, Toyota, Honda, etc etc etc..) tend to crap out around that mile marker and higher. So looking at cars with 150,000 miles on them is a situation that has a high disaster risk. You could be buying a car that will last you another 50,000 or you could be buying a car that will break down in 5,000.

That car isn't worth more than $2,000. I'd offer $1,000 if I were so inclined to buy it. The car itself will be great, assuming nothing goes wrong, but that risk is always there. That particular ad isn't very descriptive so if you go to look at it, be especially careful because there could be things he left out hoping you won't notice or check them.

I'll subscribe and give my thoughts when you update it.

 

Thank you.

The owner was originally looking for $1200, lowered it to $1000 for me, so your analysis is spot on. Not sure if I want it yet though. I'll keep looking and update this thread.

P.S. My budget is only a few thousand ($500-2500 probably).

 

[Charlieb1212]

I totally forgot you were from the area, I spend a lot of time on CL looking for cars for friends and friends of friends. I've gone to a few car auctions and gotten some great deals for people.

http://utica.craigslist.org/cto/2623789334.html

Not sure EXACTLY what you're looking for, but the Taurus is something that comes to mind when I think cheap, reliable, reasonably powerful, and practical. There's a good one with under 100k within your budget out in Frankfort.

 

[Adrian Ochoa]

Meh. What's your budget like?

You have to be VERY careful buying a car with over 130-140 thousand miles on it. Average cars (Mazda, Toyota, Honda, etc etc etc..) tend to crap out around that mile marker and higher. So looking at cars with 150,000 miles on them is a situation that has a high disaster risk. You could be buying a car that will last you another 50,000 or you could be buying a car that will break down in 5,000.

That car isn't worth more than $2,000. I'd offer $1,000 if I were so inclined to buy it. The car itself will be great, assuming nothing goes wrong, but that risk is always there. That particular ad isn't very descriptive so if you go to look at it, be especially careful because there could be things he left out hoping you won't notice or check them.

I'll subscribe and give my thoughts when you update it.

You obviously haven't had a honda.



Theres hondas with 500k miles and they still run fine. 150K miles for a 99 isn't bad assuming its clean title then 1k for the car is a pretty good deal.

 

[Charlieb1212]

You obviously haven't had a honda.



Theres hondas with 500k miles and they still run fine. 150K miles for a 99 isn't bad assuming its clean title then 1k for the car is a pretty good deal.

You're very right, I haven't had a Honda. That milage is when the problems start to arise and money has to start being put into it. There are better options for prices nearly as low.

A good deal, yeah, but mort likely not the best option.

 

[Adrian Ochoa]

You're very right, I haven't had a Honda. That milage is when the problems start to arise and money has to start being put into it. There are better options for prices nearly as low.

A good deal, yeah, but mort likely not the best option.

Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Nissan....all those cars can have over 200k miles and run find. The car also has a new clutch installed which is pretty expensive as long as it isn't coughing up blue smoke and it sounds fine its a good deal. 150k miles isnt bad considering some american/korean cars start screwing up as soon as the warranty runs out.

EDIT: Most cars that cost around 1k are either salvaged/have problems hence the price.

 

[Charlieb1212]

Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Nissan....all those cars can have over 200k miles and run find. The car also has a new clutch installed which is pretty expensive as long as it isn't coughing up blue smoke and it sounds fine its a good deal. 150k miles isnt bad considering some american/korean cars start screwing up as soon as the warranty runs out.

EDIT: Most cars that cost around 1k are either salvaged/have problems hence the price.

Right. Any car can run at that milage. They just usually need some repairs, and under a tight budget that can be an issue. This car got a new clutch, most likely because the original gave out. However I disagree with the salved cars part. A 12 year old car with 150k in decent / poor condition (as nearly all of them are at the time) isn't worth that much. 2,000 would be severely overpaying.

 

[SexayMistahBee]

Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Nissan....all those cars can have over 200k miles and run find. The car also has a new clutch installed which is pretty expensive as long as it isn't coughing up blue smoke and it sounds fine its a good deal. 150k miles isnt bad considering some american/korean cars start screwing up as soon as the warranty runs out.

EDIT: Most cars that cost around 1k are either salvaged/have problems hence the price.

You're stuck in the past, Korean cars don't suck anymore.
Sorry, just had to point that out.

I do agree that the old Hyundai/Kia models are well known to have cooking foil bumpers (they're that weak) and that most broke down after 2 years of buying one, but Korea's car industry has advanced a lot during the past few years.

 

[Palooza]

Be carfull for cars that have had lots done to them to; although it may look good, it means theres been a problem; unless it's kinda justified by high miles/old car that is, which that one is.

 

[SmperFidelis]

It sounds like a pretty good deal for $1000. I would check it out and go test drive it, see if you like it.

 

[Charlieb1212]

You're stuck in the past, Korean cars don't suck anymore.
Sorry, just had to point that out.

I do agree that the old Hyundai/Kia models are well known to have cooking foil bumpers (they're that weak) and that most broke down after 2 years of buying one, but Korea's car industry has advanced a lot during the past few years.

*SIGH*

I'm not going to continue this discussion. You're arguing that you don't have to put any money into these cars when clearly, as the advertisement stated, they did. I never said those cars suck, but they are not nearly as reliable at that mileage so you need to be careful. Any argument against that point is only because you enjoy "debate". However, this is not the thread for it.