Okay. I've HAD ENOUGH.

[nomad666666]

Here is the top four 1998 alternators for honda, nissian, subaru, and toyota from napa all Bosch remans.

honda-179.00
nissian-209.00
subaru-189.00
toyota-209.00

I would stick with the car you have. You know where it's been and whats been done to it since you have owned it. A 2k dollar cars might need as much or more work then the one you have.

[Okin DaVanh]

Alternator. Get a new one and your problem will go away (minus the catalytic converter). Unless you've got the cash for a newer car, don't junk it when the repair is simply equal to a couple of months car payments. A new car does NOT mean it won't break down.

This is true. I had to pick up and or repair some new cars. Ranged from your everyday Jeep Grand Cherokee with 2300 miles and the motor blew, to your high end Porsche with an electrical issue. However, Yes they were covered by warranties where the company fought them tooth and nail not to pay for the entire repair. Isolated cases: maybe, but I hear ya when it comes to frustration with breakdowns and things not working right. Just when you fix something, you remember a host of other issues. Time can be a huge factor, as many of us need a car now.

I've pondered hitting the showroom floor and trading it all in for something "New". I work fulltime, starting at 4am and finishing up in around 430-5p, only to head to my friends shop to work on my car til 7-730p. Head home, shower, eat, get things squared away with family only to go to sleep and do it all over again. Friday nights and Weekends I can usually be found there or at my family's house working on 1 of my cars. I'd like to have my life back too

However, whenever I did get down to it, I walked away. I would usually look at a used car I wanted and thought if I'd like it or need it at the end of the loan term and.... well, let's just say that a lot of salesman were disappointed 'cause I was a hard sell.

There's 2 sides to every story. I say find which 1 will benefit you and your lifestyle more. Owning a house is a long term commitment worth paying for... a car is something you just leave outside.

[ryu_haneda]

Hey guys, thanks for the input. Nothing's written in stone, but I'd say this time, the intent is much, much more serious. I have a little while til I get my corporate bonus (God willing), which should be plenty of time to figure out what I want to do.

I figured I averaged about 300 bucks a month with my current car when I figure monthly payments and how much I spent on parts on average (maybe upwards of 350 a month).

At that kind of consumption, I could pay off a new car in 36 months that was worth $10,800 (or pay off a roughly $14,000 car in 48 months).

It is still very difficult to make up my mind right now (plus I'm at work), so I'll have to sit on this for a few hours and digest. Yes, I like my car a LOT (and my wife knows this too, she kind of likes the dreams I have to trick my car out). On the other hand, she would like us to get dual Foresters to customize, and so would I ('specially since STi parts seem to swap over QUITE nicely, but that's a totally different subject and I'll stop right there).

There's a lot more to this story... I know any dealer would flip to get me to buy a new car right now, as it is a buyer's market. More to come, this topic aint dying anytime soon.

[Huffer]

You also need to factor in repair/maintenance costs of a newer car plus also higher insurance and also murphys law. Did I also mention resale value drops significantly the moment the vehicle is purchased?

And because you know it: http://www.gotquestions.org/money-debt.html

However, very few lenders (dealerships) will have mercy on you if the car becomes a debt you cannot repay due to a loss of income.

[jey]

i the biggest hassle with an axle is the lower ball joint, if you've had it apart before not so much of an issue.

If the ball joint doesn't move just remove the hub from the strut. I had to do that on a friend's car.

However, very few lenders (dealerships) will have mercy on you if the car becomes a debt you cannot repay due to a loss of income.

Unless you buy a Hyundai!!

If you're going to buy a "new" car buy a NEW car. Don't buy a used car or else you'll be making car payments AND fixing the used car.

[ryu_haneda]

This thread is getting more and more interesting post-by-post. I think I'll use this in the February edition of my mag.

Anyways, thanks to everyone as I continue to ponder the situation. Huffer, thanks for the debt reference, brother. Christ has a way of making the important points clear. And thanks to the many people that have posted and continue to do so.

As with things in my life lately, I feel like God has charged me with the task of becoming a man and solving the problems in front of me. As I read your responses some major points become clear:

1. Whatever I choose to do, I am NOT buying a used car. The only kind of loophole to this would be a "new" car that has less than a thousand miles on it that's an "oops, changed my mind" special, but you can squash the temptation of trying to find a good deal like that by understanding proper negotiation techniques for buying new cars.

2. Given the complete lack of job security anymore, buying a new car is risky too - especially considering what a dealer or loan company, bank, etc. is apt to do once discovering I'm out of work. And adjusted insurance rates and such need to be important aspects of figuring out whether or not this will actually be affordable.

3. There is a set amount of money I can afford to pay for a car. This both sucks to know and is a blessing because I know precisely what I'm shooting for (i.e., I tell a car company that "I need to be out the door for X thousand dollars. Can you find out within 15 minutes if you can do that for me?").

4. If I can't buy new, I'm going to call my insurance company and make sure I'm up to date on insurance coverage, what happens in event of accident, theft, and so on. And then I'm going to see about repairing my car piece by piece.

It's late, so I should get some sleep. Thanks again all!

[mrpyb]

good to know there are still people who leave their problems in the Lord's hands

[Huffer]

good to know there are still people who leave their problems in the Lord's hands

amen to that brother!

[jey]

3. There is a set amount of money I can afford to pay for a car. This both sucks to know and is a blessing because I know precisely what I'm shooting for (i.e., I tell a car company that "I need to be out the door for X thousand dollars. Can you find out within 15 minutes if you can do that for me?").

But don't let the dealer take advantage of you. Many play games with numbers and you end up paying more, by extending the length of your loan/payments or whatever.

By the way Subaru is having a special offer right now, Lease a 2010 Impreza for $189/month with $1488 due at signing.

[Wiscon_Mark]

A 1990's era Toyota Corolla gets my vote. I have always liked the wide fenders on those things.

My buddy beats on his cars, and doesn't maintain them. He has a 95 Toyota Corolla with 280,000 miles on it and it's still running alright. They're pretty indestructible. They also get good mileage, but they're pretty slow.

If you're looking for a high value, low cost alternative, I'd go Corolla. Civics and Accords have a lot higher resale, even the old ones, unless they're rusted out.

That being said, Subarus aren't exactly unreliable, if they're taken care of well, they should be just as good as Honda or Toyota.

[Brockley]

Price for them to replace rear cat: $635.00

You sir need to find a cheaper place. For my RX-7, I bought a Highflow cat for $45 from ebay, bought a used Flowmaster for $50, A used Manifold for $75, and had a exhaust shop make every other inch to have an entire new Exhaust bent (2 3/4") for $185.

Total spent- about $350 for exhaust from the block.

[ryu_haneda]

Okay, so here's the deal: this weekend, I started my hunt for another vehicle. So far, at least 4 to 8 dealerships have beat a path to my emails and phone.

* No more than $12,500 for the total cost of vehicle (I would like this to be my "out-the-door" cost, factoring in tax, tags, title, etc.)

* No more than $200 a month for payments (ideally I would like to pay around $150 to $175 a month, but my absolute max is $200)

* As little miles as possible

* Here is a list of pre-owned cars I am considering: (all assuming automatic transmission, not in any specific order)
1. Honda Civic coupe or Honda Fit
(I have the hope of getting a new Honda Fit, or a used Honda Accord)

2. Ford Focus coupe/hatchback or Ford Fusion
(The Ford Focus SE coupe looks good, or I could always get a Focus SVT)

3. Subaru Impreza or Outback Sport
(Have I learned my lesson yet? Nope! Any example would probably have 30,000 miles on it already, MINIMUM. Oh well.)

4. Volkswagen Golf or Jetta
(Yeah, Golf or Jetta low miles)

5. Toyota Corolla or Yaris
(Used Corolla, New Yaris (like a "oops, changed my mind" special))

6. Mazda3 hatchback
(New Mazda3 would most likely be a sedan; used would be an older hatchback with low miles)

7. Kia Amanti
(The wife sat in this while I test drove it around and wanted one BADLY - there are a whole bunch of bells and whistles on this including electronically-adjustable seats and such on the door panels, and a stupid bunch of airbags. It rates favorably on IIHS's crash test site at www.iihs.org.)

8. Toyota Celica
(One of my wife's original dream cars. 2003 examples with mileage below 50k range in the $10k range around my neck of the woods.)

Okay, let the beatings begin! Let me know what's right and wrong with each option.

[Huffer]

I think you need to decide on the TYPE of vehicle first. You've basically picked every manufacturer and their small car offering. You need to decide if you want a sedan, hatch or coupe... they all have different aspects and without knowing what you are planning to use it for, it's useless to pick one.

If you're planning to make a payment plan, then consider where you'll be in a couple of years - kids? different job? If you are planning on kids, forget the coupe. You might even want to forget the sedan. My wife and I are looking at trading the Accord on a Forester (as an example).

[dplacencia]

I would not go for the Ford or Kia.. But that is just me..

[ryu_haneda]

Okay, so here's an update: I am not considering a new car. At all. Here's why:

1. New cars lose 60% of their value in their first 4 years. If my wife and I pinch every conceivable penny, we're still looking at SMALL new cars.

2. There are various things that I want in a vehicle that we just wouldn't be able to afford: some form of traction control if no awd, good climate control, easily adjustable seats, GOOD HEADLIGHTS, and a 6-cylinder engine, or at least a super 4 (turbo anyone?).

3. We are looking for vehicles between 30 to 40 thousand miles max. If I play the cards right, I could be looking at an '06, '07, or '08 car in that range.

Of course, I still have to decide what to get. Some random thoughts are:
Subaru Forester
Subaru Outback
Hyundai Santa Fe
Volkswagen Golf

I HAD thought about a new Cobalt coupe, but even the LS model is a bit of a stretch at invoice. If I'm not getting the supercharged engine, then there's not much pull there. (Both the Chevy Cobalt coupe and Ford Focus coupes do better in side impact crashes than their sedan counterparts.)

I briefly thought about the Scion TC but the crash ratings on that car aren't the best.

Soooo, the theme seems to be (with the exception of the Golf) crossover vehicles with at least a turbo four or a six-cylinder.

Huffer, we may have a category here...

[Huffer]

Ok, so you're looking at hatchbacks/wagons/utility type vehicles.

You want a turbo 4 or a 6 cylinder... have you considered the higher insurance and FUEL + MAINTENANCE costs that are associated with their running? Particularly if you are only driving short distances, you will NOT see an overall fuel economy that could match a similar vehicle with a normally aspirated engine.

You still haven't posted a budget or anything - the cars you listed I've seen as low as $5k and as high as $13k.

[ryu_haneda]

I like turbo 4 or 6 cylinder cars because of the increased response that I'd get from a more powerful engine. One of my previous cars was a V-6 (a '95 Grand AM SE). We were in our mid-late twenties and owned that car with manageable insurance for several years.

I have to admit, I'd buy a 6-cylinder car before a turbo four because of the octane required - and the Grand AM actually got decent mileage for being a six.

Budget? Between 8 to 10 thousand max. Payments need to stay below 200 a month. With the proper negotiation, I'm shooting to get this on a 4 to 5 year purchase (I am NEVER going more than 5 years again).

EDIT: my commute is usually at 40 minutes at a minimum on good days, averaging maybe about 35 to 50 miles per hour on occasion. It's usually a 20-30 mile commute each way.

[Huffer]

You will still be paying interest, which means the cost of your car is going to outweigh *by a lot* the actual value of your car at the end of your loan term. You'll have paid nearly $10,000 for an $8000 car, not to mention all the lost interest you would have had if that money was IN your pocket instead of being paid out each month.

What about the MPG cost of a 60mile commute?
$2.50 for 87, assuming 25mpg...60miles = 2.4gals used = $6 per commute
$3.00 for 91, assuming 25mpg...60miles = 2.4gals used = $7.20 per commute

Assume a 5 day commute, 87 octane = $30 pwk. 91 octane = $36 pwk.

Over a year, 87 octane = $1440. 91 octane = $1728 (48 weeks per year because everyone needs a vacation)
Over 4 years, 87 octane = $5760. 91 octane = $6912

That's just your fuel costs - $1152 - more than 10% of your original loan of $8000.

[inoneday]

good to know there are still people who leave their problems in the Lord's hands

amen to that brother!

That made me smile haha good to know there are other believers on the forum..... and i hope the lord will help you out of this dilemma. but my 2 cents is you should buy a subaru with an ej22 in it. in my opinion the are very reliable compared to the 2.5l (IMO only good as a boat anchor). i have heard alot of reliability issues with the 2.5 so that why i say this, not from experience but simply alot of looking into.

[ryu_haneda]

You'll have paid nearly $10,000 for an $8000 car, not to mention all the lost interest you would have had if that money was IN your pocket instead of being paid out each month.

Which kinda puts me back at square one - whether or not keeping my current vehicle is a better idea, versus trying to maintain another. Subarus are still honestly some of the tougher cars out there (as evidenced by the sheer number of old Subarus I see on the road every day, versus other manufacturers).

And hey, truth be told, there are some common sense fixes I could employ that would help me extract more enjoyment from my car (new paint job, interior upholstery/carpet work, proper maintenance, etc).

There's a major problem: money.

Repairs have on average inflated my roughly 140 dollar a month payment to 300 dollars a month. With me staring down the barrel of another potential 800 dollars worth of repairs, I'm hesitant to continue down this road more.

Worse - I think about the things that I want to do to my car and I immediately feel guilty - how am I going to keep investing in my car when my wife is even more important to me? Is it really economically friendly to keep and mod your own car?

What are some of the more godly choices out there? I got into the car purchase game (you know, reasonably used '05 to '09 car) to reduce the overall money problems caused by significant repairs. I don't want charity - I just want this to work out.

I'm practically ready to buy whatever car it is to put us out of this situation. I am ready to be a man and stop getting into messy situations like this again.

(Then again, the real God-honoring choice here could be to stick this thing out and see where it goes.)

[Legacy89]

I would not go for the Ford or Kia.. But that is just me..

German Ford is pretty bad, Vauxhall/Opel isn't any better.

If you want reliability, Get a Lada Niva. Dirt cheap and rock solid russian engineering.

[jey]

I got into the car purchase game (you know, reasonably used '05 to '09 car) to reduce the overall money problems caused by significant repairs.

You're not going to solve your money problem of making repairs by buying a 5-year-old car. You'll be worse off, you'll be making car payments AND fixing your (likely previously abused) used car. By the time you pay off your 5-year loan on your 5-year-old car it will be a POS 10 year old car! Not smart to be making payments on a 10 year old car!

If you want cheap transportation, you need to find a car that you can pay cash for, or just keep what you have. Then you can set aside some money for maintenance/repairs, and we will help you do this in a cost effective way. Find an honest shop or learn to do some things yourself. Spending $300/month to fix a Subaru sounds crazy, mine is turbocharged and pieced together from 5 different cars and I don't spend even close to that much in 4 months fixing things.

And I spend the money to fix things the right way. There are people MUCH poorer than you or I fixing their cars in a much cheaper way - believe me, I was at the salvage yard Friday and was able to observe.

If you're not up for fixing your car check out the lease deal that I posted above - $189/month fits your budget, and then you will have a NEW AWD car with a warranty that pretty much guarantees you don't have to pay for any repairs.

[ryu_haneda]

The biggest problems I have with leasing a new vehicle are:

1. Usually a low limit on miles, with penalties for overages
2. Various end-of-lease fees

Probably the best I can do is watch for 2007, 2008, and 2009 year cars with low miles that still qualify for warranty work. The question is, can I get my car from relatively anywhere and have repairs warrrantied anywhere I go, or do I have to get my warranty repairs done where I purchased my ride? (Assuming a 2008 with an applicable manufacturer's warranty.)

[jey]

You can take your car to any dealer to have warranty work done, not just the one you bought it from.

[GreenLeggy]

Hey ryu_haneda ,

I've been where you are now...

I had a 2002 P5 that gave me nothing but problems...I sold it and got the Leggy. I didn't put that much $ into it. But it did have a slew of problems...

Rust everywhere
1 wheel drive (try that going up an icy hill in the middle of rush-hour)
knocks everywhere
smoking engine at 130,000 km (later found out it was the 2nd engine on that particular P5)
blown suspension (replaced with used struts, cheap $$)

I bought newer thinking it would be better but ended up beign worse than every other car I've had...I sold it before pouring money into it...all the repairs done, I did myself to save money so, total, including parts and my time, I spent about $1000.

Bought it for $14,000 and sold it for $4000 two years later...No one would give me more than that with a bum engine. The engine would've cost me $3000, plus labour but I would've still had the rust, and all the other stuff goning wrong with it.

You've already poured $6000 into this car, anything from now on, should be peanuts compared to what you've already spent. Keep it, save your $$ and get something better for both of you sometime down the road.

I find that giving my car a nice wash and vaccum makes me love it again...

Still though...I chose Honda...if you're gonna buy, get a Honda. As someone in a previous post said, they are cheap-er to fix. Make sure you get one with a good service history though...buy one from an old lady or man...not one from some young guy who's thrashed it.