Trinity Posted April 8, 2020 Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 Hi there, I have found a 2008 VW Jetta that I am interested in purchasing. It has 164,000 miles and costs $2,600. I am sixteen and am just looking for a car that will get me from point A to point B, I don’t need anything fancy or flashy as this is my first car. That is about all of the money I have saved up, but I know nothing about cars, and I don’t know if this is a good buy or a ripoff (I’m very worried about getting a lemon because it’s from a private seller, but all I can afford are from private sellers). I would really appreciate it if someone could let me know if it is worth my money. Thanks, Trinity :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolie Posted April 8, 2020 Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 Hi, welcome to the forum. I know that there are a lot of things to consider when buying your first car. But the price of the used car depends on many more aspects like car paint, car history. If you provide more information related to the car you want to buy, it's much easier for us to determine if it's worth or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted April 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 Hi Jolie, Again, I don’t know very much about cars, but it looks to be in good shape to me. As far as I can tell the paint is fine and the inside still looks relatively nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris V. Posted April 10, 2020 Report Share Posted April 10, 2020 Not a bad price for that generation of Jetta. If it has no check engine light on, then it's probably ok to drive for a while. Rust should not be an issue for that car yet. See if you can get an OBDII code reader put on it to check to see if there are any pending trouble codes. The engines in those are reliable, but the transmissions can be a bit iffy at higher mileages (over 200k will be when you really notice any shifting problems). If the seller won't let you check it out at a mechanic's shop, then maybe have them take some money off for potential repairs that might be necessary. Where are you and the car located? Do you have to get the car inspected to get it registered to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1claire Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I feel like having a car as an investment is a good idea in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 On 4/10/2020 at 11:15 AM, Chris V. said: Not a bad price for that generation of Jetta. If it has no check engine light on, then it's probably ok to drive for a while. Rust should not be an issue for that car yet. See if you can get an OBDII code reader put on it to check to see if there are any pending trouble codes. The engines in those are reliable, but the transmissions can be a bit iffy at higher mileages (over 200k will be when you really notice any shifting problems). If the seller won't let you check it out at a mechanic's shop, then maybe have them take some money off for potential repairs that might be necessary. Where are you and the car located? Do you have to get the car inspected to get it registered to you? It’s about an hour and a half away from me, so it’s a little inconvenient and hard to do while being quarantined. My family decided that they didn’t want me to get this and they want me to get a newer car with a lower mileage, but I appreciate the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindapaeleman Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Hi Car is worth buying but it depends upon the peoples and their lifestyle. Before buying a car we need to do some checks 1.Safety 2.Engine 3.Transmission 4.Cost of ownership 5.Warranties 6.Depreciation 7.Navigation 8.Automatic headlights These are the things we need to check before buying a car. It would be saved our money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akash Chinta Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hey. I am also sixteen and came up with a car like this. I have seen many people that are in our age groups get scammed. I want to make sure that doesnt happen to you. First make sure that the car doesn't have a salvage title. If it does, i'm not saying the car is bad but make sure you get the cars history before proceeding on whether to buy it or not. Remember, before you buy the car, take it for an inspection check to make sure everything is running well in the car. I hope this helped you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted April 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, Akash Chinta said: Hey. I am also sixteen and came up with a car like this. I have seen many people that are in our age groups get scammed. I want to make sure that doesnt happen to you. First make sure that the car doesn't have a salvage title. If it does, i'm not saying the car is bad but make sure you get the cars history before proceeding on whether to buy it or not. Remember, before you buy the car, take it for an inspection check to make sure everything is running well in the car. I hope this helped you. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akash Chinta Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 5 minutes ago, Trinity said: Thank you! Oh and also if it is a salvage title make sure it didnt go through flooding. If it did the car will have serious issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindapaeleman Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 As you can see, owning and running your first car certainly isn’t cheap but then, neither are many of the alternatives. The best choice for you will depend on many factors, such as how many miles you travel, where those journeys take place, how suitable the alternative transport options may be, and who or what you need to take with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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