Buying a 10+ year old car what could go wrong?

[gravitylover]

Lol

@TR yup.

There's a lot in a town near me where this guy stores the cheap hulks he picks up at auctions that nobody else wants. Every now and then there's a hidden gem stuck in the middle so I went by and there are 3 cars there, usually there's 100+ so I went by some smaller ones and it's similar. There are a bunch of these around the metro area and I bet most of them are similar. This means that even the garbage is finally moving through the pipeline so maybe as it works through the fleet quality will get better. Then the question is when do the prices come back to reality, do we have to wait until the new car inventory catches up?

[skaredshtles]

He wanted a tougher challenge.

One involving burning oil and plastic.

[MakersTeleMark]

One involving burning oil and plastic.

It's a mostly free EE degree though. So you save a little there.

[skaredshtles]

It's a mostly free EE degree though. So you save a little there.

That's worth something...

[ski-wpk]

My 06 LX with 203k can sell for $26k; I bought the 11 LR4 with 118k for $12k. Figured I would try the LR4 for a while then decide whether to sell the LX for a profit. A month in I’ve already decided not to sell the LX. Decision now is whether to keep the LR4. Repair costs aside, it’s a great vehicle and way more fun to drive than the LX (on pavement at least).

Before the LR4 I looked for probably 4 months for an LR3 (goal was <$10k) and every private party or dealer option was horrible. Some I drove an hour to see then never even stepped into once I got there. The LR4 was a random Land Rover forum find. Full service records, garage kept, underpriced by probably $5k. Seller didn’t want to deal with Craigslist/Marketplace/Cars.com hassle and had gotten almost zero interest before I called him.

[MakersTeleMark]

The LR4 was a random Land Rover forum find. Full service records, garage kept, underpriced by probably $5k. Seller didn’t want to deal with Craigslist/Marketplace/Cars.com hassle and had gotten almost zero interest before I called him.

No interest, priced below market, on a LR forum.

[ski-wpk]

Worked out for me. So far at least.

[MakersTeleMark]

Worked out for me. So far at least.

Good luck with it. I've always had a nut for a series 3.

[liv2ski]

I have always thought English and Italian cars were built for people that had a fuck ton of money to either a) only lease during the initial warranty period or b) have a bunch of cash to throw at repairs without a second thought. I have never been in either category, so German or Swedish cars for me. YRMV.

[Touring_Sedan]

Worked out for me. So far at least.

Good call. The Tahoe has 77 miles, the Rover has 166,000. I'll still take the Rover.

[MontuckyFried]

I have always thought English and Italian cars were built for people that had a fuck ton of money to either a) only lease during the initial warranty period or b) have a bunch of cash to throw at repairs without a second thought. I have never been in either category, so German or Swedish cars for me. YRMV.

Haha. Same. I was damn tempted to roll the dice on a used Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio since they depreciated pretty hard a couple years back, but prices have shot up and make it a total deal killer for me since it's both high priced AND maintenance will bankrupt me most likely. I could deal with the fussiness of an Italian car since they're just so sexy, but I won't overpay for the entry price. The 4C spider was also a great bargain used, but not so sure any more with today's market being what it is.

Looking forward to a serious used car market bubble burst so we can all get back on track with getting geriatric Euro cars cheap again. All so ridiculous now.

Praying Road & Track is correct with their predicitions here:
The Used Car Market Will Crash
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...et-will-crash/

[skaredshtles]

. I have never been in either category, so German or Swedish cars for me. YRMV.

...

[MontuckyFried]

...

Lol. Sounds crazy, but some truth to it. At least with VAG products, parts can be DIRT cheap so if you wrench yourself, it's doable. With my Volvo at least, parts are pricey, but overall a very sturdy steed, so long term costs have been pretty low overall. As with many things though, it all depends on what you're rocking.

[Timberridge]

Everyone has their brand biases and some hold them forever.
To each his own.

A few things I've learned over the years and I've never been afraid of venturing into a new brand if I like the specs. By far the most important is buy a model built towards the end of it's cycle. You'll save yourself a lot of heartache.

[gravitylover]

I think Brit cars get a bad rep sometimes. Yeah, they're overengineered and frequently done poorly but they are often designed so that expected regular maintenance can be done somewhat less painfully than most other premiums. Unfortunately not often enough, as evidenced by my current problem, but it's the same (or worse) with all premium vehicles now. Heck, look at some of these 16 hour jobs just to replace a starter motor on some Audi motors or who was it here on the board that had the window motor 5 hour replacement job? I'm mostly ok with it unless the cost of the repair comes close to the value of the vehicle which is what I'm dealing with now.

We did solve one important problem today and found one that the wife loves, a '13 Volvo XC60 T6 R Design. Unless I missed something this thing is cleaner at 88k than most cars I've had at 20k and has no rust that I can find. At less than 30% of the original price, I think we did ok.

[riser4]

Well, Lucas deserves a lot of the credit.

[Timberridge]

We've touched on this at various times in this thread, but a good working knowledge of electricity and circuits has never been a British strongpoint.

[liv2ski]

We've touched on this at various times in this thread, but a good working knowledge of electricity and circuits has never been a British strongpoint.

Yet they had some of the coolest planes ever...

[Timberridge]

And they built some of the coolest cars and motorcycles as well.

It's just...you know...the electric part.

[basinbeater]

I've been a long time euro car guy, and bmw was always the one to get. That has changed. Audi never did it for me, and still has major design flaws in my opinion, despite getting good press lately. Drove a Mercedes e class the other day, and it was booooring... Cadillac is new on my radar. Anybody driven or had ownership experience with a CTS? I may go looking for 2014+ one to test drive with the 3.6l na v6, and AWD. Supposedly the handling is top notch compared to bmw Audi Merc. If I let my 540 go, i need something lively in its place. A CTS v (older) would be kick ass, with a 6spd, and may be the ticket. There is one local. I might have to go look.

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[Timberridge]

A friend had the CTS-V a couple years ago 2018/19 model. He changes cars like underwear so no long term time with it, but he liked it. The only problems I heard about were always bending wheels, and the interior quality was a bit suspect, but driving wise never gave him an issue. Gas consumption was on par with a V12 Merlin Spitfire.

[MontuckyFried]

I think Brit cars get a bad rep sometimes. Yeah, they're overengineered and frequently done poorly but they are often designed so that expected regular maintenance can be done somewhat less painfully than most other premiums. Unfortunately not often enough, as evidenced by my current problem, but it's the same (or worse) with all premium vehicles now. Heck, look at some of these 16 hour jobs just to replace a starter motor on some Audi motors or who was it here on the board that had the window motor 5 hour replacement job? I'm mostly ok with it unless the cost of the repair comes close to the value of the vehicle which is what I'm dealing with now.

Sadly, you're not wrong. Even something as crappy as one of those dumb ass Chevy Trax/Buick Encores [shudders] can have some SERIOUS repair bills for dumb stuff.

We did solve one important problem today and found one that the wife loves, a '13 Volvo XC60 T6 R Design. Unless I missed something this thing is cleaner at 88k than most cars I've had at 20k and has no rust that I can find. At less than 30% of the original price, I think we did ok.

Nice! Enjoy the Vulva! And yeah. Those interiors hold up REALLY well. Unlike many cars, all the little interior bits like window switches and buttons seem to be made from higher quality plastics than anything the Germans or Americans do. Mine's an '08 and people are always shocked when they get in my car and see the mileage. Especially with 2 rugrats who aren't exactly kind to the interior. Puts up with a lot of abuse. Frames are bomber too. Mine's totally rust free even after all these years, the majority of which were spent up North. They seem like they're really built to handle that stuff pretty well.

That's what keeps me motivated to keep the old girl going. I just can't find anything in my price range (ie dirt cheap) with an interior or build quality that remotely comes close. My biggest suggestion is to switch to a great quality, top tier synthetic oil (I use Motul), and despite what the dealer, the manual, or any knucklehead wants to tell you, do transmission fluid changes religiously. Hope it treats you well!

[MontuckyFried]

By far the most important is buy a model built towards the end of it's cycle. You'll save yourself a lot of heartache.

Makes sense! Unless it's a Dodge, I guess all the kinks should hopefully be worked out a few years into a product cycle. First year models always seem to have tons of recalls. Even from Toyota and Honda. Rented a brand new Corolla couple years back with just a few miles on it and the shitty CVT blew on me as soon as I got on the freeway. Limped it back to the rental place thankfully and they swapped it. Recall issued by Toyota shortly thereafter. Haha.

[MontuckyFried]

Found a local 1970 VW Beetle for a great price. Needs work of course, but how crazy would I be for considering it for a 2nd car local runabout? I figure if I can wrench on a 2000s Audi, a VW should be no problem, right? Love the color and my wife gave me the green light. Reached out to the owner. Anything I should look out for? Could this be prudent or is it total bad idea jeans? I've always loved those little things. Ran around in them a bunch in Mexico back in my youth. Always a hoot.

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[Timberridge]

They rust like crazy, otherwise anything else is real easy to fix. I had one in HS and it almost caught fire as the battery is under the rear seat, and the springs under the bench contacted the two terminals and the horsehair or whatever that seat was stuffed with ignited. Fun night.