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The 7 - Random - Used car feedback? Register and log in to post!
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drjayphd
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#1 Posted on 13.8.02 2205.36
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2229.01
Okay, I'm going to pick up my new (used) car tomorrow. It's a 1998 Saturn SL1, only 35,000 miles. As you can probably guess from the low mileage, it was probably a church-mobile... it doesn't have power windows and the stereo is just a radio, but the car itself is in impeccable condition. We're paying about $8000 for it... is that a reasonable price for it? This is in central CT, by the way.
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Jubuki
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#2 Posted on 13.8.02 2214.28
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2229.05
My mother's had a Saturn SC2 since '92, something like 160,000 miles on it in not quite 10 years. I've never heard of anyone having a serious problem with them, so I'd say it's a good deal. It should be pretty well broken in with that kind of mileage, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you could put 100K+ more on it. Just keep your ears open for any funny sounds and be sure to check your oil levels once you start getting up to higher mileage. Servicing the car is usually pain-free with the dealership.
DMC
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#3 Posted on 13.8.02 2219.31
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2229.07
To me that sounds pretty good. Last year I had to shell out over $10k for the same year (98) Ford Contour with way more miles than that (in California, though). My sister has a Saturn and has had some expensive repair problems over the years of her ownership, so personally I wouldn't want one, but they seem to be nice cars. Some of them have cool looks.

I still think we should have a car forum on Weinerville, Guru!

DMC
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#4 Posted on 13.8.02 2237.02
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2246.45
I guess there is a lot of ways to look at this.

Nothing wrong with owning a Saturn. $8000 might be a little steep, but still a decent car.

So you get a loan lets say 4 years. A domestic built automobile will drop in value like a rock after 60,000 miles. Lets say that takes you 2 years to get there. 60,000 miles and another 2 years to pay for it.

Repairs become costly.

After 4 years, you are left with what?? A car with 160,000 miles on it, and not worth a penny. You will be buying another one right after you are finished paying for it.

On the other hand, it is much cheaper on Insurance then an import. Plus an import will run you another $3500 for one with the same amount of miles.

Tough one. If you like it...go for it.

EddieBurkett
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#5 Posted on 13.8.02 2242.16
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2246.54
I just got a new SL2 for just under $17000 a little over a month ago. I'm having problems getting it registered (I should have bought in state), and I nearly ripped the front bumper off cuz I'm an idiot :-(, but other than that, I love it. My girlfriend started leasing an SL-1 about the same time, and she loves her car too. At least, once she got over the fact that it doesn't have adjustable headrests. Anyway, I'd say $8000 for a 4 year old Saturn with 35000 miles on it sounds decent.
Guru Zim
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#6 Posted on 13.8.02 2254.11
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2259.03

    Originally posted by DMC
    To me that sounds pretty good. Last year I had to shell out over $10k for the same year (98) Ford Contour with way more miles than that (in California, though). My sister has a Saturn and has had some expensive repair problems over the years of her ownership, so personally I wouldn't want one, but they seem to be nice cars. Some of them have cool looks.

    I still think we should have a car forum on Weinerville, Guru!

    DMC



You just want to brag about your Delorean.
Jubuki
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#7 Posted on 13.8.02 2256.52
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2259.06
Who puts 125,000 miles on a car in 4 years, though, short of living in the thing? If it's just for commuting and basic day-to-day stuff, that kind of mileage probably isn't going to pile up, and especially not that quickly. And repairs typically aren't as bad as people make them out to be. Between repairs done and improvements made to my '84 Dodge POS, I think I've sunk about $3K into it over the course of 38,000 miles or so. That's been over the course of 5 years, but even if I drove it more frequently and put it on in 2.5 years, that's about $1250 a year for the car in repairs (and a $700 stereo system). $100 a month is what it turns out to be if I'd put it on more quickly, & $50 a month is what it's actually been for me. And my car has been a pile of crap since I bought it. Repairs are only costly in the short-term, when you have to dig up $500 or so or dump it on your credit card -- in the long-term, they're a Hell of a lot better than payments.
EddieBurkett
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#8 Posted on 13.8.02 2304.34
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2307.51
Granted I do a lot of driving from CT to my old haunts in NJ, and a fair amount of driving to client sites for work, I've already put about 2600 miles on my car in less than seven weeks. I thought that was unusual, but then I found out the secretary in our office puts about the same mileage on her car, and she's not going home every other weekend or driving to sites. Really, if you live in a region where everything is close by and and you don't do any extensive driving on a regular basis, then you're mileage should stay down. (Before I got this job, I was putting maybe 10,000 miles a year on my old car, if that. I had put 10,000 miles on my old car from Feb - June of this year before I got my new car.) It all depends on usage.

At any rate, I bought my Saturn with the intention of driving it into the ground. If you do 60,000 in 2 years or 20 years, I'm sure you'll be okay either way.
Stephanie
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#9 Posted on 13.8.02 2334.49
Reposted on: 13.8.09 2339.11

    Originally posted by Guru Zim
    You just want to brag about your Delorean.


Look, if he can manage to keep an twenty-year-old out-of-production car running without any dealer network or reliable source of parts, I'd say he's allowed to brag about it.

Go ahead, DMC.

Steph
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#10 Posted on 14.8.02 0017.30
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0024.09

    Originally posted by drjayphd
    Okay, I'm going to pick up my new (used) car tomorrow. It's a 1998 Saturn SL1, only 35,000 miles. As you can probably guess from the low mileage, it was probably a church-mobile... it doesn't have power windows and the stereo is just a radio, but the car itself is in impeccable condition. We're paying about $8000 for it... is that a reasonable price for it? This is in central CT, by the way.



according to kelly blue book kbb.com Click Here the car is worth about $6,055
drjayphd
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#11 Posted on 14.8.02 0041.39
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0054.54
Yeah, I checked there. And we paid cash... one of our old cars (a 1994 Grand Cherokee) got totalled. No one was injured, but the car was needless to say, unusable. We ended up getting about $6000 for it, thanks to the fact that we just bought a new engine a month before. -_- Oh, and thanks for the feedback... I asked about a couple of potential cars a couple of weeks ago on the mothership, if you weeeeeeell... Acmlm's boards (which is where these came from), and they responded with useless crap like "dude i wish i could get those mods on my go-kart" or "i want a truck that runs on diesel". Ah well, that's the difference between the two: that board's used by kids, and here, the users have kids.
Guru Zim
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#12 Posted on 14.8.02 0107.36
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0116.45
Hey, only the original PHP came from there. Trust me, we've done a ton of work to make them work how we want them to.

Fer'instance... ACMLM doesn't have a Weiner of the day, now does he? Heh.

I did get a copy of the 1.8 ACMLM board at one point, and his code is much better in the newer version. Too bad we've developed some of the same stuff as he did, but in a different manner. Our db backend is very inconsistent from his.

Oh well, the only feature I really want from the 1.8 is the calendar. I'll just have to build my own.

(and..and... we had an EZ board before we used this code. So feh. )
chazerizer
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#13 Posted on 14.8.02 0817.34
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0818.16

    Originally posted by Stephanie

      Originally posted by Guru Zim
      You just want to brag about your Delorean.


    Look, if he can manage to keep an twenty-year-old out-of-production car running without any dealer network or reliable source of parts, I'd say he's allowed to brag about it.

    Go ahead, DMC.

    Steph



Not to mention, the car just really kicks ass.
Torchslasher
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#14 Posted on 14.8.02 0856.44
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0858.44
Man, this is good timing on this thread. I am in the tedious process of trying to find a good car for 10K or under (this is the first time for me having to find and buy a car on my own). I went to a Honda dealer last night, and he told me that they don't have any cars under 11,000, so I was sh-- out of luck.

After reading this thread, I will have to try the Saturn dealership. I really don't have a preference on what car I get, as the most important aspects are money and dependability (I have to drive one hour and back from work every day). I thought about leasing, but I heard that there are usually restrictions on mileage (which I would obviously exceed because of my commute). If I could get a nice Saturn from 3-5 years ago for under 10K, that would be great. Hell, I just want to find a good dealer who won't BS me.

Man, you would think that at 26, I wouldn't get this nervous about anything, but all I have is anxiety about this car hunt.
jfkfc
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#15 Posted on 14.8.02 0915.43
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0915.44
Speaking of Saturns, anyone know anyone or heard anyone talk about the Saturn VUE? My wife wants one, and well....um....yes dear.
Jubuki
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#16 Posted on 14.8.02 0930.09
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0931.37
I think you may want to take a look at the Ford Escape before settling on the Vue. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Escape was rated best SUV under $25K. I don't know how much under it is compared to the Vue, but it's always worth the time and effort to find the right car.
Parts Unknown
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#17 Posted on 14.8.02 0942.32
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0959.06

    Originally posted by drjayphd

    ...and the stereo is just a radio...



You're gonna have to correct that, my brother.
jfkfc
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#18 Posted on 14.8.02 0954.52
Reposted on: 14.8.09 0959.18

    Originally posted by Jubuki
    it's always worth the time and effort to find the right car.


You are wise beyond comprehension, and your sagely advice is most appreciated, grasshopper.

DMC
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#19 Posted on 14.8.02 1134.48
Reposted on: 14.8.09 1154.17
"Look, if he can manage to keep an twenty-year-old out-of-production car running without any dealer network or reliable source of parts, I'd say he's allowed to brag about it."

Thanks Steph, but I don't brag. Actually there are somewhat reliable sources of parts for them (delorean.com, pjgrady.com, etc.); I've only had one bad part so far from the main D vendors out there, and they replaced it without an issue. Unfortunately I'm saying this now as I'm having my water pump replaced, so my fingers are still crossed. (And I'm hoping my shop doesn't make me bend over on the labor or on extra parts.)

DMC (hopefully)
bubblesthechimp
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#20 Posted on 14.8.02 1241.40
Reposted on: 14.8.09 1244.21

    Originally posted by Jubuki
    Who puts 125,000 miles on a car in 4 years, though, short of living in the thing?


I've put 35,000 miles on my car and have only had it for 9 months, I usually put on about 3000 miles a month.0 Im just 5000 miles from 200,000! Car still runs perfect. (Knocks on wood)
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