That answers the question. She wants a transportation appliance. A pre-2000 Civic would be an excellent choice IMHO.

-J

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

You know, you could pick up a W202 C43 for like 5k.....

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

yeaaaah no. Something breaks, forget about it. Need good fuel economy and that C43 would require premium and such.

Sadly, she needs an appliance with wheels.

My C was stupid reliable and got decent fuel mileage.



I got about 16-17 city and 26 freeway when I drove civilized.



Plus - its a C-class with an M113. There is a plethora of parts.

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

nah. If she is to get a Mercedes I'd try and steer her towards a diesel w124

What about a Buick? Not sexy but can be had cheap, are very reliable, have killer AC, and when something breaks its a GM parts are like $10.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=304776026&dealer_id=497033&car_year=2002&sownerid=63966939&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2008&showZipError=y&pager.offset=0&search_lang=en&start_year=1981&dma=HARTFORD_AND_NEW_HAVEN&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&search_type=both&body_code=0&first_record=1&distance=0&default_sort=priceDESC&address=06460&rdm=1313686396296&marketZipError=false&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=5000&make=BUICK&seller_type=b&num_records=25&cardist=159&standard=false&rdpage=thumb

Nice ones should be easy to find in FL, especially around the Villages.

When we looked at cars for my sister in the $5k-$6k range everyone thought Honda's and Toyota's were worth as much as gold, NFW were we paying $5k for a Civic with 200k on it. If the tranny blows its now an $8k car.

We ended up getting my sister a 2002 Sentra with 53k miles on it for $6,500. Look at Sentra's and Saturns they are a bit cheaper on the used market.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I'll run those by her. Those have the nice 3800 V6 don't they? Total grandma car too

Yeah the 3.8 is the engine to get. They get good mileage to, probably about the same as any 4cy Japanese car she can buy for $5k.

GM's make good cars for people on a limited budget because as said above when stuff breaks its not a lot to fix and any shop knows there way around them. Plus its a GM nothing runs poorer longer than a GM!

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I'll look into those. I'm not having great luck with the honda's. Most of then for 5k have fart cans, stupid ricer crap on them, etc.


Buick Century, such a grandma car....

Yeah that's what I found they are all used up with spaceship mileage on them. Unless you get lucky and find one that was owned by an elderly owner.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yeah. The buicks do look nice. I can find 2005's on craigslist for around 5k without an issue. Not bad. She does have her eyes set on a honda since she knows them for their reliability and affordability.

If the Century is something older drivers liked to buy then they have to be good, nice ride, good fuel economy, reliable. If not then the AARP would own GM by now.

Is $5K the total budget, or can she make payments? $5K down on a $15K car makes payments decent, plus helps build credit, which is useful later.

I can say that a couple of years ago, when my girlfriend was in a similar situation, she selected an 09 Nissan Sentra. We went through a broker (Cars Direct, I think, possibly Cars.com) and scoured the state until we could find one of the few manual trans in existence. Normally they, the broker, would deliver the car, but we were just outside of their 200 mile radius. So they bought us train tickets and picked us up at the station. We bought the car, for far less than we could have around here, and far less than a comparable Toyota or Honda, and enjoyed a liesurely break-in road trip home.

We love the little car. Has all the equipment we would want for it. Does everything we ask of it (the trunk is huge! And with the fold down rear seats, you can put anything in there!). It gets over 30mpg cruising at 90mph, and better if cruising slower. Climbs hills wonderfully, if the W210's and E46's will keep to the right!

In short, I'd highly recommend the Sentra. My own daily driver is a Nissan as well, an Xterra. I'd always been partial to GM, but when time came to buy for both purchases, GM didn't have anything that fit the bill. And they were too expensive. And I have a relative that allowed employee discounts. So in closing, I'll state that I am, and have been for over 15 yrs now (last 10 or so on BMW and MBZ) , a professional mechanic, I can recommend Nissan products.

And stay the $#%& away from any MBZ for $5k, that's just asking for trouble!

MV

Really depends on the car -- plenty of reliable W123/4 cars for that price.

No need to worry about credit with her not at all no worries there. She is perfect with that. She is/wants to going to pay cash and doesn't feel like financing. Also, I don't care for Nissan at all. I feel as if their build quality is lower than that of Honda and Toyota.

Buick Century's also only came with the 3.1L V6 which probably isn't as good as the 3.8

plus, all of my Mercedes have been under 4K and I've had great cars.

A lot of good reviews on the Century, but a few citing transmission issues.

The 3.1 isn't terrible, it has intake gasket failures just like the 3.8. Not as much torque, but they still move the car nicely.

I'd still go for a 3.8, but if a 3.1 came along that had had the intake gaskets replaced and was cleaned and cared for I'd buy it over a 3.8 with no history.

-Jason

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.