Need Advice in buying a 2nd hand Car

[grifter81]

Hello Guys, I'm new here in this forums. I would like to ask for advice on purchasing a 2nd hand car. My wife and I are looking for our first car. Our budget is around 200K. We only only have basic knowledge on what to look for in a car.

We've looked at some ads and we narrowed our choices to the ff:

96-98 Honda Accord- we particularly like the clean look of this car.
96-98 Toyota Corona- I've read that this is a nice car.
96-98 Nissan Exalta- like the accord, we like the formal look of this.
96-98 Lancer GLXI- is this good?

Or do we need to break the bank and go look for a VTI Honda Civic? This goes around for over 200K.

For city driving lang naman and occasional out of town travel. Our priorities are fuel efficiency, reliability and cheap maintenance.

All comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Wala lang kasi talaga akong alam sa mga kotse eh. Salamat po ng madami.

[blacksun25]

kung fuel economy ang priority niyo, then take out the accord and corona, medyo malakas kasi sa gas yan considering the age of the car and the engine displacement.

if budget permits, dagdag ka ng konti to get a car model that's made from year 2000+ up.

from the cars you have mentioned, i'd go for the exalta. be sure to bring a mechanic along when checking the car. good luck.

[1D4LV]

get the exalta. bagay sa inyo na nag start pa lang....
pros: timing chain....

my second choice would be the lancer... pasok lahat yung criteria mo.

[renzo_d10]

Upon your choices, personally id pick the honda accord. Why? Because it's just simply elegant, luxurious and incredibly fast. But well, there's always a downside. The honda accord is a gas guzzler it goes around 8km/l i think. If you could go above 200, then maybe you could get a civic ( SiR for me although it's kinda dangerous buying one, since most of it are being used in drag races. ) if you find the SiR expensive then the Civic VTi is just right. Here are my rankings upon your given choices.

1. Honda Accord
2. Honda Civic ( SiR or VTi )
3. Toyota Corona
4. Nissan Exalta
5. Lancer

[grifter81]

get the exalta. bagay sa inyo na nag start pa lang....
pros: timing chain....

my second choice would be the lancer... pasok lahat yung criteria mo.

timing chain? Sir, 10-12 km per liter ba ang exalta? Thanks for the advice.

[1D4LV]

chain, instead of belt.... more durable... but more expensive to maintain...hehehe. perfect for new car owners. exalta MT i think goes for 9-10 kpl at the average. hindi ata kaya yan ng 12 kpl.

to add, the lancer could also be a great fit for you... kaya lang, medyo magkakaissue ka sa suspension. but overall, it is also a nice car.

are you looking at AT or MT?

[grifter81]

chain, instead of belt.... more durable... but more expensive to maintain...hehehe. perfect for new car owners. exalta MT i think goes for 9-10 kpl at the average. hindi ata kaya yan ng 12 kpl.

to add, the lancer could also be a great fit for you... kaya lang, medyo magkakaissue ka sa suspension. but overall, it is also a nice car.

are you looking at AT or MT?

We prefer AT because it's easier to drive. My wife will mostly use it since I work at a home office. She wants something thats easy to drive.

[1D4LV]

We prefer AT because it's easier to drive. My wife will mostly use it since I work at a home office. She wants something thats easy to drive.

take note that an AT would consume more fuel than the MT counterpart.

my experience: my Lancer MT consumes around 10 kpl, but the Lancer AT of a friend consumes around 8kpl. Same variant.

my current Nissan S3 AT consumes around 8kpl. while the MT counterpart consumes around 9 kpl.

pros AT: really easy to drive.
cons AT: additional maintenance costs (ATF), more expensive to repair. medyo mahina hatak compared to MT specially during overtaking.

pros MT: requires less maintenance. I just change my transmission oil every 2 years. sarap mag drive specially on highway driving.
cons MT: ngawit ang paa mo pag traffic.

[renzo_d10]

So mostly pala lady driven ito.

Why not a 2nd hand suzuki alto? Meron bang ganun na A/T? hehe. Perfect for a lady driver ang mga sub-compacts diba? Eh...hanap ka na lang. hehe

[1D4LV]

So mostly pala lady driven ito.

Why not a 2nd hand suzuki alto? Meron bang ganun na A/T? hehe. Perfect for a lady driver ang mga sub-compacts diba? Eh...hanap ka na lang. hehe

wala atang AT na alto... what i am thinking is a honda city na 1998-2000 model, but i doubt you can get this at 200k.

another good option is a hyundai getz na at.... pero again, wala atang 200k neto.

another good choice would be the corolla big body na AT. i think you can get something at 160k-180k.

[Gerbo]

Sentras are usually good "starter" cars esp. on the budget because you can get a relatively newer model for the same amount of money compared to the more popular brands.

Civics, at that amount, would perhaps only get you an ESi. But I agree that the VTI Civic is more of a keeper.

----

AT pala hanap.

Get a newer model car early 2000s if possible. Late 90s may have long mileage already. Spare yourself from additional cost of repair from transmission breakdown.

[grifter81]

I've been trying to look for models above 2000 but they come above 250K. We can probabaly stretch our budget to until 230K.

I'll probabaly alot the 30K for future maintenance hehehe.

[blacksun25]

I've been trying to look for models above 2000 but they come above 250K. We can probabaly stretch our budget to until 230K.

I'll probabaly alot the 30K for future maintenance hehehe.

look harder bro. you can buy a sunday paper. usually doon marami nag-aads ng kotse. kung di ka naman nagmamadali, konting ipon pa.

[grifter81]

look harder bro. you can buy a sunday paper. usually doon marami nag-aads ng kotse. kung di ka naman nagmamadali, konting ipon pa.

I think I'll wait a little longer to look for a 2000 model at ipon muna. Mukhang di advisable ang lower years, basing on the advice of posters here.

[grifter81]

Mga sirs, I've looked at some ads and the cars that fall in our price range are a 00-01 Nissan Exalta and 97 Honda Civic. Which is the better car to buy? Thanks for the input.

[ans_lim168]

Between the Exalta and the 97 Civic, I would get the Civic, engine response, handling and driving wise this beats the Nissan Exalta at any givin day, although I may be biased but I have driven the 2 cars, that's just me. Good luck with your purchase.

[1D4LV]

Mga sirs, I've looked at some ads and the cars that fall in our price range are a 00-01 Nissan Exalta and 97 Honda Civic. Which is the better car to buy? Thanks for the input.

sa akin, the better buy is the newer one...bakit? baguhan pa lang kayo eh... im sure, medyo madami dami ng ipapagawa dun sa older model.

[tidus1203]

I am tempted to say Civic (EK model) over a newer Exalta because its just for me at least a better car, mas masarap mag drive, mas pogi pa; but common sense tells us to buy the newer car.