Overhauling a secondhand car

[fdaniels]

How can you protect a car from rust? I mean as a preventative measure. Lets say I buy a car that is a few years old and I want to make sure that the body will remain rust free for another 10 years. Also the car will be garaged, just wondering about other things one can do.

What are the expensive things that tend to break first? How much will a gearbox take to replace, what about clutch, etc.

The reason that I am wondering is because my fiance mentioned that maybe I should get a secondhand car, instead of the new Yaris that I wanted to get. I will be able to save 2k a month, or pay off the car in 3 years and save a crap lot if I keep investing/saving the instalments. It will enable us to save more over the course of six years.

Edit: Oops, my calculations were a little off

 

[wikk3d88]

firstly, if you are buying second hand, toyota is always a safe bet! they are uber reliable and you almost have to never worry about replacing mechanical items such are gearboxes etc. your yearly service on the car will almost never be more than R2000 (euro shape corolla that was introduced in 2003)
always look for a low mileage example. high mileage e.g. 100 000+ is just asking for trouble

rust depends on the condition of the car you are buying, garaging it is always a safe bet, as well as regular washing and waxing

that said, a second hand yaris is a very good buy, there are plenty 'demo' models for sale at the dealerships.

 

[fdaniels]

So, lets talk about high mileage for a bit. Are there key parts that are likely to fail or does the whole car turn to **** after that? Lets say the car gets checked out by the AA I am assuming that it will run for a year at least before anything major pops up. Lets say I put R30k aside for the unexpected, I will still be paying less than I will on a new car.

I see 3 expenses.
1. Minor Service
2. Major Service
3. Repair.

Repair would be the most costly and also the most unpredictable. My previous car was an old 1996 Toyota Conquest as a hand me down from my Dad. The car was awesome, didn't have any major problems and had well over 250 00km on the clock. So I think that if a car has been taken care of it can last long. Also we do have a second car, so it won't be as big a problem if the car does have to go to the garage for a while.

Edit: Wow, I see that there are some awesome deals at Zeda in the 110 to 120k price range.

 

[Claymore]

It all depends what sort of age car you're talking about. 3 years old, shouldn't be any major hassles apart from certain scheduled items like cambelt. 5 years, not too bad either. 10 years old and more, you start looking at issues like rust, hoses failing, more serious maintenance items, and unexpected failures.

I would take a 3-5 year old car over a new car any day, for a given price. For the price of a Yaris, for example, you could pick up a 3 year old VW Passat, with heaps of capabilities you couldn't get on any new car for that price.

 

[Gnome]

A Overhaul actually means that you strip the engine and replace everything that is no longer within factory specifications bringing it back to factory specifications. If done right you have a engine that's as good as brand new (depending on manufacturer).

My advice to you is that you stick to a car that doesn't have any problems because you don't (no offense) seem to have much experience in automotive repair and if you need the car everyday you definitely don't want to learn how to fix the car while wondering if your boss is going to fire you or if you'll make that next interview.

Having someone else fix your car is very, very risky. Not only are you going to pay much more for repairs but people who actually car about fixing your car are few and far between.

What I mean by that is, they'll make a guess, because frankly they don't know your car, you told them what happens but you have no automotive experience so you don't know what to listen for or observe.
Then based on their guess they'll replace or fix whatever would fix that particular problem, if the car starts after that then they assume job well done. Most times car problems will be intermittent and they don't have the time to take your car for a 4 hour drive to see if that problem is gone so they replace and give it back to you. If it's not fixed, tough cookies.
They are therefore concerned about "fixing" your car in such a manner that will get you out of there and money into their pockets, end of story.
Agents especially, they are the worst of the lot. From VW to Mercedes, they don't give a sh#t about you, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise because it's not true, at most they are concerned about protecting their reputation, the associated cost of protecting that reputation VS how much damage you can do to their reputation determines how far they will go.

I've met a few mechanics here and there that actually want like a particular car and they are therefore better at fixing it or more willing to go the extra mile, but believe me digging those guys up isn't as easy as going onto yellow pages. By the time you hear of them you're already learning to fix the car yourself and you've heard of them from other guys like yourself by word of mouth.

 

[fdaniels]

@Claymore: I was looking at a 2003 car.

@Gnome: Yep, no offence taken. I know next to nothing about car except for how to drive it and change tires. What you have told me about mechanics has certainly made me think long and hard about the car that I will settle on. My career certainly won't leave me a lot of time for 'learning to fix cars', also I would prefer to spend my free time relaxing with my mates and fiance.

How do people then go about buying secondhand cars? Tonnes of people do it daily. Does having the AA check the car help very much? No, that is not a joke question, I really would like to know. Does buying from a reputable dealership like McCarthy Toyota mean that the car is in good condition?

The reason that I am asking is this. If I buy a car that costs about R120k then I can easily pay it off over 3 years, whereas it would like me 5 years for a new car that costs R180k. That will save me quite a bit of money, about R45k in interest + R60k in cost for a total saving of more than R100k! Seeing as how I am saving for buying a home in the next few years every bit of money that I can save will help.

I understand that a secondhand car will have problems and cost me money to fix. Though I estimate that with about R40k I should be able to make that car as good as new. We do have a second car for the event that this one has a breakdown. I would love to buy the 2003 Golf 4 GTi, but if it will REALLY be that expensive to fix then I will settle on a 2008/2009 Yaris T3+. If all else fails I will just get a new car, I reckon that it will be a waste of money.

 

[Claymore]

How do people then go about buying secondhand cars? Tonnes of people do it daily. Does having the AA check the car help very much? No, that is not a joke question, I really would like to know. Does buying from a reputable dealership like McCarthy Toyota mean that the car is in good condition?

Search for a car online, narrowing it down to what you'd like and can afford, and then go see the cars. Unless you know what you're doing, don't buy privately; buy from a car dealer. An AA report will deinitely highlight any issues you need to be aware of, but it's relatively expensive, so get one only when you've pretty much settled on what you want. Even if it doesn't help you negotiate a better prive, it can give you a heads-up about anything needing maintenance soo (like brake discs, etc.).

Buying from a reputable dealer will mean that the car will meet certain standards, but there's no guarantee that there's something you or they can't spot (like certain types of acident damage, mechanical issues (unless blatantly obvious), and suchlike.

It may be worth getting a Motormend (or similar) aftermarket warranty. It may cost R3K or so, but if you have certain issues, it could easily pay for itself.

 

[fdaniels]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[ponder]

An AA report will deinitely highlight any issues you need to be aware of, but it's relatively expensive,

Waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Those okes that work there are either blind or know jacksheet about cars.

 

[Claymore]

Waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Those okes that work there are either blind or know jacksheet about cars.

Well, if you don't know anything, it'll help highlight the obvious. I saw a colleague's report on a car he was interested in, and they picked up worn discs, worn tyres, that sort of thing.