Hi folks. I'm a older lady, who is not a mechanic. I don't have mechanic family or friends, so when I have to buy a vehicle, I go to Carcomplaints.com. I want a basic no frills vehicle that is easy to maintain and has a history of few mechanical issues over the years. I'm a Toyota lady, but if there's a better make out there, I'll consider it. I have very little money to spend so I stick with old/older vehicles and I try my best to maintain them consistently. By old I mean 20+yrs. old. Older cars usually cost less to insure. I would like to know what YOU think of Carcomplaints.com.
I chose a Toyota Echo because it has great reviews on Carcomplaints.com, it is basic and no frills, Echo owners seem to like them, they last a long time and they get good mileage. If I win the lottery, I might choose something a little fancier, but I won't hold my breath waiting for that.
It's a good site to do research. You can find out about recalls, bulletins, common problems etc. Just don't take everything at face value. Use that information as a starting point, and do your research. Corroborate the info with other sources.
Also take the user-submitted stuff with a grain of salt. Remember that for every 1 person who complains, there are 100x or more owners who are happy with their purchase. Also realize that some of the so-called problems are due to neglect.
I find carcomplaints.com to be pretty good for spotting which are the best and worst years for a model. You can cross compare what you see there with https://repairpal.com/problems to get more details on specific cars and https://caredge.com/costs to get an idea of depreciation, insurance and maintenance costs.
I've found that multiple sources of data to be more helpful than relying on a single source (i.e. meta-analysis).
when I was looking for a used car, I lived on that site. It was actually recommended by this one. Kept me from making some big mistakes.
