Reply to $6500 used car budget DEAL BREAKERS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Searching for a used car for my son going off to college in the fall. Our budget limits us to pretty old cars. What would be a dealbreaker when used car shopping. No car in this price range is perfect. Seems like every car we look at needs something repaired, an extra key made, new tires, etc.

Is there a cut off year year? A certain age you won’t consider?

[b]Mileage?

Necessary repairs?

Leather vs fabric seats?

Been in a crash?

Brand?
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IN ORDER OF MY IMPORTANCE:
(In full disclosure: I am just an average car buyer, not a mechanic, I only have an average person's experience. Bought and used few cars.)

Been in a crash? - That is the most important thing to me and this would exclude the car from the run. I know, I know, there are those tinny crashes that do nothing to the car but the thing is that there is a probability and possibility there. Even the smallest of the crashes can cause some invisible hair thin crack in the fame that the car is build on, or the engine and it might not act up immediately but it  might be a big problem later. Best to move to a car that has never been in the crash.

Brand? - To me the first real information is Brand. Because they have been around for long enough to have certain reputation. It is a common experience of the whole public and that tells you which cars are respected and there is a good reason for it. It is mass consumer who used them  and has a reasonable basis to make a statement this car is so and that car is so. I personally like reliable brands and those that are more respected even if a car will be bit more expensive but driving a respected car is good feeling that can project on you as a person and as you follow the thread on judging by others on cars, yes they do.

Mileage? - Because the more miles the more beaten up car is, car is basically an engine with a metal box with seats attached to it and made the box looking cute for you. So millage on the car, is like years on a person. With few exception to the rule, the more years the older the person is :).

Necessary repairs? - This is also important because this tells you what was wrong with the car and what can go wrong. If a car had lots of repairs then you can assume more to go. All the cars I ever had, had no repairs aside from tire change and bulb change, if the car is regularly maintained and taken care of, the car should not break. If it does it means that this is a crappy car.

Leather vs fabric seats? This is also important but not as important as the above because what good are the best and nicest of the seats if you have a junk? Do you agree? So now if you prioritized wisely and found yourself a bunch of cars that are mechanically sound and have low mileage and preferably one owner you can focus on interior. Buy what you like, make sure it is clean inside, but not clean to the bone and run down, it has to look clean and not have too much of wear and tear. As to seat, I will take leather over cloth anytime. I do not like vinyl because it stinks when it gets hot and even if it does not it still releases. So Leather every time because it is clean and easy to clean. The people who use the car sweat on their legs and bottoms and being in contact with seats.. all what comes out of the person  :lol: , gets into the seats. Leather stops it, fabrics absorbs it so, technically, yes, you can clean the fabric but there is tons of other owners in it :).

Also to add - I mentioned one owner. If you have a car owned by one person and they were clean and neat, you will get yourself a well loved car. If it was in hands of many people you have many more chances that the car was beaten up. Especially if kids ride inside the car will be more worn inside. More cleaning also leaves mark on the interior. Lastly - smoke. The more owners the greater chance someone smoked in the car and car that had been smoked in is really a problem for me. If you need to live with it, then assumption would be that leather would be a bit better as fabric sucks smoke like a sponge while leather is bit more resistant, but probably not on the atomic level.

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