My daughter is turning 16 and we want a safe, reliable vehicle for her. What do you think about a 2005 Buick Lacrosse with 36K miles for $10K?
Sounds very overpriced for a nearly 20-year-old Buick. The mileage is suspiciously low and would need to be verified.
I agree the mileage should be verified, however lots of old folks drive Buicks so it’s not uncommon to find these cars with low mileage at this age. Either way, it’s definitely overpriced.
that price is seriously out to lunch
If that has the 3800 engine, those engines are bulletproof, easily 300k miles. The transmissions paired with them were often questionable however, but given how reliable the engine is, many people will opt to put in a new remanufactured transmission in or rebuild it instead of junking it. Expect to do a transmission job down the line. I don’t know about the reliability of the 3600 engine, which was the other engine option that car came with. If anyone could tell share with us that’d be great. Again though, it is overpriced due to age, even if that’s the true mileage. As far as safety, it’s obviously not going to match up to what modern technology has today, but they’re not horrendously unsafe for their day either I don’t think.
If that’s the car she wants, pay a lot less. If the budget is $10k and it doesn’t have to be that car, you can get a much nicer and slightly newer Honda or Toyota with low mileage as well for $10k and it will be much more reliable and likely safer car and you won’t have to worry about the transmission.
I recognize the price is way out of line. My research shows it to be $4-6K over priced. I was really just looking for feedback on it’s safety, reliability, mechanical gremlins, etc.