buying a car | GTAMotorcycle.com

buying a car

J

JollyGreenGiant

Well-known member
I need help finding car insurance and help on finding a car.

Car budget is 12k & under
4 door sedan
2010 and on... (preferred)
mileage 50k - 90k ballpark


Thanks
 
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JollyGreenGiant said:
I'm going to purchase a vehicle pretty soon, does anyone here knows an insurance broker who can give me a good quote and deal?

I can always look up the companies and call but if I can get a good deal through someone then it's much appreciated!

Budget is 12k & under
4 door sedan
2010 and on... (preferred)


Thanks
Click to expand...
I'm a little confused...are you looking for a deal on a car or on insurance? Or both?

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
 
A 4 door sedan could be a Hyundai Accent, or it could be a Lincoln Town Car. Narrow it down some.

Average mileage per year is around 20,000, so your self-imposed 90,000 km cap means you are generally going to be looking at 4 years old or thereabouts unless you happen to find the mythical low mileage cream puff that was only driven to church on Sundays ... which isn't always a good buy.

Backtracking from there from your price range, 4 years of depreciation generally means the price is about half of what it was new, so this means something that was in the $25k range new 4 years ago.

Other than this having narrowed the field down to probably being a near-base-model (non luxury) compact, there are still a bazillion choices out there. Tell us what you like and what you don't like.
 
preferred:

Honda civic
Toyota corolla, rav4
mitsubishi lancer
mazda 3 or 6 (not the wagon model)

open to suggestions
:)

as for insurance, I have a motorcycle as well, so more savings if bundle with car insurance?
 
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Should add that I've had decent luck by buying used off-lease vehicles from a new-car dealer of the same brand. These are cars that people leased, and turned in to get a new one when the lease period expired. The new-car dealers keep the good ones of their own brand (Ford at a Ford dealer, VW at a VW dealer, etc) and auction off anything iffy, which you don't want anyhow. You can probably get something with a warranty by going this route, "certified pre-owned" or something of that sort.

So, make the rounds to local new-car dealers, and see what they've got on the lot.

Bear in mind that anything named "Honda" or "Toyota" will probably be overpriced for what you are getting, and in the model year range that you are talking about, "Chevrolet" and "Dodge" will probably be depreciated more than what they deserve (i.e. the car is actually decent, but it doesn't have the brand name that everyone wants). A Chevy Cruze is a perfectly fine daily-driver appliance, and you can get them cheap, because it doesn't say "Honda" on it and it's not a "truck" or "SUV". The one thing I will warn you about, is the Ford Powershift automatic transmission in the 2012-on Focus and Fiesta. Google it. Not good. Manual transmission versions of the same cars are fine.
 
JollyGreenGiant said:
preferred:

Honda civic
Toyota corolla, rav4
mitsubishi lancer
mazda 3 or 6 (not the wagon model)

open to suggestions
:)

as for insurance, I have a motorcycle as well, so more savings if bundle with car insurance?
Click to expand...

I don't think you will find a Civic, Corolla, or RAV4 of the age and mileage that you want, in the price range that you want. All of those are overpriced for what you get. Corolla in that age range still has a 4 speed automatic transmission ... come on, this isn't the 1990s any more.

Mitsubishi Lancer is a possibility, given that it is an off-brand (not Honda/Toyota) and is actually a decent car. Since no one wants them, they should be able to be had cheaply. IF you can find one. They did not sell well.

If you consider a Mitsubishi then look at Kia Forte or Hyundai Elantra as well, and there are bazillions of those.

Out of what you listed, a Mazda 3 probably has the best chance of finding a decent one in your price range.

Don't overlook the Chevy Cruze or Sonic.
 
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There's a trunk version of the Sonic as well ... (although why anyone would want a trunked sedan when they could have a hatch instead is beyond me, but hey, different strokes for different folks)

I'm not aware of any endemic issues with the Cruze. There's one in my extended family, and it has been fine.
 
First year Cruzes had a head gasket issue iirc.
 
I wouldn't touch a Mazda 3 unless the owner can prove annual rustproofing with Rustcheck or the like.
 
Hyperion said:
Had a 2010 Mazda 3 until April 2018, no rust proof, no unordinary rust. Mazda rust died with the 1st gen 3, 04-09.
1712acdf3bfd012111b10c1a182b75aa.jpg
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Curious if that car was winter-driven?

Mazda really that problem fester for years and that hurts their image. Maybe they did fix it in later years but given the history of the model I'd still ask for proof of annual oiling.
 
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