Tips - Buying used car?
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Honda's can be very good vehicles if you can get a good used one.
Accords are one of the good ones, but like any honda or import car they can be somewhat expensive/pricey to repair. Go certified pre-owned if you can
....otherwise try to buy as low mileage one as you can afford with not too many owners. have a mechanic who you know and trust check the vehicle over prior to purchasing it.
Accords are one of the good ones, but like any honda or import car they can be somewhat expensive/pricey to repair. Go certified pre-owned if you can
....otherwise try to buy as low mileage one as you can afford with not too many owners. have a mechanic who you know and trust check the vehicle over prior to purchasing it.
Also, be advised, Honda Accord is in the top 5 most stolen cars here in the US. I doubt it is much different up there.
Insurance costs will reflect that. I used to work at a Honda car dealer, the routine maintenance schedule isn't out of line with the other Japanese manufacturers.
In the Toronto area, I would be more looking at all wheel drive vehicles like Subaru Impreza based models. The 2.5 RS is a pretty cool little car for the money. Their theft profile is very low, and they are extremely reliable, even more so than Honda. Insurance rates will be lower as well.
I used to have an 86 Civic hatchback and loved it, in 2004 I was looking at Accords, then stumbled on to a good deal on an 01 Subaru Forester L with 43K miles on it. We still have it, and it has been great. After I had it a while I tossed the SUV tires and replaced em with Goodyear All-treads, and the handling got tons better. I will buy another Subaru, when the time comes.
DaddyDett
Insurance costs will reflect that. I used to work at a Honda car dealer, the routine maintenance schedule isn't out of line with the other Japanese manufacturers.
In the Toronto area, I would be more looking at all wheel drive vehicles like Subaru Impreza based models. The 2.5 RS is a pretty cool little car for the money. Their theft profile is very low, and they are extremely reliable, even more so than Honda. Insurance rates will be lower as well.
I used to have an 86 Civic hatchback and loved it, in 2004 I was looking at Accords, then stumbled on to a good deal on an 01 Subaru Forester L with 43K miles on it. We still have it, and it has been great. After I had it a while I tossed the SUV tires and replaced em with Goodyear All-treads, and the handling got tons better. I will buy another Subaru, when the time comes.
DaddyDett
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+1 on Subaru. I drive a Nissan pickup now, but I'm getting another Subie when I can.
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Another vote for having a trusted mechanic check it out under the hood before you purchase it. The first car we bought for my wife (even before she was my wife
) was a little Honda Civic sport. Loved that car for what it was. I honestly thought that I would keep the little bugger once it was paid off and we traded her up to something a little more upgraded.
A wet road, an inattentive driver, and his f150 saw to that little hope being dashed just 8 months into owning the car. The wife was OK, but the civic was a twisted mess from behind.
We went back to the same dealer that we bought that car from since it had checked out with our mechanic. We looked at a VW Jetta. It was a little pricier, but fun to drive. The salesman was needlessly pushy as he knew that we didn't rush into anything. He kept saying, "You guys need to pull the trigger. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice!" When we took the car to our mechanic we found out why. It had over $3000 worth of repairs needed
...even after their so called "51 point inspection" and a carfax report.
We immediately dropped the car off and the salesman's excuse was that our mechanic just wanted to "find something wrong with the car" for our 80 dollar fee. Yeah, I'm really sure that a mechanic that has been a trusted service professional would nit pick us into not buying a car that he would have the opportunity to work on for the next 5 plus years. We will never take our car to another mechanic. The guys at the place we go to really treat us right. They only work on foreign cars though. Heck, they don't even work on Subaru. That's one of the only reasons we did NOT buy a Subaru to replace the Civic. These guys are THAT good
:thumbup:
Long story short, if you ever are in the Evansville area and a one armed car salesman named Ralph tells you to "roll the dice" when buying one of his cars...walk away from his snake oil.
) was a little Honda Civic sport. Loved that car for what it was. I honestly thought that I would keep the little bugger once it was paid off and we traded her up to something a little more upgraded.A wet road, an inattentive driver, and his f150 saw to that little hope being dashed just 8 months into owning the car. The wife was OK, but the civic was a twisted mess from behind.
We went back to the same dealer that we bought that car from since it had checked out with our mechanic. We looked at a VW Jetta. It was a little pricier, but fun to drive. The salesman was needlessly pushy as he knew that we didn't rush into anything. He kept saying, "You guys need to pull the trigger. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice!" When we took the car to our mechanic we found out why. It had over $3000 worth of repairs needed
...even after their so called "51 point inspection" and a carfax report. We immediately dropped the car off and the salesman's excuse was that our mechanic just wanted to "find something wrong with the car" for our 80 dollar fee. Yeah, I'm really sure that a mechanic that has been a trusted service professional would nit pick us into not buying a car that he would have the opportunity to work on for the next 5 plus years. We will never take our car to another mechanic. The guys at the place we go to really treat us right. They only work on foreign cars though. Heck, they don't even work on Subaru. That's one of the only reasons we did NOT buy a Subaru to replace the Civic. These guys are THAT good
:thumbup:Long story short, if you ever are in the Evansville area and a one armed car salesman named Ralph tells you to "roll the dice" when buying one of his cars...walk away from his snake oil.
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I always buy used. Here are my rules:
1. Car must be aprox 2 years old, and ~ 20K miles. This cuts the sale price in half of a new car, and is still under warranty.
2. Don't get sold with extra warranty bull*. They'll drive a $12K car up to $19K and will only be telling you what your paying per month, so you never realize you've added $7K to the price of the deal. This happens in the finance office, where the dealership makes their real money!
3. For all car deals, offer something ludicrous low, and walk away at least once when they balk. I mean 33% off sticker at least. $18.5K car, offer $12.5K. Walk away. Make sure salesperson has your contact 411. Grudgingly allow him to get a phone # before you make the offer, so it doesn't look like you're planning this.
4. Always buy cars at the end of the month. Dealerships are desperate to get cars off the lot at the end of the month.
Edited to add that these rules will get you the car below their invoice. The dealerships allow this because they believe they'll make their money in the finance office after they've agreed to the deal.
1. Car must be aprox 2 years old, and ~ 20K miles. This cuts the sale price in half of a new car, and is still under warranty.
2. Don't get sold with extra warranty bull*. They'll drive a $12K car up to $19K and will only be telling you what your paying per month, so you never realize you've added $7K to the price of the deal. This happens in the finance office, where the dealership makes their real money!
3. For all car deals, offer something ludicrous low, and walk away at least once when they balk. I mean 33% off sticker at least. $18.5K car, offer $12.5K. Walk away. Make sure salesperson has your contact 411. Grudgingly allow him to get a phone # before you make the offer, so it doesn't look like you're planning this.
4. Always buy cars at the end of the month. Dealerships are desperate to get cars off the lot at the end of the month.
Edited to add that these rules will get you the car below their invoice. The dealerships allow this because they believe they'll make their money in the finance office after they've agreed to the deal.
Right now, a new car may be a better deal. Lots of demand for used cars pushes prices up, but also lots of pressure on dealers and manufacturers to move stock brings new car prices down. It's worth looking around.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509918,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509918,00.html
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I too am looking at a used truck... a 2004 GMC Sierra with an extended cab, short box and Z-71 offroad package. Anyone own one? Like it?