help in choosing 2nd hand car....

[jpaul_abbie01]

good pm to all. im a newbie in this forum.

we are planning to buy a car. what brand and particular model can you recommend? i found many good deals here in the classified section, but i am confused on which brand to go to. help will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

P150k to P180k is the budget..

[OTEP]

How old are you willing to go? For 180k, I'd take a '97 Suzuki Esteem home. Great second car. Handy wagon configuration.

[basti08]

for a 1st car, i choose 97 Nissan Sentra SeriesIII...you'll get a pretty nice car...may sukli ka pa.

[vinj]

What are your needs? Matic? Manual? Space for how many peeps? Drive it out of town? City car?

[jpaul_abbie01]

yung matipid po sana sa gas, we'll use it lang naman po for everyday work. pang service kumbaga. actually, i'm eyeing na for a toyota corolla. but if you have any other recommendations, i would really appreciate it. thanks guys.

[1D4LV]

How old are you willing to go? For 180k, I'd take a '97 Suzuki Esteem home. Great second car. Handy wagon configuration.

180k na lang price ng esteem wagon ngayon fafa otep? mura na pala ah. i remember it was selling for around 600 ++ at around 1998.

anyway, for the question, at 180k, probably get a Lancer GTi 92, or a Galant 91-93 or even an Accord 91-93. pero practicality. pwede na sa itlog to na GLi, yung sobra pampagawa na lang. Or even a Mazda Familia 97... imho.

[jpaul_abbie01]

ano po yung "itlog" na Gli? sorry po, hindi ko alam yung term hehe

[1D4LV]

1994-1996 Lancer.

[aceshark]

may post dati dito bro. civic esi ba yun? 180k benta nya. pakihanap na lang po.

[ghosthunter]

You might want to check the 97 Nissan Sentra 1.4L manual tranny. Less powerful than its 1.6L version, but it will give you a comfortable ride, cold aircon, reasonable room front & rear seating.

Things to watch out for though:
-is the car completely factory stock or has it been modified? When buying a 2nd hand car, its best to choose a stock car.
-check the engine, has anything been changed/upgraded? Same thing here, its wiser to choose a stock car.
-drive the car around the block and then some more. Give it a bit of a work out so you can find out if the suspension and other bits of the car are still fine.
-regarding the aircon system. Since its almost a ten year old car, you will have to assume the aircon will need some work done soon or it has had some work done already. Ask the seller what has been done. Aside from this, have the aircon system checked if it has some leaks somewhere. I have heard of some buyers who's a/c system stopped blowing cold air a few days after they purchased a used car. The seller knew the a/c had a slow freon leak (in the compressor) but fixing it would cost a lot of money, so they just refilled the freon just before selling the car. The buyer ended up having to replace the compressor.
-check if the engine revs smooth & well all the way to the max rpm.
-check the body for any major repair work done.