looking for a two - three year old toyota to buy

I am looking for a two - three year old toyota to buy. Any suggestions? Model? Why should I go used or new? Please help. Thanks, toyofa

Reply to
mabrokwah
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I think the 05-06 would be the best bets. These are the last years in that generation of Camrys with most if not all TSB fixes already applied.

Looking at these TSBs, the earlier ones have problems with brake rotors, transmission hunting for gears during downshift, suspension mount problems, and intake manifold buzzing among the listed technical service bulletin problems. And if the poorly made Denso oxygen sensors craps out, you have to make sure those and the damaged catalytic converter are repalced under warranty. Or it'll come and bite your wallet later.

I wouldn't get the 2007 Camry yet, it's having problems with the new U- series transmission. Some of these trannys skip gears! Like when you are trying to complete a left turn before a dump truck comes too close and the tranny skips into neutral and you don't move an inch. The only way, according to a Jan 2007 Toyota TSB, is to replace the transmission. It's done free. So it's your call.

Reply to
johngdole

I think you have to ask yourself, first, what do you need from your car?

If you want a little economy commuter car, you consider the Corolla. If you want the Toyota alternative to the Jeep Rubicon, then you get the FJ. Oops, sorry, they're new this year, no used ones yet. Still, what do you need? Big? Small? AWD? Towing?

And why are you zeroed in on a Toyota? There are other pretty good cars out there. If you're in the market for a mid-size car, why write off the Accord? Or even the Fusion (some consider it to be a good bet - I'm not entirely sure)? Yes, Toyotas are pretty nice cars and I love 'em but there are other choices.

Did you look at Consumer Reports?

I do have one opinion for you and that is, if you can afford it and plan to keep it a while, maybe you should buy new. I see no strong reason to buy a used Toyota; they hold their value fairly well, so it's tough to save much money buying used, especially if you go to a dealer (and you must bargain, hard, with a private seller). You do save money on insurance and taxes, so cost savings are a consideration but the current Corolla is in its 4th or

5th year, for instance, and should be an extremely solid car and the older ones aren't real cheap. Might as well get the new one. Or consider a Yaris or Scion.

Personally, if I was in the market for a car today, I'd see if I could get a really good deal on an '05 Rav4, the new ones are a little bigger than I like. I like the older ones very much and the '05's are the last model year for the Gen 2 style and should have all the engineering updates necessary to be very reliable. My second choice would be an '03 Rav. Smaller engine, slighly better fuel economy, enough model years behind it to be highly reliable (check Consumer Reports for their opinion). But that's just me. Save money and skip the AWD models, just go with an automatic with FWD. But that's just me, your needs likely differ.

Good luck!

Reply to
dh

Depends what you need. If you want something cheap to buy/operate, super reliable and don't care too much about the looks I'd go corolla.

Reply to
RT

Right now, my sister is looking for a new Corolla, anywhere from new to 2 years old depending on the price and condition.

But her problem is the dealers don't want to talk to her. She has money but the dealers want to talk to her husband (doesn't have one)/boyfriend(doesn't have one of those either)/brother(has two)/father(deceased)

She was a banker for nearly a decade. She can pinch a penny so tight it gives change! When she writes a check, it's so good, she might as well just handed you the cash money. But she has also learned how to make deals in industry, so she takes that attitude to the car dealership. She's not just going to take the sticker price straight up. Dealers that have dealt with her before learn how to sweat. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

One is always better off buying new, if one can afford to do so. Why would anybody chose to buy something somebody else no longer wanted, for some reason? Some contend they can save money, but one can only wonder why people that buy used vehicles do not also buy used appliances, furniture or clothing etc to save money as well?

It makes more sense to buy new and pay for it over a longer time, to keep the payment down and not need to spend money on repairs as well. One can lease a new car for a lower payment per month than they would have to pay to buy a two year old car over two or three years

If one can't afford a new vehicle and must buy a used Toyota try your local GM or Ford dealers. They seem to be trading a lot of Toyotas lately, especially trucks and Scions. They do not charge nearly as much for the Toyotas on their lots as does a Toyota dealer ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Dear Mike:

As you are a supporter of Fix Or Repair Daily, I can see why you would prefer a new car to a used one. But my old 93 Corolla had hit 20,000 miles, so Avis sold it. By the time we bought it, there were 27000 miles on it total. I just quit driving it at 230,000 miles.

Some people can't afford the outlandish prices for new cars. I can remember when we paid 19,900 for a new house.

My sister prefers used cars. We've been lucky getting used Toyotas.

Our first was a 2 1/2 year old Carina. Then we bought 2 brand new Corollas, followed by a string of much older Corollas (6, 8,9 and 9 years old) Then we bought a Corolla that I just mentioned, followed by a 95 in 99, a 94 in

00 and another 95 in 07. All of them are good so far.

The American society status symbol plan for GM and Ford doesn't work if executives don't buy Cadillacs or Lincolns (or Chrysler Imperials) and upper-mid execs don't buy Buicks or Mercurys like they're 'supposed to'. I don't do what I'm 'supposed to' I don't care how un-American you think it is. You can report me to the HUAAC if you want to, if it still exists. It's my money, and if Ford or GM wants it, they're going to have to build something that meets my needs better than the Corollas I currently own. They haven't since at least 1979.

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

Thats pathetic.. She should tell them to go $%#@ themselves and find a different dealer. Hopefully all aren't run by hairy? people that should be starring in those geico commercials.. :/ In my neck of the woods, money talks, the rest walks. Maybe she should tell them she's a mean butch lesbian truckdriver with no living relatives.. LOL... They would probably trip over themselves selling the car to get her out of the building faster. :/ MK

Reply to
nm5k

On Feb 10, 2:49 pm, "n5hsr" wrote:

I just bought a 05 corolla CE yesterday with 24k miles. I expect it to last quite a while. At 24k, I consider the usual japan 4 banger just getting broke in..

I'm just too tight to pay those high new prices. But I think it has a lot to do with the driver, is it for business, how many miles a year, etc.. For a business driver with loads a miles a year, a new or lease makes sense. Also, if the owner does no repair work themselves, it might. But for someone like me who doesn't really do a whole lot of miles a year, and also most all of my own repair work, a used car can save some money if it's good to begin with. Another factor is I pay cash. There will be no payments with the 05 corolla. I would have paid several thousands more if I bought new, and even more if I had to finance it. The way I see it, a 2-3 year old car is about right as far as getting away from the "lose 3 grand driving it off the lot" syndrome, but still fresh enough to be nearly like new if clean and low miles. Course, it depends. Some can thrash a car in 2 years, while some will still look like new. IE: a few of the cars I looked at were fairly new, but had cig burns in the seats. I hate that...And I even smoke myself. :/ I keep a towel on my lap when I'm driving. #1 to not burn the seats, and #2, not spill coffee on my britches.. :/ The one I got looks about like a new car, except for one small scratch on the rear bumper area. And that will be easily fixed with a bottle of touch up paint. The rest looks about mint. The inside looks and smells like new. I do agree that often japanese cars can be had for good deals at some US brand car lots. Some do tend to be a bit less proud of them than the actual JA brand dealers. MK

Reply to
nm5k

wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

There are already two Toyota dealers that have crossed themselves off her list by not talking to her. She is blonde and God blessed her with what Anna Nicole had to have surgery to achive, so most dealers think she's a 'dumb blonde'. One dealer tried to tell her about all the Toyota features. She already knew more about them than he did. She does not wear makeup like Anna Nicole did, and she's usually dressed in what I call female business casual, even when visiting car dealerships. She had a perfect 4.0 average in high school. Never went to college because Dad got sick right after she graduated and she stayed home to help Mom tend house and take care of Dad. She may not have a college degree like her brother, but she did go to the University of Hard Knocks, and she got pretty good grades there. She was the bank's defacto VP's executive secretary where she worked for nearly a decade. She has worked for the water company for nearly a year and reorganized their billing, brought it out of the 19th century and into the late 20th, now she's helping start up a new factory. She did purchasing for several months until they got an actual purchasing agent, and she still does a better job than the purchasing agent does. . . . I guess she is an advocate of 'Git R Done'. That is if something needs doing, do what what you need to do to get the thing done. We have one of our machines on the line broken and no one can work? What's the fastest way to get the line up again? Repair the existing machine? Replace it? Where do we get the parts we need and how do we get them FAST? If this happens a lot, why don't we have the spare part already in house? She knows a lot of the businesses in the area, she had to deal with most of the same ones at the water company and dealt with many of them as customers at her bank job. She wants to run for Mayor, she wants to drag Kankakee out of the Ryan era and stop the downward slide into a bedroom suburb of Chicago. Kankakee has a lot of potential, but most of the potential is going and has been for over a decade now.

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

Well, good for her, having a clue, but still that's not saying much. I've stopped being surprised at the cluelessness of salespeople.

Although it's still rather annoying. I mean, this is their job! Shouldn't they know the product? And am I the only one who wants to know the answer to this question?

Reply to
dizzy

I run into this all the time with electronics and buying parts for computers. I guess I just blow it off and accept that the pimple-faced kids selling this stuff know more about Gameboys than RJ-11 and RJ-45 jacks and the things that make servers function properly. They'd really be lost if they had to live in the world I lived in when I was their age: Cassette had just finally replaced reel-to-reel, the Altair 8080 was the only "Personal Computer" in existance and most phones still had a round plate with holes in it called a dial. The fastest modems at that time were probably the acoustically coupled 300-baud variety.

Charles of Schaumburg.

Reply to
n5hsr

It is your money spend it anywhere you wish, I could not care less. I bought used cars too before I could afford new cars, as well. It has nothing to do with who makes the vehicle, the longer one keeps it the more one will spend on maintenance and repairs and the lower it value not matter what name in on the grill. I never kept my Toyotas or Lexus longer than two years either. I do not believe it makes much sense to put money what money you have into an old depreciating vehicle when you can put the same money into a new vehicle.

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Perhaps but if you had bought it new you would have 24K MORE miles to put on it before you need to start spending money to fix it. No mater what mileage you eventually put on the car or how long you keep it YOU will spend more money during the last 24K that the original owner, got out of it trouble free. ;)

I'll bet if one went to a Toyota dealer today you will find a 2007 Corolla that one can buy that will not cost you any more per month than one would pay for that two year old car. It will be for more months but they will months and miles that you will not be making repairs

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

If one is buying from a high volume dealership the first person that greets you is mostly likely not a salesman.. They are called 'Finders' or 'Leaders' They are hired to greet prospect at the door or on the lot and to determine if they are indeed ready to buy that day. If they qualify one as a buyer, the Finder lead them to a salesman who set the selling price, then turns them over to the F & I guys to get the drive home price and sells the car. The get around $25 for each person they lead to a salesman and a percentage of the drive home price if one actually buys. Some salesmen tip the best Finders to lead the better prospects to them ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Dear Mikey,

My sister DOES NOT FOLLOW the "AMERICAN TRADITIONS" of BUYING CARS. OK? So report her to the HUAAC. The payment per month is not a figure she EVER considers. The usual sales BS usually lasts about 10 seconds before she starts cutting them off short. She bought her last car with cold CASH. She never ever uses dealer financing. The one car she bought on time she financed through a bank, better rates that way. Oh sure, the dealer will promise better interest rates but he makes it up in what he charges for the new car somewhere. And there hasn't been a dealer yet that has taken her seriously. There is one used car dealer here she has dealt with, but he's not able to get 'program' cars anymore. The 93, the 94 and her 95 were all program cars. Somebody else took the first two years hit on depreciation. Her way of looking at it is cost per mile. If she drops off the first year or two, the cost per mile of pure ownership is a lot less, and with a Toyota, as opposed to a Fix-Or-Repair-Daily or other Fine American Cars, there's a lot of miles before there's any major repairs.

Just remember, in the HHGTTG, Lawyers and accountants are the first ones up against the wall when the revolution comes. Followed by real estate salesmen and car salesmen. . . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

You're a typical 'American' car owner. Most people can't afford to buy a new car every two years anymore. That started dying out in the 60's and really took a hit after the 73 Ahab the Arab Oil Embargo by Exxon/Arco/Mobil. Even my boss doesn't buy a new car every two years. I've worked for him for 6 years now, and he's only had two cars. True, they're Cadillacs, but he still doesn't trade them out every two years.

I can remember when my uncle got a new car every two years, starting in about 1955 to the 1980's. But the firm had a sort of lease agreement. He was a salesman and the company wanted him to have a new car to show how prosperous they were. I'm sure it rolled over in to a more conventional lease agreement as they became available.

I'm not a salesman, I'm a in-house technical geek. The people I have to impress don't give a tinker's damn what car I drive. They care about how good I do my job. Is the network up? Is the e-mail working? Does their desktop work right? If I showed up driving a pre-war Mercedes 770 with the plate number 1A-148485, I'm sure no one would notice, or an MGTD or a pre-war Bentley such as John Steed drove. They care if I come when they call, but not how I get there. I'm close enough now that there are times I could get there on shoe leather in summer. (Not now, it's too cold) They might notice if I wasn't wearing a shirt and tie or if I couldn't show up for work because my car didn't make it.

Charles of Schaumburg.

Reply to
n5hsr

If she was shopping in Kankakee, IL, my guess is the dealership probably retails about 100 new vehicles a month, or about a week's worth of sales to a high volume dealership ;-)

Reply to
Ray O

Sure, but I paid quite a bit less to begin with. A few thousand..

True, but I'm paying cash. No payments for this boy.. :) I could have had one with about 8k miles, but someone cig burned the seat if I remember right...It was about 1500-2000 bucks more too. The car I'm getting with 24k actually looked better and cleaner than the one with less than 10k.. MK

Reply to
nm5k

In that case she may have been talking to the owners nephew. ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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