Probably going to need some car ideas in the 6k to 10k range...

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mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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dbcooper1 said:
If you consider the Lexus LS and ES, don't overlook the GS; I've had one for a while and it's been great so far- 190K and counting.
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The all wheel drive is the kicker there. I don't mind most of the Lexus vehicles, but awd is only an option in the rx300 or bigger models. Don't like the rx300 that much. But would consider an rx330 or rx350 at the right price.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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Just dropped the other car with hail damage... something about the words "If it's repairable" don't leave me with great confidence. I think it should be repairable... but geez.
 
kitatech

kitatech

Senior member
Jan 7, 2013
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mvbighead said:
Just dropped the other car with hail damage... something about the words "If it's repairable" don't leave me with great confidence. I think it should be repairable... but geez.
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There's alway SOMEthing...too bad.
 
monkeydelmagico

monkeydelmagico

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Nov 16, 2011
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I've seen some Saturn Aura's going for CHEAP lately. Alot of car for very little $$. Not AWD and orphan brand but fully servicable at GM and very good motor/trans combo.
 
monkeydelmagico

monkeydelmagico

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Nov 16, 2011
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mvbighead said:
The all wheel drive is the kicker there. I don't mind most of the Lexus vehicles, but awd is only an option in the rx300 or bigger models. Don't like the rx300 that much. But would consider an rx330 or rx350 at the right price.
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Sorry to burst your bubble but it's gonna be hard to find a rx330/50 for $7-8K
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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monkeydelmagico said:
Sorry to burst your bubble but it's gonna be hard to find a rx330/50 for $7-8K
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Nah, you're not bursting my bubble there. That was why they've not been discussed to this point. Occasionally I've seen those around 12-15k, but not much lower than that.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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kitatech said:
There's alway SOMEthing...too bad.
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Fortunately, the other car is repairable. I have them moving forward with that one, but will be doing the car shopping possibly some this afternoon, and some tomorrow.
 
Belegost

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
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mvbighead said:
Just dropped the other car with hail damage... something about the words "If it's repairable" don't leave me with great confidence. I think it should be repairable... but geez.
Click to expand...

Yea, when I was last looking around at cars (which lead to buying the C230) I seriously considered a hail damaged outback, the price was 4k below market, but after tallying up the costs just for the external panels and paint, and doing my own work, it would have barely broke even, and I have the salvage title on it. I suppose I could have pulled and bondoed a lot of it, but that adds a lot of time and the repairs are never quite as good as new panels.

On the topic of the E500 - I don't really pay attention to the E-series forums, so I don't see what those guys complain about. As was recommended before browse through the benzworld, and mbworld forums for the E series, see what shows up (especially stickies.) The other thing is Consumer Reports, I always check their used ratings - I did a quick check on the E series V8, and there's a surprising set of poor marks for electrical systems, suspension, and body hardware for the 2004 year. How much that really means I couldn't say.

Overall my suggestion would be to go see the ones you're interested in, if you have a mechanic friend who will go with you, even better. Nothing like seeing, hearing, and feeling a car first hand for knowing what condition it's in.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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Belegost said:
Yea, when I was last looking around at cars (which lead to buying the C230) I seriously considered a hail damaged outback, the price was 4k below market, but after tallying up the costs just for the external panels and paint, and doing my own work, it would have barely broke even, and I have the salvage title on it. I suppose I could have pulled and bondoed a lot of it, but that adds a lot of time and the repairs are never quite as good as new panels.

On the topic of the E500 - I don't really pay attention to the E-series forums, so I don't see what those guys complain about. As was recommended before browse through the benzworld, and mbworld forums for the E series, see what shows up (especially stickies.) The other thing is Consumer Reports, I always check their used ratings - I did a quick check on the E series V8, and there's a surprising set of poor marks for electrical systems, suspension, and body hardware for the 2004 year. How much that really means I couldn't say.

Overall my suggestion would be to go see the ones you're interested in, if you have a mechanic friend who will go with you, even better. Nothing like seeing, hearing, and feeling a car first hand for knowing what condition it's in.
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My mechanical senses are getting much better as I've started working on cars, so I'll most likely do my own inspection to a point. Not quite enough time to line up help especially being in crunch mode and needing a better DD pretty much right now.

Thanks for the note on the E500... i wonder how much of that stuff was repaired in the 2005 release?

I'll try to do some digging on the sites suggested and see what comes up. That is currently one of the front runners at the moment.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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halik said:
Subframe issues (my m3 with 70K miles and my brother's 325i with 70K both had it), other than that awesome cars.
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Thanks man, very helpful!.

I will say, it appears if that is a problem it runs something to the tune of $800 parts and $2000 labor. Airmatic suspension would run $1600 all the way around roughly, and I could likely handle that myself I am sure.

So either way, need to make sure to avoid issues with those items if at all possible.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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Well, that's done. Ended up buying a 2004 Volvo S60R. A coworker of mine is Swedish and can't say enough good things about Volvo, and the dealer put it through a check list and handled a bunch of maintenance up front. As some of the other cars we were looking at were private seller, and the sellers were hard to work with, and how much we loved the test drive of this car... well, we were done.

All I can say is, a 300hp sedan that can tote the baby, pass with ease, and yet still be able to average 25mpg with a light foot in six gear seems like a great fit. That, and it'll be fun to get back to driving a manual.

I realize I didn't get to use some of the input on here that much, but it was helpful nonetheless.

Thanks all.
 
phucheneh

phucheneh

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Jun 30, 2012
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I hope your Impala was absolutely immaculate, and cared for like it was your child.

'Cause if you just drove it and maybe changed the oil every now and again, you're in for a rude awakening. Keeping the Volvo just 'functional' will cost more than pampering an Impala. Even a particularly unlucky, failure-prone Impala.

How many miles are on the S60? What maintenance was done up front? Timing belt is a 105k item. Hopefully strut mounts have been done. And lower control arm bushings. And the oil was changed religiously. And you don't get a random ABS module failure. Or bad steering wheel module. Or throttle issues (hopefully it got a new one before the 120k/10 year extended warranty ran out). Check to see if ECM/ETM software has been updated to the latest. It's not an awful car, but there are a LOT of common problems between both universal 'this is a maintenance item on this car' stuff and 'on some cars, these never fail; others go through three of them' stuff.

The AWD system is not terribly reliable. Keep your leaking angle gear full. Frankly I think some people should have mentioned that looking at well-used cars with tack-on AWD systems is pretty much an awful idea. Either buy something like a Subaru or buy the 2WD version of whatever you're looking at.

Does the electronic suspension still work?

Go ahead and get on SwedeSpeed and start reading.
 
z1ggy

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
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What about an older Subaru Legacy or Forester? I'm not sure if they will meet all your lux needs (prob not) but I'm sure you can find a pretty nice one for $10k, and it has your AWD plus pretty low maint. costs.

Also, I've now had AWD, FWD and RWD in the winter here. The AWD had all seasons, and the FWD and RWD has snows on them. Surprisingly, the RWD with snows I actually preferred over AWD with all seasons. I think people get caught up in the AWD thing, thinking it's the end all solution to snow. I'd probably take a FWD with good snows on it over AWD with no snows over it 90% of the time. Heck, even RWD I might too because they tend to be more predictable than my AWD was.

If you'd consider that (not sure because I skipped a lot of this thread) you can consider many more cars.

I'm currently looking at '10+ mazda3 with the s touring package, and it's pretty nice. Granted, its not lux, it still has some leather, blue tooth, all the stuff my current loaded car has. Cost is around $14-16k so I'd imagine with more miles or older models, you could find one for $10k.
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

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Apr 20, 2009
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Eh, for better or worse, I've already bought the volvo.

It has street tires so it'll be getting a new set of rims with snows when the time comes.

I figure when we get the wife's car back from the body shop, we'll take the Volvo into the Volvo dealer for a routine inspection.
 
SearchMaster

SearchMaster

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Jun 6, 2002
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Nice looking car (except the seat wear lol), I've always liked those cars. Phucheneh has a hard-on for Volvo so take his concerns with a grain of salt ;)
 
mvbighead

mvbighead

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2009
3,793
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SearchMaster said:
Nice looking car (except the seat wear lol), I've always liked those cars. Phucheneh has a hard-on for Volvo so take his concerns with a grain of salt ;)
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Yeah, and the discoloration is about the only thing. Not much by way of actual tears or cracks which is surprising to me considering the age of the car.

I did seem to get that drift from Phucheneh. I did some research and it seems a diagonal gear box or something may be expensive to repair if not properly maintained. With that in mind, i figured I'd have a Volvo dealer check everything out as most of the internals are common in many Volvos. I am sure they have a few differences, but I figure they'd be the best place to know what is what. For the most part, i won't be driving this like I stole it, but that does seem to be hard as it sure sounds nice when accelerating.
 
phucheneh

phucheneh

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Jun 30, 2012
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Pop the surround for the e-brake up and you'll find a 10mm nut on the lever assembly that can be tightened with a socket and long extension.

Just sayin'. Looks like the brake isn't doing anything.

And I actually like the car. But being on a budget and deciding to buy a first year R-car seems silly as shit to me.
 
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