I have a 2000 Ford Focus that is payed off and has 74,000 miles on it. I was planning on driving it until the wheels fell off. The blue book value is approx. $5,000. My wife's aunt is looking to get rid of her 2001 Toyota Rav 4 with 96,000 miles. Value is about 10,000, but she'll sell it to me for $5,000. She took great care of the vehicle and it's in excellent condition. Should I do it? Sure the Toyota has 22,000 more miles, but I know she took meticulous care of it and it''s a better built vehicle. I haven't had any major problems witht he Focus yet, but I figure right about now is when the problems should start hitting me. Opinions?
just buy the Rav4 for 5K and use the other half of the Rav4's blue book and the 5K from the Focus as a down payment on a new Camry or Accord. Your payment on the new car shouldn't be more than $200/month with the huge down payment, and you'll have it paid off with plenty of miles remaining on the warrenty...
I have already thought about that, but part of me think it's sketchy that I'd turn around and make the profit off her car when she would be doing me a favor selling it at half price. She could easily sell it for $10k herself. I'd have no reservations if it wasn't a relative or friend. Still trying to to find out if it's 4 wheel drive, but I'd guess it's just 2 and it's an automatic.
C'mon, it's your wife's aunt! She's not even blood related! Just consider your new vehicle as part of the favor.
Just found out it's 2 wheel drive. And this aunt is basically immediate family..she lives 1.5 miles away and is very close to my wife. I'm leaning toward buying the Rav4.
Probably a good deal. I looked at my books on it and the private party is roughly about $9K. The one thing to consider though, is the high mileage has a much more demonstrative affect on the value than the book would lead you to believe. To a dealer, that is a wholesale vehicle, so on a trade, you would probably only get 5-6K and maybe 7-8K selling it outright.
I've had 2 co-workers get rid of their Ford Focuses (Focii?) within a year or two of ownership because the car gave them all kinds of problems. Getting 70k+ miles out of a Focus is either a blessing or a sign that Ford may have gotten their crap together... or sheer luck. I don't follow the car segment you're looking at much, but if the engine used in the Rav4 is like any other Toyota engine, the car's life is barely half over, if even that. You should try to find some Toyota or Rav4 forums and ask others that own it as well.
Whatever the value of the two vehicles now, the Toyota will always hold much better resale. Drive the Rav4, and if you like it, I would highly recommend you buy it and get rid of the Focus. The higher miles on the Toy will not adversely affect the resale. Main thing is,..will you like driving it?
sheer luck those things are ungodly pieces of shat. Toyotas that have been well maintained are much more likely to last longer than that Focus could ever dream of lasting. Do it.
It absolutely will. Are you saying someone will pay the same price for a Rav4 with 96K on it that they would for a Rav4 with 50K on it?
I think the 2005 Focus was rated pretty high for reliability...can't remember which publication it was from, though...
My focus is a 2000..the first year they made the model. The only problem I've really had to this point are the numerous recalls and a worn out ignition cylinder. It cost me about $120 total to fix that.
What kind of realistic reliability ratings are you going to get out of a current model year car? "Wow, I've got WELL OVER 3,000 miles on my car and not a SINGLE PROBLEM!!" Wooptie doo.
