aaudetat wrote:
ok, phase 2:
Car one is a Ford Focus ZX5. 32k. Private party, very well maintained. This guy is the second owner. My only concern with it is it's average reliability ratings per Consumer Rpts. On the other hand, it's practically new. Clean CarFax.
Car 2 is a Scion xA. Dealer sale. Seems underpriced - don't know if that'd b/c it doesn't fit in with the rest of the dealership or if there's something wrong with it. Clean CarFax. My concern: # of miles, the sluggish engine (scary on the interstate), and several reviews that say it's not very comfortable on long trips. It's also had several owners. Does the excellent reliability make up for the cheap-feeling ride and the somewhat mysterious past?
Anyway, I have another car to look at today and then I'm going to get a mechanic to check out the xA.
Couple of comments.
1) 32k Focus already on its second owner - raised my eyebrow
2) Carfax is pretty close to worthless. My colleague just bought a 2003 BMW 540 with 70k miles from the original owner. The carfax was clean as well as another report (autocheck? - can't remember the name). In any event, my colleague took the car to his mechanic and found out that the car had had several mechanical issues from previous accidents and was repaired in less than optimal/original form. No indications of any kind from those two reports.
3) Shady/suspicious history is a red flag. Just walk away.
4) Ford's reliability is rising (NOTE this is a relative term
), but still, do you think it will make it to 100k miles (not sure how much driving you plan to do) without issues? I wouldn't put $10 bucks on that.
5)It would be beneficial to know what model year the cars are. For instance, a 2005 with 74k would be well above average mileage.
As a final note, there are plenty of fish in the sea. To say the auto industry is struggling right now is a gross understatement. If you are interested in a Scion (or whatever car you really want), just keep your eyes peeled. No need to rush into anything. You do not want to save a few bucks now (let's say the Scion is $1.500 less than others you have seen), just to put a lot of money into it later. New brakes/rotors/tires will cost you $1,000+ easily, let alone any other issue you may have (mechanical, transmission, etc.).