# Which used car to buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487 "2007-09-12T04:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deadlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@deadlight](https://community.cartalk.com/u/deadlight)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/1 "2007-09-12T04:30:32Z")
2003 Mazda Protege LX 38K or 2005 Pontiac Vibe 95K both for 7,700 ideas, suggestions, anything? ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/2 "2007-09-12T05:42:57Z")
JMHO anyway, but I would generally take the older, lower miles vehicle, assuming both vehicles are solid mechanically and clean. With used vehicles depreciation is not an area of concern in my book. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/3 "2007-09-12T11:27:04Z")
There’s not really enough information here upon which to make an informed decision, but if that’s all there is to go on I’d take the Protege. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/4 "2007-09-12T11:40:36Z")
IMHO 150k is the magic range of a vehicle where your least likely to have major problems. This is in my experience over 3 cars and my family’s 20 vehicles(nutty Catholics with many siblings 🙂 ) over the years. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/5 "2007-09-12T11:41:17Z")
The good question is how many miles/year do you drive? ---
**Author:** ![deadlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@deadlight](https://community.cartalk.com/u/deadlight)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/6 "2007-09-12T13:40:53Z")
I drive about 30K a year… the 05 vibe comes with a 30K warranty and the 03 comes with limited one month dealer warranty. Both of these vehicles are 4 bangers and I am just worried about running into a bunch of problems with that many miles on the Vibe ---
**Author:** ![Ranck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Ranck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Ranck)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/7 "2007-09-13T17:34:53Z")
I’d say it’s a coin toss, but would probably go with the Vibe. High miles on newer cars _usually_ means a lot of easy highway miles. The Vibe is a Toyota with Pontiac badges, so it should be good for 200,000 miles if it has been taken care of properly. Condition is more the key here than miles. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![gaspero1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9f8e36/32.png) [@gaspero1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/gaspero1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-used-car-to-buy/4487/8 "2007-09-13T19:16:22Z")
Normally I would run far, far away from Pontiac, as I’ve had a few of them, and they were all constantly problematic, at best. But, two things make the Vibe an exception to this rule. First, the Vibe is actually a Toyota Matrix in GM clothing. So, it’s likely it will be very reliable. Second, a friend of mine owns a Vibe, he loves it, and he hasn’t had any trouble with it, and he’s had it for a few years now. The Mazda isn’t a bad car either, but between the two, I’d probably favor the Vibe.