Second time's the charm in my case. Lexi2 is the perfect car for me. It's not a lemon like the first one and she is still under or at about $2,000 invested. That's counting major maintenance. I installed the windshield banner after fixing the alternator.
You can't build a house without a base. This two grand will be the base for your build. Keep in mind, also, that this website mainly focuses on older cars so this article is mainly for older cars. Personally, it took me about a year to get my current car running well with the maintenance up to date. During that year, the car was undrivable for about a week at a time - thanks to the fact that it happened when I either had a little bit of money or help.
The 1996 Lexus LS400 is admittedly an older car so unless it has been maintained completely with complete service records, don't pay more than $1,000 for a running one. If it is around 200,000 miles, know that the car will need a new timing belt, maybe a power steering pump, alternator, and probably some seals. All of these things happened to me at different times but if I had that two grand when I bought it, that's what I would have done probably immediately. There is an exception though. If the car is over 200,000 miles but the owner has service records of any of that main maintenance, it counts for a lot sometimes. If he has replaced the camshaft and crankshaft seals and/or the timing belt, you can go ahead and pay $1,500-2000 depending on other factors of course.
For your information, a typical shop quotes me $1,000 to do the cam and crankshaft seals - parts included... I think? Anyway, it's an expensive job. Timing belt will run you $5-600 if you purchase the kit yourself. I'm talking about my LS400 so the number for the timing belt is similar for all cars but the seals may be less.
That's a nice Honda, I will admit. With proper planning, you can get that for $5,000. With the visual mods.
As a side note, if I had $5,000 to spend on a car, I would look for a good one in the $2-3,000 range so I could do this. Especially if you're getting something like a Mercedes that has ridiculous prices for parts. I recommend that you take your time to find the best prices; for refurbished parts that work great, try RockAuto.com. Again, I don't get money for saying that but that's where I get parts cheap if I need new ones. Also, if you save a hundred or two by finding a legit mechanic (unless you do everything yourself, in which case it's even better) for every job, that may leave you some money to start modifying the car.
Another project that would cost less than $5,000 today. Ofcourse, I have no idea what the specific car has done to it, but you can get a nice GT with some new rims.
What I did personally was focus on getting the car running like new but every once in a while, I would put away $20-40 to spend on something like the wheel fenders, a windshield banner, hood pins... Buy the big mods later, start by getting your car right, but reward yourself.
Right away, to get a newly purchased vehicle reliable for a good 80,000 miles at least, this is what I would do. If you are a mechanic, do everything you can yourself. If not, spend the time finding an honest person who isn't going to rip you off and who will actually care about your car.
The list;
- Around 100,000 or 200,000 miles, do the timing belt unless you have a timing chain.
- Alternator; test it with a voltmeter by running the car and checking the voltage of the battery. A good alternator should be producing between 14 to 15 volts. If the reading you're getting is under 14, you will probably need one soon. These usually go out about every 80-120,000 miles.
- Power Steering Pump; this depends on the car. Unless it's on its way out, maybe set aside a couple hundred for when you need it. You can drive a car without it but it puts more stress on the rack and pinion which costs a lot more. Something like the LS400 is prone to rack and pinion damage without power steering but most cars aren't affected much. A 1989 BMW 325 is fine with no power steering. It's just harder to turn.
- This should be at the top but get your spark plugs and spark plug wires replaced. They've probably never been changed. If you know how to do it, check them. It will be obvious if you don't need it. But if the spark plugs are carboned up or oily or burnt, you should just spend the money on new wires and plugs. Get the right plugs! And remember that it's not always a good idea to get the "better" ones; your car may be tuned for a specific type of spark plug so if it needs copper, don't get iridium.
- You shouldn't have bought it anyway with a broken transmission unless you wanted to swap it anyway but check your transmission fluid. Smell it. If it smells burnt, you need to get it changed. Don't let some employee smell it - do it yourself. A shop will say yes just to make some money.
You can see the fenders in the side mirror - $30? Fog lights - $20. Windshield banner... $20... Use little rewards to motivate yourself to fix problems. I.e. I'm not putting this windshield banner until I fix the alternator. It's like anything else - reward yourself for good planning.
It goes without saying that any check engine light codes should be fixed too. I'm assuming you're buying a car that you're ready to fix. As in, if it has a code, you know you can fix it. Don't buy a car that you won't be able to get running. I shouldn't have to say it but too many of my acquantainces bought cars like old 240s and Supras (1980s) that are still sitting under a tarp.
If the car I wanted was far out of reach, I would buy a cheap daily driver and use that until I saved enough money to not only buy the car I want but fix it as well. Then you can sell the daily driver you were using and start dailying the car you want.
Now here comes my opinion. You guys should know I would never buy a car new aside from maybe one or two exceptions that may happen once in a decade. This is my reasoning. As soon as you buy a brand new car for $30k, it's already worth $26k. Drive it for a year or, God forbid, 3 years and it's down to $18k. Oops.
That isn't the only reason. Most people think that a new car is reliable. It's reliable while you have your warranty to fix it but as soon as it expires is when car problems usually start anyway. I'm not going to say the name but there is a very popular car out now that has a timing belt issue where they have been snapping at 80k miles and such.
There's plenty of reasons to just get the best car you can for the money. I understand if there's a specific car you want, in which case you just need to look for the best quality one you can find. But if you're looking at cars in general, sometimes buying a $1,500 car and putting $700 into it makes more sense than buying one for $3,000 and having a problem half a year later. I suppose it's counterintuitive.
You would assume that the newer a car, the more research the maker has put into making cars period, and so logically they should be better ever year. But it's just not the truth. Some manufacturers build cars that are higher quality. Sometimes it's just a particular model. Every car isn't equal and lucky for us, a lot of really good, reliable cars are plenty right now.
Unless it's based on a proven platform, it seems more often than not, brand new cars end up having a weak point somewhere the manufacturer didn't catch.
Good luck with your cars, haul ass but carefully, and don't do it before you get your car right. Have a good day people! Feel free to post any questions or email me.
- Rokas K.
norgin@gmail.com
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