Sunday, March 18, 2007

Q: Dear Tom and Ray: My wife and I are helping a friend who would be considered a member of the working poor. Currently, she is in danger of falling behind and losing her home. About a year ago, she purchased a new Chevrolet Cobalt, and she's paying $378 per month on a four-year loan, or approximately 26 percent of her income. We would like to help her lower her car payments. Our thought is to get rid of the Cobalt and get into a new or used car at a significantly lower purchase price and lower monthly payments. What car would you recommend, either new or used, at $12,000 or less for someone in her position? We are looking for value, low maintenance and long life.

-- Steve

A TOM: Well, if she's in danger of losing her house, I don't think she should own a new car. A house appreciates as an asset and will be much more important to her financial future than a car, which loses value every day.

RAY: So we agree she should sell the Cobalt. Hopefully she can get more for it in a private sale than she owes on her loan.

TOM: And she should spend less than $12,000 for a replacement. For $8,000 to $10,000, she can get something like a five-year-old Honda Civic, Nissan Altima or Toyota Corolla. You'll get a better deal from an individual than from a dealer. And if you're lucky, you can find one with 60,000 to 80,000 miles on it.

RAY: The Japanese made the most reliable cars of that era, and any of those would be good bets, provided it gets a thumbs-up from a mechanic who checks it out stem to stern before you buy it. This is crucial, Steve, so don't skip that step.

TOM: If you need the name of a good mechanic, go to the Mechanics Files on our Web site, http://www.cartalk.com/, where our readers and radio listeners have recommended mechanics they personally use and trust.

RAY: Because your friend will be buying an older car, it's important that she know that vehicles of this era won't be maintenance-free. In fact, she should put aside some money every month for the inevitable repairs. But even when you combine the purchase price with the repairs, you won't come close to the cost of financing a new car.

Dear Tom and Ray: My 1998 Subaru Outback with automatic transmission has started not going into second gear. About a third of the time when I start moving again from stop signs or traffic lights, the engine sounds like it's straining, and it won't go into second. I have to manually shift into second. Afterward, I shift into drive. Any idea what it is? -- Suzanne

RAY: Actually, it might be relatively inexpensive to fix -- as transmission repairs go. Since you can manually shift into second gear by using the gear selector, that tells me the transmission itself is probably okay. But your automatic transmission is "electronically controlled," and it's those electronic controls that are causing the problem.

TOM: You didn't mention whether the "AT Oil Temp" light on your dashboard is flashing. It should be. That means that the transmission's computer has stored a fault code, which can be read by a mechanic.

RAY: This car has something called an "inhibitor switch," which tells the transmission's computer what gear you've selected. If the setting for drive is not working for any reason, the computer will default to first gear. It sounds like that's what's happening to your car.

TOM: So have a mechanic put a scanner on your car and check for fault codes. I suspect it's the inhibitor switch. And believe it or not, Suzanne, when it comes to transmission repairs, this is extremely good news!

Got a question about cars? Write to Click & Clack in care of The Post, or e-mail them by visiting the Car Talk Web site at http://www.cartalk.com/.

2007 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman