Quote:
Originally Posted by wpbharry
Both prices seem WAY too high. Back in Sept. '17, I traded in my '04 Malibu Maxx LS with only 40K miles and the most any dealer would give me was $1000. Probably sold it for $4000, but that's because of the very low mileage. I think you're asking for trouble with either of these old vehicles. At least buy through a dealer and get some kind of warranty. I had a '98 Malibu LS (you're calling it a Classic, but Malibu Classics were only for the '04 model year, earlier ones were plain Malibus) and it was nothing but trouble (even with a V6). GMs dark days seemed to clear by '03-'04.
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Well I went and drove the Malibu yesterday. It has a few issues, oil leak among them, so I'm taking that one off the table. But as for the price of the Mercury goes, that's about as good a car as they come for $2500 on the open market. I mean I've been watching the local classifieds for a while, and they do come up, so it's not like it's a once in a lifetime deal, but it's pretty normal for what I've seen. And you can't compare what a dealership will pay you for a trade-in with used car prices in the local classifieds.
I mean I'm not happy that I've got a cap of $3000 for my budget either, but that's the way it is. Just trying to find the best thing I can for under that. Most of the cars I've seen under this price range from dealerships are utter crap with super high miles. There are some decent cars on the private market for this price if I just keep watching. Just takes some time to find them.
I'd love a warranty, but in reality, when you're spending $2500 on a used car, it's a bit of a gamble.
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to pass on this Malibu. I'm gong to go check out the Mercury again today, but I'm not sure I want to deal with the dreaded rear suspension sag on those either, so I may pass on that as well, but we'll see. Either way, I have my price tag, and I have to live with it, and find the best I can.