Buying a used car

[Salil]

Hello Friends,
I have a generic question about buying used cars in USA. My budget is $3500 and I would like to buy a used car. I would like to buy a used Honda Civic, Nissan Ultima or Toyota Corolla. I would like to go interstate and travel long distances, for eg. make 1500 mile roundtrips on a used car. My friends have told me that if I go for a car that has above 100,000 miles then it would be risky to put a lot of miles more on it and it is just good for short distance trips. Else I have been adviced it would lead to expensive maintenance and the car might even break down in the middle of the highway. So do you think I would get a car that can make long distance trips for my budget? What should be the mileage of such a car?

[harrymay]

look around for 3500 you can get a decent reliable import for that. if its a civic or a corolla, thos will be fine. ive seen many still running with minor maitenance for over 200k. i would recommend getting a 5spd once since you are planning on putting heft miles on it, it will be less expensive to maintain and will last longer.

shop around and find the best one with the lowest miles and do a carfax/autocheck on it before you buy.

[Salil]

Originally Posted by harrymay

look around for 3500 you can get a decent reliable import for that. if its a civic or a corolla, thos will be fine. ive seen many still running with minor maitenance for over 200k. i would recommend getting a 5spd once since you are planning on putting heft miles on it, it will be less expensive to maintain and will last longer.

shop around and find the best one with the lowest miles and do a carfax/autocheck on it before you buy.

Hello Friend,
What is a 5 spd? Are you talking about manual transmission? I guess I will be buying an automatic transmission one? Also till what price can I fall down to if I would like to drive at least 1000km in one trip? Can I go down to $2500 also?

[harrymay]

yes 5spd is a manual. if you do go with an autmoatic, try and find one that they had rebuilt not too long ago.

you could drop down to 2500, but the best bet is to look around. find a couple of cars that you would like and ask us about those.

that will help you out more than a generic question

[SuperHighOutput]

I'd look at Civics, Corollas, Sentras, Altimas, Proteges, etc. Keep up with the maintainence and you should be alright.