Looking for a beater in Boston

[Paul_Heery]

I need some help in zeroing in on potential used vehicles for my son's GF.

My son and his live-in GF live in Boston (actually Brighton). My son called me this morning asking for help in finding a used car for his GF as she is actually being fast-tracked for a new, full-time position that will require her to commute by car. To this point, her job has been in Boston proper and was easily accessible via public transportation.

Their requirements for a vehicle are:

• Must be automatic.
• Rough cosmetics are OK as this car would be regularly parked on the street in Brighton.
• AWD or 4WD would be nice as they do tend to get some snow. But, not absolutely necessary.

I know that we are most likely looking at a 130K+ vehicle that is probably at least 12 years old. My thoughts have led me to something like a Honda CR-V for AWD or an older Accord or Corolla.

Any other things we should be considering?

[1990C4S]

Volvo 850. With snow tires for winter.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Craig's List is full of cars like this Paul. Let me know if I can help in any way.

[Jim Richards]

Aren't pretty much all the cars in Boston beaters?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Those criteria just scream Subaru. If your son doesn't mind some tinkering, an Audi A4/A6 Quattro would definitely fit the bill as well.

[Paul_Heery]

Thanks for the offer Shawn.

It looks like I will be heading up there early on Saturday to help with the search. I have already started combing through Craigslist. Going this route is always a crap shoot. I will be bringing my OBD scan tool, but that will just identify things will help to eliminate candidates.

[Steve Carlton]

I'd suggest sticking to your guns on AWD. What's the budget? Would she consider leasing a Subaru or something?

I'd like to recommend Volvo, but the best bet with Volvo would be an S40 or V50 with AWD. Other models can be dangerous with risk of transmission replacements, and that's still a risk with the S40/V50 as well.

Are you going to get a Carfax subscription?

[Paul_Heery]

Sorry, I left off in my original post that the target budget is $5K

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Aren't pretty much all the cars in Boston beaters?

I do my best to keep that tradition alive and well.

[Esel Mann]

It should be fairly easy to find something up there. Simply expand the search out to the 128 belt. It's possible to even go out to the 495 belt for purposes of trying to snag an econo-****box (hey don't knock until you've owned one, or several).

How would they get out there w/o a car? Easy, zipcar or if they want to look upper crust, rent the home depot truck and go cruizin. Ok, the home depot truck was intended to bring a laugh, but I was totally serious about zip car.

Also, why not look in your area too since you are there?

Do they have friends that work? Does he work? If so, have them look at the company lunch boards or intranet posts as folks place sell ads there too. If they are still in school, they should be scouring the post boards there and putting the word out.

Also, they will not need AWD or 4WD.

[Steve Carlton]

I don't know Boston well enough to know how slippery it gets there or how often you'd have to put on chains. Looking at Boston craigslist ads, I see these:

toyota rav4 2002
2005 Jaguar x type Awd (basically a Ford Contour?)
2004 Subaru Forester 2.5X AWD (this looks good)
2004 Subaru Impreza TS AWD 77K (manual transmission okay?)
2003 subaru forester 106k

[1990C4S]

1996 Volvo 850 Turbo Sedan Very Good Condition

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/cto/4383585266.html

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/4381384257.html

[Por_sha911]

Anything with a Yankees or Rangers bumper sticker on it...

[t-tom]

You can't beat a 96-99 4Runner 4x4 I have one for sale here in Kansas City 96 1 owner would drive it anywhere in the world. Its a limited with leather and all the options 125k miles. Its in pretty good shape not all beat up. All the service has been done at a Local Toyota dealer including the Timing Belt and water pump. 4000 bucks. I'm gonna put it on Craigslist for 5 I know its a little far away, but its a good truck

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by t-tom

You can't beat a 96-99 4Runner 4x4 I have one for sale here in Kansas City 96 1 owner would drive it anywhere in the world. Its a limited with leather and all the options 125k miles. Its in pretty good shape not all beat up. All the service has been done at a Local Toyota dealer including the Timing Belt and water pump. 4000 bucks. I'm gonna put it on Craigslist for 5 I know its a little far away, but its a good truck

Bomb proof trucks. Except for the MPG you can't go wrong.

[Noah930]

I lived in Boston for 7 years (Brighton for 5 of those). I drove a Nissan 200SX SE-R. I think there were 2 days I couldn't commute due to inclement weather, and I always ran summer/high performance tires on it. So while it's definitely nice (and possibly safer, from a parental perspective) to have 4WD, it's not necessary. They salt and plow the roads plenty.

I hated living/driving in New England for reasons of rust. My car itself wasn't bad (too rusty), even for being 14 years-old when I sold it, but I had to replace the exhaust every 2-3 years. It wasn't just a Nissan thing, as we had the same experience with my wife's Jetta. But rust is going to be an issue to investigate in any 10+ year-old New England car you're looking at. Maybe you can take up t-tom's offer on his KS Toyota, and drive it up to Boston.

FWIW, I used to go to Newton Street Garage (in Brighton) for any wrenching I couldn't do myself. I found Tom to be a very honest and reasonable guy.

[june82000]

Ahhh, I remember growing up around Allston. Kid I knew had a real POS Dodge Dart with the slant-6 and enough rust for 3 or 4 cars. Those were the days...