Three years ago I bought a 2008 Suzuki Reno with a little over 10,000 miles on it for $6,000. A little after getting it the first frost came and I noticed the rear defrost didn't work. I took it in and they ordered and replaced the rear window. Problem solved.
It went a little while before needing to go back into the shop. It suddenly came to a crawl on my commute into Jackson and I barely made it to the dealership. It needed a new Throttle body and new computer. Then it acted up on a few other occasions, but they didn't have to replace anything to correct the issue.
Then it started running rough, and they had to put a new valve cover gasket and new spark plug o-rings because it was filling the spark plugs with oil.
Then at around 50,000 miles I lost 5th gear on a manual transmission. I've driven manual transmission cars most my life and the used cars would have between 100,000 and 250,000 without replacing or repairing any transmission. They insisted they would install a brand new manual transmission.
The backup light switch went out, so they replaced that as well.
So then it started running rough again just recently. At 59,000 it was determined that it had engine damage. They made sure I had performed all necessary service on the vehicle before agreeing to repair it under warranty. It had new lifters and upper engine overhaul. I was driving it easy to let thing break in, and I was surprised to hear lifter noise after an hours worth of driving.
I have been looking at cars and finally made a decision to purchase one in Nashville. So then I started driving the orange car (aka: the golden turd) to trade it in the day after the engine overhaul. The closer I got, the louder the engine noise got. The pinging was twice as loud as when I took it in for the new lifters. I was sure they would not want it as a trade. After hours of bargaining, I ended up getting $5,750 out of the car I purchased for $6000 three years ago.
So I ended up getting a more reliable car. A don't think I got a bad deal even though I am probably not the best negotiator. I got a model with $25,000 MSRP for $14,500 after the trade and took advantage of 0.9% financing. I am not used to leather, but it smells great.
I hope it will last me a long time.
It went a little while before needing to go back into the shop. It suddenly came to a crawl on my commute into Jackson and I barely made it to the dealership. It needed a new Throttle body and new computer. Then it acted up on a few other occasions, but they didn't have to replace anything to correct the issue.
Then it started running rough, and they had to put a new valve cover gasket and new spark plug o-rings because it was filling the spark plugs with oil.
Then at around 50,000 miles I lost 5th gear on a manual transmission. I've driven manual transmission cars most my life and the used cars would have between 100,000 and 250,000 without replacing or repairing any transmission. They insisted they would install a brand new manual transmission.
The backup light switch went out, so they replaced that as well.
So then it started running rough again just recently. At 59,000 it was determined that it had engine damage. They made sure I had performed all necessary service on the vehicle before agreeing to repair it under warranty. It had new lifters and upper engine overhaul. I was driving it easy to let thing break in, and I was surprised to hear lifter noise after an hours worth of driving.
I have been looking at cars and finally made a decision to purchase one in Nashville. So then I started driving the orange car (aka: the golden turd) to trade it in the day after the engine overhaul. The closer I got, the louder the engine noise got. The pinging was twice as loud as when I took it in for the new lifters. I was sure they would not want it as a trade. After hours of bargaining, I ended up getting $5,750 out of the car I purchased for $6000 three years ago.
So I ended up getting a more reliable car. A don't think I got a bad deal even though I am probably not the best negotiator. I got a model with $25,000 MSRP for $14,500 after the trade and took advantage of 0.9% financing. I am not used to leather, but it smells great.
I hope it will last me a long time.