A young collegue of my wife's is car shopping. She has a MAX of $15,000 to spend, and wants a good used car. She really likes my wifes 01 Outback Ltd. and went looking for one. Along the way she found a few $15K-ish choices and asked my advice. Sheesh, don't ya hate being the "car guy" once in a while?
Anyway, she found an 01 Outback (non-Limited, so no side bags, leather, or sunroofs) on a used lot, obviously bought at auction in Quebec or Ontario (has a bilingual dealer sticker remnant) and has 159,000km's on the clock. Very high for an 01, but the price is very low to reflect that. They're asking $13K, might come down a tad. Well within her budget, but pretty high miles. This morning I swung by and had a quick look, and it looks straight, but of course, a PPI would be required.
She also found a nice black 2000 Protege LX with power stuff and 98,000kms sitting beside the Subie. It looks good (good exterior, anyway) and is priced right at $9000. She would be well within her budget and have a decent car if this one was good, or find a similar one.
Also on her list was an 01 Volvo S40 with leather and about 120,000kms that I haven't seen. It's priced at $13,000 private sale. I haven't heard great things about the S40, but haven't heard bad things either. She found a 99 S80 turbo for $16K in the paper since the S40 triggered a "Volvo" response. The early S80's have a bad rep, but I don't know if they deserve it.
After seeing the black Protege, she headed to the Mazda dealer and found, of course, buckets of them, but another thing grabbed her. It's an 01 Forester "S" with only 70,000kms. I happen to know this "truck" and it's a nice clean unit still under driveline warranty and has been well cared for. The crux is that they're asking $19,000, which is well beyond her budget. She might get them closer to $15K, but I doubt they'd go to that mark, especially including tax.
I have no idea of what to tell her. She likes the Forester the best, and she should. It's the nicest thing on her list, but she might be wasting everyone's time trying to get down to $15,000 on it. I would be partial to the 01 Outback, but she has a tight budget and I'm not sure about starting out tapped out with 159K on the odo. If it were me, I'd take a chance if the PPI were fine, but that's me.
The Protege is a nice car for a young woman with a limited budget and income, as it's not bad on gas, cheap to insure, and at $6K under budget, a prudent choice. But, no AWD or luxury features. (htd seats, etc.)
The Volvo is a mystery to me. Could be an expensive car to run, but maybe not. Mutsui does not have a good rep, and the S40 was a joint effort. Hhhhhm. I know nothing about the S80.
Any other suggestions for someone spending $10-15K on a decent used car? It seems to be a popular price point for used cars as she has a list that is getting longer by the second.
