I need a used car...$6,000 Max
08-30-16, 08:29 AM
#46
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
This I've never understood. Yes the car is for work, but he's not buying a work truck, he's buying a car to commute in long distances and spend a lot of time in...so why would one assume a subpar interior shouldn't be a big deal? The comfort and quality of the interior should be one of the main points of consideration.
I've also never understood paying a lot of money for a nice car, and then buying some horrible cheap little economy car as a "commuter car". You spend most of your time commuting...and you spend your hard earned money on a nice car only to use a different, not nice car as the car you spend most of your time in...
If you can drive the Ram, and you enjoy driving the Ram, and its not a hardship for you to pay the costs of driving the Ram on your commute...I'd just drive the Ram.
I've also never understood paying a lot of money for a nice car, and then buying some horrible cheap little economy car as a "commuter car". You spend most of your time commuting...and you spend your hard earned money on a nice car only to use a different, not nice car as the car you spend most of your time in...
If you can drive the Ram, and you enjoy driving the Ram, and its not a hardship for you to pay the costs of driving the Ram on your commute...I'd just drive the Ram.
I will not be trading in this ram, I will sell it outright when I am ready to buy another one. But the idea behind buying it was that it would last me 10 years/250k miles. At this rate, I will have 250k miles in 4.5 years of ownership. While I don't have to worry about being upside down on it, I wonder how many people will want a 5 year old half-ton truck with 250k? I may be stuck trading it in and taking the hit.
this. 
i lol when people talk about keeping the 'nice car' tucked away and having their 'daily' or 'beater' in which they spend most of their time driving. i also don't believe in the end between the beater cost, more insurance, more maintenance, etc., that you end up saving much if anything over just having one nice vehicle and having more depreciation on it.
i lol when people talk about keeping the 'nice car' tucked away and having their 'daily' or 'beater' in which they spend most of their time driving. i also don't believe in the end between the beater cost, more insurance, more maintenance, etc., that you end up saving much if anything over just having one nice vehicle and having more depreciation on it.-Trans Fluid Change=$1200-$1700 (depending on how/where its done)
-Differential Service x2=$500 total
-Transfer Case Service=$250
-Spark Plugs x16 (2 plugs per cylinder x8) every 30k miles=$700
-oil changes are $120 each, and I do them every 10,000 miles per the manual.
-Tires=$1200 a year (give or take).
But what is the point of keeping a nice car if you aren't going to drive it? Its meant to be driven. Its meant to be used and enjoyed. Why spend the money on it if it just sits in a garage?
In any event the winter has nothing to do with the OP's situation, he lives in TX. His concern is mileage not damage from winter weather.
In any event the winter has nothing to do with the OP's situation, he lives in TX. His concern is mileage not damage from winter weather.
Okay, thanks for your opinion.
Let me ask you, what are you comparing this to? It's a nice ride/quality compared to what? An LS400?
I remember back when they came out my friend picked up a brand new G35 coupe, fully optioned, 6spd with oem brembos. Even brand new it was a pretty **** poor excuse of an interior in terms of quality, materials, and overall feel and ride comfort. I get to drive G35 sedan almost on a daily basis (coworker car) that has 160k on the clock and even though the car is well maintained and adult driven, the interior has not aged well at all. It feels like a plastic container from the moment you shut the door. I could not own something like that. Some goes with every other Nissan product I have been in recently, from Altima to the several GTR's I've been in. Same thing every time.
If the OP is going to be putting alot of miles on the vehicle, that means he is spending a considerable amount of time in that car. You want/need it to be comfortable and well built. I would suggest an LS430 as that imo is the epitome of a Luxury sedan that you can still own with high mileage without worrying to lose your *** on maintenance costs or run into reliability issues, but that is out of his price range, so an LS400 is honestly the next best thing. I love the ride in my GS430 but it pales in comparison to the LS. Lexus really seemed to put all their $$ and R&D into the LS430 and it shows.
Let me ask you, what are you comparing this to? It's a nice ride/quality compared to what? An LS400?
I remember back when they came out my friend picked up a brand new G35 coupe, fully optioned, 6spd with oem brembos. Even brand new it was a pretty **** poor excuse of an interior in terms of quality, materials, and overall feel and ride comfort. I get to drive G35 sedan almost on a daily basis (coworker car) that has 160k on the clock and even though the car is well maintained and adult driven, the interior has not aged well at all. It feels like a plastic container from the moment you shut the door. I could not own something like that. Some goes with every other Nissan product I have been in recently, from Altima to the several GTR's I've been in. Same thing every time.
If the OP is going to be putting alot of miles on the vehicle, that means he is spending a considerable amount of time in that car. You want/need it to be comfortable and well built. I would suggest an LS430 as that imo is the epitome of a Luxury sedan that you can still own with high mileage without worrying to lose your *** on maintenance costs or run into reliability issues, but that is out of his price range, so an LS400 is honestly the next best thing. I love the ride in my GS430 but it pales in comparison to the LS. Lexus really seemed to put all their $$ and R&D into the LS430 and it shows.
08-30-16, 08:43 AM
#47
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
let's face it, $6k ain't gonna buy anything nice. someone i know bought an '07 civic coupe (about 80k mi. i believe) for $7K recently. it drives fine and will no doubt be reliable, but it's still a cheap old car.
08-30-16, 08:46 AM
#48
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
I agree, but here are the maintenance costs I am looking at...they are substantial:
-Trans Fluid Change=$1200-$1700 (depending on how/where its done)
-Differential Service x2=$500 total
-Transfer Case Service=$250
-Spark Plugs x16 (2 plugs per cylinder x8) every 30k miles=$700
-oil changes are $120 each, and I do them every 10,000 miles per the manual.
-Tires=$1200 a year (give or take).
-Trans Fluid Change=$1200-$1700 (depending on how/where its done)
-Differential Service x2=$500 total
-Transfer Case Service=$250
-Spark Plugs x16 (2 plugs per cylinder x8) every 30k miles=$700
-oil changes are $120 each, and I do them every 10,000 miles per the manual.
-Tires=$1200 a year (give or take).
if you do the oil change yourself, i can't imagine it costs $120!
as for the sum of above costs, well, the car you're looking for will be max $6k with no doubt some of those costs (cheaper tires though for sure), so maybe $1k a year say. i think it will still likely cost you more to have another vehicle than just drive the snot out of the truck.
08-30-16, 10:56 AM
#49
Lexus Fanatic
I would just drive your truck. You're in business for yourself no? Better yet, I would sell your truck now and get a brand new one to get the accelerated depreciation and write the whole thing off of your taxes this year, then you'll start from new.
08-30-16, 11:29 AM
#50
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
can't imagine you really have to change the plugs every 30K mi.? i changed the plugs on my v8 explorer once at 100k.
if you do the oil change yourself, i can't imagine it costs $120!
as for the sum of above costs, well, the car you're looking for will be max $6k with no doubt some of those costs (cheaper tires though for sure), so maybe $1k a year say. i think it will still likely cost you more to have another vehicle than just drive the snot out of the truck.
if you do the oil change yourself, i can't imagine it costs $120!
as for the sum of above costs, well, the car you're looking for will be max $6k with no doubt some of those costs (cheaper tires though for sure), so maybe $1k a year say. i think it will still likely cost you more to have another vehicle than just drive the snot out of the truck.
The spark plugs went from every 30k in 2014 to every 100k (per the manual) in 2015. Phew. I figured it was the same as my 2011 and just never bothered to look, since it is the same exact engine. But, through the model years, Ram has learned a thing or 2.
I will crunch the rest of the numbers and see how it looks. Meantime, I am going today to test drive a couple of cars, one of which is a beautiful 1998 LS400. I will report back.
09-01-16, 08:12 AM
#51
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
LS400 had 240k. It was a beautiful car, but the transmission was not shifting correctly and it had a leaking power steering pump. Par for the course with the power steering pump. But the trans fluid was dirty, and smelled burnt, indicating I should run away.
09-01-16, 03:23 PM
#52
If the OP would up his budget by about 2-3k he can get a REALLY NICE 01-06 ish LS430. There was a 2001 LS430 for sale on this forum with 55k miles in SC, one owner, southern car, not a ding on it, perfect paint, white leather interior looked brand new, always dealer serviced, always garaged, $10,500
09-04-16, 10:48 PM
#53
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
So we have narrowed it down after spending a few days driving Various cars.
96-2003 Lexus LS
99-04 Lexus ES
99-05 Avalon XLE
I am leaning heavily toward the ES330, but I will be taking my time, looking for one with low miles. Either that or the LS. The avalon will be a contender if I can find one thats not ghettofied.
96-2003 Lexus LS
99-04 Lexus ES
99-05 Avalon XLE
I am leaning heavily toward the ES330, but I will be taking my time, looking for one with low miles. Either that or the LS. The avalon will be a contender if I can find one thats not ghettofied.
09-05-16, 06:02 AM
#54
Lexus Fanatic
So we have narrowed it down after spending a few days driving Various cars.
96-2003 Lexus LS
99-04 Lexus ES
99-05 Avalon XLE
I am leaning heavily toward the ES330, but I will be taking my time, looking for one with low miles. Either that or the LS. The avalon will be a contender if I can find one thats not ghettofied.
96-2003 Lexus LS
99-04 Lexus ES
99-05 Avalon XLE
I am leaning heavily toward the ES330, but I will be taking my time, looking for one with low miles. Either that or the LS. The avalon will be a contender if I can find one thats not ghettofied.
09-05-16, 05:50 PM
#55
Lexus Fanatic
Mike is spot on. The biggest flaw in my 03 ES was the throttle response and the computers choice in gearing. Significantly annoying, something to think about. Otherwise a great car, mines still in the family and runs great at 186,000 miles.
09-06-16, 08:57 AM
#57
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by ArmyofOne
Steve, is your ES for sale? I will fly there to buy it and put cash in your hand.
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