Trying to decide between two cars for young adult kid for college. Base vehicle is a Lexus RX350. Kid is getting an AA degree soon and transferring to a state school. Spouse and I disagree on year made versus mileage and upgrades. We’re paying cash. Both are certified used and can be returned within 30 days if there’s a major issue. Also pray for us, kid is going to move away for college and we’re going be nervous empty nesters.#cars
if a car has had 4 owners in 5 years...something is up with that car.
Too new. Every young adult needs a beater car.
Newer because we’re far away, avoiding mechanical issues, it’s our daughter. Also kid has been driving our cars for 5 years, no major problems.
OP, why don't you give your current car to the kid (since they're already used to driving). Then buy a beater to replace for your own use. Since you have a lot of resources to repair or replace locally.
You never want to buy a used car that had more than 2 owners unless you are desperate.
1999 Honda Civic
The 2015 is very low mileage for its age, half that of the 2018, so I’d choose that. It’s not much past being broken in! How was the vehicle stored, in a garage? Lexus generally has great reliability since it’s a Toyota; however, I’d inspect the condition of the serpentine belt, hoses, and tires, to see if they showed signs of needing replacement.
We bought a 2006 when it had 50K miles on it. We are close to 115K miles on it because we both work from home (I only go in once a week). Biggest miles come from road trips. I take mine to an independent mechanic who specializes in Japanese cars. The car doesn't have good stock brake pads and rotors. BuyBrakes has good deals on EBC slotted rotors with yellow stuff pads. I did a front and rear set. Other than that and occasional major service we just had a few repairs that ran around $1500 due to the age of the car and mileage. It's a stereotype but I feel like we bought the car from someone who was retired and didn't need to drive so much.
So, which one is you?
Lower mileage, older car, 1 owner, try to negotiate the price a bit. I don’t like 4 owners.