Corsica Transmission problems... UGH I HATE THIS CAR!!

[5.0Flareside]

yes... i do wish we kept the 88.... i always have and always will....

the Ranger was sold when we got there...

so we went shopping around...

found a very nice 98 Explorer, w/4.0 in it.. auto, 4x4 129k miles. Black. Leather Interior, all power... the entire Front suspension has been rebuilt recently. $4995.. 700 dollars trade in for the Corsica. and another for 100 dollars cash and we're out the door...

 

[Fordzilla80]

Oooo High Mileage.


\/ery Iffy.

 

[Fellro]

That's low miles for almost all the vehicles I have...

 

[flareside_thunder]

But two of your vehicles are diesels.....

 

[73F100Shortbed]

I wouldn't pay that much for an explorer with that kind of miles. I'm sure some would, but you can find better deals. But what do I know. I hope it works out better than all of the other things we warned you about

 

[Fellro]

But two of your vehicles are diesels.....

If you count all the vehicles I have to care for in the family, the diesels are the minority... only vehicle I can think of with less than 150,000 and is on the road is the wife's car, and we just got that. Had a Dodge Caliber with 115,000 when we got rid of it, which had major issues coming, but that is due to poor design more than the miles.

Modern vehicles hit 200,000 pretty easily without major issues generally. I don't miss a beat on one with 129,000 miles. I don't pay as much perhaps, but they don't worry me much either.

Looked up book on it, and it is a bit high depending on a few options that I didn't know about... Retail excellent was $3985, but I didn't check alloy wheels or other such features. Add alloy wheels and it went up to $4085.

 

[LEB Ben]

yes... i do wish we kept the 88.... i always have and always will....

the Ranger was sold when we got there...

so we went shopping around...

found a very nice 98 Explorer, w/4.0 in it.. auto, 4x4 129k miles. Black. Leather Interior, all power... the entire Front suspension has been rebuilt recently. $4995.. 700 dollars trade in for the Corsica. and another for 100 dollars cash and we're out the door...

Gotta be young and dumb first, I suppose. But when you first considered selling the 88, if you recall, we all said you'll regret it, don't do it.


$5k for a 98 exploder...no way in hell. $2500 or less. Just an FYI, my mothers was $1500 about 3 months ago (It had 135k, but it's optioned out and loaded to the gills). And if the front suspension needed to be rebuilt with less than 130k on the clock, I'd be afraid to know or find out what is Fubar'd with the rest of the vehicle. And be prepared for mid-teen mpg's...not a gas sipper in the least.


I'll say it one more time. Figure out the purpose of this next vehicle. Figure out necessities. Figure out out wants. Figure out what vehicles can offer that. Do some shopping around to get a base line on a vehicle. Figure out a minimum and maximum amount you'd be willing to pay from that base line, based on what you outlined as necessities and wants. Then go find your vehicle. Hop on Autotrader, CL, dealership sites, etc. Buying a car isn't as easy as most would like to think. Let your fingers do the walking and let your money work for you.

 

[taxreliever]

That's low miles for almost all the vehicles I have...

Yeah, but you wouldn't fork out $5k for any of them today, would you?

I wouldn't pay that much for an explorer with that kind of miles. I'm sure some would, but you can find better deals. But what do I know. I hope it works out better than all of the other things we warned you about

I agree.

Gotta be young and dumb first, I suppose. But when you first considered selling the 88, if you recall, we all said you'll regret it, don't do it.


$5k for a 98 exploder...no way in hell. $2500 or less. Just an FYI, my mothers was $1500 about 3 months ago (It had 135k, but it's optioned out and loaded to the gills). And if the front suspension needed to be rebuilt with less than 130k on the clock, I'd be afraid to know or find out what is Fubar'd with the rest of the vehicle. And be prepared for mid-teen mpg's...not a gas sipper in the least.


I'll say it one more time. Figure out the purpose of this next vehicle. Figure out necessities. Figure out out wants. Figure out what vehicles can offer that. Do some shopping around to get a base line on a vehicle. Figure out a minimum and maximum amount you'd be willing to pay from that base line, based on what you outlined as necessities and wants. Then go find your vehicle. Hop on Autotrader, CL, dealership sites, etc. Buying a car isn't as easy as most would like to think. Let your fingers do the walking and let your money work for you.

Not much I can add to Ben's comments above.....had I shopped like this for vehicles, I'd be $75k in the hole right now in less than 5 years, but because I shopped and was patient and didn't finance, I have $60k worth of 5 vehicles (prices of not shopping and dealer or impulse buying) that I've spent $16k on with $3k in repairs over the last few years of owning them. I have two very nice sports cars (camaro and stang), a company truck suv (exploder), a plow truck (full size chevy w/6"lift and plow), a large suv for the family (dodge durango) all for around 1/4 to 1/3 of what you paid for your explorer? All of these vehicles are paid for, road legal, very comfortable, look sharp and have 3-5 years of life left in them after owning them for the last 5. Something wrong with this picture, not including finance charges also......

I guess I'm just glad you have transportation....need it these days.

 

[Fellro]

Around here, it is tough to get a good vehicle for under $2000 from any dealer. They just sold our old Caliber we traded in for over suggested retail... I was ready to part the damn thing out it had so many issues.

 

[taxreliever]

Around here, it is tough to get a good vehicle for under $2000 from any dealer. They just sold our old Caliber we traded in for over suggested retail... I was ready to part the damn thing out it had so many issues.

THAT'S WHY I'D NEVER GO TO A DEALER UNLESS I BOUGHT BRAND NEW, WHICH I WOULD NEVER DO!

 

[Fellro]

That's why I don't buy cars in that price range from dealers either... you can drop the caps... If no one buys new cars, then there will be no new cars to buy. It depends on a lot of factors as to whether it is a good idea or not. If you want to keep trading them off, then it is foolish, but when our family doesn't tend to give up on them until they won't go any more, (my mom's car has 320,000 on it, bought from the local dealer at 30,000 miles) it isn't as bad. Good luck finding a 2 year old vehicle private sales that isn't pretty high either. That was the situation with my mom's car, bought in 04, and is an 02 model. it is fully paid for and still going, showing some issues now, but heck, it has been used!

 

[taxreliever]

That's why I don't buy cars in that price range from dealers either... you can drop the caps... If no one buys new cars, then there will be no new cars to buy. It depends on a lot of factors as to whether it is a good idea or not. If you want to keep trading them off, then it is foolish, but when our family doesn't tend to give up on them until they won't go any more, (my mom's car has 320,000 on it, bought from the local dealer at 30,000 miles) it isn't as bad. Good luck finding a 2 year old vehicle private sales that isn't pretty high either.

Very few bought new cars in 08 which caused the collapse of GM and Chrysler and almost ran Ford into BK. Just like any product, there will always be buyers of new cars. My grandmother doesn't care if she overpays for a new car, she just wants a new car. She could get a better deal like buying used at a dealer by not paying the immediate depreciation loss the day it becomes used, but for a multitude of reasons, she doesn't. If no one bought new cars, it would only be a matter of time before new cars would have to be purchased because transportation is necessary. Because of that cycle and the fact that there will always be new car sales, people like myself will most likely get the better end of the deal with a little bit more effort.

There's tons of 1 and 2 year private sales out there. There's a lot of people who financed and are trying to get rid of it for the balance of the loan to save from repossession. Dozens in my local paper these days and I live in a rural Maine. I've also seen sales where they can get a tad more from a private sale then the dealer trade in, which is usually ridiculously low.

I like your mom's car deal...that was a good deal. I agree.

 

[LEB Ben]

^^^Very good point Roger...the private market does tend to be cheaper, but in the first couple of years, it's almost negligible. And you still have peace of mind buying from a dealer when they're new and still have warranty and a back history, etc. And that's the situation I'm in with the gf's car search right now. I don't necessairly want to deal with the headaches a private purchase can have (unknown history, unknown problems, no warranty, etc.). And then if you do drive it til the wheels fall off, you definitely got your return on your investment. That said, a 98 exploder is not a couple year old car, and paying double on a lot than what the private makret yields, that's just not smart.

 

[1985 Ford F-150]

What id do is go find an older escort or somethin along them lines thats been used and maybe has some minor problems that are easily fixable then drive it for a while till it either starts to show signs of bein unreliable or ya find somethin better then dump it for cheap to get rid of it. Thats what my dad does for little commuter cars.

 

[LEB Ben]

What id do is go find an older escort or somethin along them lines thats been used and maybe has some minor problems that are easily fixable

Keep in mind how long it's taken him to get his truck back together after a head gasket replacement...hahahahaha.


But I agree...and that's the same thing my dad does. But his aren't really little commuter cars. They're full size good mpg cars. The last three have been a Buick Lesaber, Caddy Seville and a good ol' Tbird. All of them have been mid-90's cars. None have gotten worse than 24mpgs. And all of them have been under $2000, with the caddy being the most expensive...the Buick he got for $1400 and the Tbird was $600. He commutes 100 miles a day. Usually, the cars have somewhere around 150k on the clock and he dumps them around 250k for about 2/3 of what he bought them for. He ends up getting 2-3 years worth of use out of them.

 

[Fellro]

I hit the abandoned car sales, but that is a real gamble, and you have to know what you are getting into as to worst case scenario. Other than the wife's car, most every vehicle I currently run has come that way, I know the dealer game too well, and stay away from them, especially older used stuff. At least when I spend $2-400 on a vehicle I can recover my cost a little easier. I also generally buy lines that are similar to what I have already available. That is why there is a long list of similar vehicles in the fleet I have to care for... when one goes down, I cannabalize it for the next one we pick up.

Many of the cars there though are drunk driver cars, no license and the like. Many drive right off the lot. The van I have needed keys, ignition switch and a water pump. Logged 40,000 miles on it with not much to do to it. neon I'm driving I gave 170 for, but had to do a head and water pump... it cost about $500 to put it on the road, would have been worse if I didn't have another one to rob parts from. My truck is the most expensive, gave $1800 for it from a local dealer because I wasn't finding anything good from private deals, they were all used up rusty junk. The 92 was the same if I recall, the body was good, but the motor was burning a bit of oil, but it was bought for the body, not the motor.

 

[taxreliever]

What id do is go find an older escort or somethin along them lines thats been used and maybe has some minor problems that are easily fixable then drive it for a while till it either starts to show signs of bein unreliable or ya find somethin better then dump it for cheap to get rid of it. Thats what my dad does for little commuter cars.

This is kind of what I was thinking for desperate measures. I'm with ya on this idea. I did it when I was just out of highschool, just for transportation.

 

[73F100Shortbed]

Keep in mind how long it's taken him to get his truck back together after a head gasket replacement...hahahahaha.

He will be done by Christmas don't you worry

 

[Fordzilla80]

I wanna quote Anthony from when Chris first got the Corsica...

ok two things.
We had one of those when i was a kid...and it was a turd
second. i never seen a white one with out a smashe dup rear bumper

Hmmmm......