At last We Got a Car!!! Yay!!!

[aidan80 9]

After many long hard weeks of searching we found me a used car! It's a small 4 cylinder 98 Mercury (Ford) Tracer, it has 75k on it and we managed to get it for a very reasonable price (less than $3,000)! The car itself is in near perfect condition, a few minor scratches where you'd expect them for a 9 year old car. Apart from needing some minor repairs (shock/strut) it's ready to go. Very smooth driving an automatic, changes gears easily and smoothly and it's very quiet inside even with the air on!

The single biggest asset we had while searching for a used car was brining someone who knew what they where doing, knew what to look for and what to listen for! We looked at a lot of cars/trucks that appeared decent and turned out to be junk, leaking fluids, bald tires, rust, broken into, even collision damage!

Am glad the hunt is over!

[Jasman0717 8]

Congrats, hope it does good for you

[Zee Bee 61]

Congratulations!!!

[aidan80 9]

Thanks!.. I hope so too!

Now all that's left is to name the beast...

[aidan80 9]

I have a question that I'm sure I'll get laughed at for asking but as I've never driven an automatic before I have to ask...

The gear stick (if I should call it that) is quite easy to read. P for Park, D for Drive, R for Reverse, N for Neutral.. but there are some I've no idea what they are for? I have two D's one with a circle around it and one without whats the difference? I also have an L which I've no idea what it's for?

[NeverSeen 0]

I have a question that I'm sure I'll get laughed at for asking but as I've never driven an automatic before I have to ask...

The gear stick (if I should call it that) is quite easy to read. P for Park, D for Drive, R for Reverse, N for Neutral.. but there are some I've no idea what they are for? I have two D's one with a circle around it and one without whats the difference? I also have an L which I've no idea what it's for?

D no circle is Drive. You can use it around town

D with circle is Overdrive. Use it always. It will get you the best MPG around town and definantly on the highway. If your car has a Tachometer (RPM gauge) you can see how low the RPMs stay when you are just cruisen around.

L is low. Use this when going up hills where you need more power to climb. This will burn gas and result in poor MPG so only use it when needed.

If you want to see the differance feel free to drive a little bit from a stop in L, then put it to D, and then to OD and you will feel (or see if you have a tach) the differance in the engine. Do not bother doing this on a regular basis, there is no point and it is just extra work for your older transmission. No need to overwork something that is expensive to fix!

Typically when i drive an auto car i will just leave it in OD (overdrive, D with a circle around it). I do not live near any hills so i've never used L in an Auto. I have used L in my manual shift jeep, but thats for a completly differant reason .

[aidan80 9]

I have a question that I'm sure I'll get laughed at for asking but as I've never driven an automatic before I have to ask...

The gear stick (if I should call it that) is quite easy to read. P for Park, D for Drive, R for Reverse, N for Neutral.. but there are some I've no idea what they are for? I have two D's one with a circle around it and one without whats the difference? I also have an L which I've no idea what it's for?

D no circle is Drive. You can use it around town

D with circle is Overdrive. Use it always. It will get you the best MPG around town and definantly on the highway. If your car has a Tachometer (RPM gauge) you can see how low the RPMs stay when you are just cruisen around.

L is low. Use this when going up hills where you need more power to climb. This will burn gas and result in poor MPG so only use it when needed.

If you want to see the differance feel free to drive a little bit from a stop in L, then put it to D, and then to OD and you will feel (or see if you have a tach) the differance in the engine. Do not bother doing this on a regular basis, there is no point and it is just extra work for your older transmission. No need to overwork something that is expensive to fix!

Typically when i drive an auto car i will just leave it in OD (overdrive, D with a circle around it). I do not live near any hills so i've never used L in an Auto. I have used L in my manual shift jeep, but thats for a completly differant reason .

Now that explains it... it also explains why the car sounded kind of louder when I drove in D to work today!

Thanks for your help

[JODO 2]

Congrats

[aidan80 9]

Thanks for all the responses!!

I thought I'd post an update as I took the car in today so we could get it a once over and identify anything that might need fixed. As this is a used car bought on a tight budget I expected I'd need to get it serviced, new brakes or tires or something to be fixed due to wear and tear.

The mechanic said the car is immaculate underneath , the engine compartment and inside. He even went as far as to say the suspension/shocks/struts are in near new condition no problems. The only repair needed are two motor mounts! He asked as to how much was paid for the car ($2,200 or $2,300 to be exact before taxes) he said it was a steal. I think we got really lucky yet again...

Oh we did name the "beast".. we decided it would be only fitting to name the car after it's previous owner. We're 99% sure the last owner was an older person we decided to call him wilbert . I don't know if it's a back home thing or just my area thing but we used to call old men wilbert back home

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Congrats! Looking for a good used car is tough.

[Reba 2]

shiny

[Jeraly 4]

Haha - for old men I would stick with Bob, Fred etc The back end looks a lot like the Mondeo here - looks tidy too! Although my OH tells me horror stories about buying used cars - how you can't trust anyone selling them (well isn't that the same everywhere?!) but also because there is no MOT like we have in the UK how do you *know* the car is roadworthy if you don't know anything about cars?! I am dreading buying one eventually... saying that I am dreading driving in SoCal as well so it's all good

[Jigi 0]

hi,

I have had done research in here about buying small car in america.... wohoo.. becos i want the one which fits just me and my wife... those small cars we get in Japan.... i hope they get here too.. dont neeed the SUVs as they drink lot of gasoline.... just want the one which gives me high mileage and is maintainence freeee.... I hope i get one... when i am in USA

Jigi

[~krakatoa~ 27]

After many long hard weeks of searching we found me a used car! It's a small 4 cylinder 98 Mercury (Ford) Tracer, it has 75k on it and we managed to get it for a very reasonable price (less than $3,000)! The car itself is in near perfect condition, a few minor scratches where you'd expect them for a 9 year old car. Apart from needing some minor repairs (shock/strut) it's ready to go. Very smooth driving an automatic, changes gears easily and smoothly and it's very quiet inside even with the air on!

The single biggest asset we had while searching for a used car was brining someone who knew what they where doing, knew what to look for and what to listen for! We looked at a lot of cars/trucks that appeared decent and turned out to be junk, leaking fluids, bald tires, rust, broken into, even collision damage!

Am glad the hunt is over!

Haha, I can totally relate to the joy of finding your car after long weeks of hard search. Good deal for a used car too and the car looked "neat" on the outside.

I thought about buying a used car too but I decided a brand new one will serve the purpose better for me. I used to wait for the bus and take the train to commute to work. Now I have this baby to help me get through the winter days. My first car in the US.

Good luck to those still in the search for a reliable car!

Edited December 29, 2007 by krakatoa

[Alt name 1]

NICE!! congrats btw