Single Mom needs an Appliance Car.

Bobzilla wrote:

belteshazzar wrote:

Alan Cesar wrote: That said, I don't think I've ever heard a normal person complain about a Toyota Corolla.

I'll bite. I'm seeing a LOT of oil burning issues on 10 year old examples. Can't say I know how that relates to newer ones, but it sucks when the ultimate idiot-proof appliance smokes and uses a more than a quart every 1000 miles.

That's what 10 year old 4cyl Accords do too.

Yea, I don't see Corollas doing that. But I have seens lots of Hondas, Acuras, Ford CrownVics/Lincoln Town Cars and all Mitsubishis burning oil.

spitfirebill wrote:

Bobzilla wrote:

belteshazzar wrote:

Alan Cesar wrote: That said, I don't think I've ever heard a normal person complain about a Toyota Corolla.

I'll bite. I'm seeing a LOT of oil burning issues on 10 year old examples. Can't say I know how that relates to newer ones, but it sucks when the ultimate idiot-proof appliance smokes and uses a more than a quart every 1000 miles.

That's what 10 year old 4cyl Accords do too.

Yea, I don't see Corollas doing that. But I have seens lots of Hondas, Acuras, Ford CrownVics/Lincoln Town Cars and all Mitsubishis burning oil.

I've had two corollas do it to me, so far. Seems that "deferred maitenence" by the PO is the prime cause.

A quick glance at Craigslist finds this car- http://annarbor.craigslist.org/cto/4234564959.html

Even has the more simple sync vs. a full screen.

And there are dealers with them on the lots, if you want to try that.

alfadriver wrote: A quick glance at Craigslist finds this car- http://annarbor.craigslist.org/cto/4234564959.html Even has the more simple sync vs. a full screen. And there are dealers with them on the lots, if you want to try that.

That's a whole E36 M3load of car for not a lot of coin.

mndsm wrote:

alfadriver wrote: A quick glance at Craigslist finds this car- http://annarbor.craigslist.org/cto/4234564959.html Even has the more simple sync vs. a full screen. And there are dealers with them on the lots, if you want to try that.

That's a whole E36 M3load of car for not a lot of coin.

Rebuilt???

To the OP:

I have a 2003 Mazda6 V6 manual, sport package, leather, Bose, heated seats, currently on Probe GT wheels with Dunlop WinterSport 3D tires. If you'd like to drive it so you have a reference point for further car shopping, PM me. I'm in Canton. It's got 165k and everything works except the 6-disc changer.

pinchvalve wrote: 2014 Kia Rondo

I'll be the one that says it. Buy the lowest mileage caravan you can find. if that isn't car enough, get a Pacifica.

all Mitsubishis burning oil.

My dad's 02 Diamante VR-X just turned over 250k and doesnt burn oil. It's been pretty reliable, too. Bought it at 108k.

In the last year I've had three examples (1zz-fe) on my tiny carlot that needed replacement engines.

And last year, the most inexcuseable example; My aunt's Corolla threw a rod at 180k miles. I realize that doesn't sound bad, but that car spent 90% of it's life at 60mph being driven by a 60 year old woman. It was dealer maintained since day one. I put a used engine in it's place, and THAT motor smoked like a 92 caravan.

imo the cars are nothing to brag about.

The 1zz was particularly prone to clogging the undersized piston oil return holes. Run cheap oil in it till it turns to goo, because "its a Toyota, its durable" and you'll have problems. Burns through the little 4qt sump and there goes the engine. Ditto on timing chain wear. If you get one that was maintained and run synthetic oil in it, it wont be a problem. I often redline mine several times a day, run M1 0w40 on a ~7500 mile interval(analysis backed), and it uses a quart every 6000 or so.

AngryCorvair wrote: To the OP: I have a 2003 Mazda6 V6 manual, sport package, leather, Bose, heated seats, currently on Probe GT wheels with Dunlop WinterSport 3D tires. If you'd like to drive it so you have a reference point for further car shopping, PM me. I'm in Canton. It's got 165k and everything works except the 6-disc changer.

I really appreciate that, but I should be alright in that respect.. My buddy actually had one back about ~5 years ago. It was a great car from what I remember, just have/had no idea how it would fair over the long-term.

Unfortunately, he wasn't that bright of a guy. 5 accidents (no joke) later, and one expedition through a hole my XJ got stuck in, he traded it for a Dart. In that respect, it was one hell of a car. If it can stand up to him in that respect, I don't think there's too much to worry about.

A Caravan isn't a horrible idea actually. I'm trying to stay away from something with a timing belt. I haven't heard anything poor about the "World" gas engines. The 2.4 world engine should be pretty stout, no?

My Caravan experience is over a decade old - do the transmissions still blow up every 30,000 miles?

If it blew up after 30k more than once, the guy rebuilding it didn't know what he was doing. Or the dealership was putting in a carbon copy of the one that broke at 30k without figuring out why.

But, to answer your question, no, they don't blow up on any kind of regular basis. What year range are you looking at? There have been a pretty large number of transmissions in caravans over the years, but usually only 2-3 options in every generation.

In reply to Vigo:

Basically from 89 to the 2nd half of the 90s. My family's 89 was on transmission #3 before my parents dumped it with ~60k miles on the clock. It didn't seem to be a fluke either since everyone we knew with a Chrysler van in that era had at least one transmission replaced throughout the course of ownership. It is a pretty hilly area so transmissions do plenty of downshifting but it was ridiculous how common failures were.

Well out of the 30 years of Caravan production so far, 89 happens to be the worst year for transmission problems. It was the first year of the new 604 trans which was way ahead of its time and had all sorts of control-side issues that burned them up. That trans ended up being very reliable. My parents also had an 89 van with that trans too, which was slipping a bit at 180k when they sold it. Not good by my standards, but good by most people's.

The early 90s were a rough time for the reputation of that transmission because lots of people put the wrong fluid in them, and the TCM relearn procedures were fairly tedious and difficult before obd2, so even a perfectly good rebuild could end up eating itself if the tech/shop didn't do the relearn by the book or put the right fluid in it or didnt do the TCM updates that fixed a lot of the control-side issues on the old models.

I'm a big fan of caravans but i dont really recommend them to people who arent looking specifically at minivans.