Re: Re: Re: Looking for old, reliable, beater used car
I said she was my child, not that she is a child. In the eyes of the law, she is an adult. However, my concern for her does not end when that happens. I understand that she needs to graduate from high school, and I fully intend to help her accomplish that. If she continues in college (a very high likelihood given her excellent grades and life aspirations), I will continue to financially help her for some time.
Like I said, in general, this is a pretty good kid. Very good grades in high school. Attending a mixed high school / college program in her senior year this fall. Will likely graduate from high school with a full semester of college under her belt, all at state expense. Other than her driving, I have no complaints. Yes, the driving is a concern, but should be considered in the light of her overall accomplishments and level of responsibility. In general, I would consider her significantly above average.
In terms of monitoring, the device I like is actually the car cam. See: http://www...mera.html. This records everything that happens in the car, including speed, and so forth. And you can get one for around $100. Highly likely that she will have one of these soon.
Also, yes, we did send her to driving school in order to get one of the tickets reduced. And she did have good representation with the tickets, and getting out of the tickets was argued strongly by her attorney, greatly reducing the cost of the tickets, as well as the points in the process. Without this representation, it is very likely that her license would have been suspended. Which would of course have wrecked havoc on her other plans in terms of employment, education and the like.
However, enough debate about my parenting styles, please. Again, I would like to get back to the original question: What do folks consider to be a good, older used car in terms of reliability, cost to operate, and so forth? I am considering the 1993 Saab 900s. Another car I have looked at is the Toyota Camry in the early to mid 1990s. These things are like cockroaches. They are everywhere. And they never seem to die. I hit craigslist in Raleigh for used Camrys and got 345 hits. From what I can tell, this is one of the highest numbers for any car model out there. I have pretty much eliminated the older Volvos. I looked at two of these, and they were very rough. I would not be willing to have one of those parked in my driveway. No thank you. The neighbors would not be amused. I need to consider the appearance of the car as well. What I am looking for is an older car which is aesthetically OK (but not great), has great safety and reliability, reasonable cost to operate, and so forth. Any thoughts would be most helpful. Thanks very much for the advice provided so far.
Re: Re: Re: Looking for old, reliable, beater used car
Folks, we are spiraling out of control here. I need to nuance the message. This is an 18 year old girl with three tickets. She does not have any DWI, accidents or the like. One the tickets was pure bad luck. (1 mile over the limit.) I could have been given that ticket 10 days out of 10. She is not a dangerous driver. No one is going to die because this kid is driving. The fact that she is 18 does not help, insurance wise. I have driven with her many times and she is as good an 18 year old driver as anyone I know. I have probably had an equally poor driving record than her several times in my life, but not when I was 18. (I have been in some accidents and had some tickets, same as most folks.) The reason for the choice of car is financial. I had my agent run the rates on the 1993 Saab 900s which I refer to above. That car would save us $200 per month. That's real money. It will easily pay for the car (at about $1000) in less than a year.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Looking for old, reliable, beater used car
I have a friend who has an early 90s Volvo 740GL wagon which has been a stunningly reliable and durable car. But I agree this may be a bit too old for us. I have just gotten a line on a fairly nice Saab 900s. This is a 1993 coupe with a manual transmission. It has 147K miles. Everything seems to be in good shape except the air conditioner which needs a new compressor (about $500 including labor). I owned a 1984 900s which was also amazingly durable and reliable. This is an almost identical vehicle, simply 9 years newer. Given that I know how to maintain this car, and what its weaknesses are, I think this may be a good option. Let me know your thoughts.
