I need a new car

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So I totalled my car and now I need another one. I'm trying to make a good decision. Part of that means slowing down and making sure I give all options due consideration. Here's what I'm working with:The retail value of my car was anywhere from $3900 to $4500, depending on where I get the information. Of course, whatever it is assessed at, I'll lose $500 due to the deductible. So basically, I'm hoping to get at least $3000 from the insurance company.But what to do then...My first thought was to only buy a car that I can buy for what the insurance co. pays out. That would require a lot of looking and careful shopping. But I don't want to end up with a car I don't like.But...however...as it were...I just found out that my student loan might be deferred for a year because of this class I'm taking now. That means I would have $300 bucks for the next year to make a payment. You know, use my insurance payout for down payment and finance another $2000 or so.Before I came to Louisville I was looking at a 1999 Honda CRV. CRV It has a salvage title. It's been rebuilt by a reputable guy and looks really clean, although it has about 158k mileage. They're asking $5000, but I bet I can get it for less. My little brother gave me his car to drive to Louisville this week. Nice car. It's a 2004 Olds Alero. 4 door. About 83,000. Perfect condition and a really nice car. Alero He called me yesterday saying he wanted something bigger and would sell me his car for his payoff, which is $7500. I know that's more than 1 year of payment. It would probably be 2 years. Sounds like a gamble and stretching it a bit. However, the chance to get a 3 year old car this nice for that price...I have to give it serious consideration.Or I could keep looking.So my question...advice appreciated...1)Only spend what I clear for a car, 2)finance for 1 year - like the CRV, or 3)take the gamble and finance for 2 years to get my brothers car.???

Well, I would toss out the idea of one that your gambling with.I would ALSO keep looking around, if your brother will let you at least drive his car for another month or so. Depending on the payment he is making, maybe offer to make one while your using it if you need to.Stay somewhere between where you can pay it all off, and what you can afford for the next year. There are some websites that cars are listed on. Try googling them, I wish I could remember what one I was using last year!

For me a car is just a way of getting from one place to another, and I don't care what it looks like. What matters most is (i) cost; (ii) running cost; (iii) reliability.Remember that if you have to borrow, the interest will mean that in the end you pay a great deal more. That should be taken into consideration.We have always bought small cars that are about 9 or 10 years old. At that age the price is reasonable but there is still quite a lot of useful life left in them. In our experience cars become no longer worth keeping fixed at about 25 years old (but we don't have salted roads).

I was going to say go with the Honda because they last forever, but it's been rebuilt AND has 158K on it...doesn't seem like it will last. I think the Alero is overpriced. I would keep looking if I were you.

Iv gone through alot of cars, so lets look at some shit.
Also how paranoid are you?
My Uncle is an attorney, he put together a database thats used world wide in car wreck cases.
If you need to feel safe, some cars are better than others.
His database goes back about 20 years so its not like reading consumer reports and just getting this years shit.
I have no idea how to access it, but I do know his phone number and email addy, and he has most of those figures in his head. hes sued every company world wide that makes and imports cars to the US and Canada.
The ont thing I know is that Jeep is BAD. the most unsafe shit on wheels.
Personally, I like motorcycles. 40+ miles per gallon, insurance is nearly nil. and they just really fucking feel great to ride.
Iv totaled 4 bikes, I walked away from all of them with minor shit wounds, some bruises, some scrapes. and one with some scars, but still was limited to cuts.
Iv never worn a helmet. Bikes get a bad rap because of alot of shit but they are safer than they are given credit for.
get a shitty car to ride around in during bad weather, ride the bike and save gas during godo weather.
As a bonus, you have no idea how many girls i used to pick up on the bikes. Its an easy entry way into convo and everyone wants a ride.
The tattoos and scars I have dont hurt eather and went right along with the bike.
Ben afew years since I had a bike, the last wreck cured me for a while, but I have a fever now for a new one, I have some shit going on a few of them I want. Not a single one runs, 2 of them dont even come with an engine.
Im building this bastard, cut the frame, chop it out a bit but keep the handbars low and 2 seats so I can take julz on rides. This bike I want to run long range and into cali and yellowstone and if shit goes my way, into south dakota for the rally next year. I know it wont be a harley, I fucking hate the bastards, such a pain in the ass to keep running, carb adjustments every time you change elevation by more than a thousand feet, pain in the fucking ass. I hate bullet bikes too, I want to ride, not be crunched over like a fucking horse jockey.
on the two your looking at the hondas a better longer lasting and running car, but a slavage?
I saty away from any of that shit, and always look at insurance prices before you commit to buying a car.

I have a truck thats 30 years old !Of course I put a new engine and tranny in it, and replaced most of the drive train and the rear end.Its reliable, but set me back some money to make it that way.Any car can be returned to glory if you got the cash and the know how. Currently I need to do teh body work and get the truck painted.3/4 ton truck on a 1 ton suspension, I can tow 16k no problem and Iv had 7 grand inteh bed and hardly dropped the bed down at all.33" tires on 16.5" rims...I ll take my truck over a new one any day, besides that 454 big block chevy sounds so much better than todays shit, and diesels stink and sound like shit.

I'd stay away from the salvage. I've driven a few shit cars in my time and from my experience what you may save in the initial outlay of cash you'll make up for in maintenance. Of course I drive 200 plus mile a day so that may have something to do with it.You need to ask yourself what your going to expect the car to do? How much mileage are you going to require of it during a month? How long it's going to have to last you before you have to make a big outlay for something else? In the big picture you may not save much if you can pay it off in one year only to have to turn around and buy something else as soon as you get it paid off... without having anything for a down payment. I've been down that road a few times. I'm not advocating getting anything new but just saying rather that going for the fastest cheapest pay-off stretch the down-payment dollars your going to get from your insurance to get something that will best serve you....I don't know if that makes a damn bit of sense.__________________________________________________________________If you want to take Chance's advice, about a bike, this is what I'm looking at. Don't know to much about it but at least it's not a fuckin' Harley. Like Chance, I wouldn't have one of those fuckers.Is it just me or does every middle aged fat guy buy a Harley now? It's like the popular thinking is I can be middle aged, fat, out of shape but as long as I'm on a hog I'm still cool. ...just an observation.

I don't know, just the sound of a Harley makes me kinda wet.

I didnt say I wouldnt have one! Jus thtat I wouldnt buy one, but say a nice gift... I wouldnt turn it down. I also wouldnt ride that bastard around the country. Nice looking bikes, lots of power and speed, Iv taken a buddies over parleys canyon ( I know that means nothing to anyone here but its I-80 from salt lake to evangston and has more run away truck lanes and steeper grades than any fucking place Iv ever seen on a major road) at over 130 MPH from bottom to the top of the pass. The problem with them lies in break downs, parts, and constantly working on the bastards. Id nevre buy a harley, but Id accept it as a gift if someone wanted to buy me one.Im After a 2 wheen bike Scotty, not a trike. its those two wheels in steep mountain passes and bringing it around sharp corners, not just the wind in your face that attracts me so much to the bikes.My brother has a 2006 Kawasaki. Its the next model down from the vulcan, a drifter maybe? Hes gone and had teh special add ons stuck on. a Fucking stereo that plays through the speakers in his helmet, as well as a voice activated 2 way between him and a passenger through the helmets.A set up like that I could live with, just for the music, I dont know that i want to talk to anyone while Im driving a bike a few thousand miles, I like the peace it brings nad only hearing the sound of the engine.

did u ever decide / find a new car?i want a CBR... i love crotch rockets

I'm actually still looking. I just want to take my time and make a good decision. I've got a rental car until Monday, and then I'll have my brothers old Bronco again, so I can take my time.I got the settlement yesterday and the check is on the way. $3035. I was hoping for at least $3000. And I'm looking around and seeing that I can get a decent car for that. I actually am looking at a couple of things. A 2001 Nissan Altima. It's boring looking, but it's an Altima. But I haven't called yet to see why selling so cheap. Possibly really high mileage. The other one I really like is a 97 Isuzu Rodeo. It looks to be in great shape, and the price tag is $2998. I think I'm gonna go test drive it.My goal is to keep looking and make a decision to buy on Saturday. If not, I'll go to an auction on Monday.Thanks for asking.

That rodeo is fucking junk.Im speaking as someone who had one. always a problem, always some little iece of shit going out and nickel and diming you to death, and the resale value?they hold resale about as well as a burlap bag holds water.The altima, that Id seriously look into.I was in an altima, making a left turn and some asshole in a big old ford truck passed two cars behind me and hit me in the drivres side door while he was on the wrong side of e road in a residential area, doing 40.I always seem to sit with my left knee up near the steering wheel. its a habit I got in as a kid to keep my foot away from the clutch. he hit my door, turned the car into a U, pinned me knee between the steering wheel and the door. I had no seat belt on.I couldnt get out of the car because of my knee being trapped, and I had several cuts in my hair on my left arm, all small bullshit cuts.Thats all teh damage I had. I had a swollen knee for a few days, the door had to be cut off to get my knee out, aside from that I was pretty much fine.that car was at the time rated highest for side impact crash testing. didnt do to bad on front impact either. good gas miles, high saftey rating, a bit boring but a good car.Mine was a 96 and was totaled in 99. They have only gone up in saftey standards.Look into blue book, and then look into why its so cheap.ave miles is about 15k a year according to banks.

I've given up on the Rodeo and the Altima. I'm now looking at several things, including a 2000 Mazda 626 LX and a 2000 Ford Focus SE. Both very clean and affordable.But I will be sad to give up my rental car.

Hmm.. Well, I haven't checked either out on crash tests...

BUT I do know a repo guy who HATES towing the Ford Focus because it always crumples the bumpers.

Check out the safety issues in both vehicles...That would be my defining point if you like both.