My first car, ugh

[Zahboo]

I hate shopping, let that be known. Be if for clothes, or cars, I HATE it. So, I've saved up money and it's time to get my car. My moms friends mom is selling her Ford T-bird '97. It's a nice car. She has taken very good care of it since she bought it brand new. It has 90,000 miles on it. Ground effects is what I think you call the things that make it look sportier/lower. It's a nice car. $2800. Then there is a S10 pick up for 3400. It has 125000 miles on it. These are the 2 I've found that I like. The truck is from someone I don't know. Any opinions on it? The car is red and very pretty, the truck is shiny blue and also pretty, but needs new tires and oil change.

 

[Boyd]

T-Bird

 

[CityClucks]

If cost is a consideration for you, you might think about which one gets better gas mileage and compare insurance costs.

 

[Thomas423]

Something to consider is gas milage. With gas prices the way they are and potential to go even higher this is something big to consider with any car/truck.
The Ford T-Bird is probably a V-6 or V-8. The S-10 might be a 4 cyl. (some are 6 cyl.)
Also, does your state require cars to be inspected? Also a big consideration.

With that said, the T-Bird sounds nice and the milage and price are better than the S-10. The S-10 needs new tires so that adds another $400 +- to the price.

You can find out the gas milage of a car/truck online by doing searches. I think that CarMax gives that info about their cars.

 

[Zahboo]

Tax title and tags is ABOUT 200 according to mom. The gas milage I think is about 20 on the thunderbird. I think I like the thunderbird. I KNOW it's been taken care of because we've known the people since they got it and my brother has learned how to change oil ect from helping do it. Mom is sorta ugh on me getting a red sportish car

 

[Sitka]

Here is a suggestion I have that I wish I'd done the last time I bought a used vehicle. Have a mechanic check it out. Whatever the mechanic charges for a "once over" (if reasonable) is money well spent to know what you are getting. The T-Bird seems like the better deal at first glance, but as other posters have said, there are other considerations.

(See if the owner of the truck has service records. If they balk at your taking it to a mechanic, that's a red flag.)

 

[bkreugar]

I have a 97 thunderbird.I bought it when it was 3 years old for 10,000.00.It had less than 30,000 miles.It now has 156,000 miles. It has been reliable and a good buy.The cooling system blew within 6 weeks of buying it BUT I had a warrenty so I just paid a SMALL deductible as that was an expensive issue.

Since then I have only had the minor wear and tear (brakes, tires, maintence etc).But the air quit working about 5 years ago and it was too expensive (a leak under the dash) to fix.

Gas milage is decent and BETTER than my husbands ford ranger truck. I can get 375 miles to a full tank of gas with highway driving.But now it just puts around town mostly. I WANTED a 97 cougar but could not find one so I ended up with the thunderbird.It has the spoiler etc. I see LOTS of them still on the road.Plan to drive mine till I can't anymore.We buy a car about ever 10 years.

Hope that helps.

 

[GaNewChick]

Get the one you want. If you like what you are driving, the desire will be there to take care of it, keep it clean, and you'll be proud of it. Nothing worse than driving something you don't like, no matter the gas mileage, insurance, etc.

 

[flopshot]

keep your lifestyle in mind when you pick out a vehicle. i went through the muscle car thing and constantly worried about where i parked them, how they were running and pouring gas and money into them all the time.
i finally got smart and bought an old beater six cyl four door chevy. i could park it anywhere with the windows open and i got me to the beach and back every weekend on four gallons of gas and a quart of oil.
the Chevelle sat quitely in the driveway longing for the "old days"...

 

[keystonepaul]

If your folks have a regular mechanic perhaps they'll look over the car for free. Where I live we have a very reliable AAmco transmission dealership that I've used regularly having owned a dodge( run fast and run hard those Dakotas and Rams are beautiful on the outside but if you don't know what a ball join, u joint, tie rod, tie rod end, etc etc is you will- you'll come to view them like your taxes- gotta do the front end parts once a year) Anyhow, I bought a bought a used toyota with 125,000 miles on it I refused to buy it unless my mechanic could look it over- I expected to pay 100 - 150 bucks for my mechanic to look it over but he didn't charge me. A couple of pizza's on Friday and several doz fresh eggs showed my appreciation to the boys at the garage. Good luck to you. Keystonepaul P