Hi. New to the Forum
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Hi. New to the Forum
Hi everyone. My name is Dave, 20 years old and in college. Today I made a big step and purchased my first car. Before I go into detail about that, let me give you a little background.
For the past 3 years I have driven only big cars. SUVs, Minivans, Pickups, heck even Uhaul trucks. Before this car that I just purchased I had never driven a small vehicle of any kind. Needless to say, it was a little strange taking it for a spin for the first time. It was strange to have to really slow down at speed bumps to avoid damaging the car among other things. Anyway, for the past 6 months I had driven the family Dodge Caravan.
The Caravan was a 1996 with a Chrysler 3.0 L V-6. For a minivan I was definately pleased with its great acceleration and quiet ride. Im really going to miss it... Well anyway back to the story.
The reason I chose this car was really the price and the fact that I had been driving around for weeks without really finding a car that both met my budget and would be reliable. With only a week before school started, I felt I needed to get a vehicle. Heres the car:
1997 Dodge Stratus
2.5 L V-6 24 Valve SOHC
123k Miles
Leather Interior, Power Windows, power locks, ABS, power steering
Power Driver seat, CD Player, Good Air Conditioning
Condition of the car: The outside of the car is nearly flawless, although it needs a wash badly and the color is a strange purplish grey? THe interior is dirty, the previous owners must have not cared much about the car. The leather is in good condition exept for the front passenger seat which has some tears. I found out that the seller simply buys decent cars from wholesalers and then resells them at a higher price. However, all parts of the car are functional. I checked the oil and it was pretty much dark brown/black, which was a bad sign for me. The rear brakes are also shot and need replacing.
The car drives very well and had great acceleration on the 5 mile test drive. the transmission was very quiet and Im just hoping that this car doesnt start to explode with problems like I have heard so many stories about. It seems this car is hit or miss, either great or awful, but for 1900 bucks I took a chance. Tomorrow I will get the brakes serviced and new tires put on as well as an oil change. I'll probably invest an extra $350 before I feel this car is completely ready to go. For $2250, I feel this car is still a pretty good deal.
I would like some honest opinions from people. Any advice for a car newb? Any things I should look out for? Anything at all that could help would be appreciated. Thanks and I hope to learn a lot here.
For the past 3 years I have driven only big cars. SUVs, Minivans, Pickups, heck even Uhaul trucks. Before this car that I just purchased I had never driven a small vehicle of any kind. Needless to say, it was a little strange taking it for a spin for the first time. It was strange to have to really slow down at speed bumps to avoid damaging the car among other things. Anyway, for the past 6 months I had driven the family Dodge Caravan.
The Caravan was a 1996 with a Chrysler 3.0 L V-6. For a minivan I was definately pleased with its great acceleration and quiet ride. Im really going to miss it... Well anyway back to the story.
The reason I chose this car was really the price and the fact that I had been driving around for weeks without really finding a car that both met my budget and would be reliable. With only a week before school started, I felt I needed to get a vehicle. Heres the car:
1997 Dodge Stratus
2.5 L V-6 24 Valve SOHC
123k Miles
Leather Interior, Power Windows, power locks, ABS, power steering
Power Driver seat, CD Player, Good Air Conditioning
Condition of the car: The outside of the car is nearly flawless, although it needs a wash badly and the color is a strange purplish grey? THe interior is dirty, the previous owners must have not cared much about the car. The leather is in good condition exept for the front passenger seat which has some tears. I found out that the seller simply buys decent cars from wholesalers and then resells them at a higher price. However, all parts of the car are functional. I checked the oil and it was pretty much dark brown/black, which was a bad sign for me. The rear brakes are also shot and need replacing.
The car drives very well and had great acceleration on the 5 mile test drive. the transmission was very quiet and Im just hoping that this car doesnt start to explode with problems like I have heard so many stories about. It seems this car is hit or miss, either great or awful, but for 1900 bucks I took a chance. Tomorrow I will get the brakes serviced and new tires put on as well as an oil change. I'll probably invest an extra $350 before I feel this car is completely ready to go. For $2250, I feel this car is still a pretty good deal.
I would like some honest opinions from people. Any advice for a car newb? Any things I should look out for? Anything at all that could help would be appreciated. Thanks and I hope to learn a lot here.
