Vehicular verbiage

Continuing the discussion from Trademark reply of each forum member:

Yeah, the dealership gave me a decent price for the 2003 GrandAm. Then I found another one locally on Kijiji that was in great shape for a good price (I paid cash for it). I think it will be my daughter’s daily driver once she gets her license in September. So I have another 2003 GrandAm GT sedan that doesn’t look quite as cherry, but was dirt cheap and will last my kid a few years. I’d like to restore it since I’m a Pontiac nut.

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Moving @Azley’s reply here to keep original thread on topic…

Well, my wife miled out her SUV. The engine went at 370,000km. We looked at putting a rebuilt in, but… $7,000 plus. And the rest of the vehicle was still SO worn as well, it would just be non-stop repairs, not reliable.

My daily driver was a 97 Chevy Astro with about 230,000km. Something small would break on it every week and it just wasn’t reliable. Would have taken about $4,000 to get everything up to snuff. Didn’t feel like spending that much on two older vehicles that still wouldn’t be reliable.

We managed to get the two 2016s each with about 20,000km on them (both are off lease) for about $40,000 combined after trade-in. That’s a touch less than the cost of one brand new vehicle with almost zero kms on it, so we figure we did alright. The original owners took the depreciation (the minivan was listed for $43,679 new last year and we only paid $24,000 for it), so I figure we did well.

That ain’t bad the only 50% mark downs I’ve seen like that were a couple lancers last year that already had 60-80,000 miles on them… in a single year… yeah no doubt wouldn’t trust that.

Apparently it is really easy to get cheap stuff off craigslist and from dealers around army bases. Those armies guys wind up burning and turning their stuff as they get moved around.

Also a good place to sell custom PCs… from what I was told.

Minivans and family sedans have absolutely horrible depreciation. I’m amazed that anyone is willing to buy either brand new. The value of my Impala before the trade-in was $24,500 CDN (it listed at $41,000 as an LT, loaded, last year). That’s a steep drop for a year of driving! It’s still in fantastic shape. Dealership touched up the paint job on mine before I got it. Mrs. Pixel’s van only has the odd paint chip in the hood, which I’ll repair next week when the paint I ordered arrives.

My co-worker bought a used truck a month before I got our rides. He picked up a 2011 Chevy Silverado, full load, for $26,000 CDN. It had 154,000km on it. Pickup trucks don’t depreciate AT ALL. In fact, they’re hard to find – most get purchased by Americans because the dollar differential makes them cheap down south. The only vehicles we get cheap used are the ones Americans don’t want.

I got two cars off craiglist, older models, though.
One was a 2001 Kia that was all cosmetically messed up. I had to have my stepdad fix the trunk lock (had been just tied down) and a few other things, but it drove and the issues were like 70% cosmetic stuff like no paint, etc…I paid like 1000 for it. Lasted only 1 and a half though before it wouldn’t turn on. Could’ve fixed it but at the time I didn’t have repair money, and when I did have repair money I was just like I want a different car…so I went back to craigslist.

Second car was a 2000 Ford Focus that actually ran really good (I bought it off craigslist and the man who sold it was an engine repair mechanic). I paid like 2200 for that one. It lasted about a year and then the serpentine built went out, fast forward another year and the anti freeze started leaking so I had to get that fixed. Still, I’m the WORST at paying monthly payments on time, so I wanted something cheap that I could drive without taking out a lease or any kind of car loan. It’s worked out good for me, but I got lucky. Still driving it, been about 4 years now!

Interesting side note, I bought all the cars myself with no man help. My stepdad doesn’t like me so he was just do it yourself so I was like fine! I had learned a little bit from my first car which was a really old 1988 mitsubishi mighty max pick up truck and would constantly break down (that was a gift from my uncle at age 19 because he left the state and couldn’t take his car with him). My uncle used to explain how to fix the truck as he fixed the truck, so I had a bare bones idea about when a car should be avoided…or maybe i didn’t and just got lucky with the sellers!

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Yep used vehicles take the knowledge of owning used vehicles.

I’ve burnt through a few cars and learned a whole lot. Right now Toyota is my brand… I like volvo before but the Toyota is common enough it’s cheaper. More of a market and more familiarity.

Volvo’s were cool. Super simple all around, parts were expensive and hard to come by.

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How about this one… bought a 1996 m3 1 yr ago for 18k eur and now it’s worth 25k because as a classic (20 yrs old) it’s appreciating.

I am going to clean up and sell my 2007 Toyota Corrolla CE that’s for the planet conscious communter and get a ■■■■■■■ Harley Davidson and a leather Jacket and Criss Cross the Country Preaching THE GOOD SPELL IS OVER!

I’m well behaved. I walk to and from work unless the weather is horrible (rain doesn’t count as I own a raincoat). I haven’t driven the Impala since I did the grocery run last Sunday. I went out and washed it today, but it’s still in the same spot. :slight_smile:

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