Cheap used cars I should buy now?

SC Maintenance

SC Maintenance

Joined
Jun 8, 2022
Messages
6,300
Location
Lowcountry South Carolina
I love my 2008 Xterra. The market didn't love them, they only made 300,000 over 10 years. There awesome - family car, off roader, grocery getter. They do it all and run forever. Gave mine to my daughter so I am on the hunt for another one.

Got me thinking of the great cars that I should buy now, because there pretty cheap compared to new and they likely won't make another like it? So I am not talking about a 2004 Accord. Something thats more unique but still common. This is my current list. I can think of lots of others, but will start here.

1) Infiniti G37. Basically a 12th generation skyline - if I can find one that isn't black and isn't beaten to death.
2) Land Rover Disco 2. I know their junk, but they look cool?
3) Second Generation new Beatle.

Thoughts on mine? Ones I am missing. Ones you own already and love?
 
Does this need to be divided by need? Off road capable, smooth highway cruiser, 4 door utter beater?

Loved my Jetta Wagon, liked my '99 Camry, different reasons for both.
 
2010-2012 Pathfinder LE or a Silver edition if you can’t find the LE. Post timing chain tensioner years, might need an aftermarket radiator - but that’s easy enough.
 
spk2000 said:
The 3 in your list will be high maintenance headaches but if you fix them yourself you might be able to retire someday,
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The Disco yes. The Infiniti no for sure (VQ/RE7 trans highly reliable, as were Nissan's in those years in general), the Beatle depends on the engine - they were available with the I-5 which I think is ultra reliable.
 
SC Maintenance said:
There was no method to the madness other than Unique and cheap part.
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Unique can bite you, as that can mean parts availability as the years go by. Cheap to buy, maybe cheap to keep going for a while, but you'll need to know when to get out.

I honestly haven't been following lately. Lately nothing is interesting, all the interesting stuff is old, high miles and lots of rust. The stuff less than 20 years old isn't a value to me, rust and has to pass ODB2 emissions, while over 20 is... of course rusty.
 
supton said:
Unique can bite you, as that can mean parts availability as the years go by. Cheap to buy, maybe cheap to keep going for a while, but you'll need to know when to get out.

I honestly haven't been following lately. Lately nothing is interesting, all the interesting stuff is old, high miles and lots of rust. The stuff less than 20 years old isn't a value to me, rust and has to pass ODB2 emissions, while over 20 is... of course rusty.
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Well that might be why I don't own them - other than the Xterra which is the same drivetrain as the Frontier - so lots of parts.

I think the Beatle shares most parts with a Jetta.

Infiniti don't know. Disco - you don't see them anymore - not sure if it is parts or they just suck :ROFLMAO:

No rust here so thats part of the equation.
 
SC Maintenance said:
Well that might be why I don't own them - other than the Xterra which is the same drivetrain as the Frontier - so lots of parts.

I think the Beatle shares most parts with a Jetta.

Infiniti don't know. Disco - you don't see them anymore - not sure if it is parts or they just suck :ROFLMAO:

No rust here so thats part of the equation.
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The problem with the Beetle is the interiors don't hold up. They don't make replacement door panels, at least that I'm aware of. Also the inside plastics have a coating on them kind of like rubber that peels off. I had a 2004 Beetle TDI that I sold in 2015.
 
Nick1994 said:
The problem with the Beetle is the interiors don't hold up. They don't make replacement door panels, at least that I'm aware of. Also the inside plastics have a coating on them kind of like rubber that peels off. I had a 2004 Beetle TDI that I sold in 2015.
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Good to know.

Can you paint the plastic panels or something?
 
SC Maintenance said:
Good to know.

Can you paint the plastic panels or something?
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Yes. M539Restorations (YT) has a couple of episodes where he repainted the soft touch plastics which also plagued BMW's of that vintage. He had to do a few pieces of an Alpina B7. You may want to look at his channel for the interior detailing episode around 2022/2023 (iirc)
 
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I had a 2011 Infiniti G37S sedan with a manual transmission for about 7 years, 70,000 miles. Don't miss it at all. VQ37 was meh. Really buzzy, and mine liked to burn oil from when I bought it at 28000 miles. Transmission had a whine too. However, it had a pretty decent Nav system at the time with a nice dial to zoom in and out with and arrows to move around without using a touchscreen. Wish more cars had that.
 
Can't go wrong with an Aztec. :) I know a few folks that have Nissan pickups that are well into the 300K+ mileage range now and still chugging along. I think they are relatively reasonable when they have the high mileage. Boxster, Audi TT...if you are handy with the wrenches.
 
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