I am a student loking to buy a car asap.i have found two that i think are my best so far but do not know what to pick.
I would like something cheap to maintain, reliable and safe.
What do yo think?
The cars are both too old and have too many miles on them to meet your criteria; "cheap to maintain, reliable, and safe.
The Passat should be good if it is a V6 (I owned a 2003 model, sold it last year). But budget $1000 per year for maintenance. Saab is not known for reliability.
Get them checked by a good independent mechanic before purchase, about $100.
Neither. What’s your budget?
“I would like something cheap to maintain, reliable and safe.”
Keep looking…those vehicles are miles outside the ballpark.
Stay away from the Saab, the factory is closed, parts are hard to get, service is hard to find, the car is at a point it will require several expensive things. I own one, I love it, however, it is not for you. It is not cheap or reliable at 125,000 miles.
The Passat is a better choice between the 2 but I’d stay away from that as well. There are better choices for the same money. Think Camry. Corolla, Mazda 3 or 6, Civic or Accord.
Keep looking, neither of these cars are going to be cheap to maintain. A Toyota or Honda would be a better brand to look at
General rule - avoid European cars when shopping the low priced market.
Ford Crown Vic???
I saw a license plate the other day, UFFDA_. That about says it all on these choices. Back to the library for more research. Neither would be reliable and cheap to own in my view.
:grimace:
They’re both aged cars and reliability on any aged car is a coin flip.
My suggestion is that you look for something a “little less exotic”. Think bland; Buick Century, Crown Vic, etc.
Student, no knowledge of cars, thinking sporty, and ASAP is a combination that can lead to an even broker student with an even broker car.
Oh geeze another story. There’ll be time in the future for neat cars. Now you just need a good plain one.
I was home from school one weekend (1968 and 200 miles one way) and got T boned in my blue 59 VW bug with a sun roof. It was wrecked. I borrowed my dad’s Falcon to take to school for the week, and during the week he found me another car. I don’t know how he did it that fast but it was a big old 59 Pontiac for $125. I wasn’t too impressed at first but I grew to really like that car and wish I still had it. It served me well for the last two years of school and through basic training when I could afford to get a better one.
A salvage yard west of me has a dozen or so old complete cars stashed out there and one of them is a 1959 Pontiac 4 door hardtop with the overhang roof. That thing is a beast of a land yacht.
Is it Canyon Copper with a white top?
I haven’t been out there in about 3 or 4 years so my memory is very hazy. I walked up to the fence for a few moments where the cars are parked and eyeballed them a bit.
I seem to remember that Pontiac is a copper color but can’t remember the roof color. It may have surface rust all over it.
They have, or had, several other keepers there also. One is a '65 Riviera and a real beauty was a cranberry colored, straight '62 Buick convertible.
The appalling part was that the convertible is sitting there with the top down and no tarp on it. It may look good on the outside but the floors and trunk may be rotted out by now.
I used to go out there (60 miles one way…) to rummage through a Merkur XR4Ti they had for spare parts along with buying tires, engines, or transmissions. Eventually the hulk was crushed and I just haven’t made it back that way in a while. Next time I’m in the area I’ll swing by and take a look at that Pontiac just out of curiosity.