Ok....dodge or mercury?

Question

Hers the deal,...me and my fiancee are looking for a cheap reliable car for now till we can get some money saved for a new car. We have 2 choices,..1: 93 Mercury Capri, the woman said it has quite a bit of miles. and she only wants 1,000 for it. Our other choice is a 96 Dodge Intrepid which has 126,000 miles on it, the woman said her husband has been using it and its running fine. they want 1,500 OBO. Which would you go for and why? Neither of them have ANY major body problems. maybe a few dents a little rust here and there.

Answer 1

I would go with the Dodge Intrepid for 3 reason's. It gets almost the same gas mileage as the Capri, even with a V6 and more room. The parts are more readily available. The owner mentions OBO. This is negotiating room. They say $1500, you say $1000, they say $1250 and I would say "Deal".

Answer 2

The Capri will get better gas mileage than the intrepid, You have to decide how much room you need. Since you don't plan to keep it any longer than you have to then go for the cheapest, dependable car you can get.
I had an Intrepid and was running the Interstate in TN and the water pump went bad and locked up. The pump is driven by the timing belt. So I had a bad pump which cause the timing belt to tear so the engine would not run and I was about 40 miles from anywhere. Luckily, wrecker saw me, he made a U- turn and took me to a garage where I could at least phone a dodge dealer.

Answer 3

Here's what you do:

#1: go look at the reliability ratings at Consumer Reports. I can tell you offhand that neither of these cars had terrific reliability over the years, but I can also tell you that it's easier to get a common car like an Intrepid fixed than a less-common car like a Capri.

#2: take each car to a mechanic. Make it clear to the mechanic that (a) you won't be bringing it to him/her for repairs EVER if you buy it, and (b) that you're not concerned with resale or whether all the power windows are working -- you need to know if the engine compression is good, the transmission has been abused, and if the car's going to rust out from under you. Big ticket stuff, in short. Kick him $50 per car for his time.

#3: if you spend $1500 on a car with a near-perfect body, you must ask yourself: why are they selling this car? Sure, they might be sick of it, but if the cars are running fine (as they say, and you shouldn't trust them at all no matter how nice they seem) and look good, they shouldn't be dumping them for $1500 -- heck, I have a 1993 Protege with a perfect body, and it bluebooks in this area for $2500.

In short, you're looking at mediocre cars with mediocre reliability, and that are probably being dumped because they're broken in some way. Spend the extra $100 (to the mechanic) to find out HOW (not if) they're broken, and let that be your guide.

Remember: at this age and mileage, something is going to break, and soon. Find out what it is and whether you can afford it, before you drop the cash.

Answer 4

The mercury - without a doubt. The Intrepids in the mid 90's were nothing but problems. The Mercury Capri is a reliable car - 93 and 94 were the years to buy (stay away from the 91 and 92 though). Gas mileage is actually pretty good in those Capri's....assuming you take care of 'em.

Answer 5

The Intrepid. You know how many miles it has unlike the Capri and it isn't that much more than the Capri, plus it's 3 years younger.

Answer 6

Any other choice? japanese cars are better. DO NOT get the intrepid. It will give you headache after headache. It might be cheap but you will spend more in the long run. I would advise you to be patient and wait for a better car.

Answer 7

Plan on putting a transmission in the dodge if it hasnt been done yet.The Capri I no nothing about but at least you would get better gas mileage.Both are iffy.
If it were me I would pass over both.Sorry

Answer 8

dodge why i would not own a capri its been discontinued for gods sake