My friend needs help finding a car on Craigslist

"GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo" (jackolson)
12/22/2014 at 21:09 • Filed to: None

Oppo I need your help for a friend he recently totalled his Jeep in a accident or it isn't running because of it and he is looking for a car. The budget is around $2000 and it just needs to be a daily driver so nothing crazy or complicated to work on. Since he's at school here in Connecticut a good place to start would be in Hartford or New Haven listings. Good secondary ones would be Willimantic and Springfield (Mass).

All help is truly appreciated

DISCUSSION (11)

ienjoyautomotives > GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
12/22/2014 at 21:15

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816513546… (incase he wants another jeep)

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4798595265… (its a saab of course its great)

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4799444990… (because miatas always the answer)

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816351873… (because wagon)

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816350165… (manual civic)

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4811289167… (because theyre cheap and decently reliable)

Funktheduck > GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
12/22/2014 at 21:22

Find a corolla. They'll last forever and easy to work on. Better than civics because old civics get modded to hell and back.

ienjoyautomotives > Funktheduck
12/22/2014 at 21:56

That's true, but i think when you do find a civic that hasn't been modded to hell and back it is a bit better than a corolla, but that's just personal preference.

Funktheduck > ienjoyautomotives
12/22/2014 at 22:09

The corolla tends to skew more towards comfort. A civic will likely be more fun but when you're looking for cheap basic transport I think the corolla holds up better over time.

My corolla lasted 250k miles before I traded it in. The interior was perfect except the drivers seat was a little deflated and a few pieces my dogs broke off. the guy at the autozone I go to has one with 350k miles and he still drives it.

ienjoyautomotives > Funktheduck
12/22/2014 at 22:22

Well I see where you're coming from, I guess it all has to do with preferences, I'm okay with losing a bit of comfort every day for that extra bit of fun, although the only civic I would ever actually own is an Si with a manual there's a gazzillion other cars I'd get first, but that's just cause I'm young, dumb, and just care about fun haha.

dogisbadob > GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
12/22/2014 at 22:41

The obvious answer of course is the 92-96 Camry. Best car ever made. But of course, any Toyota from that era will be a good choice, and don;t forget the Geo/Chevy Prizm (rebadged Corolla that often goes for less money).

Other cars worth considering are the 96-98 TL and the 95-98 Odyssey/Oasis. They are exempt from the usually Used Honda Tax, and the 1g TL's aren't too bad to work on because the engines are longitudinal.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
12/22/2014 at 23:37

A 1997 Ford Crown Victoria for $800:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816812376…

1995 Toyota Tercel for $1000:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4814138193…

2000 Honda Civic for $1400... but sold 'as is'... but engine/transmission good:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816641022…

2002 Honda Civic coupe for $1500:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4812123014…

1999 Buick Century for $800:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4816251065…

2000 Toyota Corolla VE for $1900:

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4796876652…

Of all these cars, the most cheap and simple one will likely be the Toyota Tercel.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > ienjoyautomotives
12/22/2014 at 23:49

Saabs are for people who have a couple of thousand dollars every year to spend on additional maintenance and repair above and beyond what you'd spend on a regular car (I personally owned one) . Same goes for the Volvo. Same for the Jeep... only with the Jeep, he will spend a little less on repairs, but more on fuel. And you have to watch the transmissions on those Impalas. We had one just like that one for the sales people at my work. Transmission died at 80,000km.

And a Civic is a good car, but he should not get a Civic coupe that was lowered and looks like it was owned by a ricer.

ienjoyautomotives > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/22/2014 at 23:56

Hmm I haven't heard much about the saabs problems, I've always heard they were decently reliable, as I have about volvos (a couple of my buddies have volvos at 200k+ and they're running strong) then again what do I know. as for the jeep it said he had owned one before so i figure it wouldn't be that big a deal as far as fuel and repairs go. I did totally overlook the fact the civic was owned by a ricer though.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > ienjoyautomotives
12/23/2014 at 00:37

Saabs and Volvos can be made to be reliable if you keep dumping in the money. But let me fire up my spreadsheet and list everything I did on my Saab over the 4 years I owned it:

-Oil changes every 4 months using Mobil 1 5w40 Euro formula full synthetic.

-Air filter changes

-fixed some vacuum leaks,

-bucking under acceleration issue fixed with new APC valve

-new hood struts

-Broken HVAC shaft (This happened 3 times)

-New HVAC airbox that was supposed to alleviate the reoccurring HVAC shaft breaking problem, but actually did jack-shit to fix. And it was a labour intensive repair too.

-new trunk struts

-exhaust bracket

-new spark plugs

-install new clips to hold rubber under hood in place

-new MAF sensor

-New Thermostat, rad flush and fill

-new ECT Sensor (monitors coolant temp)

-New tires

-new battery

-Rear brakes.

-replace exhaust flex pipe aft of resonator

-rear right light bulb circuit board (got used part)

-some new coolant hoses

-retorque cylinder head (on mechanic's advice)

-Dropped oil pan to check oil pickup and screen (on mechanic's advice).

-new Radiator, thermostat, PCV valve and tube,

-New coolant temp sensor

-new passenger side mirror (got used part)

-Front brakes and rotors

-replaced rim with used one (old one cracked),

-ac compressor, ac service with tensioner ($1500)

Just for repairs and maintenance, the annual cost averaged $2400/year. And it would have been higher if I didn't do some of the repairs and maintenance myself.

When I got rid of it, it had developed a no-start when warm condition which I think was the crank position sensor, the rear brakes were due again, the exhaust needed replacing, the emergency brake cable needed replacing ($500 job) and the OEM stereo had developed some issues.

But it was still running strong even though it had 397000km on it.

The problem isn't the engine or transmission. Like other euro cars, it's the electrical, trim and other bits that break frequently that costs you.

Nice car, but a wisely chosen Ford, GM or Chrysler car will be more reliable.

Many owners of Euro cars usually leave out all the money they had to dump into their cars to keep them running strong.

As for Jeeps... I know people who have owned Jeeps. They're not cheap. The 1995 Grand Cherokee you linked had the I6... so it won't be too bad compared to the V8 ones. But the fact is that 1995 Grand Cherokee is 20 years old now. What's the ownership experience of a 20 year old Jeep with 140,000 miles? It's something like this:

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/jeep/g…

ienjoyautomotives > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/23/2014 at 00:59

yes, but once again my only reasoning for the jeep was that it clearly says he had one before, as for the saab, I appreciate the information, I was looking at one to buy, good thing that I ended up going with the Suburban.