I think I need to find a car...
 

My son has been driving my Corolla and he got in an accident last week. No injuries but the passenger side doors were damaged. He took it to the body shop yesterday and they told him it might be totaled. And I realized, of course it will be totaled. It's a '93 Corolla with 225,000 miles. Getting it washed costs almost more than it's worth.

We won't know for sure until Monday or Tuesday but I'm assuming we need to find another car. My experience has been to drive a car until it starts to need too many repairs and then spend a lot of time thinking about what I want and finally buying a new one. Now I need to find something used that will be reliable but fairly inexpensive (cheap). And I need to do it quickly.:eek:

Where do I start?

Japan.

Well, how cheap is cheap? I'd start at a Honda dealer.

I am a huge fan of Toyota. Our experience has been that you can drive them forever. I sold my eight-year-old Camry with 225,000 miles on it and got over $3,000 for it a couple of years ago (bought a used Lexus which is also a Toyota product). I really hadn't put much money into the Camry beyond oil, tires and brakes (and the oil changes were only, on average, every 10,000 miles - I am not a maintenance hound).

We've had five different Toyota vehicles over the years and every one of them has been a winner.

You also have a co-worker who knows a thing or two about cars.

I don't think we live in the same car universe.

Yes, I like Toyotas.

How cheap? It depends. Maybe $5,000? Basically the amount of the bonus I'm getting this month. Usually the bonus goes for a major plumbing repair. Apparently my condo knows that I'm getting the extra money.

You should be able to get a pretty good used car for $5,000 cash. You have the upper hand if you don't need to finance. Good luck!

Nissans run forever - I see 5 of my 1994 Maxima every single day on the road.

I vote for Honda or Toyota. I've had both and run them forever.

I have a 93 Honda Civic that I love. Honda and Toyota vehicles go forever- they're great cars!

I say Honda or Toyota, too. I really liked Hardin Honda in Anaheim. They were pleasant. More pleasant than the Costa Mesa and Long Beach Honda dealerships.
:)

I'm glad no one was hurt in the accident.