Buying Used Car

What about VW jetta and passats? I mean do they blow up after 100k miles? In my area there are a lot of 2008-2011 with under 100k miles for under $7,000 seems pretty cheap.

[quote]maverick88 wrote:
What about VW jetta and passats? I mean do they blow up after 100k miles? In my area there are a lot of 2008-2011 with under 100k miles for under $7,000 seems pretty cheap.[/quote]
One thing you can do, is look at how many there are for sale with 150k mi or 200k mi etc. that could help you determine what their potential is.

Also, i highly recommend buying the top-of-the-line model. My assumption is that the previous owner had enough money to take good care of the car.

[quote]maverick88 wrote:
What about VW jetta and passats? I mean do they blow up after 100k miles? In my area there are a lot of 2008-2011 with under 100k miles for under $7,000 seems pretty cheap.[/quote]

Make sure you actually sit in a Jetta before buying one. The seats in those things kill my back. YMMV.

[quote]sufiandy wrote:

[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Anyone familiar with the vw CC? I would consider them for a “nice german” car. [/quote]

Never had a vw but you can probably get them cheap now…[/quote]

My wife’s 2005 Toyota Sequoia has a $3k fan in it that turns on for several minutes on start up. The sole purpose of the fan is to force more air through the exhaust until the catalytic converter heats up. More air means less parts per million for emissions purposes, but the exact same amount of pollutants is coming out the back. The fan is only there in case the car gets tested right after a cold start up. Toyota does this solely to meet (or defeat) emissions standards and every manufacturer does something similar. I’m not exactly sure what VW did, but I suspect its not much different in principle than my wife’s $3k completely useless fan.

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:

[quote]maverick88 wrote:
What about VW jetta and passats? I mean do they blow up after 100k miles? In my area there are a lot of 2008-2011 with under 100k miles for under $7,000 seems pretty cheap.[/quote]

Make sure you actually sit in a Jetta before buying one. The seats in those things kill my back. YMMV. [/quote]

This. I used to have a Jetta and the seats were hell on my lower back for any amount of time driving (30 mins or more).

Also, the Jetta was great will no major issues, until the timing chain went without notice around 85K (it was over 10 years old) and blew the engine. Up to that point, the worst thing was changing out the coil pack @ $700 ish in parts and another $300 in labor.

[quote]maverick88 wrote:
What about VW jetta and passats? I mean do they blow up after 100k miles? In my area there are a lot of 2008-2011 with under 100k miles for under $7,000 seems pretty cheap.[/quote]

I used to club race and auto-x Jettas. Mechanically, they’re well-built, reliable cars. The problem started when VW tried to take their cars upmarket and pack more and more expensive features into them. Then, reliability took a nose-dive not because the car wouldn’t run, but because the heated seats didn’t work, the power mirrors died, window regulators bit the dust on a regular basis, etc.

If I were in the market, I’d buy one but I’d look for a one owner car and a full service history. The cars need as much attention as Audis do, but people think because VWs are cheaper, they can get away with not maintaining them.

If you get a used VW, look for a VR6 motor, and ideally with 24 valves. Probably the most solid motors they ever built, and will run forever if you use quality synthetic oil. (plus the sound they make is unreal)

Any thoughts on Volvos s-40 and s-60?

Is a Civic/Corolla with over 125k miles still a good buy (2006-2009)? Most of the used ones I have been looking at usually have higher mileage than other cars.

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I’m starting to break out in a cold sweat…

It will be a hot sweat when you see the repair bills.

A 8+ year old 4,900 pound boat that can’t handle and barely keeps up with cars 100-150 HP less. Meh.

Yes, it’s an 8 year old 4,900 lb car that matches the BMW 4 series around the skid pad and is as quick to 60 mph as a 2014 Cayman GTS all while comfortably seating 5 adults and giving the front seat passengers back massages from it’s ventilated seats.

For about the same price as a new Honda Accord.

C&D has the 4 series with better skid pad numbers and the Cayman GTS with better acceleration.

So, like it I said, it is a boat that needs a lot more HP to match even cars with significantly less HP and it handles like shit.

Oh, and the repair bills. Good luck with those.

Cost of ownership is a lot more than just the initial car price, especially for an old Mercedes. There is a reason MB’s don’t hold value.

Let me see if I’ve got this right:

.88g’s on the 300’ skid pad = “handles like shit”
4,900lbs = “boat”
4.5 seconds 0-60 = “barely keeps up with cars 100-150hp less”

By your standard, the S63 is inferior to the average toaster oven because it can’t brown bread or make a decent tuna melt.

How can you equate handling with only a skidpad number? .88g for a skidpad isn’t impressive regardless. Congratulations, you have a Honda Accord skidpad result. Yes, 4,900 pound boat. I don’t know anyone who would call a 4,900 pound sedan anything other than a boat.

And once again, don’t forget about cost of ownership.

I dunno. If I were looking, I’d probably buy it. An AMG CL would probably be a slightly better option if there’s one around, but I wouldn’t really feel like I’m missing out.

I just bought me the new Audi A3 which is the perfect, excuse me, puuuuurrfect city car, I swear, and they are not all that expensive.

For European standards that is, because we heap taxes, upon taxes, upon taxes, we do.

However 16000 EUR for the basic model, come on…

They have been around since 2012 I think so if you get one with 10-15k miles on it, I don´t think you can go wrong.

FYI the ROE of Audi dealers ATM is everyone gets 11%, if you bargain well 17% and nobody gets more than 21%.

They’re luxury cruising machines. The weight of this thing keeps it planted and smooth when going 150mph on US highways. Nothing to it.

If you learn to do your own auto repairs, you can save alot of money. Then you might justify a luxury car more so.