Which of these used SUVs / Minivans <$6000 would you gamble on?

[WhipperSnapper]

If you enjoy car shopping, looking at vehicle listings, and contemplating and debating vehicle values, this might be a fun thread for you. If not then please don't be annoyed and just move on.

I'm car-porning again, but now that I have a little time off I might actually buy something this time. I'm looking to get a 3rd vehicle to use both as a backup and to switch off as a daily driver. I live in North Dakota so a vehicle that could cut through snow would be nice. Right now I have two older sedans, so it would be nice to have something with some cargo capacity. I've never owned anything other than regular econo-cars before, so it would be nice to have an SUV or maybe a minivan that perhaps once had a sticker price north of $25k. Ideally I'd get 10,000 miles for every $1000 spent on purchase price with relatively little maintenance, but I guess a ratio of 7500/$1000 would be OK too. I hope that's realistic. I drive about 5000 miles/year and my wife does about the same.

Let's suppose I buy one of these clunkers and it were to die and I had to sell the carcass or the repair costs were too expensive to be worthwhile? What could I possibly get for a non-running or poorly-running carcass? (How badly would my loss on the gamble be?) Maybe $400 for parts? Could I get anything selling/towing it to the car scrap yard?

What's most likely to get me the most bang for my buck and have a low risk of loss? Here are some interesting local prospects. Some of the listings may be on the shady side. I'm not sure I'd be real comfortable doing a transaction for over $2000 with a person as opposed to an actual dealership. In order of least expensive to most expensive:

2008 Chevy Uplander, 197k, $1500. Not a huge monetary gamble, but that's a shit ton of miles for a non-Toyota/Honda. However, it is a 2008 suggesting that much of it is highway miles and that the vehicle isn't real old but seems beat up - glove box ripped off and missing rear windshield wiper. Could I get 15,000 miles out of it relatively trouble free and then maybe flip it on Craigslist? It's an intriguing gamble.

1999 Lexus RX 300 189k, $2300. Too good to be true? Why is it still there if it's in decent condition?

2005 Saturn Relay, 160k, $2350 - might be worth a look as long as it doesn't have the disastrous CVT transmission, I think it's the same vehicle as the Chevy Uplander / Buick Terraza. Was Saturn still using rust-proof polymer panels in 2005? (EDIT - I've done a little research and these fall apart and have awful build quality. No wonder Saturn went under.)

1999 Lexus RX, 157k, $3200 - I get the sense that it's in questionable condition and I tend to think that someone who needs to "trade for a newer vehicle" probably wouldn't be getting rid of a car that's still economical to drive and maintain.

2006 BuickTerraza, 150k, $3700. Same Chevy Uplander base as the Saturn Relay but supposedly with much better build quality.

2003 Saturn Vue, 131k, $3700. Hey look, I'm a banana! But does it have the CVT? The knock on this is that Saturns were relatively stripped-down, cheap vehicles of quesitonable build quality and I could get something that originally had a higher sticker price for about the same asking price.

2002 Buick Rendezvous, 147k, $3800. This would be very interesting if it's really in good condition. I checked the seller's Facebook profile and she seems to work for a truck repair shop, so maybe this was well-maintained.

2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport Limited, 131k, $4000. This is loaded and is almost luxury-like on the inside in terms of its features. I love the SUV functionality and I'm kind of smitten with it. This one was built in Japan, but I wonder if such a big beefy vehicle could potentially become a money pit and if it would be expensive to get parts for and to have repaired and maintained.

2006 Dodge Durango, 107k, $4900. This is a very interesting prospect. I'm not thrilled with Chrysler build quality, but Dashboard Light gives it a reasonable ranking.

2009 Chevy HHR 68k, $5000. This seems like a pretty good deal though I'm not sure how much I'd want a wagon.

2000 Lexus RX 300, 176k, $5000. Man, that's a shit-ton of miles for that price, but being a Toyota product it could potentially go to 300,000 miles and I wouldn't feel too bad putting a little money in to maintaining a luxury grade vehicle since I would really like the vehicle.

2006 Saturn Vue, 103k miles, $5600. A low sticker price SUV, nothing flashy, but not extremely old and without real high mileage. The CVT transmission would be a deal killer. I think it looks much nicer in blue, but not 34,000 more miles worth.

2007 Ford Escape, 100k, $5900

 

[BurnItDwn]

Friend of mine at work just recently retired his rx300 with around 300K miles on it

I'd go with least years old Lexus in that price range ...
I wouldn't worry too much about the miles ... more miles = car has been driven more = less likely to have serious problems (more chances for owners to find problems)

 

[jlee]

From that list, Lexus. You could also find a 03 GX470 in that price range and they're known for 400k+ miles.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

2006 Vue - Honda V6.
and it looks really clean, only 2 owners.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have a totally different philosophy of vehicle ownership. Even when I was earning close to $90K/annum in the 1990s, I refused to buy a new car. I had a fleet of Hondas -- all same year, two slightly different models -- interchangeable parts. My "best" had wheels replaced with magnesium Accord, Accord brakes. It had been overhauled at 150K, and was a dream. I worked in DC by day, taught adjunct university by night, and ran with a bunch of good-ol'-boy Virginia mechanics around Thornburg.

I had a friend who was worth $17 million when I left Northern Virginia. He would always buy used cars, about 3 years old. He had three '79 BMW 320i's and a Mercedes '79 Turbo-Diesel. He kept those cars running through the late 1990s.

Myself, in transit to my family home in So-Cal as "retirement relocation", I visited a friend in Albuquerque who sold me an '87 Isuzu Trooper for $1,000. With an investment of $700 including tires and a heater-core replacement, it was a tip-top five speed and would've lasted a long time if a ditzy, brainless college girl hadn't totaled it. So I found a second-gen 95 Trooper, buying it the year Isuzu stopped making passenger cars. I'm still driving it. I love it. I only have a door-sensor for the security system to be reset after an old 32" tube TV set on the way to recycling tipped backward and shattered the rear window. Then I can start using the VSS (veh security system) again. Like the redneck mechanic I knew would say about the mythical ideal of the "free ride" -- it was -- and is -- "purr-feck!"

So forget various cars I've owned; forget my orphaned Isuzu. But I suggest you do this when buying a used car. You need to be able to determine whether or not you're getting a decent ride for your money. You CAN buy a high-mileage vehicle such as you're contemplating -- my Trooper had 95,000 on the odometer when I bought it in 2002. Some of the better SUV models have engines that can go 300K without overhaul.

But you should have an idea of what you want to shell out initially on the used car -- a target price. From there, you might find several alternatives through CARFAX or CARMAX or any several online clearinghouses. You'll test-drive and evaluate. But you will be wise to have an extension to this purchase budget. Put aside a few thousand bucks for any short-term repairs you may have to make within two-year's time. If the car has any promise of longevity, fix it up as needed but get the major things done within those next two years.

Hopefully, you'll have luck almost as good as mine. I watch my bank-account grow; I'm at the end of a long-term cycle of parts-replacement, so most of the bolt-on components like alternator, fuel pump, radiator, water pump etc. have at most 30K miles on them. My rebuilt tranny has 60,000 miles. The mechanics tell me the engine will go 300K -- no worry -- and I only drive 3,000 miles per year -- mostly. It's currently at 187,000. Tires are a few years old, but only have maybe 15,000 miles of wear.

If you get lucky with a used car purchase, do the maintenance and repairs, and hang onto it. Only snooty spendthrifts look down on someone with an old car, and they don't know s*** for the most part.

There's no such thing as a free lunch; there's no such thing as a free ride unless you win Wheel of Fortune or Vanna White decides she likes honking your root and lets you drive her own rod. But You can spend a lot less and feel like a king behind the wheel of a good vehicle -- and the older it is, the better the self-esteem as opposed to gutting your wallet for the latest greatest. Even better if the paint is good, can be restored, and looks pretty.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

But you should have an idea of what you want to shell out initially on the used car -- a target price. From there, you might find several alternatives through CARFAX or CARMAX or any several online clearinghouses. You'll test-drive and evaluate. But you will be wise to have an extension to this purchase budget. Put aside a few thousand bucks for any short-term repairs you may have to make within two-year's time. If the car has any promise of longevity, fix it up as needed but get the major things done within those next two years.

Yeah, I think I've more or less concluded that the proper approach is to find a vehicle I would want to own and want to pay to maintain that looks like it's in good shape for a reasonable price and just suck it up and pay for whatever repairs it needs. It's probably cheaper than a car payment.

Do you guys think that changing the timing belt is one of the first things to do on an older vehicle since it's quite possible that the previous owner never had it done and that it might be the original timing belt?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yeah, I think I've more or less concluded that the proper approach is to find a vehicle I would want to own and want to pay to maintain that looks like it's in good shape for a reasonable price and just suck it up and pay for whatever repairs it needs. It's probably cheaper than a car payment.

Do you guys think that changing the timing belt is one of the first things to do on an older vehicle since it's quite possible that the previous owner never had it done and that it might be the original timing belt?

It's probably best if you can find one with documentation confirming when the timing belt was already replaced ... or, get something with a timing chain

Now, if you can find an RX350 in your price range, it will have a timing chain instead of a belt ... but, those are newwer and likely will cost more $$$

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Cheapest RX350 in my area is a 2009 with 78k miles asking $14,000. Way out of the price range. It would probably have higher insurance costs, too, being a luxury vehicle..

 

[BurnItDwn]

Cheapest RX350 in my area is a 2009 with 78k miles asking $14,000. Way out of the price range. It would probably have higher insurance costs, too, being a luxury vehicle..

yea, that's quite a lot more
There is the GX that jlee recommended, body on frame, more durable, v8 ... but, garbage fuel economy...

We took our 2010 Ford Edge to Sioux Falls last year, got to see 3 of my cousins...
2 of them were car shopping ... 1 of them only likes standard transmissions .... was not fun tryin to find a car for her, only like ... 5 cars for sale with stick shifts in her budget ....

in ND, I imagine the selection pool is even thinner....

If you're in Eastern ND, is it worth making a trip out to Minneapolis?
Part of me thinks maybe it might be worth looking into traveling up to Winnipeg as well to increase your options, but, I suspect the cars will all be set up in metric, and likely will be a PITA to get across the border and registered in the US.

ND probably has a LOT of pickup trucks ... might be worth considering a used F150, Silverado, Tundra, Tacoma, Colorado, etc ...
If you get 4wd and stick a Cap on the back, it's just as convenient as an SUV, but, capable of hauling and towing more. They can be pretty nice too, though I don't know if the ride quality would match a Lexus ...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

If you're in Eastern ND, is it worth making a trip out to Minneapolis?

I'm in Fargo. Going down to the Twin Cities is a possibility, and I do shop the ads on Cars.com and look in that area. There are many more options and I think the values are slightly better, but not so much better as to make it worth an 8 hour round trip drive just to check out a vehicle. I'm really hoping to find something within, say, a 100 mile radius of where I'm at (allowing for Grand Forks, Bemidji, Brainerd, Alexandria). I'd have to really, really like the deal to want to go to the Twin Cities for it.

Here's a list of what's within 100 miles from me for $6000 and under, sorted by lowest miles. Doesn't include stuff posted on Facebook and Craigslist, obviously.

https://www.cars.com/for-sale/searc...t&stkTypId=28881&zc=58103&localVehicles=false

 

[dave_the_nerd]

2006 Vue - Honda V6.
and it looks really clean, only 2 owners.

103k miles on a Honda V6 means it's time for a Timing Belt service! Hope you have an extra $1k you're not doing anything with.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Here are three more intriguing possibilities:

2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport but with 227k miles but being offered for $1600. I wonder if they'd part with it for $1300. It would be a gamble but the risk of loss wouldn't be too huge. Could that possibly have 16,000 miles of trouble free life left in it (about 3 or 4 years of ownership for me)? I suppose that if you test drive it and it seems to run and drive well and if it looks to be in good condition it would be an OK gamble. A low risk, high reward proposition.

2008 Chevy Uplander with 110k miles for $4000. I like that it's more recent, being from 2008. According to Dashboard Light the 2008 has below average reported problems.

2002 Hyundai Santa Fe with 131k mile for $4000. It looks pretty clean. I wonder if I could talk the dealer down to $3600.

I guess I really need to figure out what makes/models I'd want and then wait for a good deal to come along. Right now it's basically "cute ute" - small to mid-sized SUV or small minivan that gets about 18 MPG in the city. My wife wants to get out town for a few days, so any serious car shopping is probably shot for this week.

It's funny, I get far more responses to my post on a more intimate forum like this one than Reddit's /r/WhatCarShouldIBuy which has like 37k subscribers.

 

[desy]

The old escapes are mazdas so look at tributes as well, you can even get a hybrid escape
These are two other sites I like along with dashboard
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Mazda/Tribute/
http://www.autos.ca/used-car-reviews/used-vehicle-review-mazda-tribute-2001-2011/2/

 

[BudAshes]

Whichever Lexus RX is the least shitty. There is a reason you still see so many of the old ones on the road. I wouldn't touch any of those other cars.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Whichever Lexus RX is the least shitty. There is a reason you still see so many of the old ones on the road. I wouldn't touch any of those other cars.

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/i-just-bought-this-how-did-i-do.2565850/#post-39832669
OP got a 2008 Kia Rondo for what looks like $3500 ... leaves them a decent amount of "fix things" money without breaking their budget.

A friend's long lived RX300 was one of the factors that influenced my decision to replace my old Subaru with Lexus rather than another Subaru (also, the fact that the Legacy 3.6 is much slower than the Lexus GS350, and the lexus has a much nicer interior and is more comfortable, and I didn't want a CSV but, was OK with the 6 speed auto in the AWD Lexus)

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Yeah, I thought about that Lexus for a while, but the age and the mileage scared me away. Ditto for Toyota Highlanders. I saw one in my area with about 182k miles (2001-2003 model, say) for $4000. Maybe I should have done that instead. Guess I'll be able to better evaluate in a couple years.

 

[pcgeek11]

Any of the Lexus models.