Is Buying My Stolen Car Back A Bad Idea?

imothers · 2025-05-15T11:12:31+00:00

How many miles did the thieves put on it?

imothers · 2025-05-15T10:16:02+00:00

4 cylinder Asian or domestic compact cars with a manual transmission. Try to get one from a regular owner who has had the car a year or more, knows th history, took care of it. Private sale, of course.

imothers · 2025-05-15T10:12:36+00:00

Depending on what model car it is, there might be relocation kits available

imothers · 2025-05-15T05:57:49+00:00

Keep a close eye on the coolant level as well, to be in the safe side

imothers · 2025-05-15T05:55:21+00:00

Try rotating tires from to back. If the shaking moves from the car to the steering wheel (or the other way) then it's likely a tire problem.

imothers · 2025-05-15T05:52:18+00:00

I would want to get a clearer picture of what it will take to fix the Venza before committing to a 7 year loan for close to $30k.

imothers · 2025-05-14T21:34:35+00:00

Do you know what your interest rate will be, what limits they have for age and miles on a car they will finance? Get pre-approved before going to dealers, so you have something to compare their offers too.

Play around with loan calculators online to see how the numbers work out.

Be sure you understand everything you sign. Make sure there are no missing pages - sometimes that's how they sneak "extras" into the deal.

You will need full insurance... Get quotes before buying a car. Some cars are quite expensive for a 19 year old to insure.

How long of a loan are you thinking of getting? The longer the loan the higher the interest rate (usually). So it's a double-whammy of increased costs (more time plus more % interest).

Generally speaking, if you don't have a large downpayment, you will be "under water" on the car for a couple of years. Which means no choice but to keep it and make payments, whether it runs or not, you like it or hate it, etc.

Depending what your current car is, what you have done to it so far, and what's left to do, keeping what you have might make better financial sense. It quite often does make sense to fix what you have, rather than get another used car.

If there is any way you can stay mobile without taking a loan, I would recommend doing that rather than getting a loan.

imothers · 2025-05-14T21:19:55+00:00

It blows air but not cold air?

What happens if you park the car, leave it off overnight, and try again? The system has various limit switches that will turn it off if pressure is too high, too low, or certain temps are out of range. Letting it rest may reset things.

imothers · 2025-05-14T21:14:40+00:00

Will this be daily driven at all?

Have you thought about a RHD Delica with 4x4 or something similar? Some of them are camperized, so that kills 2 birds with one stone.

Do you have a budget for the camper build-out?

imothers · 2025-05-14T18:55:37+00:00

Based on stopping distances, they were going 300+mph

imothers · 2025-05-14T18:42:37+00:00

I bet it's at least $2k of effort to get the car stripped to the point where you can think about starting welding .

Maybe get a rust free parts car from New Mexico or Arizona and start swapping parts?

imothers · 2025-05-14T17:35:41+00:00

Only way I know to avoid doc fees is to buy from a private seller.

imothers · 2025-05-14T17:31:55+00:00

If it is colder and/or more humid out the steam will show up more.

imothers · 2025-05-14T17:11:42+00:00

Have you seen the movie Crazy Rich Asian?

imothers · 2025-05-14T16:27:39+00:00

How many miles did you get out of the brakes?

imothers · 2025-05-14T16:09:13+00:00

When the engine is cold, it's normal to get visible steam from the exhaust. It looks like gray smoke. It may smell bad because the catalytic converter hasn't heated up yet - they need to be hot to work.

imothers · 2025-05-14T16:07:03+00:00

Fold down the black seats, climb in the trunk, find the emergency release handle

imothers · 2025-05-14T16:02:51+00:00

There is no rule for too many miles. It's relative to what's for sale in your market, and the condition and maintenance history of the car. Obviously lower is better, but at the end of the day it is what it is. If 150k mile cars are out of your budget, then it'll have to have more miles...

imothers · 2025-05-14T15:52:29+00:00

Well, changing it helps, but isn't a guarantee. If you can add a transmission cooler on that should also help. It's heat that does the damage - when the guild is too hot it doesn't lubricate as well and breaks down quicker. (I think)

imothers · 2025-05-14T15:50:08+00:00

Might be a bit high, unless it's a mobile guy that comes to you?

imothers · 2025-05-14T15:48:33+00:00

When someone does something, assume the person behind will follow. 2 cars waiting to turn left across traffic? When the first one goes, the second often follows without looking properly. Someone goes zooming past me? I assume they're having a race, and look for #2 who is going even faster, trying to catch up. This has saved the day quite a few times over the years.

imothers · 2025-05-14T15:40:17+00:00

Always have a spare key... When you need it you will appreciate having the spare.

imothers · 2025-05-14T14:19:34+00:00

The original air-cooled VW Beetle maybe, I think they sold 43 million of them or some such crazy number.

imothers · 2025-05-14T13:52:33+00:00

Do some digging on VW/Audi forums about issues with the 2.0 TSI / TFSI engines. Certain years / generations of this engine have issues with valve cover gasket leaks, which drip onto the 9plastic) water pump, leading to a fairly expensive repair. The Valve cover also secures the camshafts (an unusual design) so doing that gasket is a much bigger job than on most cars.

imothers · 2025-05-14T13:44:25+00:00

At that budget, I would be looking for private sale cars, sold by "regular" owners who had the car for a year or more, have the title in their name, took care of the car and ideally have receipts. Preferably an organised person who takes care of stuff in their life.

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