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Good $5000 used car?

Old 07-19-13, 10:03 AM
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Default Good $5000 used car?

I am planning to get a used car to get around town and occasional freeway use (short commute). As long as it has airbags and ABS, I would consider any year or model sedan or coupe.. etc Easy to maintain and reliable.. don't want EGR engine light / smog troubles.

I would very much prefer a Japanese car.
I'm overwhelmed by craigslist so please list some models
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Old 07-19-13, 10:10 AM
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Toyota Camry or Corolla

Honda Accord or Civic
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Old 07-19-13, 10:24 AM
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bruce van
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Can't go wrong with an Accord. Wife had 150K on her 2003 with zero issues when we passed it along to a family member.

If anything, go with a very basic model so you don't have to worry about gadgets and electronics that will go bad.

Drive it for a couple of years and you can probably sell it for not much less than what you paid for it.
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Old 07-19-13, 10:28 AM
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Mazda3
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Old 07-19-13, 11:55 AM
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Lexus ES300, Toyota Camry/Corrola, Honda Accord/Civic... All bullet proofs, reliable, etc.
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Old 07-19-13, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Megafast13
Lexus ES300, Toyota Camry/Corrola, Honda Accord/Civic... All bullet proofs, reliable, etc.
Love the ES300 suggestion.
What about Infiniti i30? They look like a sleeper and seems cheaper than ES300s
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Old 07-19-13, 12:50 PM
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Originally Posted by bruce van

If anything, go with a very basic model so you don't have to worry about gadgets and electronics that will go bad.
i disagree with this. that's the beauty of Japanese cars - the electronics are bulletproof.

i say get all the features you want - don't scrimp. scrimping leads to regret. get exactly what you want and drive it into the ground.

personally, i would never buy a car without built-in Navigation.

Last edited by Gekko; 07-19-13 at 01:05 PM.
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Old 07-19-13, 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Hoovey2411
Mazda3
That might be a good choice in cali, but in Canada you'll want to avoid Mazda 3s like plague haha.
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Old 07-19-13, 01:38 PM
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I love my civic hatchback. Its fun, gets good mpg and can hold a lot of stuff!
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Old 07-19-13, 02:10 PM
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GS Lexus 98-05
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Old 07-19-13, 06:17 PM
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i dont know if $5000 is going to buy much of a very reliable car?
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Old 07-19-13, 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Gekko
i disagree with this. that's the beauty of Japanese cars - the electronics are bulletproof.

i say get all the features you want - don't scrimp. scrimping leads to regret. get exactly what you want and drive it into the ground.

personally, i would never buy a car without built-in Navigation.
$5000 budget and built in navigation

Originally Posted by jimbosr1
i dont know if $5000 is going to buy much of a very reliable car?
This. You are going to look at A LOT of crap before you find something decent. Most anything with low miles will be beat to *****. Then you'll find the cars with 200k+, one owner, very well maintained and clean.

Generally speaking your best bang for the buck at that price point isn't a Honda or Toyota since they hold the value so well. If you want an import go look at a Nissan(pre CVT models), Suburu, or Mazda, avoid Mitsubishi like the plauge.

Another option is to buy grandma's last ride. Avoid Cadillacs with the Northstar V8, very problematic cars. Any Buick with the 3.8 v6 is a good bet, Grand Marquis(Grandma's Keys lol) and Crown Vics are good cars, gas mileage is crap(about 15 in town, 25 on the highway).

Reason I vote grandma's last ride is you can generally find very clean cars in that 10-20 year old range that have been very well maintained with less than 75k miles on them for that price. Looking at Hondas and Toyotas, etc for $5000 you are going to find clapped out junk owned by college students.

You can also find some clean Benz, BMW, and Audi's for that price. Just make sure you have another $5,000 socked away exclusively for repairs for the next 2-3 years.

Last edited by Aron9000; 07-19-13 at 06:39 PM.
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Old 07-19-13, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by TI II
GS Lexus 98-05
best suggestion.

/closethread

hahaha
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Old 07-19-13, 07:22 PM
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For my intended use it is around 3000-4000 a year for now
I think $5000 can buy a car that I'm not going to run into too much problems because I am not going to add 100k to it.. I am able to do some repairs myself

I disagree with the mitsubishi comment..
They don't have resale but they are usually easy to repair
That said many are beat to hell

That said I'm thinking about a 2000 crv. 1st gen
What do you think of them? I think they have abs.?
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Old 07-19-13, 07:43 PM
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02 RSX,,,they are cheap & reliable,
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