For a budget of 200-250K, What are my 2nd hand car options?

**anthea** · July 6th, 2007 06:41 PM

Problematic pala ang A/T ng old Mazdas.

Yung 95 Mazda 323 namin ayos naman, pero manual. How about yung mga 98 Lancer GLXi? Eto yung Lancer pizza, right? I'm really quite set on getting an automatic.

**CPY61** · July 7th, 2007 01:29 PM

How about a HOnda City typeZ, if Fuel consumption is priority then ok na ok to.

**orly_andico** · July 8th, 2007 04:36 PM

Old Car + Automatic = Trouble

Old AT cars usually have transmissions that are almost burnt-out, the idle will be rough (RPM dropping below 500 at time..)

In my opinion only, the automatic tranny is more convenient than the manual about.. 10% of the time. When you're stuck in stop-and-go traffic. Maybe it's just me, but when I'm stuck in traffic I put the AT in neutral. This is to prevent the tranny from overheating (if you just leave it in Drive and press the brake, the AT heats up).

So for me at least, the effort of putting the AT in neutral, is almost the same as the effort of putting the MT in neutral. The MT is just more trouble because the clutch is hard. So in long (3+ hour) traffic my left foot hurts when I use the MT.

But the MT has lots of things going for it: simpler, easier to fix, less problems, better gas consumption, faster acceleration. More fun to drive.

Since I drove an MT for a long time but now am driving an AT daily, I still look forward to driving the MT. Except for those rare times when I'm stuck in traffic for many hours.

**finchy18** · July 8th, 2007 05:03 PM

for a graduating student corolla lovelife A/T na ang pang first time mo.. cheap to maintain .. easy to handle.. will last long..
but first check its performance and if it's well maintained by the previous owner..

**minero** · July 11th, 2007 07:25 AM

you can get a series 3 nissan sentra ('98-'00) 1.6 SS for less than 200k. With ABS na ito, all disk brake and the best aircon around. Use the extra cash to have the 'ilalaim' checked at casa.

**niky** · July 11th, 2007 09:53 AM

Check all the fittings and sensors, too. At this point in time, any car over seven years of age with electronic fuel injection will either need new sensors or some cleaning. This is true of all cars, regardless of the make.

Not to mention radiator hoses, radiators, water pumps, alternators and suspensions.

Tama si orly doon... keep away from ATs unless they run like golden honey, and don't skimp on replacement parts... when you can buy the originals or OEM-spec replacements, do so!

I've seen lots of old Corollas fall victim to this. When you buy Corolla parts that are dirt cheap compared to everything else, they'll perform in exactly the same manner... like dirt.

Kung Nissan, the EX Saloon is a decent choice... 1.4 liters, pero EFI na. At 250k, you can get a decent condition Lynx, just save about 10k in budget for any potential sensor problems if you're buying a 99'... but everything else should be decent.