The Car is Dead/Long Live the (Next) Car

Ready America Auto Emergency Hammer and Seat Belt Cutter-75403 - The Home Depot

Basic model:

 

Fixed.

 

I bought a previously leased 2008 Nissan Altima in ‘11, had 31K miles at time of purchase. Now is at 162K and still humming. Hoping to get to at least 200, if not 250. This was after having three Dodges, all of which completely fell apart before the 150K mark.

If I was in the market for something new, I rented a Nissan Rogue for a vacation roadtrip last year and loved it. Great gas mileage. Plenty of space, but not a monster SUV. Smooth ride. I'd love to have one.

 

Re: Craigslist. Is there any literature out there about the benefits of private purchases vs. dealership purchases on used cars? That's what I would wonder about. But you probably have this figured out if you do some of your own repairs. Just figured I'd throw that out.

 

On the risk continuum (w.r.t. used cars) ... Franchised dealers < non-franchised dealers < private sales.

 

Not according to all the sitcoms I grew up watching. "Guy buys car from private seller and all kind of things go wrong" was an episode staple.

 

Right ... buying a used car from a franchised dealer is the least risky ... buying from a private seller is the most risky.

 

It wasn't until recently that I read that headrests are designed to be pulled out and used to break the window with the metal part if one happens to be in the water.

I never knew that before, and I imagine a lot of people don't know that.

 

Ugh. How awful...

 

ANOTHER of the just-get-me-there cars has shuffled loose this mortal coil! This one hurts ... been working pretty hard on it so as to let the famous DaughterQuant drive it. I don't do trannies, though.

 

Well you are just teeing that up nicely.

 

2004 Toyota Camry here. 298,000 miles. I used to think, 100,000 miles ago, that my next oil change may be my last. Haven’t even considered it in a while. The thing runs like a rock star. Only sign of age is I add oil now, which I didn’t do 150,000 miles ago. It will become Baby MMSW’s when she heads to college next year.

And it’s my third Camry. Crashed one with high mileage in 2004. Wife drives an 8-year-old one. Long live the Camry.