“Buy used and pay the cash you can afford.”
And do what I’m doing today, fixing a 19 year old
FORD.
A case of beer and a few dollars in parts is far better than $1000 per month for 5 years.
A whole case? I’ll make a note not to buy a used car from you..LOL.
Hubby drives a 2008 Toyota Corolla with just under 200,000 miles. We hope to keep it a while longer, at least until our 2018 Murano is paid off. Our mechanic said he’d buy it off us, whenever we’re ready.
My wife’s 13 Nissan Murano has 227K miles on it and I have put about a thousand into it over the last year to keep it going. But it’s the little things that are starting to add up. Busted front axle, axle seal leaking, new tires, new battery, got a code for a bad PVC replaced, replaced plugs, got a miniscule oil leak we can’t find. She got in a month or so ago and it chugged all the way to her work and then ran fine. We can smell whiffs of how oil smells on a hot engine. Two different shops failed to find it. It needs rear shocks and my wife opened the drivers door after church and the door handle broke—second handle in this case.
I would love to drive it another 80K miles but it seems things are starting to cascade on it. It’s in the shop every other week for something the last two months. Found her a 21 Nissan Kicks with 30K on it and credit union will give her 6% so payments would be about $300 and she says she can live with that. Will so how the negotiations go with the dealer.
Replaced a front CV boot on my 05 Trailblazer over the weekend. Used a split boot.
Zip ties serve me well with that vehicle. But the 4.2L/250, transmission, drive train, brakes and 3” steel box frame are very reliable. Other than 13mpg it is an inexpensive vehicle and easy to work on.
I use AT-205 on the CV and other boots to preserve them. Don’t want to do another CV boot.