<p>Iglooo, My dad bought a cheap used car about a year or two ago, and I believe next year they are selling that car as well as my moms current car towards a new one for her. Her current car only has about 60k miles but it’s 10 years old and has been nothing but trouble since she got it. If that were my car I would have gotten rid of it 9 years ago. The front seat is stuck in place, the passenger seat doesnt stay latched so you go up and back with no notice, the passenger side window has to stay in the up position because if you put it down then it gets stuck in the down position, the cup holders in the back of the car snap off every time you put a drink in them because for some reason they can’t hold the weight, etc. Non of these problems are mechanical but it’s little things that have been fixed over and over and over again and they just keep breaking again. I personally think the car needs a new motor mount but they haven’t had that checked out yet so I don’t know. My dad thinks the transmission is occasionally skipping a gear, but my mom says he’s crazy and just hearing things.</p>
<p>HImom, is your gas cap closed all the way? A lot of people don’t know this but if your gas cap isn’t shut all the way that will more then likely trigger your check engine light with no actual engine problem.</p>
<p>Igloo - Check out Craig’s list for used cars. If I needed one for 1-2 years, I would not spend more than 5K. Many of the listings on Crag’s list are dealers if you don’t want to buy privately (though typically less expensive). My mechanic will check out the car before buying. Since I drive my cars to the ground, I have a great relationship with the mechanic. If you buy a 4K car, one year later it’s not much less when you sell it. This, as opposed to a new car which may depreciate 8K in a year. If you want a new car, buy a Honda which is least likely to depreciate as much.</p>
<p>Keeping overlapping cars is inefficient because you pay additional taxes and insurance costs if you are only going to use one at a time. What is the main reason for the extra vehicle?</p>
<p>Thanks for the info bonnie! My kids keep haunting me for Xmas ideas and that sounds like something that would really be useful…the scanner is going on the list:)</p>
<p>Igloo, for a short-term need you might want to look at leasing - there are websites for people who trade their leases. But buying used, depending on your price range, is really not much different than buying new cars. Research the cars you’re interested in (used cars data is available on edmunds.com and other sites), test drive and make sure the owner/dealer is willing to allow your own mechanic to look the vehicle over and make a list of necessary repairs, have a CarFax report run (you can order it online with the VIN number, but most dealers will have it for you already), and find out what necessary repairs they’re willing to pay for and/or what warranties are available. These can be the original warranty, a dealer warranty (certified used cars generally have these for longer than the standard 30 days I think), or a warranty you purchase privately (yet another item to research). It’s a bit more time consuming, especially if you want a particular model or have a limited budget, but you should save a significant amount of money.</p>
<p>BCEagle - My kid is getting a license. We never keep a spare car around. This is until the kid is in college. How do most people manage when you have a new driver?</p>
<p>sk8ermom - I looked into leasing. It seems the standard length for leasing is 3 years. I wasn’t sure if you save much money going that way.</p>
<p>We have had two kids get their licenses in the past few years. We have three cars even tho much of the year, there are only H & I home driving them. It is a luxury but since all the cars are older, there is often one in the shop for servicing and it is nice to have the spare. We have toyed with the idea of selling one (when we got the “new” one the other year, making us have 4 cars, we did ship one to S in LA). We may ship one to D yet, depending on how things work for her & IF she can afford to maintain & pay for insurance, gas, AAA & parking on the vehicle. It may just be cheaper to buy her a used car in LA instead.</p>
<p>Folks I know who have several drivers have them share–often they do buy a reliable used car when the kid is in HS & then the kid has it available when s/he is home at breaks and at some point can have a conversation about driving it to their U (generally after freshman year).</p>