I've been shopping around for a while trying to find a good first car

I've been shopping around for a while trying to find a good first car.

I have a low budget, about 2.5k. I've been looking out for civics and corollas but I'm having trouble finding something reliable and honestly I don't know much about cars.

I'm 22 y/o and I'm in college, looking for something to get me around. I live in Newfoundland so the winters are pretty brutal.

I saw a post for this today:

2007 mazda3 for sale, phantom purple.
licensed til June 2018.
Lady driven
189xxx km
BRAND NEW winter AND all season tires included (one season on each set of tires)
All regular maintenance and oil changes. New brake lights, flex pipe, sway bar.
As is. Price is OBO.

They want 1750 CAD.

The pic is the pic they posted.

Is it a good/bad deal? Should I avoid and are there any red flags?

Other urls found in this thread:

autotrader.ca/result/AdDetailInfo.aspx?srcID=19&frnID=10358419
wwwb.autotrader.ca/a/mazda/mazda3/mount pearl/newfoundland and labrador/19_10297806_/?showcpo=ShowCpo&orup=6_15_75
kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/st-johns/2005-hyundai-accent-licensed-inspected-126-000-kms/1298725167?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/st-johns/1998-saturn-sl-series-sedan-with-4-good-winter-tires-on-rims/1299723019?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

Is that the only pic they posted? If yes, you should go see it in person. People who take pics without the full car in view are usually hiding something of a defect on it. You could also ask for more pictures in email I guess.

Buy a civic for $1000 and get some good tires and a oil change

>2500 cad
so like 1k usd? ride the bus or share with your parents or family until you can spend more on a decent car.

There is one more, this is it

Really? Whenever I see something around that price it's a parts car or they say it wouldn't pass inspection. I may not be looking hard enough, I'm not a car guy so I'm not sure of what major red flags are.

It's 2026 USD

I've been getting this bus but the bus near my house stops at 6pm and doesn't run on weekends. That and if I want to get to class at 9 then I have to leave my house 6:30

>lady driven
>All regular maintenance and oil changes

That should be a pretty huge red flag. Ladies don't maintain vehicles as they are appliances to be driven into the ground and replaced by their husband/bf. I guarantee that vehicle has been abused harder than some ricer teenager with a hard on for hooning would abuse their vehicle.

Fair enough, thanks for the advice!

>that front right scrape from lack of spacial awareness

I feel bad for every car that has been damaged by that one from door dings and parking failures.

Why can't you share with your parents?

Short answer: they don't wanna share

They have two Mazda 3s? The blue is also theirs?

If yes, you should compare the two and see what the differences are, same rust spots, same cleanliness, and also ask for whatever service receipts they have and their Carfax, it's not going to be perfect but as long as there's recent service and it's not like once a year, the car should be fine for $1750, I'd obviously offer $1500.

If I was you I'd look around for an old 2000-2005 Impala, they're tanks, and you should be able to find them for cheap $1000 range. If you have time look for that. It will not let you down and it's got a stronger V6.

He can just take it to a local mechanic and ask for a check on the car for like $30 or so and a 10 minute drive.

well if they don't want to share they should help you buy something decent.

autotrader.ca/result/AdDetailInfo.aspx?srcID=19&frnID=10358419

You could maybe talk to this couple who just bought this.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not sure if they have 2 Mazda 3s, I didn't notice, but I'll take your advice. Would you recommend an impala over a civic or corolla? Well the long answer is this:
Parents are divorced. Dad bought my sister a car when she got her license. Fell on hard times and couldn't afford one for me. My sister and I needed to share, but she has school and two jobs. The car is basically hers and my mother who I live with supports that idea.

My mother is a very controlling person. Not gonna go deep into the specifics, but she doesn't want me to be able to leave. She deifnitely would not help pay for a car. I could technically use her car sometimes, but she would do this thing where she would just decide "you can't go there/can't do that/it's raining/it's too far, etc" just to flex her power.

Yes Impala is way better than Civic or Corolla. Your first car should be something cheap to fix (they all are) but it should also keep you safe, an Impala is mid-full size sedan, it's built with solid steel, it has room for 5 people, and its more respectable for a 22yo. The other cars you're looking at will be tiny, have no power to get you out of the snow and when you slide off the road on ice or spin out, you'll have be safer than in those cars. You'll also be safer in an accident since it's larger.

Isn't 179k km a lot for a car that price?

That was actually very information advice. Are impalas decent for snow driving in general p

Yeah, I would ask for $3k, the tires are also going to need replacement, but the car looks really clean, and taken care of. It's Newfoundland though, there's like no options

FWD is good for snow, and larger cars will keep you going with momentum in spots with lots of snow. Small cars will just spin out or get stuck. I had a 2004 Impala here in Toronto and we got some pretty bad winter's too for the 10 years I had the car (06-16) it always kept going, and it kept me totally safe in a 100 kmh highway crash and spin out into the center ditch, I literally walked out and it was still drivable with minor dents on the front bumper after being clipped by a Jetta twice. My mom's been hit from behind in it on the on ramps and its frame held up perfectly, it's been through 8 inch water and been fine, it's used as police vehicles so that's usually a good bet for a reliable no bs car. Even 07-010 Chargers are good but that's RWD.

Thanks for all the help, the safety aspect is very reassuring. How many km's can they generally last?

>Your first car should be something cheap to fix

This. When you're buying in the

addendum: Rust is expensive/impossible to fix. It is always too expensive to buy.

Go to auto trader and look Canada wide, impalas are for sale for $3k in Ontario some with 300,000 kms. Mine crashed at 280k, and it would have made it to half a million. A lot of old American cars do 400,000 miles, which is like 550k, without much sweat, 179k is nothing for it

Nice. Thanks a lot. I'll contact the couple selling the impala that you linked earlier and see if I can negotiate down a little.

wwwb.autotrader.ca/a/mazda/mazda3/mount pearl/newfoundland and labrador/19_10297806_/?showcpo=ShowCpo&orup=6_15_75

How about this Mazda 3?

This doesn't seem to bad either but you'd want to test it

kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/st-johns/2005-hyundai-accent-licensed-inspected-126-000-kms/1298725167?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

I am not sure if they have cheap Saturns in canada, but those are the best bet for winter. The plastic body parts won't rust and all you have to do is make sure the undercarriage is free of salt.

Well there's this

kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/st-johns/1998-saturn-sl-series-sedan-with-4-good-winter-tires-on-rims/1299723019?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Shit man thats actually not too bad. I feel like 1k saturns should be the new Veeky Forums meme but theyre hard to find. Low miles is good and backs up the sellers statement of being an old people church car. Check it out in person, it would be a good winter beater for that price.