looking for online resource for reliability of used cars.
 

I pretty sure I have heard of such a thing.

I have a friend at work who is a single mom and her car just died so she needs something cheap and reliable. Being her friend the car nut she has asked for my advice. I would most likely find how much she has to spend then point her toward the appropriate used Honda/Toyota however even they have possibly produced a particular model and/or year that was a lemon.
She is just getting by financially so of course I would feel terrible if I sent her towards a money pit.
Anyone know of an online list of reliable year/make cars?

TIA

Someone in her situation should buy a cheap NEW car--something like a Hyundai with a great warranty. With a new car, she'll be able to buy it for little or nothing down and a good and possibly subsidized interest rate. You pay the $2-300 per month and that's your ONLY worry. If she buys used, she'll have to put 20%+ down and pay higher interest.

We have a guy who works here who's been through half a dozen bargain used cars in as many years. People who are struggling financially can be destroyed by a $1500 repair bill.

Yes, look at the deals on new cars.

Realiability? Toyota Corolla or Camry. Dont beat on them, change the oil often and timing belt every 75K..

No wonder Detroit is going broke.

Problem is she is looking a $2-5K cash, they just raised her rent and doubt she could handle a car payment.

I hear what you are saying, I do a commute into downtown everyday then leave the car in a public lot all day to be abused so I picked up a hyundai for the daily grind.

Probably look for a Corolla.

Thanks,
Scott

Go to the library and look at the latest Consumer Reports car issue. At the back they have reliability data for almost all car models. In my experience, it is pretty accurate.

Ah yes... thanks John!

Here's an excerpt from CR...

The new car idea has a lot of merit; no costly surprises and only minimal maintenance expense compensates for the payment. She could lease an '05 Civic for $159/mo + tax with about $2k to start, keep the other $3K in reserve, even to help with payments. Click on "Current Offers" at http://automobiles.honda.com/

This might be a useful resource if you ignore my advice:

www.intellichoice.com

Thanks guys,
Again I'm not ignoring anyones advice however she has a low paying job and is raising a child alone so I just don't see her handling a car payment.
Now if she wanted to move in with me I would set her up with a new econobox in a heartbeat however in the real world that's not going to happen either.

So the best I can do for now is steer her away for a 1974 beetle that needs a valve job... this is the kind of thing she can afford and is looking at.

I was just joking about ignoring my advice! But what some of us were saying is a low payment on a new car could be made in lieu of repairs and maintence averaged out, with no ugly surprises. She could bring that Honda lease payment down to my weekly beer budget if she put her whole $5K down on it. She'd need decent credit and an income to qualify as well.

Was the intellichoice link any good? I've just heard of them, never perused their site.

Sorry if I was a little snippy... little too much caffeine
Yes the intelachoice link worked.
We had lunch and seems like she is going to buy her mom's escort (I know ewwww) for like $1000 save up some dough, look for a better job, and buy new car in about a year or so.

Thanks every one.

More importantly.... any ideas on getting her to move in with me?
J/K :D

Lease an extra Honda and put sugar in the Escort's tank... ;)

The newest Accord or Civic she can afford will do the trick. For ~4k you should be able to find a clean ~100k mile 94-96 Accord that should last another 100k. There is nothing wrong with toyota either, I just prefer honda. Cant go wrong either way.

Its best to buy an older reliable car outright.

Even if it required occasional repairs, chances are likely they will be a lot cheaper and less frequent than a new car payment.

Speaking of escorts, when I took my daily driver 930 off the road I too needed something cheap and reliable.

I found a 94 escort wagon with 198,000 miles on the clock for $250. Talk about ewwww, but the price and its ability to haul around porsche parts made it a good deal for me. It needed a few minor repairs but parts were so cheap they all cost me less than $100.

A couple years down the road it now has 225,000 miles on it and the only other repairs I have had to make are replacing the water pump, timing belt and alternator. The total maintenance costs have been less than $350.

It's likely to be cheaper to buy a used car outright, but not by much. Factor in the nightmare of a major repair and the loss of the vehicle when it breaks down and it's a losing proposition IMHO.

I seriously doubt scottmandue's single-mom friend is going to go replacing water pumps, timing belts, or alternators for the price of the parts. Not to mention tires, brakes, shocks, tune-ups, batteries, clutches, transmissions, fuel pumps, CV joints/axle assemblies, radiators, or gaskets. And let's not factor in any safety differences, either...

Brake jobs, waterpumps, cv joints and many other regular, non-catastrophic types of repairs all cost less than the typical car payment and occur much less than once a month if you buy a car that is in good shape.

Sure, its a crapshoot but taking a bath on the cost of a used car that suffers a catastrophic failure will still be less than the loss one takes due to depreciation on a new or slightly used car.

Try this link....click on Reliability Ratings on the left hand side and choose your car:

http://autos.msn.com/home/used_research.aspx?src=LeftNav


Ive owned several new Hondas (Acuras) , a couple new Toyotas and a couple of older Toyotas with high mileage...

Acura Integra
Integra GSR
RSX Type S
2 Toyota Tacomas
Toyota Celica
Toyota Corolla GTS - college car

They are about even in bulletproof reliability. I never had a major issue with any of them at all... come to think of it, not even a minor issue either.

I don't think $159/mo + tax is a typical car payment, and many repairs will cost more than say $172 to one who doesn't do their own work and needs their car everyday.

The Honda lease:

FEATURED SPECIAL LEASE: Closed-end lease for 2005 Civic Value Package with Automatic Transmission (Model ES1635W). MSRP $15,675.00 (includes destination). Actual net capitalized cost $13,477.56. Dealer participation may affect actual payment. Taxes, license, title, registration, documentation fees, options and insurance extra. Total monthly payments $5,724.00. Option to purchase at lease end $8,464.50. Lessee responsible for maintenance, excessive wear/tear and 15¢/mile over 12,000 miles/year.

The total depreciation (adding back the $999 down) is around $6,600 including the acquisition fee = $2,200/yr. It's hard to drive anything decent that will cost less than that, and for that you get a new car under warranty that's going to cost little more than oil changes.

On top of that, the lease factor works backwards to a 2.2% APR equivalent. Her mom's Escort for $1,000 is probably a great deal; in general it's hard to find a reliable used car for less than $3-5K. For each $1,000 more she puts down on the Honda lease, the payment drops by around $28/mo, so with a total of $5K down she'd be around $88/mo on the payment. At least all her money would be going to something of value, as opposed to keeping some turd running. New cars that hold their value, at the right price with good incentives don't cost that much more than a used car.