Question Car buying advice..

ProudMommysince09

New member
I would appreciate some input into my car situation.:)
I have an '03 Ford Explorer, its getting up there in mileage with almost 152k, but its paid for. So far there are no major problems (knock on wood)
and I did most of the major recommended maintenance. A while back the dealer recommended to replace a hub, I got a second quote hoping I could get it cheaper and that place told me it was another hub, so that left me confused and I havent bothered to get another quote (just being honest). The next thing is gas, I'm paying anything from $80 plus a week because I do a LOT of driving.
So to get to the point I want to replace it, I got it nailed down to a Volkswagen Passat Wagon (I need space and its within my budget). I looked at a few and its definitely going to be different, but gas mileage would almost be half. Since I dont want a monthly payment I'm looking at '04-'05 models (ca. 75k miles). Now my dad's recommendation is to wait another year and get something newer or just drive mine til it falls apart - because its hit and miss and another 'old' car might fall apart sooner than my current one. Good point I guess..
I think - sell it while I can still get some money for it and drive another one for a few years, and once I have a stable income again get something better.

What would you do? Wait and save some more? What is your personal limit on mileage?
 
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carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
My husband drove his Explorer to over 250K miles. I'd get quotes and explanations about what needs fixing on yours. I wouldn't be anxious to replace a 2003 vehicle that I knew well with an unfamiliar 2004 vehicle.

If you were looking at a less expensive vehicle in the 2007ish range, then I'd start to consider an "upgrade".
 

ProudMommysince09

New member
Thanks for the input! I thought some more about it and I decided not to make any hasty decisions now. For now I will just suck up the gas prices and save for a newer model vehicle, I realized I'm not too terribly far away from that price range. Might even be able to get a diesel or if I want to finance a hybrid.
 

Guest

New member
I'd just save for another year too. People can drive any model car from any company to very high mileages. Still, as a whole, some models and some brands just have a reputation for worse quality because, as a whole, they have higher than average number of problems.

VW is a company that's never been known to have most stellar quality. Ford isn't either, but since you're not really trading up on rep from Ford to VW, you might as well just roll the dice with your current car which is going ok so far.
 

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