Hey Scotty, always appreciate your videos and thank you everyone here in advance for all the advice. I am looking for my first car, and my main usage will be ~50mi/day for daily commute to school. The 3 main things I am concerned regarding buying the vehicle would be 1. gas mileage, 2. safety, and 3. reliability (low maintenance). My budget is around 7~8k, and based on the recommendations here, decided to go for Toyota Camry, Corolla, Honda Civic, Accord, whichever comes available first since they seem to best fit my category.
After researching, I found 4 possible candidates: (All cars are automatic transmission)
1. 2010 Toyota Corolla S, 173,000 miles, $7800
2. 2003 Toyota Camry LE, 185,000 miles, $4995
3. 2006 Toyota Corolla, 165,000 miles, $5200
4. 2006 Toyota Camry, 200,000 miles, $3995
I am planning to use whatever I buy for at least 5+ years.
Assuming that I will test drive the vehicle and get it checked by a mechanic, which vehicle should I buy?
If you think this list is over-priced/doesn't fit what I am looking for, which car/price would you recommend?
Since you said you're considering Civic and Corolla as options watch this video from Scotty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7az0i6Dr_Js
As for the 4 cars above that you are considering none of them are worth the asking prices.
I know the car market has been nuts the last 2+ years. But neither of the 4, as they're overpriced by about $2k, imho.
First of all, all the prices are hight.
I would consider the 2006 Corolla.
If the Camrys have 4 cylinder engines, they have piston ring issues. Between the Corollas, the 2006 has less miles driven per year. Also, the price on the 2010 Corolla is ridiculous, even within this market.
2010 Toyota Corolla S, 173,000 miles, $7800
This car is WAY BETTER of the rest, one of the best cars Toyota has ever made.
The 2006 has significantly worse crashworthiness, handling, longevity, so I think the extra is worth it.
It's still a very high milage 12 year old car, have a mechanic perform an in-depth pre-purchase inspection.
Pay attention to the sound on cold startup (knocks and rattles) and to the ATF condition.
It has Toyota's best small engine, in its best modification for the US market.
in 2010 they have already solved oil consumption and VVT rattle, and haven't installed ValveMatic yet.
Also being a 2010, it has a simple and dependable conventional automatic transmission.
Also from my experience that's one of the best riding small cars,
it does have a very basic suspension setup but if it's in good condition it's significantly better than competition.
As far as maintenance, monitor oil and v-belt, replace engine oil every 3k-5k miles, replace sparks and coolant.
Gearbox oil should be replaced every 30k miles, it shouldn't be expensive on a car with a dipstick and cheap oil.
Alternatively you could save up some more and buy a nicer 2010-2012 Corolla, 173k is still very high-millage...
I agree with @yaser. The Camrys not only have piston ring issues but they are know to have stripped out head bolts and blown head gaskets as a result.
