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Old 03-30-2019, 11:03 AM   #31
equ
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I think the days of somewhat decent cars for $2k or so (back in the 90's) have long passed. At least around the NYC area. They have all been driven into the ground. Maybe some would make station or student cars for light use. They may start out as a smaller money pit. Even with spending under control, with heavy use, they'll become a big time pit. They take just as much time to shop for, to fix and to sell.
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Old 03-30-2019, 05:03 PM   #32
Alan
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Why not take a trip to the local Hyundai or Kia dealer and do a 3 year lease on the Sonata or optima. They are great cars, the price for the 3 years is usually in the mid to high $200 per month range and your wife has a brand new reliable safe car.
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Old 03-30-2019, 05:41 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by AF View Post
Why not take a trip to the local Hyundai or Kia dealer and do a 3 year lease on the Sonata or optima. They are great cars, the price for the 3 years is usually in the mid to high $200 per month range and your wife has a brand new reliable safe car.
I was thinking the same.
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Old 03-30-2019, 09:38 PM   #34
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I think the days of somewhat decent cars for $2k or so (back in the 90's) have long passed. At least around the NYC area. They have all been driven into the ground. Maybe some would make station or student cars for light use. They may start out as a smaller money pit. Even with spending under control, with heavy use, they'll become a big time pit. They take just as much time to shop for, to fix and to sell.
They only become money pits if you let them. Money pits happen when you don't budget or stick to the one you have.

Dunno if it's been clear, but (assuming the car lasts for all this) my wife probably won't drive it more than two months. After that, I may drive it daily to the subway station and back, get my older daughter more miles on her learner's permit, then have her drive it when she gets her license (and repeat with younger daughter).

If the car needs more than I'm willing to spend on it, away it goes. And then I'll start seriously looking for a more quality low cost, high reliability vehicle.

Until earlier this week, I was expecting us to buy a new car for my wife and have her Outback serve as the beater for the kids. If SOA covers a new transmission, that will probably still happen. If I buy something before finding out, maybe we'll keep it, maybe not. I don't need to decide that right now.

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Why not take a trip to the local Hyundai or Kia dealer and do a 3 year lease on the Sonata or optima. They are great cars, the price for the 3 years is usually in the mid to high $200 per month range and your wife has a brand new reliable safe car.
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I was thinking the same.
My wife would probably be pretty happy with a Sonata/Optima. In terms of a leases...She's driving about 20,000 mikes a year right now (down form 25k/y a couple years ago), adds door dings, dents, scratches, and more on a daily basis, and I'm thinking I probably that probably covers why leasing is not an option.
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Old 03-31-2019, 09:56 PM   #35
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Sunday, I'm looking at a 2003 that looks pretty similar in pics, but with only 114k miles. Seller is a tech and former detailer. He's given me some really detailed answers and said he found prior paintwork when he bought it that wasn't listed on Carfax at the time. Carfax still doesn't show anything, but does look like it had all scheduled service done at two different local Scooby dealers through 110k miles, which was about two years ago. It passed VA safety a year ago with about 1200 more miles added. Current owner bought it with just a few more miles on it in October. He's asking $3800
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...850506188.html
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Looking forward to seeing the other car tomorrow.
Seller is a tech at the Carmax in Sterling and said the car came in on trade last October. Employees have the option of buying some cars that come in and he bought this one to use as a daily while getting two project cars (another Outback with a lift kit and a WRX) running. They're both running now and he wants to sell this one and turn the money into parts for those cars.

This turned out to be a pretty nice car. Drove great. Nothing in engine bay or underneath appeared to be leaking (although evidence of minor seepage here and there). Everything seemed to work. Interior was spotless in a well cared for way as opposed to a cleaned up way. No evidence of water leaks from sunroof. Needs front pads, rotors, and tires.

We agreed on $3200 and now all we have to do is work out the logistics. Assuming we make that happen, we'll see how well the car holds up with a little time. I have a good feeling about it.
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Old 03-31-2019, 11:38 PM   #36
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Wait you didn’t ask to buy the one with the lift kit instead?
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Old 04-01-2019, 10:09 AM   #37
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Sounds like a good find from a dedicated Subaru guy. Good luck...
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Old 04-01-2019, 11:45 AM   #38
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Wait you didn’t ask to buy the one with the lift kit instead?
Where did I say I didn't ask? I mean, I didn't, but I didn't say that. At least not until this post.
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Old 04-01-2019, 11:46 AM   #39
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Sounds like a good find from a dedicated Subaru guy. Good luck...
Thanks!

I'm curious how it will all turn out.
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Old 04-05-2019, 03:06 PM   #40
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I'm curious how it will all turn out.
Fuckfacemother McFucker ghosted me all week whenever I tried putting together a time to give him money and sign papers for the 2003 Outback. Until moments ago, that is, when he texted that he can't sell the car.

Still haven't heard back from Subaru of America either, which really pisses me off. Just pick up the phone, call me, tell me, "Fuck no, we're not going to cover it," and let me move on.

Earlier today, I talked to my wife to get her mentally ready for choosing what will be her car for the next few years. She finally gave me some info I can use to narrow choices down for her. I think budget is probably going to be about $25k.

Big wagon to medium crossover. Basically, something with similar footprint, cargo, and passenger space as the Outback. Good visibility out.That sounds to me a lot like:

Honda CR-V
Mazda CX-5
Ford Escape
Toyota RAV4 (sigh)

They're all 5-11" shorter in length and close to the same width (Outback is 72" and these are all either 72" or 73"). Outback has 34 cubic feet behind the seats and these all have 31-38 (not sure how much of that space for Outback or the others is above the rear seat height, which we tend not to go over).

Anything I'm missing? Nissans are a no and not sure I want to try my hand at a GM product here. European stuff that hits the size targets is probably too pricey.

My preference would be for a used current gen car, but the current CRVs and CX5s introed as 2017s and they're not that much less expensive than new. The RAV4 became new for 2019 and the Escape is long in the tooth and feels like a bigger Focus.

Anticipate 20-22k/year on it for five years and it being covered with dings, dents, and scratches on the outside and smell a little "what smell are you trying to hide?" (but if you give it a week, it smells normal) at the end of the term. I'm leaning towards new to get "all of the miles" unless I can find something with super low miles and a way low price because of something like a big hail damage discount.
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