4th Feb 2017, 04:35
Cost was a big factor. At best you had a 3 year loan on a 2500-3500 dollar average new car. Car designs were more unique. Not wind tunnel potato shapes with little changes over a decade. You could easily tell a model a block away instantly. And you could buy a mixed midsize V8 for this money. My parents and many others did not want to drive old looking cars. New ones were easily affordable and the economy was strong. The showrooms in our area had the glass covered to hide the newest models. And the late 60s cars were very sharp. There was a window of time that you dreamed of getting a new car the following year. The designs were so good as the great advertising of that era. The cars were very affordable. Cars today may have better amenities, but that was a very special period of the time. I still try to buy an exciting new car, but much of that enthusiasm is gone.
4th Feb 2017, 12:10
The site reviews are meant to give the potential car buying public a rough idea about a car being reliable or not.
If anyone, such as a 50 year old lady as you mentioned, buys a car on the strength of one review, let's be honest, that's just silly.
More experienced guys with cars (not fanboys) will find other car reviews an interesting read if you have an open mind when buying your next car and want to look at other manufacturers. For example, if I read a review about a Honda Accord that says they got to 100,000 with oil changes (and a few "consumables") then that's fine. On the other hand, there will be reviews that say the same car died at 60,000. Maybe it was an unserviced example? Who knows.
When buying any car you do your research and make your own mind up - the only issue I have is when people pretend a new car is perfect or they mislead someone by saying all cars are dead at a certain mileage. Both are untrue, but if someone asks me in general what is best, it comes down to your budget and used beats new every time in terms of value for money in the long run, even if you need a few repairs. Happy motoring whatever you choose :)
4th Feb 2017, 16:28
When it goes over 200000 miles, who are we fooling here? People also buy a car from a decade ago or longer and feel that the exact same new car and model will produce equal reliability. Lemons can be a year apart. Cost cutting or bad mechanical designs do occur. My thought is a word of mouth testimonial to an elderly or poorer person can be harmful. The old lady may not be computer savvy or literate. But she will listen and buy. Some sellers are this way. I bought a car and took the guy's word it was maintained and never in an accident. Got it home and it wasn't. The previous owner hit a guy on a bicycle. The Carfax showed a new hood and other damage. Some older cars had odometer cables unhooked. So is it a true odometer reading anyway?
4th Feb 2017, 22:17
Dude I agree with you for the most part, it's cool, I think we just need to clarify a few things.
Again I'm not the original author of this review we are commenting on, just the guy that's left a comment or two defending the higher mileage cars. You are right about the Carfax - I assume this is a USA only check though, but in the UK we have a similar thing - all our older cars are tested for road safety at 3 or 4 years old onwards, called an MOT test we have yearly after that. It does not guarantee the car is in perfect condition - only road legal. We have to trust the service history logs and any other documentation the car comes supplied with, and it's a risk buying a car that has not had its mileage verified as you mentioned. I'd recommend anyone buying a car that isn't new check all this stuff, and not just rely on reviews.
What I do like about CarSurvey though, and I think is the website's main strength, is people worldwide sharing comments and reviews about cars over an extended period of time and giving honest reviews and comments. I don't think there are any "fake" reviews as such, but rather some people exaggerating.
For example, you may get a review from a new or nearly new car saying it has been perfect and is the best car ever. Reviews like that you take with a pinch of salt. Likewise for the reviews that say a 20 year old car with 350,000 is perfect - of course it is not, or maybe it is but has been rebuilt from the ground up and the last owner did not pass on the receipts for all the work and the new owner thinks they have an immortal car.
Myself, as I mentioned in a comment before, I have had many cars from various manufacturers and it has been a mostly positive experience reliability wise. So I can only assume people that complain new or nearly new cars fall to pieces have a lemon or an abused used example, and of course will never entertain the idea that a really old car can be generally reliable. But me personally, I find the 10 year to about 15 year or 100 - 200,000 mile life cycle to be an expected realistic average life for a modern car, and I think this is reflected accurately in most reviews on here.
6th Feb 2017, 01:21
I for one don't subscribe that much to the idea of a lemon when talking about cars. Yes there are cars that can have one hard to diagnose electrical issue, caused possibly by water ingress or a previous accident poorly repaired, but there is no such thing as a lemon car bought in new condition. It is simply an excuse for the fans of a brand to say oh you just got a lemon car because it has too many problems. There may be an assembly issue or a bunch of bad parts, but there is no such thing as several new bad parts on a car to make it be a "lemon".
4th Feb 2017, 00:31
There seems to be a little confusion. What is 'consumable' then? Every single part in a car will wear with time, so are actually all parts consumables, except for the engine and transmission? So someone is replacing the alternator, the A/C compressor and condenser, the radiator, the cabin blower, the cabin CVAC assembly, the seats' electric motors, the sunroof, the brake booster, the steering rack, the wheel bearings, the wiper motor, and I haven't even mentioned all sensors, then comes here on this site and says, I had not had a single problem with this car to 250K miles ? And then a 50 yrs old lady reads and thinks oh I won't have any repair with this car, then starts paying hundreds and thousands on broken 'consumable' parts? What is this site review meant then for? To give the illusion a car is perfect? To have BMW fans coming here saying their 3 Series has been perfect, when in the real life it costs several thousands of dollars to keep it running?