So for the last two or three weeks I've been on the hunt for a car for my mom. She has a 2000 windstar with 144k that needs a valve job. Its ready to give up the ghost any day now. She seems to prefer the small cuv's (RAV 4, CR-V, and Forester).
She needs the car to be 2007 or newer, ideally 2010 for financing reasons. She has a budget of up to $17k but ideally hover around $15k or less.
So i went to the local subaru dealership looking at some used foresters and as i pulled into the parking lot i see a 2007 forester XT. Its another customer's car that hes trying to trade in. I strike up a chat with the guy and tell him if he doesn't trade it in to give me a call. Later that night he calls me and gives me all the details.
2007 forester xt sport 5 speed manual 110,000 miles new turbo, transmission, clutch done in the last 30k miles timing belt and radiator done 5k miles ago. turbo back exhaust. tuned
This is a car id love to jump on for myself but then im looking for my mom. Is this the kind of car i want to put her in? She's willing to daily a manual as that's how she grew up driving but shes also in her early 60's.
The guy is looking for loan payout which is 13k. Dealer trade in seems to hover around $7k-9k and he told me the dealer was hesitant to take it in on trade because of the miles.
What should i look out for on this year and model? Should i be worried about the miles or relax since most of the major services have been done already? and whats a fair price to pay?
oh and if anyone feels like chiming in about rav-4's or cr-v's, that would be appreciated too.
