35 years.jco wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:10 am What is the maximum age of a used car you would consider and why?
Historically, we've purchased Hondas and Toyotas that are about 10 years old and 100,000 miles. We've put nearly 170,000 miles on our 1999 Toyota Camry that we bought 13 years ago with 106,000 miles. The Camry still runs really well, but it has recently started leaking oil, and more concerning, transmission fluid, at a steady rate. We'd like to replace our Camry with another smallish car (probably a Honda Civic, Accord, CRV; Toyota Corolla, Camry, or RAV4; Subaru Imprezza, Forester, Legacy, or Outback). We have about $13,000 to spend, so a close to new car is probably not workable unless we go with a (generally) less reliable brand.
Sometimes you can find a solid deal on an older car with really low miles. E.g., a 2001 Subaru Forester with 50,000 miles for $9,000. However, a car like this makes me nervous because one of the issues with older cars is that the seals start to wear it, and that's not a simple fix. The engine may be in great working order but have seals that will soon start leaking.
So to repeat my original question in a slightly more specific way, would you generally consider purchasing a low mileage vehicle that was more than 10 years old? If so, what are your limits? What are your personal experiences in this regard?
I want ABS.
1999 TRUCK, 175,000 miles; drive it everywhere.
Including 16 hour runs from LAX to DEN.
Death Valley in summer ; Vail Pass in winter.
25 MPG, old, stinky, loud diesel.
When trucks were trucks and not luxury vehicles.
2010 LX570, 80,000 ditto. Daily Driver at the beach.
2007 S65, 60,000. Cruise Missile to go from house to house. I would NOT take it from LAX to DEN. CO SPRINGS to St GEORGE is a lot of nothing. But 6 hours from beach to desert? It feels like nothing. Daily Driver in the Desert.
1980 450SL. 60,000. She scares me driving it amongst the texting soccer mom's in their Escalade s. No ABS, airbags, and your head is bumper height on most new trucks.
Sure looks good though, drives well, feels like a solid iron ingot - made before cost was a consideration.... Inflation adjusted MSRP $165,000.
The "let's go for a drive" car on Sat/Sunday
Whoever is feeding you the SEALS DRY OUT bovine feces....tell them "I can replace a lot of seals for $25,000. Namaste."
OK, in all candor the seals on the truck did dry out on the injectors and caused a major issue. Fix was $550 P&L.
I paid $14.5K for the truck...a new one is $75K.
That's a LOT of seals.