What's the best 2nd hand car for a 300k more or less budget?

**kurukutow** · July 7th, 2009 05:27 PM

Looking at Buy and Sell, I saw that the City 03-05, Civic 02-04, Sentra 04-06 and Altis 02-04 fit my budget. Question is do I go for the age of the car or the brand of the car? Example Do I get an 02 Civic or an 04 City for the same price? I saw that the Sentra is generally cheaper? Would you guys know why?

**3daygrace** · July 18th, 2009 07:43 PM

advice nmn po parang di npnsin ang post...yan din kasi budget ko nlilito din ako what to buy

**tidus1203** · July 18th, 2009 08:59 PM

Sentra is cheapest because its Nissan, generally very low resale values. Dosen't mean its bad, there is just not enough buyers for it unlike Toyota's and Honda's. Anyway for me #1 choice is still usage in picking a car. An older car that fits your needs is a better buy than a newer car that you find lacking your needs.

**jmg_32188** · July 19th, 2009 12:16 AM

most 94-96 Honda Accords are priced within the range.. that generation of Accord is the best imho.. saka "Accord" yun; it has the name.. though yung VTEC model (sa facelifted) ay malakas daw sa gas.. ahehe..

**3daygrace** · July 19th, 2009 08:14 PM

dagdag nlng ako cguro hanggang 50k po pasok na rin cguro budget ko sa mitsu lancer 2000 up model?advice nmn po kung anong feedback unang car ko po sana pang personal lng. ty po sa advices...

**1D4LV** · July 20th, 2009 08:55 AM

nakopow... text speak na naman....

bawal text speak dito sa forums bro.

among your choices, go for the altis.... di ka magsisisi dyan.

**niky** · July 20th, 2009 01:16 PM

The first consideration is the age of the vehicle. Not just in years, but in kilometers. More kilometers will mean more wear on the brakes, suspension, bearings, engine, transmission, etcetera. More years will mean more wear in terms of rubber and plastic items such as door seals, bushings, radiator hoses, radiator tops, headlight casings, etcetera. A combination of both will indicate how worn the vehicle might be.

The second consideration is the actual condition of the vehicle. Does it still run right? Does it idle well? Is the oil level okay, and what is the color of the oil and the coolant (if the previous owner was an idiot and has pure water in his coolant bottle... walk away... you don't want to be paying for new cooling system parts just because he was a cheapass). How are the tires? How's the suspension? If it's an automatic, is there shift-shock? Grinding? There are lots of things to look at.

The last thing to consider is the actual model and the price. Not the brand, mind you. The model. A Camry may be a Toyota, but it's not as cheap to maintain as a Corolla. And a 2002 Corolla Altis may still be a Corolla, but it's not a 4AFE Corolla (which is cheap as chips to maintain). When somebody tells you "ah, basta... Toyota o Honda, sigurado na yun." they're talking out of their butts. Have they owned every single Honda or Toyota ever made? Have they ever had to replace an engine blown due to oil sludge (Toyota) or a transmission that ate itself after just five years (Honda). Knowing the quirks of the actual model you're buying (by reading through forums dedicated to that particular model, or even consulting Consumer Reports), you'll know what problems to expect.

And then you'll know how much you can expect to pay for possible repairs to the vehicle you're buying, after checking around for the price of parts.

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Of your choices, I'd go for a manual transmission equipped 1.3 City. Not as much elbow room as the others, but very, very frugal, lots of headroom and legroom, and a humongous trunk.

**Wh1stl3r** · July 22nd, 2009 08:35 PM

In addition to what niky said, also consider where the car has been used when looking at its Km reading. 60TKm in Metro Manila will have aged the car much more than 60TKm spent doing mostly trips to and from the expressway. More use in heavy traffic = More gearshifts, more braking, more idling, more dust coming into the engine, etc. all of which age the car significantly more.