Tarreymere Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Our only vehicle is a 1986 Dodge Omni. It is actually in pretty good shape, considering, but DH has stated that he thinks it only has about another year of life in it. Or less. One of the tires is so bad that the belt is showing through and DH won't replace it because he has decided we need to finally get a new (used) car. So, I won't drive it, especially right now in the snow, which means that the kids and I are pretty much stuck until we come to a decision. I know that our Omni is really an anomaly and that we just got lucky. I hear so many stories from people about how much money they have to put into their vehicles and how things go wrong even on newer cars. I really want to get another car that we won't have to really worry about for a good ten or fifteen years. Our budget is tight and I really don't need the stress of wondering if we can afford to fix the car. Actually, even just the thought of spending the money to buy another car gives me a panic attack. I have been looking at Honda and Toyota, just because they are the cars that seem to be rated the highest for reliability, but I don't know much about why or what kind of engine is better. I looked into Subaru, because we live in PA and the AWD would be great, but I read that the cars made in the years between 1998 and 2003 there is a good chance of a head gasket problem (?) and that this is apparently an expensive thing. We are planning to spend under 10K so a newer Subaru is not likely. Any thoughts or ideas on vehicle reliability or caveats I should be aware of? Anyone have brand of car that they have owned for a long time and have found to be more durable than others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I have a friend who drives one of those vans that have a high top.... that some companies use..... Can't think of the name... She really likes it and it uses diesel.... Of course she homeschools and such.... :) She has a bunch of kids... and says what she pays for diesel isn't too bad... When she told me I was thinking that it's less than for my Toyota van. The other thing is... as your kids get older... a regular van doesn't leave much room for those long legs... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 We buy Saturns, 2001 or earlier at around 100,000 miles and then drive them into the ground. As long as we are good with oil & filter changes, air filter changes...the basics, they usually run to 250,000 miles before haing any issues...they are known for leaking a little oil so we do check often and top off as needed. We are careful to check the previous ownership, run the vin to see if they were reported in any accidents, etc. Our last Saturn that we bought last November, was owned by an elderly gentleman who drove it gingerly and kept it faithfully washed and in his garage. It looked gorgeous and only cost $2400.00 total. We paid it off with our tax refund in February so we only made payments for December and January and we made a double in January. They are also reasonably priced to insure. One word of warning, the longevity with Saturns is with the manual transmissions. Those are the ones that go 250,000 without repairs. Automatics do not last as long and tend to start having transmission issues at 160,000-175,000 miles. Our only issue now is that our Chevy Beauville 8 passenger van with nearly 300,000 miles is no longer worth repairing. We can barely squeeze the three boys plus ourselves into the Saturn and if dd wants to go with us, we are stuck. So, probably, the next vehicle will have to be a mini-van for me and we'll give her my car, the Ford Taurus we only paid $100.00 for, so that Dh has the Saturn to drive. He has to have a GM product when he drives in once per month to see the client. He doesn't work for GM but for a computer vendor for GM. Non GM vehicles are routinely vandalized when left parked at the factory. I'm not looking forward to a mini-van....I've liked my Taurus which has routinely given me 30 miles to the gallon even around town and dh's Saturn that gets 30 around town and 33 on the highway. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 We just got a new to us Honda because of reliability especially regarding repairs. My dh said that 2003-2004 can have transmission problems. And my sister warned that the timing belt needs to be replaced around 100000 miles and that is an expensive fix (400+ dollars) so she wanted us to make sure what ever we bought over 100000 had already had the timing belt replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad 4 Boys Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 For advice and information on Toyotas go to www.toyotanation.com. There are plenty of people there with a lot of experience and knowledge. I've been hanging out in the 3rd and 4th generation Camry forum. It's amazing the wealth of information that it contains. There are many do-it-yourself maintenance and repair threads that have detailed step-by-step instructions and pictures. I don't know if all of the other subforums are as good, but it wouldn't surprise me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Our 1993 Toyota Previa is wonderful. Sure, it's ugly, but it has AWD (I've been driving it for 8 years in an area where we routinely get snow, and have only ever slipped twice). It currently has 213000 miles on it and is still running great (no major repairs have ever been done on it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 My Subaru forester was indestructible. I only got oil changes and new brakes till 90,000 miles. It made it to 110,000 miles before it had so many issues it was not worth fixing. I have a Honda CRV now and I am thrilled with it. I have driven it in the snow and it drives as well as my Subaru. I would have stuck with Subaru but my Honda has sooooo much more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Since 1988, I've owned several Toyotas--Corolla, Camry, Highlander, Prius. Over the course of 25 car years, the Corolla's thermostat was twice replaced, along with the timing belt on the Camry. That was it. I LOVE my Prius. Love, love, love it. It's become our family car, taking the place of our minivan that dh now drives. When everyone else is cringing at the gas pump, I get happy all over again, as I average anywhere from 49-60 miles per gallon. And no, this car does NOT plug in, the battery is charged with normal driving of the car. (I find it astonishing that anyone would want to replace gas with electricity, what's the point of that??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Don't forget the brake issue with Toyotas! A few years ago, we got a 2000 Camry and like it. I think the brake issue is for models after ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoplayer Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 We have been very pleased with our 2007 Hyundai Sonata. We first looked at Hyundai because of the impressive safety ratings they were achieving for less $$ than Honda and Toyota. You might look and see what you can find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Don't forget the brake issue with Toyotas! As long as you remember all of the politics and statistics that go along with it. :glare: I'll just say this never would have happened with an American car maker--because the gov't would not have intervened. That's a huge, never-ending discussion, so I'll refrain from commenting further, and you can fire away. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 We always buy $5K Toyota or Honda minivans, and so far we've done great and our car costs have been VERY low. We also don't do a ton of miles. Maybe 25 miles/week + the occasional out-of-town trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I know pretty much nothing about vehicles (and our most recent several vehicles have been Fords -- we've been pleased with the combination of reasonable purchase price plus reasonable repair costs), but I was just researching vans recently. I found one for sale that was very cheap but said it needed a new head gasket. In looking, I found estimates that said about $2000 for that repair, and DH (not a mechanic, but he does pretty much all of our car maintenance, as much as possible, and he's pretty familiar with all of that stuff) said that sounded about right -- it's a pretty complicated and lengthy repair (and really probably can't be done at home). So you may want to factor that into your purchase price, or look for something without that known issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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