by "LJ909" (lj909)
Published 11/20/2017 at 17:37
by "LJ909" (lj909)
Published 11/20/2017 at 17:37
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STARS: 2
Living in Southern California has perks for an automotive enthusiast. You’ll see models here driving around on a daily basis that you proably wouldn’t ever get to see anywhere else outside of maybe Cars&Coffee, an auto show or online. With that comes a fantastic used market, especially for performance cars. But with this being SoCal these cars come cheap, hard driven and with lots of miles and are often sold at shady buy here pay here places that target budget ballers. This is still tempting as hell though. Here we have an example near me: an ‘07 E63 AMG. $16,000. 3 owners and 85 thousand miles.
Downside? Well take a look for yourself. The shitty black grill in the front and the ill fitted fascia and description say this car has been in 2 accidents and has frame damage, though you cant see what that damage entails. It sucks because this is an otherwise nice car with a nice price:
If it wasnt for the accidents I would go for this.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
11/20/2017 at 17:41, STARS: 0
Is the accident history causing the low price?
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 17:44, STARS: 0
Thats where I’m confused. One one hand you can fine E55's,63's under 20 grand with high miles. But on the other the accident could be affecting the lower price. But on THE OTHER hand, this looks to be a buy here pay here place, so this price could be high than it should be because it does have under 100 thousand miles and its been in 2 accidents.
"DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By" (ducst3-red-1liter-standing-by)
11/20/2017 at 17:47, STARS: 0
My other gripe shopping here is cars tend to have much higher millage than cars from other areas of the US
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/20/2017 at 17:49, STARS: 2
I am thoroughly enjoying my Socal sourced nice car =)
Feels like a luxury car compared to my coilover and exhaust modded Miata! And so far nothing is wrong with it. And I got it for a good price. I feel like I won the lottery.
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 17:50, STARS: 0
Yea thats a huge downside to me. Because we are so car centric, a lot of these cars were either daily driven or commuters. Which is good. Cars should be driven. But come time for the 2nd and 3rd owners, its bittersweet. Because of the miles they are cheap as hell. But also because of the miles, like I said, they are driven hard, and often go neglected on the things that need to be serviced which can be troublesome on cars like this.
"DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By" (ducst3-red-1liter-standing-by)
11/20/2017 at 17:51, STARS: 1
Amen. I put 6k on my bike the first 6 months I lived down here. I soon realized if I kept that up, I would be paying the dealer 3 grand a year in valve adjustments!
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 17:51, STARS: 1
Nice. The principal of my high school had this exact STi down to the gold wheels expect his was black with the big wing. He drove it around campus. How much did you pay though if you dont mind me asking? JDM models, especially WRX/STi’s, Evo’s, S2000's etc are often overpriced here.
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 1
Yea we gotta get around. Its the same thing with my commuter Sonic. I bought it in ‘15 with just over 51 thousand on it. Its currently at about 160 if not a little more. People dont realize how much we drive here.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/20/2017 at 17:55, STARS: 0
13500 which is pretty good I think. I had found a WRX with terrible fading and chipped red paint (but it was a wagon) for $10k. This seemed like a MUCH better deal. One owner car with 136k miles, some maintenance history, a few little dings, and all it needs are tires.
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 17:58, STARS: 1
That is pretty good. Some places charge insane though. Ive seen WRX’s with 140 thousand miles and the dealer will still want 19 grand. You came out good.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/20/2017 at 18:04, STARS: 1
Exactly, I assume I will run into some issues as time goes on but I figure with a lower mileage example costing upwards of $20k, Ive got a $7k budget over the next few years before it becomes a poor choice. Considering it just had like $4k in labor doing the headgasket and timing belt stuff earlier this year, I think I should be pretty good. Tires just got ordered for $600 installed and the only odd thing I have found is I think the starter may be going, but I should be handy enough to replace that if needed.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/20/2017 at 18:34, STARS: 1
mileage is not an issue if maintained properly though, just means that buying a high mileage example from a dealer with no history is a bad idea. But its always better to buy from a private seller anyways.
"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
11/20/2017 at 18:34, STARS: 2
The only reason why I’m not a budget-baller is because I’m terrified of how much it would actually end up costing me.
"LJ909" (lj909)
11/20/2017 at 18:38, STARS: 0
Im right there with you. You see insane V8 power for under 20 grand. But then think of how many thousands you will be out of when something basic breaks.
"GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo" (jackolson)
11/20/2017 at 21:57, STARS: 1
I feel ya...There’s a pretty clean 1996 Saleen Mustang with 117k miles on eBay for $10k. I’m really itching to buy a fun car and it’s a great candidate for a coyote swap but it would go right into storage. I’m not sure I have the patience to save for an R32 GTR as prices keep creeping up and a rad sn95 Saleen Mustang is a close second bucket list car for me...but it’s gotta be yellow.
