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Oct. 11th, 2002 01:54 pmA sad panda am I.
My mechanic has told me that my car is getting to the point where fixing everything that's wrong with it is more trouble and expense than getting another car might be. I've had that car since about 1988, and it has over 270,000 miles on it. The a/c is about to go out, which is costly and in Texas, for me, is not an optional feature. The front end needs work, and other things down the line will need replacing and parts are getting harder and harder to find. The parts that can be found are sometimes used, which means that they aren't necessarily a good fix for the problem.
The rest are recommendations he's made to me about what kind of car to look for, since I will have to look into buying a car for the second time in my life. Feel free to read on and make recommendations, if you're so inclined. In spite of my otherwise green tendencies, I appreciate a larger car so he made his recommendations with that in mind.
His first recommendation is a 95 or newer Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder. A Rav-4 or a 2 wheel drive 4-Runner might also be a good choice. They cost more to repair, but the parts last 3-4 times as long as many American made cars.
Basically, all late-model American cars are crap. If I want a minivan, though, the GM Safari or the Chevy Astrovan are not bad at all, as long as I get a '95 or newer with less than 50k miles on it. The Voyagers and Caravans have gotten worse over the years, and need lots of work between 100-200k miles.
Honda Accords are excellent cars. Nissans are every bit as good as Toyotas or Hondas, but the dealer in Austin sucks and that's who you have to get parts from, so avoid Nissans.
*sigh* I didn't want to deal with this for another few years, but I guess I'll have to. My Catalina cost me $400. I don't think I'll be as lucky this time around.
My mechanic has told me that my car is getting to the point where fixing everything that's wrong with it is more trouble and expense than getting another car might be. I've had that car since about 1988, and it has over 270,000 miles on it. The a/c is about to go out, which is costly and in Texas, for me, is not an optional feature. The front end needs work, and other things down the line will need replacing and parts are getting harder and harder to find. The parts that can be found are sometimes used, which means that they aren't necessarily a good fix for the problem.
The rest are recommendations he's made to me about what kind of car to look for, since I will have to look into buying a car for the second time in my life. Feel free to read on and make recommendations, if you're so inclined. In spite of my otherwise green tendencies, I appreciate a larger car so he made his recommendations with that in mind.
His first recommendation is a 95 or newer Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder. A Rav-4 or a 2 wheel drive 4-Runner might also be a good choice. They cost more to repair, but the parts last 3-4 times as long as many American made cars.
Basically, all late-model American cars are crap. If I want a minivan, though, the GM Safari or the Chevy Astrovan are not bad at all, as long as I get a '95 or newer with less than 50k miles on it. The Voyagers and Caravans have gotten worse over the years, and need lots of work between 100-200k miles.
Honda Accords are excellent cars. Nissans are every bit as good as Toyotas or Hondas, but the dealer in Austin sucks and that's who you have to get parts from, so avoid Nissans.
*sigh* I didn't want to deal with this for another few years, but I guess I'll have to. My Catalina cost me $400. I don't think I'll be as lucky this time around.
