Looking for a beater car (Buick vs. Ford)

[JustinC7]

I've been looking for a secondary car for the past 3 weeks in my area and I have found these two to be the best available deals for the price/miles/condition.

Pick 1: 1997 Buick Century (Custom), 107k miles in excellent condition.

Pick 2: 2000 Ford Taurus (SES) 71k miles in good condition.

Edmunds.com ranks both of these cars as being very reliable for their respective model years. I understand a common issue with late 90's GM though is the intake gasket leaking. And I've known several people who had this problem with various GM vehicles built at the time.
As for the Taurus; I have heard about the ABS motor failing and the front suspension being an occasional issue.


I personally am leaning toward the Taurus having lesser miles and a longer probable lifespan ahead of it.

And I'm not looking for any compact cars, they must mid size cars and up. And I'm not buying some import with 250,000 miles on it because a car with 250,000 miles on it is still a car with 250,000 miles on it regardless of value.

[akboss]

Originally Posted by JustinC7

I've been looking for a secondary car for the past 3 weeks in my area and I have found these two to be the best available deals for the price/miles/condition.

Pick 1: 1997 Buick Century (Custom), 107k miles in excellent condition.

Pick 2: 2000 Ford Taurus (SES) 71k miles in good condition.

Edmunds.com ranks both of these cars as being very reliable for their respective model years. I understand a common issue with late 90's GM though is the intake gasket leaking. And I've known several people who had this problem with various GM vehicles built at the time.
As for the Taurus; I have heard about the ABS motor failing and the front suspension being an occasional issue.


I personally am leaning toward the Taurus having lesser miles and a longer probable lifespan ahead of it.

And I'm not looking for any compact cars, they must mid size cars and up. And I'm not buying some import with 250,000 miles on it because a car with 250,000 miles on it is still a car with 250,000 miles on it regardless of value.

Hey welcome to the forum.

I'd say the Ford is also a good choice. You say you have seen the condition of the vehicles - if you are trying to keep your price as low as possible, going to see the car and personally analyzing the condition will be the best bet as to how the car has been treated and how long it will last. But of course, take it to a mechanic before you put money down - it may cost you $100, but as with any investment, the security of knowing it's legitimate and having peace of mind is worth every penny.

Ford sold tens of thousands of Taurus cars as fleet vehicles, so have a look at the history as well - see if it was a rental or a service vehicle, sometimes even with few miles they can be 'hard miles'. I haven't heard anything specifically bad about the Taurus, although it was best described as being 'adequate transportation', which seems to be what you're looking for. I have heard good things about the GM 3800-series motors, so if you're still open to looking and want to keep it domestic, you could try the Chevy Impala, which I think gets better marks than the Taurus in most situations, especially in LS form with the more aggressive touring suspension setup...please note, 'aggressive' is used loosely here - it's an Impala...

[MagicRat]

IMO go for the Buick. You imply it is in better condition.

Those Buicks have a very good reputation for reliability. Their design and engineering is as simple and straightforward as things got in the late '90's.
They are reliable, durable, comfortable and (as '90's cars go) easier and cheaper to fix and maintain than average.

There is nothing much wrong with the Taurus. It may handle a bit better and have better seats. But I would get the Buick for comfort and reliability.

['97ventureowner]

Either one is a good choice, although being a GM person i prefer the Buick. The Taurus was used by rental fleets , and they tend to go with reliable easy too repair vehicles and I've seen companies choose the Century as their choice for fleet vehicles as well.
I remember awhile back www.rockauto.com debuted a new feature that allowed their customers to compare the cost of replacement parts between 2 different vehicles. You could enter the 2 vehicle names and it would present a list of commonly replaced items and what their costs were. That is a useful tool,especially in situations like this to help determine which vehicle may cost less in the long run to operate and repair.