Used Car/Truck HELP!!

[wing nut]

I currently drive a chevy trailblazer (2002) and everytime it breaks.. it costs me a ton of $$ to fix. Its been in the shop WAYYY to much lately and its seriously draining my wallet!

I'm need a used car/truck that I am able to do light towing with, and also get decent milage. I would love to stick with domestic.. but after this trailblazer..I'm open to anything. My price range will probably be around 15,000 (i'll get a small loan)

I read the nissan pathfinder is a decent truck, i was also looking at used acura's or infinity fx35's I'm just not sure if they are reliable, and how much replacement parts cost.

any ideas????

[Stitch King]

Any vehicle is prone to problems. Assuming that one is going to be better than another is a crap shoot.

It all comes down to the maintenece history of the vehicle and the research you put into learning what to look for when buying. The forums are an excellent place to research what typically goes wrong with a particular vehicle. For example, if you are looking at a Jag search Jaguar Forums on google. Once at the forum search Buying or buy XXXXX. You'll be amazed at all the info that pops up.

I personally have had great success with:

2003 Lincoln Aviator - 98,000 miles and only a trans pan gasket and heater switch.
2000 Ford Expedition - 120,000 miles and only a power window motor.
1994 Ford Ranger - 194,000 miles and no major repairs. Still has original shocks.
2003 F150 Harley - 85,000 miles and only a heater mode selector and door lock keypad.

Make sure that any vehicle you buy comes with the complete maintence history not just a carfax. If they can't show you the records keep looking.

Good luck.

Ken

[Pro300x24LD]

I've always had good success with used jeeps. Consider a grand cherokee or even an older cherokee sport. Parts are usually pretty cheap and they are very easy to work on.

I've also had really good luck with my chevy silveradoes, so maybe consider a tahoe or something.

[BoatGoFaster1]

They are going to break, new or used. new you have a warranty.

When buying used, I get an extended warranty. Also, used cars are the devils playground.

I've always like car max, maybe a tad high on price, but the quality i there. they have warrantys

on my 2000 vette, I spent $2k for 4 years, $ 50 deductible.

On the deductible, if there are 5 problems, but all presented for repair at 1 time, its just $ 50.

There is no worry.

[kcline]

I am partial to this products, like other post maintnence is the key. Would also agree Jeeps hold up pretty good. Buying a GM truck 2007 or newer, you will have 100,000 mile powertrain warr. My thoughts are buy a good extended warranty for the life of the loan, that way you dont have a big expense while your still making payments. My other screwed up way of thinking is buy a 1/2 ton truck (atleast 1/2 ton), it is designed to hull a 1/2 ton all the time. Thinking it will hold up longer than say an Suv that is not rated for that. Wether you hull 1/2 ton all the time or not, its made stronger from the get go.

[gregpro50]

I've always been a Ford guy but I have been burned so bad by domestics that I have been buying imports lately. I've been burned by a Ford Ranger, 2 Explorers, '02 GMC Sonoma (similar to what you have). On the other hand, one of the best vehicles I have ever owned was an '05 F-150.

Anyway, I needed to get something for my wife to drive similar to what you are looking for. A mid-sized SUV with some towing capability. Several years ago we bought a new '06 Toyota RAV4 with the V6 engine. We loved that vehicle. It was great for kids and with the 278hp V6 it pulled great. I had no complaints about it and it was nice to finally have something for a change that never needed to go back to the dealer for repairs and be able to eat any ricer alive from a stoplight dragrace.

Last year we had another child and needed something with more seats so we looked at the new Honda Pilots and ended up trading the Toyota in for a new '09 Honda Pilot touring that will actually seat 8 people in comfort while still being able to tow my 22' Stingray without any problems. Gas mileage for both vehicles non-towing on the highway is mid to upper 20's. I love that Pilot even more than the RAV. I actually don't like buying imports but I can't believe that the domestic automakers can't make something reliable that competes with these.

We did also look at the Toyota 4Runner and the Pathfinder but since they are built on rear wheel drive truck chassis' they didn't have very good gas mileage. Upper teens is about the best you can hope for.

My father spent gobs of money to buy a hybrid Chevy Tahoe and is pissed off because our Pilot will tow what his will, get the same or better gas mileage, and was much less money.

[kcline]

If your fathers is a new Hybrid, they have come out with some programming upgrades for them to get better fuel economy. Not saying all are under that, but some people have told me they are getting 5-6 miles per gallon more since we reprogrammed them. No you are not going to get 30 mpg gallon out these vehicle, but I would think 24-26 highway he should get.

[gregpro50]

He seems to be getting low 20's with it. The Pilot gets mid 20's. His Tahoe must have been an early one because he went to the dealer to order one when he first heard they were coming out. I know his was the first one sold in our area because they actually did a story about it in the paper.

[dcarter]

I own a 2003 Ford Exploder sport (2 door explorer) it has been very reliable. It also inclides the sporttrac model. they both have a 4.0L V-6 and on the highway it gets mid to high teens and pulling my 16' flats boat under 65 it still get low teens in MPG. I have big wheels and tires so I wore out the control arms and had to repack the wheel bearings, other than that I change the oil and put a battery in one time. it has 80K on it now.Bthey don't hold there value very well so you can find them fairly I expensive.
Another one that may be worth Loking at is the chevy avalanche or Nissan Titan. They both are reliable and make good tow vehicles IMO.
May be worth a look.

[kcline]

Was looking for some info on mpg on them and I stand corrected, looks like advertised as 21 city, and 22 highway.http://www.gmc.com/yukon/index.jsp
Your pilot is geting great milage, not the norm for us in florida. The only big difference is your fathers vehicle has the 6.0 litre, which are terrible on gas. Most other vehicles have a 5.3 litre and are better on fuel. Alot of them have placement on demand and cutt 1/2 the cylinders off while driving steady speeds. basically turns into a 4 cylinder. On my 2009 gmc on highway driving at times I can get high 20, but averaging it out I am in the high 10's. City driving i am 17 mpg every week, but I am alittle lead foot, and wait till the end to stop. So I am pretty bad on fuel economy, if I drove it like they do there tests, I am sure I would be right at 20 all the time. Have him reset everything the next time he goes on a trip, fill up reset, and drive highway only, only way to find out forsure. Fill back up when done doing the test. The gauges and estimated milage will change, they are not excact. Just a thought, long one at that.

[stokernick]

2006 RAV Sport,V-6,3500 tow pkg. 22-28 mpg,no issues!IMHO

[flabum1017]

Crown Vic/ Police package...........

[David]

Volvos have an excellent combination of mpg and tow capacity. The smaller Volvos are rated to tow 2200 lb, and the larger ones 3300 lb.

Consumer reports rates them as average for reliability, except for the S60 which is much better than average.

[tux974]

2000 4X4 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, 6 cyl, full power 205,000, HD auto tranny and a 3500 towing capacity.
Timming belt every 80,000 (I believe in 2002 they went to chain), distributor 185,000 and Mobil 1 synth every 4,000
Only present problem is a very,very small rear main seal leak.

IMPO, Awesome little truck

[Stitch King]

Crown Vic/ Police package...........

P71's are cool

Plus parts are cheap and easy to get.