I'm pretty dumb when it comes to cars, and my car is pretty much toast. I am buying a new one.
I've test driven Ford Focus, Honda Civics, Corollas, Altimas/Centras, and Mazda 3s. I'm pretty much sold on the Mazda 3 right now, it has the features and shit I'd like. If it wasn't for one small problem I'd go to the bank tomorrow and fill out the paperwork to buy one immediately.
My problem is that there's 3 different Mazda 3's in my area that are all really appealing to me.
The first is a silver 2007 Mazda3 i with 56k miles on it. Clean title, no accident history. Dealer selling it for $8495.
The second is a white 2012 Mazda3 iSport with 46k miles on it. Clean title, has been in an accident back in 2013, but driven quite a bit since then. (Accident reported - Disabling damage reported - Involving front impact - Front primarily damaged - Functional damage reported ) Dealer selling it for $8999.
The third is a black 2012 Mazda3 iSport with 58k miles on it. Clean title, was in an accident in 2015 (Accident reported Involving left front impact with another motor vehicle - Estimated damage less than $1,000, Airbags did not deploy). Dealer selling it for $8895.
I'm just not familiar enough with cars to be able to readily tell the difference. The newer cars seem like they'd have more features but I'm having a damn hard time actually figuring out what features those are (Aside from the lack of a temperature gauge). Moreover, how concerned should I be about the accident history for the newer cars? No matter which one I decide on I'm going to have my mechanic do an inspection, but I just don't know how to effectively compare the three options.
Get the first one. Dont take smashed cars because they look repaired, it could be the cheapest repair job done by pajeet and his cousin and only cosmetic repair
Josiah Cook
That's true which is why I was going to take it to my mechanic to get it looked at, but I'm wondering if you couldn't help me shed some light on what features I'd be missing out on that the newer car would have. I'm finding many of the pages online are geared towards people who actually know shit about cars and thus don't explain it very well to a layman like myself.
Xavier Kelly
the 1st one you dimwit
Chase Edwards
Why the shitty i sport? It's the base model. S grand touring in manual or gtfo.
Jack Richardson
>Why the shitty i sport? Budgetary concerns, mainly. I've had a very rough time the last few years and need something inexpensive while I get things back in order.
Once my finances are sorted out, I plan to sell whatever I get and move up to something a lot more fun.
Charles King
>The first is a silver 2007 Mazda3 i with 56k miles on it. Clean title, no accident history. Dealer selling it for $8495. Yes
>The second is a white 2012 Mazda3 iSport with 46k miles on it. Clean title, has been in an accident back in 2013, but driven quite a bit since then. (Accident reported - Disabling damage reported - Involving front impact - Front primarily damaged - Functional damage reported ) Dealer selling it for $8999. No
>The third is a black 2012 Mazda3 iSport with 58k miles on it. Clean title, was in an accident in 2015 (Accident reported Involving left front impact with another motor vehicle - Estimated damage less than $1,000, Airbags did not deploy). Dealer selling it for $8895 Maybe, if you could get someone who actually knows what they are looking at to asses the damage/repairs.
>Here, compare and contrast: This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much for this!
Zachary Rodriguez
listen here bitch not everyone wants to buy some $2.5-3.5k rusted tin can with hella miles
Jonathan Brown
You can find a clean one I'm sure. Mileage is less important than how it was maintained.
Samuel Gutierrez
My dad bought a Camaro that had a side impact that was repaired. Later on he was tboned on the same side (thing was fucking cursed) and it just had another quarter panel welded on over the fucked one
Joseph Williams
OP: I have a 2012 iSport.
If a dealer is selling you one for $9k, and it's been in an accident, RUN.
Blue Book for mine, granted I have more miles because 74 mile/day commute, is $7k in great condition.
I still wouldn't buy the 07 no matter the miles, that's way too much money for a 9 year old. What state are you in OP? What's yur price range? Looking for econobox commuter?
Elijah Baker
I'm in Utah, price range is ideally $10,000.
Best place in the state for vehicle purchases is a local news site, ksl.com since they don't charge money for classified ads more people around here use that site than places like autotrader or cars.com.
I'm mostly looking for an econobox commuter, but I mean of course I want as many features/as new a car as I can get. Everyone does, right?
Henry Lee
Cash or financing?
Owen Lee
Financing.
I would love to pay cash, but like I said... the last few years have been hellish for me. Medical shit I'd rather not get into. I had a substantial amount saved up, I no longer do. I was hoping I'd have more time with my current vehicle to rebuild my savings but... well, life happens.
Michael Jones
What's wrong with your current car?
Luis Williams
Exhaust pipe has a hole in it (Guaranteed 0% chance it'll pass inspection as is), the rear right brake makes a scraping noise when braking, the airbag light flashes constantly, and there's an extremely loud rattle coming from the engine that sounds like it's about to explode.
James Perry
So you're gonna buy a new car for 8k when your current car needs probably a grand worth of work.
Real smart.
Charles Morris
My current car is worth about a grand AT MOST and needs a grand worth of work.
Also, I forgot to mention, the oil pressure sensor unit is leaking oil.
Jacob Flores
OP: check into both Enterprise and Hertz car sales. My parents have bought 2 cars from Hertz, and one from Enterprise. 2 Toyotas, and a Dodge. Well, the Toyotas are still one the road last I heard. 04 Camry, and 07 Corolla
Blake Sanders
Sometimes it's worth it to fix a car. It's a known quantity. If you buy another used car you don't know how it was maintained. So stuff can fail on it too.
Cameron Martin
>buying used rental cars
hahahaha, no fuck that
Leo White
That's extremely true, but when you spring an oil leak, suddenly start having brake damage, rust damage in an exhaust pipe leads to a hole, AND suddenly an extremely loud and pronounced rattle appear within 3 months of one another, it sort of feels like even if I go out and fix it something else will happen.
Knowing my luck, I'd spend the $1000 to fix it and the clutch cable would go out, or the alternator would suddenly start sparking and causing issues, or who knows what.
The fact that all those issues appeared within the past 3 months kind of leads me to believe that even if I got the current batch of problems fixed, the next batch is less than a year away.
Caleb Perez
>it could be the cheapest repair job done by pajeet Since when is "pajeet" a mechanic? Where the fuck do you live where the mechanics are indians?
Benjamin James
Around here, it wouldn't be 'pajeet'.
It'd be 'Pedro' and he'd have four kids running around in his garage, all of them filthy to the point where their hands and feet would be pitch black, and they'd be climbing in and around tires that haven't been exposed to water in several years at least.
I'm not being racist, that literally describes one of the mechanics I've worked with in the past. The guy did actually really good work and really cheap but I was always super, super, super nervous all the same.
Charles Hughes
Well if you serviced it once in a while shit wouldn't happen all of a sudden. When was your last brake job? It's just been neglected by you.
Isaiah White
I make no excuses for my past vehicle history, save that when you spend more time in hospitals than out of them for 3 months straight, car maintenance is not foremost in your mind.
That said, what's done is done and harping on it won't help the situation now. The situation being that I am now looking for something new, car maintenance WILL be a higher priority, and I'm trying to figure out how not to buy a lemon but at the same time get as many features as I can for my buck.
