2004 Corolla S without ABS - worth buying?

[adamjohnson]

Hello,

I am looking at purchasing a used 2004 Corolla S, which has all the optional features except side bags and ABS (really no idea why the seller wouldn't put down another $300 into a safer car). The car is otherwise in pretty good condition, there is one oil leak that is of some concern but compared to other cars I've looked at this is the cleanest, and also very low miles (60,000).

I have two questions:
1. Would you even consider buying a car without ABS this day and age? Do cars even come without ABS anymore? Was it common in 2004 for people to buy cars without ABS? I live in a very snowy part of the country, how does that play into things? (BTW the seller is throwing in an additional set of winter tires)

2. I had the car inspected and was told that it would need about, say $1,500 of repairs within the first 6 months ($500 of that immediately for the oil leak). Book value for this car, taking the low miles and the options into account, is $8,500 at "good" condition, and that's what the seller is asking. What would you consider a reasonable buying price? Subtracting the cost of short-term repairs leaves $7,000, which means I have to start my offer at $6,500, which is almost insultingly low, but I can't possibly pay more than $7,000.

Thoughts?
Tags: giá xe toyota yaris 2017, hd700 đồng vàng, giá xe toyota camry 2016

 

[CarInOrder]

I covered a variety of things to look for in this thread (note that it was a two part answer, with simpler items to look for in the first post and more complex issues in the second post):
http://www.corollaforum.com/threads/buying-a-corolla.5751/

Sounds like you have covered most of them. If I were buying that car I would really want to know where the oil leak is coming from. If it is coming from the timing chain tensioner or the valve cover, those are pretty cheap fixes. If it is coming from the timing chain cover itself, that is much more expensive to fix. Can you post the list of possible repairs that the inspection turned up?

Also, do you know the maintenance history of the car? Do they have receipts or other documented records?

 

[rk97]

low mileage is all well and good, but that car sat. A lot.

The average American drives around 13,000 miles/year. That one is sitting at 5,000/year.

I'm not saying it's a bad buy, but be prepared to replace a lot of things that are worn out after 12 years, but you wouldn't normally expect to be breaking on a car with only 60,000 miles.

As for ABS, it's definitely a feature I wish I had... My corolla replaced an '05 Altima which also lacked ABS. I blame the wreck that ended that car's days more on lack of visibility than lack of ABS, but I'll never know if the superior braking system could have stopped me in time. (I hit an existing pileup that was blocking 2 lanes in a huge snow storm. I was only doing 40mph or so on the highway, but between heavy falling snow, the dividing wall, and a curve in the road, I couldn't see more than 100 feet ahead of me. It made leaving a safe following distance impossible. Over 25 cars were involved, and the highway was closed as a result. I was struck from behind by 2 vehicles after I came to a stop, and plenty more went skidding past my passenger window. 2 armored trucks spun out and hit each other. They were the only vehicles that drove away.)