S-10CREWCAB.NET

I've been around lurking but haven't posted for a while so I figured I'd ask everyone's advice. I'm looking for a cheap commuter car to supplement my CC, in case its down for repairs, a second vehicle is needed, or for long commutes. I'm looking for something basic, 4 cyl, standard, a/c, something newer and like $5k and down. I prefer GMs obviously but I'll look into anything. Anyone have any thoughts?

On a second note, I just picked up a great deal on an '01 honda foreman 450 w/ 134 miles on the odometer! Ordered a lift for it, some new skid plates and hope to have fun with it. Great rig so far. Hope everyones summer went well, fall colors are here already!

green02crew wrote:I've been around lurking but haven't posted for a while so I figured I'd ask everyone's advice. I'm looking for a cheap commuter car to supplement my CC, in case its down for repairs, a second vehicle is needed, or for long commutes. I'm looking for something basic, 4 cyl, standard, a/c, something newer and like $5k and down. I prefer GMs obviously but I'll look into anything. Anyone have any thoughts?

On a second note, I just picked up a great deal on an '01 honda foreman 450 w/ 134 miles on the odometer! Ordered a lift for it, some new skid plates and hope to have fun with it. Great rig so far. Hope everyones summer went well, fall colors are here already!

A honda WHAT ?

Haha yeah a Honda ATV! Not a road worthy vehicle, atleast by law. Some areas call them quads others four wheelers if that helps at all.

On another note, the car I'm looking for, '02 and up, would love low mileage granny veh if possible, I've heard good things about subarus but it has to be a fun drive as well. Maybe I should just invest in an '02 camaro?

Subaru's are a pretty decent car but PRAY you never need to buy any dealer parts. They seem to be higher than Mercedes. Most foreign cars in the range you're looking for will be higher than that unless they have tons of miles on em. I wouldn't be afraid of Nissan, Toyota, or Honda. Happy hunting!

Have you tried entering all the specifics you've posted here into one of the many used car search sites like?

cars.com
vehix.com
autotrader.com

"advanced search" at any of those will allow you to narrow search results down very nicely to just what you're looking for. I've had pretty good luck with all three.

*Edit: oh and, I bought a used mazda3 (found at cars.com) a few years back for the very same reason. it was great fun to drive (they ain't lying about that "zoom zoom" thing). I treated it quite poorly, doing no maintanence other than an oil change every 10-15k miles and it was still running like a champ when I traded it in on a new car for Mrs barch last month.

Good Luck

Found an 04 Civic 2dr 5 spd power everything, 67k miles, $5600. Not bad if you ask me. Worth it to get a back up vehicle? I'm really considering this. It would get about 2x the fuel economy of the s-10 and cut down on wear and tear with it. Plus if the pickup goes down for service, I have no vehicle left to drive. How long do you think it would take to pay for itself? I would lessen my insurance to liability for both vehicles seeing as their value is significantly less now.

"Civic, Kittery ME"

green02crew wrote:Found an 04 Civic 2dr 5 spd power everything, 67k miles, $5600. Not bad if you ask me.

I ran the details from the link you posted through edmunds.com True Market Value calculator and they agree, $5600 is not bad at all. Actually, they estimate dealer retail closer to $7k.

Hint: there may be a reason it's priced so low.

So, be sure to get someone without a personal interest in the sale (preferably a qualified mechanic) to look it over before you get to talking numbers. At very least, get a carfax report.

green02crew wrote:Worth it to get a back up vehicle?

I drive about a hundred miles round trip to work five days a week. So back in the summer of '06 when gas was around $4/gal, it made a whole lot of sense for me. Not to mention how much easier it is to parallel park a little mazda in the city.

I am very happy that I did buy another vehicle as it has drastically reduced the wear and tear on my CC and enabled me to hold onto it much longer than expected.

green02crew wrote:How long do you think it would take to pay for itself?

On a strictly fuel economy savings basis, it depends on how much you drive it. If it's truly getting twice the mpg of your CC, then you've essentially cut your fuel cost in half. How much did you spend on gas last month? Divide $5600 by half of that and you've got your answer. I suspect the maintenance & insurance costs are relatively negligible but for a more accurate estimate, add those amounts to your cost before dividing by savings.

Assuming you're financing the purchase, I very strongly recommend checking out the used car loan rates in your area. Bankrate.com will give you a very good idea what to expect. If you belong to a credit union, by all means check their rate as well (often you'll save a half a point or more by setting up direct electronic transfer loan payments). Going into dealership with cash in hand puts you in a very strong bargaining position.

Unless "Steve Brown" is much bigger operation than this ad implies, financing through him, will most likely be through a local bank. So, knowing what local banks are offering ahead of time will help you cut through the BS.

Good luck

green02crew wrote:Found an 04 Civic ... 67k miles, $5600...about 2x the fuel economy of the s-10 ...How long do you think it would take to pay for itself?

How much gas can you buy for that? $5600 / $2.75 per gal = 2036 gallons.
If the crew gets an average of 15 mpg that would take you 30,545 miles. That would be over three years for my normal annual mileage.

How many miles do you average per year? How much of that will be put on the car?
Personally I think a back up vehicle is a good idea. It takes the pressure off when one needs service or repair.
I'm not sure it is going to pay for itself in it's lifespan though.

I bought a motorcycle. It has been averaging 65 mpg. Riding it instead of the crew, I have put 1500 miles on it so far this year. That would be 100 gallons of fuel in the crew at 15 mpg. On the bike 23 gallons of fuel. That means I saved $212. I paid $2400 for the bike. So at this rate it will take over ten years to break even.

I am not sure you will do as well only getting twice the mileage and paying twice what I did. Granted you will be driving year round and I am not going to suffer the cold. You may make some gains there. I may also ride more miles than my example thus far too. I think you are going to have to justify the purchase on the basis of a second vehicle rather than it paying for itself. JMO

I contacted that seller and it was already gone. I've found some others looking on craigslist and those were gone too. I work with two mechanics in a prior life, now just their hobbies so I'll bring someone along to look at rides. I would like a second car to help the lifetime of the CC and save wear and tear as fixing a small car is cheaper than a pickup. I'll only buy a car if I can go cash though. I don't seem to have much for credit as I keep doing business this way. I've narrowed down the search thanks to the advice on here, subaru impreza, mazda 3 or honda civic. All 4cyl low mileage required. It will take time but hopefully I'll find something. I average fairly high mileage yearly as there is nothing nearby to me and driving is a must. I was looking at a motorcycle but the summers are just too short, this summer was the deciding factor on that.

About to pull the trigger on a 2001 Honda Civic coupe. Little higher mileage than I wanted at 113k but great shape otherwise. Clean in and out, 4 new winter tires, new manifold which means new cat as they are a one piece unit, ss exhaust so no fear of rotting, same goes for the composite fuel tank, its 5spd, a/c, power everything and remote start. No ABS which is a bummer but you can't have everything. Oh and its white... not my favorite color for a car like that. Timing belt has been changed as well as sway bar bushings and its been spray undercoated for winter use.

Typically these seem to have struts and water pumps go around the 100k mark but the struts felt strong and I'll test the water pump if/when it goes haha.

Its from a dealer and they want $4500 for it. Any thoughts?? Books for $6200 retail.

Sounds about right price wise. I wouldn't be afraid of the miles provided it's been well maintained. Personally I wouldn't sweat the no ABS brakes either. Personally I hate em.

Sounds decent. Hows the cost of insurance? Civics are pretty popular among thieves , aren't they? That can make insurance higher.
It has a few years on it and that should help. The color is also the easiest to fix and therefore cheaper to insure too.

With their popularity, I think it sounds like a good deal.

Insurance will go up $120 yearly. Thats getting rid of full coverage and only keeping liablility/comprehensive and just crossing my fingers I don't get dumb and wreck. They were on the top of the stolen car list last I knew, around here theres no option of professionals its all people leaving the keys in the vehicle. I know as I'm the one taking the reports haha.

Anyone have a carfax account?

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