Car suggestion for parents

[Fenixgoon]

older lexus ES/LS?

 

[NutBucket]

CT is pretty small inside. Nice otherwise.

 

[evident]

CT is pretty small inside. Nice otherwise.

I would say it's comparable to the older 96 camry in size (maybe a smidge smaller). It's only the 2 of them driving now. Honestly the Lexus ES is huge. My mom drives an 05 accord and it's a little bit bigger than that.

ny 2012+ Mazda 3 with skyactiv is $14K+, and I'm not going to consider any other mazda 3 besides the ones w/ the skyactiv engine. there are 2 other CT's i'm looking at in the same price range. used market is nuts.

 

[Knavish]

CT is pretty small inside. Nice otherwise.

just in case you don't know (for the O.P.)
CT200h = Prius
And
ES350 = Avalon

 

[evident]

just in case you don't know (for the O.P.)
CT200h = Prius
And
ES350 = Avalon

I think the 07 ES is still based on the Camry and not the avalon yet.

a comparable 2011 prius is almost the same price as the CT. might as well swing for the lexus with the nicer interior, better ride and sound deadening.

 

[evident]

looks like my dad is going to spend "$300 on an engine and $300" on labor from a buddy at work who has a friend that owns a shop. could an engine swap really be this cheap or is he going to take my dad for a ride? hes pushing back as much as possible against my mom and me on just buying another car.

cheapest price for a 5S-FE 4cyl in a philly junk yard runs $600.

 

[NutBucket]

That sounds dirt cheap. The swap should take a competent mechanic less than a day but even so.

 

[evident]

That sounds dirt cheap. The swap should take a competent mechanic less than a day but even so.

sounds way too good to be true, right? he convinced me to let him go to the junk yard with his buddy and his truck, and he promised me if he can't find an engine under $300 he'll let me buy him another beater. problem is with <$4K beaters you never know what you're gonna get...

he's so old school... my mom just wants a new car

 

[NutBucket]

LOL. I'm actually rather surprised my dad buys a new car every decade or so. Being as frugal as he is there isn't anything wrong with the cars he gets rid of. He claims its because he doesn't want to deal with any problems but I think he just doesn't want to admit he likes new cars

 

[evident]

LOL. I'm actually rather surprised my dad buys a new car every decade or so. Being as frugal as he is there isn't anything wrong with the cars he gets rid of. He claims its because he doesn't want to deal with any problems but I think he just doesn't want to admit he likes new cars

my parents only had 4 cars since 1988. a 1988 Nissan Stanza, 1990 plymouth voyager, 1996 camry, and a 2005 honda accord. before then they had a 78 maverick, and an 80's grenada... those were the cars they had when i was born... hahah

I found a 2004 TSX for $4K private sale that i'm going to check out and will be ready to buy for him, in case if his expedition fails miserably. it should be similar enough to the accord that he'll be less resistant to...

 

[evident]

wow, 2 for 2 with curbstoners...

 

[evident]

curbstoners are the worst. I think i'm done with craigslist. they act like they own the car and when you see them, they whip out a fucking dealer plate and act like oh, no biggie. these people are so shady.


I've narrowed my search down to a dealer serviced 08 TSX for $7500, w/ 150K miles. if i can get them to lower the price i'm done. my dad ignored my mom and my suggestions and went ahead and tried to fix the camry. got an engine for $250 and had his buddy do an engine swap. no idea what they did but it didn't work and he's pissed off. I think he's about $600 in on that front.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Rx350

 

[tcG]

curbstoners are the worst. I think i'm done with craigslist. they act like they own the car and when you see them, they whip out a fucking dealer plate and act like oh, no biggie. these people are so shady.

A tip for spotting dealers on Craigslist is when you call them on the phone, say "Hi, I'm calling about the car you have for sale." Their response will let you know whether they are a dealer or not, since a dealer will have to ask which car you mean.

I also find that curbstoner ads often have a distinctive look/feel to them. Ads posted multiple times, no history information, scant details, salvage title cars, all caps are warning signs.

 

[thesmokingman]

curbstoners are the worst. I think i'm done with craigslist. they act like they own the car and when you see them, they whip out a fucking dealer plate and act like oh, no biggie. these people are so shady.


I've narrowed my search down to a dealer serviced 08 TSX for $7500, w/ 150K miles. if i can get them to lower the price i'm done. my dad ignored my mom and my suggestions and went ahead and tried to fix the camry. got an engine for $250 and had his buddy do an engine swap. no idea what they did but it didn't work and he's pissed off. I think he's about $600 in on that front.

lol, lesson learned. Are they back east? If so, maybe look at a late model Impreza with low miles. It's got awd which is great for those nasty winters.

 

[evident]

A tip for spotting dealers on Craigslist is when you call them on the phone, say "Hi, I'm calling about the car you have for sale." Their response will let you know whether they are a dealer or not, since a dealer will have to ask which car you mean.

I also find that curbstoner ads often have a distinctive look/feel to them. Ads posted multiple times, no history information, scant details, salvage title cars, all caps are warning signs.

I should have known when i texted the person and said "I was interested in his Acura". 5 minutes before meeting he asked me to clarify his TL type S, or his TSX. i should have just turned around and drove home at that point

lol, lesson learned. Are they back east? If so, maybe look at a late model Impreza with low miles. It's got awd which is great for those nasty winters.

Yep. the cheapest subaru I could find was a 2006 legacy wagon w/ 86K miles for $10K. a little more than what they want to pay ( i know i keep saying this, but they keep moving the price down on me, lol)

 

[thesmokingman]

Oh, 06-07 was probably the best looking Subaru shape of the last decade. They are pretty bullerproof too, the NA motor that is. We had a 07 Legacy LTD turbo wagon. Traded it in for a Tribeca because we needed the third row. Subies last forever btw, so much more durable than a Toyo or Honda.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Oh, 06-07 was probably the best looking Subaru shape ever. They are pretty bullerproof too, the NA motor that is. We had a 07 Legacy LTD turbo wagon. Traded it in for a Tribeca because we needed the third row. Subies last forever btw, so much more durable than a Toyo or Honda.

My understanding is that head gaskets tend to have problems around 200-300K with the 2.5L. If they redline it all the time, it will likely have trouble sooner.

Im up to 112K on the N/A 2.5 (in the 08 forester), and its been a solid car, much more so than my previous cars.

If they have dropped their budget down below 10K and they dont want to fix anything, then look at stuff like Kia Soul .. or some other ugly tiny slow car .. you can get reasonably newish car with decent fuel economy ... fits the wallet good and the folks will feel like they got a deal on a "newish" car.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Toyota Camry Hybrid. Perfect City driver. Basically a sofa on wheels with really good fuel economy.

Otherwise a regular Camry or ES350 would be great choices too.