Buying a Car

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

So I'm trying to buy a car, but I'm having trouble finding reliable reviews for older models. My loan terms state that it needs to be a 2004 or newer and under 100k miles. So I'm looking at 2004-2006 sedans. Hyundai Elantra is supposed to be a great used car, but the reviews are all for the 2007 or newer, and I heard rumors that after 100k miles, they start costing a ton in repairs and lose a lot of value. I don't want to lose that much value in my car.

Anyone have any insights on the Hyundai Elantra in particular? And is there anywhere I can find a trusted review site that has info on older model years?

[Indefinite Integral]

I don't have any references other than myself, but I drive a 2008 Hyundai Elantra, and I love it. It has been a great car for me so far, but it's only up around 35-40,000 miles right now. From what I've heard, the older Elantras (pre-2003) had a lot more issues, but that the more recent models have become much more reliable. I don't know where the 04-06 models fall in the reliability spectrum.

[Katya]

Anyone have any insights on the Hyundai Elantra in particular? And is there anywhere I can find a trusted review site that has info on older model years?

Consumer Reports does an entire issue on cars every year. If the current issue doesn't have old enough car models, you can go through their back issues. (Presumably, a car that was a good used car when it was, say, 5-7 years old will still be a comparatively good used car when it's 8-10 years old.)

Remind me, are you a current BYU student? If so, you should have online access to Consumer Reports. If not, you may have to truck down to your local public library. (If you're a UVU student, you probably have access, as well, but I'd have to double check.)

[wryness]

Augh! I didn't realize that was one of BYU's subscriptions, Katya! That would have been helpful when I was looking for a car. Thankfully, I managed to find a nice car anyway.

A couple other random bits of advice:

1. Check sites like Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book to see the listed "book price" for cars. Anything for sale that's really far under or over that price deserves an explanation from the seller.

2. If you are in the Utah Valley Area, check out Robert Marsh Car & Truck Sales in Payson. I got my car from them and they seemed very down-to-earth and honest, as dealerships go. (The owner personally buys the cars they sell.) I was happy with them. They're a small dealership but might have what you're looking for.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

Remind me, are you a current BYU student? If so, you should have online access to Consumer Reports. If not, you may have to truck down to your local public library. (If you're a UVU student, you probably have access, as well, but I'd have to double check.)

Unfortunately not, but I'll stop by my library tomorrow.

I've been using KBB and Edmunds a bit. Actually, found Edmunds just after I asked this question. I understand that well under book probably means a problem with a car, so ask about it, but significantly over book just seems like them trying to catch uninformed buyers. What else could it indicate that would be good to ask about?

And thanks for the personal insights, II. Hearing how it actually runs for someone is helpful.

[Katya]

Augh! I didn't realize that was one of BYU's subscriptions, Katya! That would have been helpful when I was looking for a car.

There's a Consumer Reports website as well as Consumer Reports, the magazine. BYU doesn't have a subscription to the former, that I know of, but pretty much every major university has an online subscription to the latter. (I used it a lot when I was in Maine and my brother was looking for a new car.)

[Katya]

There's also a service (Car Fax, I think?) that will let you look up the history of a car based on the VIN, so you can see if it's ever been in a major accident and how many owners it's had, etc. You have to pay a fee for the service, but then I think you get unlimited uses for the next 30 days or something like that, so if you're shopping around you can look up the histories of a bunch of cars, which is nice.

[wryness]

YES! Carfax is an essential. Forking over the money is annoying, but it's a great investment, since you get to ask for more than one report. By using Carfax, I was able to discover that a car listed as having only 16,000 miles had a history of accidents and THREE OWNERS (if I recall correctly). Suspicious? Yes. I didn't end up buying that car.

Some car dealerships (like the one I mentioned earlier) are actually "Carfax Dealers" and will give you a copy of the Carfax of any of their cars for free. That's very helpful.