Author Topic: Looking for Good Used Car for Son  (Read 1255 times)

Offline brewmeister_us

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Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« on: August 14, 2023, 10:44:48 AM »
Does anyone have a vehicle they are looking to sell?   Parent who stopped driving?  Family member?   Friend?   

Looking for a car for my eldest (senior in HS).   

Something not brand new, but not 1999, either.   Pretty open minded.

Located Tampa area, but willing to travel for right thing.

No harm in asking.   If anyone has or knows of something, please reach out to me via PM.   

Thanks!
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Offline HFK

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Re: Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2023, 01:34:16 PM »
What's wrong with 1999? There are plenty of vehicles built in 99 and earlier I would go with over some of the newer ones.

Offline brewmeister_us

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Re: Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2023, 06:37:13 PM »
Nothing, really.   Just threw a number out there.   

Trying to find something without 250k miles and that I won't have to sink a boatload of $ into.

If it didn't have a v8, I'd be looking for a late 90's Mark VIII for the kid.   

Ideally trying to find a reasonable, plain, everyday car.   

Every dealer wants top $ and stupid dealer fees and I've messaged 4 people on Messenger for Marketplace stuff and 1 has responded (the car I like the least).

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Offline k7

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Re: Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2023, 06:09:46 AM »
all cars are overpriced. it's slowly correcting, but it's still annoying.

don't overlook a Honda. simple, easy to wrench on, and i've had them running like a champ
with over 500,000 miles on them. :)

newer cars are nice, but they're not made well overall....just check reviews on a specific
model before you take the plunge. in today's world, people are ecstaticto get 100K miles
out of a car. my mind, a car should get 300K miles before you do any major work to it. ;D
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Offline tufnel1530

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Re: Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2023, 10:42:59 AM »
I've owned a bunch of Toyotas over the years and they are pretty solid (or I've been lucky)

First car I ever bought was a 90s Tercel and I drove that into the ground.

Current 4Runner has needed nothing but tires and regular maintenance and I've been beating on it since 2013.   

My ex even had a piece of shit called an Echo that drove like a golf cart but car never had issues.

Offline brewmeister_us

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Re: Looking for Good Used Car for Son
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2023, 09:20:25 AM »
Thanks to all for the feedback.

I ended up picking up a 2009 Toyota Venza for him this week.   104k on a 14 year old car isn't bad.   Should potentially last a good while.

Same 3.5 v6 with timing chain as Highlander and RX350.   I've had both ('07 and '10 RX and '08 Highlander), and all were good cars.   

The whole used car buying experience (if it wasn't crappy before) is even worse now.   There is no such thing as a cheap, good car. 
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