Car Posts

I have purchased four used cars in the past two years. You might say I'm getting to be an expert on it. That's what my cousin thinks when I help her with used car buying, anyway. I look at cars as a vehicle to get from point A to point B, so I don't tend to care how pretty they look (i.e. the golf-ball sized hail dents in my Subaru Impreza Outback). I also tend to be cheap, so I buy older (but relatively reliable) cars. If I can get a car for fairly inexpensive, and only need to do simple maintenance/repairs on it, it more than pays for itself.

For example, I purchased my Malibu Maxx almost two years ago for $2000. The purchase price of that (so far) is $83/month. Aside from standard maintenance (oil changes), I've had to replace the brakes and rotors on it, the headlights, and the struts. I did all of the replacements myself, buying OEM or better quality parts (better than I probably would have gotten at a shop), with a total cost for all three of $538.66. That brings my total cost for the car up to $106/month. Not a bad deal, considering the average cost for a lease or car loan these days.

As I mentioned, with buying older cars, I've started to teach myself how to fix things, using online forums and YouTube videos. I've drained and filled a transmission, replaced brake pads and rotors, changed differential oil, replaced brake light and headlight assemblies, fixed a brake light switch and an in-vehicle entertainment system, fixed a moon roof roller blind, and just this weekend swapped out strut assemblies. As a result of all this knowledge I've tapped into, I wanted to give back a little bit, so with a couple of my recent repairs, I took some time to make some "how-to" videos as well. Hopefully others will benefit from my experience.

2005 Chrysler Town & Country Brake Replacement

2005 Malibu Maxx Strut Assembly Replacement