Looking for a decent, inexpensive car

[Lammchop93]

Just saw you bought a car before I posted my reply. That'll teach me to read before I post!

Anyway, congrats on the new car. I know a lot a people who still have Saturns, and I've never heard anything bad.

 

[Gunaria]

02 Lincoln's I believe have transmission issues. Any 95-99 northstars stay away from. Most Dodge neons and Ford focus are ticking time bombs. Cars for the 1980's with over 80K are very iffy if not taken well care of.

Now my 01 Toyota Corolla just will not die. It's at 164K now. The timing chain is built to last the lifetime of the engine. I would go for something Japanese in spirit. Toyota, Nissan or Honda. Even thou I'm not sure what it is but Hoosier's seem to love them Pontiac Grand Am's and Grand Prix.

Best of luck in your search. Do plenty of research before you buy.

Something else to think about but maybe think about leasing a new car.

 

[Brandon]

02 Lincoln's I believe have transmission issues. Any 95-99 northstars stay away from. Most Dodge neons and Ford focus are ticking time bombs. Cars for the 1980's with over 80K are very iffy if not taken well care of.

Now my 01 Toyota Corolla just will not die. It's at 164K now. The timing chain is built to last the lifetime of the engine. I would go for something Japanese in spirit. Toyota, Nissan or Honda. Even thou I'm not sure what it is but Hoosier's seem to love them Pontiac Grand Am's and Grand Prix.

Best of luck in your search. Do plenty of research before you buy.

Something else to think about but maybe think about leasing a new car.

What isn't to like about a Grand Am? This is my old one, lots of many fun miles with it

It was a love hate relationship, but I do miss that car. Had some fun with the exhaust on that car as well.

 

[scoutsniper]

Any GM with a 3800 V6 is a good pick. We looked for something from Honda or Toyota to replace the Explorer we bought when the kid got his license. Gas mileage sucked and the boy ended up driving a lot more miles than we thought he would. Couldn't find anything decent. Everyone with a ragged out Accord or Camry thought it was made of gold. Ended up with a 99 Acura TL with low miles and a just replaced timing belt for under 3K. Guess people didn't get them memo that it's just a high dollar Honda.

this! those motors will easily last 250k plus with basic maintance. the Grand prix GT are the best bang for the buck i think. roomy, good MPG, and should be able to find a early 2000 model with the miles you want for around 5k. if you find a GTP (3800 with supercharger) yes they are faster but actually get better MPG then the base GT model. plus your kid will love you the first time he hears that supercharger whine!!!!

 

[Tnichols00]

Sounds like you got a great starter car for the youngster!

You guys all crack me up saying that "These cars will last until 180k, 200k" My Ford truck I just sold had 337k on it, my wifes last car (Volvo S60) we sold with 270k on it. We just got her a lincoln Aviator with 110k on it and that is low miles to me LOL Take good care of any gas car and it will run you 500k, diesel should be well worth a good million miles.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

What isn't to like about a Grand Am? This is my old one, lots of many fun miles with it

It was a love hate relationship, but I do miss that car. Had some fun with the exhaust on that car as well.

What's not to love is the 3400's lower intake manifold leak. Endemic issue / design flaw. No recall.

My formerly owned Alero was so afflicted - but just barely. It would've gotten worse and needed repair had I not been hit and the car totaled.

Plus - those cars are quite small on the interior.

I did rather like my Alero, though. Would've had to sell/trade it when my wife and I had kids, though. No room in the rear for car seats.

 

[ghuns]

What's not to love is the 3400's lower intake manifold leak. Endemic issue / design flaw. No recall.

At least in a Grand Am, fixing it wasn't a bad job. Try it in a mini-van, that sucked.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

At least in a Grand Am, fixing it wasn't a bad job. Try it in a mini-van, that sucked.

let me guess - you had to do the job from the inside under the dash?

-J-

 

[ghuns]

let me guess - you had to do the job from the inside under the dash?

-J-

Ha, it's not that bad. Dog bone motor mounts up top come out, bottom mounts are rubber. You can tilt the motor forward until it hits radiator. Of course I didn't discover that trick until I had to replace the rear head gasket.

 

[TheEngineer]

Sounds like you got a great starter car for the youngster!

You guys all crack me up saying that "These cars will last until 180k, 200k" My Ford truck I just sold had 337k on it, my wifes last car (Volvo S60) we sold with 270k on it. We just got her a lincoln Aviator with 110k on it and that is low miles to me LOL Take good care of any gas car and it will run you 500k, diesel should be well worth a good million miles.

Hmmm....not 100% sure on that one. Some makes/models are just prone to issues that will put it down for the count even when they are taken care of.

That being said, I do agree that MOST vehicles can easily exceed your mileage expectations if they're well cared for...hell, my '94 Dodge 1500 is about to roll over on 349K

 

[Tnichols00]

Hmmm....not 100% sure on that one. Some makes/models are just prone to issues that will put it down for the count even when they are taken care of.

That being said, I do agree that MOST vehicles can easily exceed your mileage expectations if they're well cared for...hell, my '94 Dodge 1500 is about to roll over on 349K

Most that is correct, not to say every one. How is the interior on your dodge? That was something that I always hated about those 90's dodges, you could have everything on the inside fall out before you would even need to change the oil If only they would have build the interiors as well as the motors

 

[HoughMade]

All I'm gonna say is- I hope my son is grateful...well, for the car, I know he is...but what I went through to get it home.

Here's the deal. As the original post mentioned, getting that sweet spot of decent miles, decent mileage, price and insurance not insane is not easy. Therefore, when (after a couple of weeks of searching) I found the above-referenced Saturn SW2 with 72,000 miles, clean with a good price, I knew it was a decent deal if the car turned out to be as advertised.

It was, but here's the issue- It was in Libertyville, Illinois (with me living in the "Vale of Paradise" as indicate to to the left"). That about 100 miles with the City of Chicago between here and there. Well, I drove up there yesterday afternoon, liked the car and bought it. Now, how to get it home. I thought about just taking my son up there, but the highways around Chicago, by himself on the way home with an unfamiliar vehicle, or worse, my beloved truck or Mom's leather-lined minivan, well that's a baptism by fire.

I determined that I could take the Southshore to Millennium Station, walk to Union Station, the take the Metra train to Libertyville, walk to the dealership and...there we go.

So good old Dad summoned himself out of bed at 4:45am this morning, drove up to the Dune Park Southshore station, and took the 6:02 train to Chicago. I got off the train at 7:21 which gave me exactly 19 minutes to make it 1.2 miles to Union Station through heavy foot traffic. Yes, I should have taken a cab. I got there right as the 7:40 train to Libertyville was leaving. In fact, the time stamp shows my ticket was purchased at exactly 7:40. No worries, well few, there was another train at 8:35. Obviously I was there in plenty of time for that, and we pulled into Libertyville on time at 9:41.

Problem. There is a 2 mile walk from the station to the dealership, well, not a problem if I had made the 7:40 train. By 9:41, thunderclouds were rolling in- but I had brought an umbrella. With about a mile left, it started spinkling. With 8 tenths left, the rain became steady, but no wind. With 3 tenths left- downpour and horizontal rain. That's enough time to soak everything on dear old Dad from mid-upper arm on down. The umbrella did a magnificent job keeping my mil-spec hair dry.

In any event, I got to the dealership, picked up the car and had an uneventful, if maddening drive back through heavy rain with drivers thinking "40 mph seems about right for a 4 lane highway". On the plus side, the car runs and drives great, air and heat both work (only a day like this would call upon both), and a toll booth reacquainted me with the anachronistic magic of real live roll-up windows.

 

[Brandon]

I never had an issue with my Grand Am LIM gasket. Although I was told it was corrected sometime around '02-'03 and mine was an '04.

 

[CTC B4Z]

GTP

 

[ghuns]

Aand a toll booth reacquainted me with the anachronistic magic of real live roll-up windows.

Barbaric. How did you survive.

I never had an issue with my Grand Am LIM gasket. Although I was told it was corrected sometime around '02-'03 and mine was an '04.

I think it was '04. I bought a used motor from an '03 for our mini-van. It only had 10K miles, but I took it apart and put the new and improved gasket in it before installing the motor. It never failed on me after that. Of course the head gasket failed at 70K, but that is far less common.

 

[HoughMade]

...I think it was '04. I bought a used motor from an '03 for our mini-van. It only had 10K miles, but I took it apart and put the new and improved gasket in it before installing the motor. It never failed on me after that. Of course the head gasket failed at 70K, but that is far less common.

Funny- I owned a 2003 Venture from 2003 until 2013 and put 130,000+ miles on the 3400- no lower manifold issues. I had a 1997 Grand Am GT with the similar 3100- heard the lower intake manifold horror stories- traded it with 155,000 miles and it didn't have lower intake manifold issues either. What it did do was chew up front hubs and control arm bushings....and the mileage wasn't great. I decided not to press my luck with another 3100 or 3400. The stories had to come from somewhere.

 

[looney2ns]

Honda Civic or Accord.

 

[TheEngineer]

Most that is correct, not to say every one. How is the interior on your dodge? That was something that I always hated about those 90's dodges, you could have everything on the inside fall out before you would even need to change the oil If only they would have build the interiors as well as the motors

It's actually pretty good considering its 20 years old...lately there's been a few plastic pieces (thermostat knob, visor clips, etc.) that have broken and been repaired but with the exception of the ceiling liner (starting to sag) everything inside still looks and functions just as it should.

Now the exterior...that's a whole nuther story

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I never had an issue with my Grand Am LIM gasket. Although I was told it was corrected sometime around '02-'03 and mine was an '04.

My Alero was an '04. Had the issue.

'94-'05 are/were the "problem years".