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It's tough...

October 4th, 2009 at 04:37 pm

We've been saving, plus we will have a snowball come this month to purchase DH a new to him car. We've been without a second car for a year now, and it's been tough on all of us. I am so ready to not have to drop everything and run when he's ready to be picked up (he doesn't work regular hours). I will have less stress, more time with the kids, more time for myself... and less stress (oops, already said that).

So the tough part! What to get? Our max is $4500. I am sure we can get something - but I also don't want to spend an arm & a leg over the next year fixing things.

Also, anyone have any tips for buying used cars? We refuse to go with a dealer - don't want to pay docking fees and such. We've always bought new... Not sure what to do!

TIA!
JJ

Posted in | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “It's tough...”

  1. monkeymama Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 06:23 pm 1254680601
    1254680601

    Good Luck!

    Here's some tip for used cars:

    Text is http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/2007/04/20/how-to-buy-a-used-car-_25096/ and Link is
    http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/2007/04/20/how-to-buy-a-u...
    I'd go for an old model with little miles. A granny car so to speak. (My "granny car" was a Mustang convertible for about $5k - as you will read).

    One thing to add. Be careful out there. When I sold my Mustang the buyer told me they would bring a cashier check, I believe. I don't remember him telling me he would pay cash and was shocked when he handed me $3k cash. Made me nervous. I was just thinking about it the other day since there have been a lot of Craigslist robbings in this economy. He probably never would have told me he was going to show up with cash - SMART! Of course, I'd do a cashier's check.

    I'd give some ideas of cars if I knew what he was looking for.

    I wouldn't buy a $5k car from a dealer, for sure.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 07:25 pm 1254684355
    1254684355

    Yes, I agree on a granny car too!

  3. LuxLiving Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 07:47 pm 1254685646
    1254685646

    How far is the commute? This is to be a daily driver for him?

    We love our little Dodge Neon. Hubster used to drive it into the metro area daily for about an 18 minute drive - Filled up once a week for around $25-30. We've not had any repairs needed on it either.

    On the Granny cars - CashHappySon got a great deal on one with very low miles for around $1800. Not so racy, but cheap. Gas was high though.

  4. Stephanie Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 10:27 pm 1254695243
    1254695243

    A nissan sentra, honda civic, or mazda 3 are fantastic cars which you should be able to pick up in good condition for that price.

  5. sweetmama Says:
    October 8th, 2009 at 04:47 am 1254977244
    1254977244

    My parents have two Mitsubishis. No repairs, just regular maintainice. Very regular Big Grin (My parents are sticklers for routine care.) Anyhow, their Mirage has like 285,000+ miles. Their Eclipse is newer and has much less miles, but no problems for either.
    I have a Nissan, I love, love, love. A family friend's Nissan "lived" for over 470,000 miles without routine care and 3 teenage girls!
    Good Luck!

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