Can you EVER ever ever trust a used car dealership...

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:32 am

Loren wrote:....he sold off the WRX and the Lotus to buy a...... a Dodge Super Hearse, lol! You know what I'm talkin' 'bout. There's no hope for the guy.

Loren

Oh yeah, I saw him drivin around the other day!

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:37 am

Tyler Morris wrote:
Loren wrote:....he sold off the WRX and the Lotus to buy a...... a Dodge Super Hearse, lol! You know what I'm talkin' 'bout. There's no hope for the guy.

Loren
Oh yeah, I saw him drivin around the other day!

Exactly. He says it's fast and fun to drive, but I think they're butt ugly.....

His Kung Fu, needless to say, is quite weak.

Loren

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:41 am

Was his family killed by the G.M. ninjas?

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:46 am

Perhaps I read through the posts too quickly, but I don't think that there was a recommendation for an American-made vehicle. For years I drove VW bugs, Honda Civics and Accords, but my current car is a 94 Buick Century with 120,000 miles. It has a 4 cylinder engine and has enough power to suit me. I can drive down the highway with the cruise control set on 70 mph with the air conditioning going full blast and rountinely get 35 mpg for highway driving. I bought the car from a private individual for $3500 several years ago. The car was advertized in the local newspaper want-ads. Since that time, I have driven 50,000 miles with only a few minor mechanical problems. I originally bought the larger car because I had two major collisions while driving smaller-sized vehicles, and I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to drive on the highway with teenage and other impared drivers, then I needed to have a little more car around me, just in case. Now, when I sit in a Honda Civic, it feels tiny to me. I cast my vote for a full-sized, American-made vehicle.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:45 pm

Note to Doug: Not all 'American' cars are American. In fact, a Mazda 6 is more 'American' than a Ford F 150. There are two sources. One is the UAW web site which list UAW built cars and the other is the US government which compiles a list of the percentage parts on cars which are domsetic and foreign. My Honda was made in Louisiana. Ford owns Volvo and Jaguar. Where is the line? There is no line. It's a world market.

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:06 pm

Doug_Tipple wrote:with teenage and other impaired drivers....

Subtle. I like it.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:10 pm

scottielvr wrote:
Doug_Tipple wrote:with teenage and other impaired drivers....
Subtle. I like it.

Hush child, he was trying to sneek that one past Dale...

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:50 pm

scottielvr wrote:
Doug_Tipple wrote:with teenage and other impaired drivers....
Subtle. I like it.

You know, it requires more frontal lobe power to be the passenger seat adult with a teenage driver than it does to drive. No surprise there I guess.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:11 pm

FJohnSharp wrote:Note to Doug: Not all 'American' cars are American. In fact, a Mazda 6 is more 'American' than a Ford F 150. There are two sources. One is the UAW web site which list UAW built cars and the other is the US government which compiles a list of the percentage parts on cars which are domsetic and foreign. My Honda was made in Louisiana. Ford owns Volvo and Jaguar. Where is the line? There is no line. It's a world market.

Yes, I agree that it is a world market. Another example of American-made cars with foreign design and ownership is the Japanese Subaru, which are made where I am currently living in Lafayette, IN.

However, the intent of my post was to consider the relative size of cars with regard to passenger safety. My preference is to avoid the compact cars and go for the larger mid-size or full-size cars, such as the Buick, which I mentioned before. I think that there are many good values in used cars in this category.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:01 pm

Old Buick Century mail cars are seen around here more than anything else. The bench seat is the kicker here, but they seem to tolerate the abuse a mail route gives pretty well.

I'm a big Subaru fan- drove them for many years. There are some predictable repairs but anything I can get 140,000 miles of mail route out of is pretty tough. (any of them, even the old Loyale, beats the heck out of this Jeep Wrangler in every way except that it's right hand drive)

Our other vehicles are Toyotas and I can't compalin. The Camry we bought new, but the truck was used. It's almost at 100,000 miles now and doing fine with no major repairs.

Gotta add, Missy I feel for you having just gone through that overheating stuff myself.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:05 pm

Well, the rest of the story, as it played out today, is as follows:
I ended up with a '99 Subaru Forester which seems to be in well-maintained condition, one owner, records, etc.
My local Soobie dealership was pretty willing to deal, since I'd bought there twice before...and I had in hand, a packet full of coupons they'd sent me, which ultimately knocked $750 off my end price. Before tax and tags and all that junk, it was $7K. Then, of course, I HAD TO exceed my intentions and buy the 24,000 mile extended warranty, but even with that I ended up below bluebook, and have a car with most major stuff covered for what is likely to be the next 3-4 years.
Furthermore, despite all the whining, my 16 year old must now learn to shift. Around our house, it's a required milestone, like swimming, bike riding, etc. You just learn to drive a stick because we make you.

Now the 2 college girls are eyeing the Forester, which shifts a little more easily than the Outback they're taking back to school, and I'm having to tell the high school student "this is not your car. When everyone is home, everyone will share." At this point I'm contemplating teaching the kid (14) to drive stick early, just to spare me the hassle later. Just don't want him to feel so confident that he takes off unlicensed.

Why all the exposition? Because I'm embarrassed that we own 4 cars. I'm also embarrassed that we have several computers. But you don't think about this stuff when you're busy having babies--I mean, the expenses and logistics of living that will hit later. (Some people think about it, but I'm impulsive.)
I'm also well aware that many people solve the teenagers' early transportation needs by acquiring junkers--and I don't fault them. But my slightly ocd nature makes it difficult for me not to have a safety first attitude. So we have a little Soobie fleet, plus the old Honda Odyssey for hardware guy.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:34 pm

emmline wrote:Why all the exposition? Because I'm embarrassed that we own 4 cars. I'm also embarrassed that we have several computers.

Don't be. We have 3 vehicles for two people. There are many high quality rationalizations available.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:17 pm

My 2000 Subaru Forrester made many miles on the mail route with nothing beyond oil changes and brake pads. Wish I still had it.

You done good.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:46 am

Tyler Morris wrote: complete valvetrain replacement due to faulty belts breaking. Their valve clearences are so close that when those belts blow (I've seen them go as soon as 2k miles on a factory new belt) they beat the smithereens out of not only the valves but the lifters too..

Ah! but nothing so scary as hearing valve clatter from a 911T and realise that your chain tensioner has just let go and HOPE that you've turned the ignition off in time. Visions of bent valves, dings in pistons, go through your head, much like a death experience ( Not that I know about that sort of thing... books ...)

Cars- gotta love them- just to put some perspective on Audi things, I had an 85 4000Q that had 350K on the clock. The only reason I got rid of it was the firewall had fractured/deformed and the pedal assembly that was fastened to it did odd things, like the clutch wouldn't engage. Great car for me.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:33 am

The original question was about trust and whether it was wise to trust a used-car dealership. From a personal point of view, as I grow older, I find that I am more willing to extend my trust to others. I don't need to watch while someone is working on my car, for example. I don't want to go through the rest of my life being so careful that I need to double-check everything that someone else does for me. Trusting others to do good work and to tell you the truth simplifies my life in this regard. Now, when I pull into Fast Eddies for an oil change, I don't even get out of my car.