Used Car Advice

[Tecora]

Hello again, /bg/ I haven't seen one of these topics recently. I ask your advice as peers since most of you are 20-30 college students, like me.

My car died recently, transmission is shot and wasn't really expecting it (Ford Probe). Now I have about a week to find a new car, because I need it to commute to both college and work. I came across a good deal on a 2003 Toyota Celica with low mileage (6000 under kelly blue book). Has anyone here had any good (or bad) experiences with Celica's or other cars you'd advise? I love sporty looking cars, but want it to be practical in terms of price (under 10 grand). I'll need a loan for pretty much any car I get. I have my father saying to get an American car (he does work for GM though) but most everyone else says import is the way to go. I don't race and I do mostly highway driving. Anyone have good luck with their car? Any recommendations? I'm desperate

[Stromgarde]

Can't speak about the Celica, but Toyotas in general are pretty reliable (Got a 2006 RAV4 last month). Having my last car die on me on in the left lane on the interstate, that's important to me, lol.

[Dmitry]

Just stay away from those Fords and you should be alright

[Isiolia]

Pretty much everything has its quirks and things to watch for. If you're interested in the Celica, I'd seek out a Toyota forum or something to find things to look for. The closest I've come to driving a Celica was a 6-speed Matrix, which felt like driving a rev happy minivan. That being said, Toyotas tend to all use the same reliable engines between models. So it should be a pretty solid car.

Cars tend to last according to how you take care of them, not so much the country of origin (which for many cars is mixed anyway, your Probaghini costs so much to fix because it's a Nissan at heart).

While I'm not a huge car guy or anything, I did work at a dealership for about a year or so doing web stuff. My brother still works there selling cars (upper end used cars, mostly BMWs).

Few things from there...

First, Blue Book is not that reliable. That's not to say it's not useful in some ways, however, it'd be like averaging housing costs across the entire country. It's not necessarily a good indicator of what a car actually goes for in your area, or even period. Before you decide something is a real deal, check out cars.com for similar cars in your area.
It's a selling point to say that you're x under Kelly on a car. That doesn't mean you're not also y over the average going price for it.

Second, you didn't mention it, but don't rely purely on vehicle reporting services like Carfax. The only thing you can truly rely on them for is title history (which can still be useful). If things happened to the car that were not reported, they won't show up.
Trust me, dealers -love- to snatch up cars with a clean Carfax, even if they're crap, because people take these at face value.

If you want to know if a car has been in an accident, take it to a good body shop or a friend who works at a dealership. Likely they will be able to tell within seconds.
Or use normal methods to determine this. Check body panel screws to see if they've been turned, check inside doors and hood for paint lines, use a paint thickness gauge to find body filler or thicker paint (means repainted panel), etc.

Some body work does not mean an accident. It's common on a low-slung car like the Celica for the nose to get chipped and such from normal driving. So if the car is at a dealer and you find the hood/front bumper are repainted, it could just be for cosmetic reasons.


Keep in mind the demographic too. You can generally get a better deal on types of cars that aren't as popular. Small cars, particularly Hondas and things, retain more value because of their popularity. But as a buyer, that means you're paying more for less. Something to consider when you're on a budget. Buying American can help with that, despite that many American cars are quite good now, the reputation remains.

Another thing too is whether or not the previous driver kicked the crap out of the car. With a sporty car like that, it's more likely that it was driven hard and would have higher than normal wear n' tear.

Shop around. If nothing else, go to several used car places and drive a few different cars. Put the Celica or whatever else in perspective. If you can, drive another Celica to compare it with.

[Skyylya]

Just stay away from those Fords and you should be alright

not sure what your reasoning for that is, but anyway

toyota's are really good cars...now. I really couldn't speak for the reliability of an old celica. but for more recent years and models like camry or corolla they are very good on gas and will run well for a long time.

as with any car though, if you take care of, it'll take care of you. any car can be a piece of shit if you don't keep it maintained.

[Elesirdur]

7G Celicas are very nice cars, just make sure you get the GT-S model with the 2ZZ-GE engine instead of the yawn-inducing 1ZZ-FE in the GT models. It's one hell of a high-revving engine, but once you get into the VVTi it's a lot of fun for those last 2000 RPM. The 7G models have excellent handling charactaristics, almost as good as the DC2 or DC5 Integras (DC5 Integra = RSX in North America) at not feeling like you're driving a FF car and the Celica definitely takes top honours for brakes, even in stock trim.

I can't really think of anything major to look out for in the 7G Celicas, just remember that Toyota cars have great build quality but can be a bit pricey to repair because of parts and labour costs.

FYI, I've driven a few 7G Celicas, both stock and modified, and really like them. Though, if it were up to me I would have gone with an Acura RSX-S over the Celica GT-S because the Honda's K20 has more power and better torque, leading to a bit more of a fun experience. I drive a '07 Yaris right now, as the Fit and Civic just didn't impress me much.

PS: I think the only American car I could see myself buying in this day and age would be a European Ford Focus or Mondeo. I had a Dodge Daytona for years before getting my Yaris, and my family has had Chrysler and GM products that have been nothing but a hassle. Until the big-3 in Detroit get their heads out of their own asses when it comes to designing a compact/coupe/sedan that isn't a piece of shit from the day it rolls off the factory line I won't buy American. Honestly, I hope they do in the future because they've made some awesome cars in the past, and I have faith that they will make something cool and competitive in the future.

PPS: Old-school first-generation Celicas look bad-ass, almost like a mini Challenger.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...age_421256.jpg

[Tecora]

Thanks for the advice so far guys, I think I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

[Skyylya]

since you're buying a used car, you are sure to get assraped.

make sure if there is anything you want to cover your ass on, GET IT IN WRITING before you sign any kind of contract.

the used car business has the scummiest genre of human scum on this planet.