Need some help with used car shopping....

The real issue is that my wife just got diagnosed with breast cancer. All signs are positive so far but she is in for a long haul. Common type but aggressive form that will require surgery, chemo and radiation. Our 19 year old goes to college and is home most weekends and our 16 year old is on travel volleyball and does many activities. We want something that they are both comfortable driving. They just won’t drive a truck. I have tried to get them to drive mine and they feel very anxious and overwhelmed by it. The hope is that having a car available can off load us on the weekends and maybe have the 19 year old help out transporting our youngest when necessary.

 

A Subaru or CRV/Rav are better in every way for a teenage girl than a truck, generally speaking, especially if you live where it snows. Always baffles me when someone asks for input in vehicle A and someone pushes random non-starter Z ha.

Hope you get the Subie! Great car! Sorry to hear about your health troubles, will be thinking of y’all. Peace.

 

True, but then they are riding in the friends car. You just can't wrap them up in bubble wrap forever. Sucks!

 

Thanks much - will check these out

 

Sorry to hear about your wife's diagnosis. I hope everything goes OK.
About the Subaru, I have owned 2, I liked both of them, they are really nice cars, mine were 2004 and 2006 though. Some of the later 2.5s had head gasket issues. Occasionally you can see some weeping where the head meets the block. I don't remember what years were affected. I looked at one for my kid and I drove it up on ramps and could see green anti-freeze on the block. Other than that I they are pretty solid, stick to the non-turbos for the young ones. CRVs and Rav4 are good options. Don't overlook the Ford Panther platform, Crown vic, and Towncars, they are whole lot of car for small money and there lots of low mileage ones around. Take care and good luck.

 

Well, I’m an a-hole. I was just poking a little fun. Best wishes for your wife. I leased a Corolla for my daughter and it worked out great. She didn’t drive a lot at the time so it worked out well. She’s now on her second one. One of the best cars I’ve owned was a Nissan Altima. I think Mazdas are underrated - may be another option worth considering.

 

I would agree on the Mazdas, at least from our experience.
Had a ‘99 protege that had 160k trouble free miles when we let it go, and an ‘07 CX-9 that was at about 175k when we sold it.

 

Around here the Mazdas seem to rust out pretty quickly but, other than that, they seem like really good cars. It also seems like Nissans are mostly driven by people who abuse them so I'd be hesitant to buy one used.

 

Pre 2006 or so they were more reliable, up there with other Japanese manufacturers, post buy out I wouldn’t touch one with a ten foot pole ha.

 

I appreciate all the advice. Nobody is an ahole….advice is what I am looking for. One of the cars I want to look at tomorrow is a Mazda 3. Nice looking and performing car.

My brother had an Altima that was a shitbox, my mom had a versa that had a ton of issues and my BIL had a pathfinder that didn’t last. My titan needed every repair possible under warranty. I have sworn off Nissans

I may go take a look at one of the corollas mentioned above.

 

Listen for a rattle on cold start.

 

what would that indicate?

 

Sorry to hear about your wife’s cancer diagnosis. That’s a tough one. Hopefully it’s in a Very treatable stage.


Nissans used to be great but the newer ones since the renault Mitsubishi Nissan alliance are not what they used to be.

you have the right idea with an NA Subaru or a Toyota.

 

Generally, timing chain issues begin with a rattle on startup, regardless of make or model.

 

We had a rattle on one and Subaru recommended a timing chain, didn’t fix it.

 

That one experience doesn’t negate the fact that very often a rattle on startup is a timing chain issue. Certainly the shop that did the work thought so as well. No make is immune from issues.

I have done some timing jobs with aftermarket parts that continued to rattle but those were German and English mostly. I have found chains that were out of spec as well as tensioners that were unable to hold pressure in my travels with aftermarket parts. There’s lots of variables there. Out of curiosity, Do you know if they used all factory parts or if it was another issue?

 

Yes, all original parts. With older Toyota vehicles that noise typically requires replacement of the VVT camshaft. I’d assume Subaru is similar.

 

Interesting, I haven’t seen the VVT fail on a Toyota. The Subarus I’ve dealt with were all turbo models and generally burned up the number 4 piston, cracked the ringland, or lunched either the turbo bearings or the main bearings requiring a full rebuild. Though the passages in the VVT can get clogged up from infrequent oil changes and are easier to replace than clean out. Those ones trip codes but never made any noise. Though it’s possible I’m deaf.

The early onset rattle is really common on Nissan v6 and ford v8’s, also the ones in the back of various audi engines. The B5 S4 has a chain on the back of the cam and when it rattles it gets expensive. Same with the 4.2 that has the entire timing chain assembly on the back of the motor. That one is a monster. The earlier Jaguar 4.0 had some ridiculous plastic timing chain tensions and if you’re lucky you hear the rattle before the tensioner folds over and trashes the valves.

 

Except for their partnership with Ford, which I believe was some time in the late 90s.

 

Holy crap, sorry to hear that....

 

We ended up getting the Forester. It is in great shape. The kids LOVE it. My wife actually likes driving it too. I am going to replace the shocks next week. That's literally the only thing that hasn't been done. We have all service records from the original owner - it was meticulously taken care of. Got all title, registration and tags done at their shop. Walked me through the ease of maintenance and recommended what I do and intervals. The shop owner is a GREAT guy and someone who I never felt was taking advantage of us. We may have paid a little more than we could have but it was the right deal at the right time for the right car.

 

Glad you did! Such a great vehicle. Look for head gasket checks and replacements in those records and you should be all set.

Old Subarus are like legos. You can mix and match all kids of parts between models. If they ever get into off roading I’ve seen guys swap struts off a Baja for a little height and if they want to slam it you can grab Impreza or WRX struts to lower it. Good beginner car if none of the above ha.

 

The guy we bought it form literally serviced ALL of the fluids and did a thorough check of all components. He told us that the manufacture date of this car was AFTER the head gasket issues. This one came with the metal gaskets and not the fiber ones which apparently made a huge difference. Regardless he checked the head gasket and valve cover in his multi point inspection prior to sale and said there were absolutely no issues. I had to take his word for it as there is no way for me to know.