Team-BHP - Buying, Owning, Driving and Maintaining a car in North America

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

thanks guys,

so keeping everything in mind, i went for a mitsubishi galant. 2002 model. black with grey interior. getting it for 4.8K (tax included). it's from an official dealer thru a mutual friend. have done the carfax and 20 point check from firestone.

buying insrance from geico, the quote is 760 for 6 months. hopefully it will reduce in next term.

as mentioned in my thread in tyres section, i have reverted back to 15inch wheels from 17inch

enjoy your new car.

$4.8k incl. tax is a decent dealer-price for a 2002 galant.

your insurance cost is very good indeed. prices in the North East are bad - as DaPilot mentioned earlier.

15" will definitely give you better comfort compared to the 17" wheels - though i'd be interested in knowing whether the dealer reduced cost of the 17" wheel/tire combo from your cost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aah78

15" will definitely give you better comfort compared to the 17" wheels - though i'd be interested in knowing whether the dealer reduced cost of the 17" wheel/tire combo from your cost.

no he didn't. besides, they were not in a good shape. firestone told me that one of the rims was bent.

i got a good price because it's mileage is high (113K)
but it runs better than the other car he had (70K)

it was less than good price on kbb, which is a good deal IMO. The car is in excellant shape.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

buying insrance from geico, the quote is 760 for 6 months. hopefully it will reduce in next term.

Hey brother,
I think you should also talk to american family insurance, aaa insurance, farmers insurance and all auto insurance guys in your locality. Well I've got Geico too and they claim to be cheaper than the rest but thats not true. I pay almost the same as u for my 2001 GTI but my friend who bought a brand new 2006 Nissan Altima pays simply 350$ per 6-month comprehensive insurance on it from a local bank which also provides car insurance. Thats like half of what I pay man. I'm planning to get my policy moved to the same bank after a month. It basically varies from place to place on a lot of statistics but i'm sure if u dig around u'll be able to find cheaper rates than that, and yes u can move from geico to some other insurance after one month, u'r not bound to stick with them.
what u can do ::
http://local.google.com
go there on the right hand side of the search tab click find business and u'll get two search tabs. on the left hand side of the search tab put in auto insurance and right side of hte search tab put Dallas, TX or mytown,tx (where mytown is whatever town u'r living in). Call every company from the search results.
Good car btw :)
and happy driving...

Hey ppl
I live in California, USA. I have to buy a car. My budget is $15,000.

my requirements are:
1) preferably a non american make
2) average(miles per gallon) of the car should be more than 25
3) the cost of the car shouldnt exceed $16,000(USD)
4) car with low maintenance..
5) new or used doesnt matter
6) preferably a manual car.
7) a car that would not give me a lot of trouble for 5 years
Kindly send me a list of 10 cars that you guys feel that i should buy. also my dad, who is in india, has prohibitted me from buying any sporty car. so let me know the cars accordingly.
thanks

VW Jetta a 2000+ model shud be trouble free depending on what condition you get it.
then there is the usual honda civic which fit into that price range.
volvo s40
nissan sentra

thats all that comes to mind right now. but you do have quite a few options in that price range for used cars.
p.s why not anything a bit more sporty?

thanks..arent there any good mazda or acura cars available in that range...and how is toyota yaris. didnt get good reviews from friends. they say that the speedometer which is in the center and not above the steering wheel is very distracting. what are your views on that. well sporty car meaning cars like honda s2000. my dad thinks il be spoilt if he buys me a sporty car and anyways the maintenance would be high for the sportier car.

also, what are your views about scion cars?

just as the topic says..... i need info for buying used cars in the US particularly California.

i need to know what budget i should keep.the lower the better.im going to need the car for a period of about 6 months and therefore dont want anything too expensive.

i also need info on the procedure with insurance and all out there.should i go to dealers or check up in mags.

basically all the info i could get.will be really help ful.

thanx
Rev

hmm id go with individual sellers, look thru the used car ads in the weekend newspaper. you will have to decide on a budget. you can get a 20yr old car for $500, or somethin like a 7yr old civics for about $5k. im guessing you want cheap, realiable, easy to maintain, good resale value, great fuel efficiency.
honda civic, mazda protege, corolla (the older model) are the 3 that comes to mind. insurance will be cheaper on the protege as they are less popular among the car theives.
basically if your over 25 insurance will not be too expensive, shop around.
get a carfax report, show the car to a good mechanic. autotrader will give you average prices.
you can get insurance quotes online too FYI

hey thanx for the quick info...i dont mind spending upto 2000-3000 grand cause i jus need it for 6 months.

i dont mind getting a 20 yr old car LOL but im guessing it wont be that reliable so id rather get something better which wont give me any problems. im 19 so i guess insurance is gonna kill me.

whats a carfax report ? and what about bikes ? would i get some thing good for the budget ive quoted.

Rev

I am going thru the same experience as you, and have zeroed in a 135K manual E36 BMW for 5000. However, thats not one of the best cars in terms of resale value in a short term assignment say 6 months to 1.5 years. That way its always the Honda's and Toyota's with automatic transmission (this entire country drives on the rubber band type response) that rule the roost.

depends on how much money you want to spend. for about $2k -$3k you could get a '95-97 civic with $100k+ miles. Honda's and Toyota's usually have extremely strong resale, even on the cars that have 100k+ miles and 13-14yrs old. You'd get good deals on Mitsu's, Mazda's. One good place to look for cars would be craigslist.org