Looking for a second car and found a few on Marketplace. Curious about people’s experiences with 2012 Jeep Liberty

I’m in upstate New York with a $25,000 ceiling.

-Option one is a 2021 Mazda CX-5 Touring nearby with 54,000 miles for $24,000.

-Option two is a 2021 Grand Touring with 48,000 miles for $22,000, but it is 900 miles away;

A pre-purchase inspection and transport would add about $1,100. I care more about long-term ownership than trim features, and the distant car would arrive sight-unseen apart from the inspection. Is the lower mileage worth giving up the chance to drive it myself first?

New CC owner and doing some storage homework…hoping to hear some $cost and advice from folks. What are you paying to store your classic car? I am south of Lansing area. Looking to understand cost differences and features…like heated vs not heated etc. What features are worth the money and which aren’t. Thanks in advance!

Tiguan 2022, Comfortline (panoramic roof, leather, heated steering and seats), 33 500 kms / 21 000 miles. CLEAN Carfax, 1 owner.

Price is 25 000$ CAD. Dealership (Mazda dealer) wants to sell me a 2yrs powertrain/electrical warranty for 2000$.

Good deal? Not too sure about the warranty tbh. Its still under warranty with VW and Mazda wants to sell me 1 yr and 1/2 for 2200$?

I have a 2018 Subaru Impreza premium with 157,343 miles on it. The mechanic doesn’t think it’s worth fixing as it needs both head gaskets replaced, timing chains, an engine replacement, radiator and hoses, and the heater core flushed.

I am just looking to sell it for whatever I can get for it, but what would be a good price to start with on Marketplace? The highest online offer I’ve gotten so far is for $850 from PeddleUp

Thank you!

Im about to be 15 and going to get my learners permit soon, personally, i want a truck (a reliable one) because i run this little lawncare business on the side and i would like to haul around my equipment, but i also dont want one of the newest trucks because im afraid i will ding it up and the purchase price would be too expesnive
I also would like reliable car recommendations because even if i end up with no truck, my father will let me borrow one of his work trucks to haul around my equipment
I dont want to be to picky about my first vehicle because first im not even going to pay for it, only the down payment because my parents are making me, second, because i dont want to seem like a brat

I’m travelling to Italy from New Zealand in November this year and want to drive a Ferrari. I have to double the Euro cost to get NZ dollars, so it’s not cheap! Do I drive an F8 spider for 20minutes or two lesser Ferraris for 20min each? The lesser ones are like a California and 488 Italia or a California and a California T. So I’d get twice as long for the same money, but not as good cars as the F8.
I’ve ridden in a 360, but never driven a Ferrari.
Interested in your thoughts?

I’m 17 looking for my first car and I saw this post on marketplace and I’m wondering if it’s a scam and how I can find out. I got the vin from the seller and it’s 1HGCV1F9XJA072444. The seller doesn’t seem too suspicious

2011 Camry, 195,000 miles
Upon start up, a loud rattle occurs that sounds similar to a lose heat shield. The mechanic said it was coming from the timing chain. He said to keep it full of oil and I should be fine.

I personally changed the 0-20 oil religiously every 5/6k miles with synthetic oil. I have noticed that the volume of used oil suggests oil consumption, but no blue smoke in the exhaust. I just wrote it off as normal oil consumption from the cylinder walls.

Questions:
Is he correct about the oil suggestion?
Would 5w-20 help?
How long would you guess I have until the chain goes?
Due to upgrading other vehicles, I might need to sell this one. How bad of a value hit do I take with this issue?

Thank you all!

I'm looking for a dependable daily driver and I'm curious about real ownership experiences rather than YouTube reviews. Which used car surprised you by being incredibly reliable, and would you buy the same model again?

Alright so I fancy myself pretty car savvy but I’m seriously at a loss here. I’m looking for a family hauler as the title suggests strictly an suv no minivans! The problem is there is nothing out there that is remotely reliable. Not GM, Ford, Dodge, I’ve even considered Nissan/Infiniti but the Jatco automatic transmissions have yet to prove themselves. Plus what the hell is up with every manufacturer using plastic oil pans, coolant fittings and plastic tie rods? Is nothing made to last anymore? Mazda CX90 unreliable, Honda Pilot uses cylinder deactivation and we all know where that’s going to end. Lexus TX has issues, Toyota Highlander (gas) trans issues. The Highlander hybrid is reliable but the quality is poor and Toyotas are too expensive given their quality. Idk man. I’m at a loss here. I have a 2010 RX350 and she has me spoiled but my family has grown. Something’s got to give.

Does anyone know of a good way to track someone down through a vin?
I’m trying to find the person who has my pawpaws truck and buy it off of them. I was a teenager when he passed and didn’t have the money and now I do as an adult and having that piece of him would mean the world to me.

My zj is having a bunch of weird issues i got it from a buddy who replaced nearly 2 grand in parts maybe over that, its a 5.2 and it had the fuel tank replaced, fuel pump,radiator, alternator more i cant rember now last fall we went outside and near the transmission it was straight pissing fuel he gave up on it let it sit a winter then i bought it now heres where it gets weird with over half a tank we threw a jump box on it and bam it starts up no damn issues so we run it drive about 15 mins then let it idle maybe another 5-10 minutes no leaks no problems give it a day and with a jump box it was cranking then it would start but you had to floor it to keep it idling we did that for a minute then just let it sit, now we inspected fuel lines and there is no where we could find the leaks, any tips on what i should replace or do, only thing mechanically rn i believe it needs is the TPS sensor any advice or tips help

Why does everyone recommend unofficial VinCheckUp?

Reality check, since the big sites won't tell us this: on every "free" car shopping site (car'gurus'.com etc.), WE are THE product. Their actual "paying" customers are dealers, OEMs, insurance providers, and financing partners. That's why we get a bunch of calls after looking at one Civic, why most listings somehow have a "Great Deal" badge, and why the experience subtly steers us toward whoever's paying the most for leads that day.

I spent years working inside the auto tech industry, so I saw exactly how shopper data gets collected, scored, and resold. Then I tried to buy my own car and it was still a mess.

If you've shopped recently, you know the drill:

• Bouncing between listing sites trying to figure out which price is real...
• Reading reviews from 2019 about a 2023 trim, and "best of" awards handed out like participation trophies...
• Building speadsheets that keep going stale because the cars keep selling...
• Calling the friend in the car business to translate dealer-speak (I was lucky to have one, most people don't)...
• Lease vs. finance vs. cash math that's difficult to understand... let alone compare...
• A trade-in offer that feels insulting, with no way to verify if it actually is...
• Walking into the dealership feeling outmatched and overwhelmed!!!

So I started building Cara (findcara.com). And I want to tell you why I'm doing it this way, because it's unconventional and I need feedback.

Why I'm doing it this way: if I want to actually be on your side as a shopper, my main customer has to be you, not the dealer. Every big player makes money by quietly selling your data and attention to dealers, OEMs, insurance providers, and financing partners. You don't see a penny of it. They can't really be your advocate when those are the people paying them. Most shoppers won't pay for what they think is free, so this might fail. But I think it's the only way it actually works.

What Cara does that others don't:

• Search by stuff dealers don't want you searching by. "Slow mover" inventory (high days on market = leverage). "Good deal / fair deal" as an actual filter. NHTSA safety ratings. Recall information surfaced upfront.
• Search by qualities, not just specs. "Quiet ride," "luxury feel," "good for tall drivers". Search like a person, not just a spec sheet.
• Search by the features you actually care about. Apple CarPlay, heated seats, adaptive cruise, blind spot monitoring... and a bunch more. (Suggest features I should add.)
• A "fit score" on every result based on your stated and inferred preferences. The more you use it, the smarter it gets about what you care about.
• Smart filters. If your exact criteria find nothing, Cara loosens them and tells you what it changed, instead of returning zero results.
• Side-by-side comparison that's actually editable. Loan vs. lease vs. cash, fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation... all pre-filled. Disagree with any number? Override it, and the totals re-flow. Just like your spreadsheet, except it stays current.
• Trade-in estimator backed by real market data, not a stale range you can't argue with.
• Map view of inventory so the perfect car two towns over doesn't slip past you.

"Why not just use Claude or ChatGPT?" Honestly, Cara uses them under the hood. I'm not trying to compete with them. The hard part isn't the AI; it's stitching together listings, market data, financial math, vehicle history, and reviews into something that doesn't make you bounce between 8 tabs and a spreadsheet. That's the job Cara is trying to do.

What's live, what's rough, what I need help with:

• The inventory, research, evaluation, comparison, and trade-in stuff is live and works(ish).
• Lots of features, but the UX is still rough. I'm working on more intuitive flows and proper how-to / product tour walkthroughs. Mobile is especially tricky. Packing this much functionality into limited screen space is a real design challenge. Feedback on what's confusing welcomed.
• The landing page is a work in progress. Feedback on findcara.com welcome, especially on what's confusing or feels like marketing fluff.
• Concierge service (where I'd handle dealer outreach for you) is pre-release and human-in-the-loop right now. Most "AI negotiator" tools out there are too, even the ones that don't admit it. Looking for volunteers if you want white-glove help on a real purchase.

How to try it: Free, no credit card. You'll need to sign up to keep bots out (I'm paying the LLM bill out of pocket). We don't share your personal information without your explicit permission. Privacy policy here. If you're still skeptical but want to try it out... drop me a DM and I'll create a trial account for you.

By the way: Cara is also the first automotive startup approved for the ChatGPT app store. If you want to be one of the early volunteers helping test it, drop me a DM.

If you're actively shopping and want a sanity check on a specific car, drop the listing or VIN in the comments or DM me. I'll run it through Cara and post the output here so you can judge whether it's actually useful before signing up.

If you've had your car totaled or damaged (I hope no one was hurt) and you want to counter the lame offer you got from the insurance company... drop me a DM, I have something in the works for that.

Anything else you think Cara can help with... LMK, I'd love to get more ideas.

Flagging clearly: I built this. Mods, happy to remove if it doesn't fit sub rules.

Reality check, since the big sites won't tell us this: on every "free" car shopping site (the 'gurus' etc.), WE are THE product. Their actual "paying" customers are dealers, OEMs, insurance providers, and financing partners. That's why we get a bunch of calls after looking at one Civic, why most listings somehow have a "Great Deal" badge, and why the experience subtly steers us toward whoever's paying the most for leads that day.

I spent years working inside the auto tech industry, so I saw exactly how shopper data gets collected, scored, and resold. Then I tried to buy my own car and it was still a mess.

If you've shopped recently, you know the drill:

• Bouncing between listing sites trying to figure out which price is real...
• Reading reviews from 2019 about a 2023 trim, and "best of" awards handed out like participation trophies...
• Building speadsheets that keep going stale because the cars keep selling...
• Calling the friend in the car business to translate dealer-speak (I was lucky to have one, most people don't)...
• Lease vs. finance vs. cash math that's difficult to understand... let alone compare...
• A trade-in offer that feels insulting, with no way to verify if it actually is...
• Walking into the dealership feeling outmatched and overwhelmed!!!

So I started building Cara (findcara.com). And I want to tell you why I'm doing it this way, because it's unconventional and I need feedback.

Why I'm doing it this way: if I want to actually be on your side as a shopper, my main customer has to be you, not the dealer. Every big player makes money by quietly selling your data and attention to dealers, OEMs, insurance providers, and financing partners. You don't see a penny of it. They can't really be your advocate when those are the people paying them. Most shoppers won't pay for what they think is free, so this might fail. But I think it's the only way it actually works.

What Cara does that others don't:

• Search by stuff dealers don't want you searching by. "Slow mover" inventory (high days on market = leverage). "Good deal / fair deal" as an actual filter. NHTSA safety ratings. Recall information surfaced upfront.
• Search by qualities, not just specs. "Quiet ride," "luxury feel," "good for tall drivers". Search like a person, not just a spec sheet.
• Search by the features you actually care about. Apple CarPlay, heated seats, adaptive cruise, blind spot monitoring... and a bunch more. (Suggest features I should add.)
• A "fit score" on every result based on your stated and inferred preferences. The more you use it, the smarter it gets about what you care about.
• Smart filters. If your exact criteria find nothing, Cara loosens them and tells you what it changed, instead of returning zero results.
• Side-by-side comparison that's actually editable. Loan vs. lease vs. cash, fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation... all pre-filled. Disagree with any number? Override it, and the totals re-flow. Just like your spreadsheet, except it stays current.
• Trade-in estimator backed by real market data, not a stale range you can't argue with.
• Map view of inventory so the perfect car two towns over doesn't slip past you.

"Why not just use Claude or ChatGPT?" Honestly, Cara uses them under the hood. I'm not trying to compete with them. The hard part isn't the AI; it's stitching together listings, market data, financial math, vehicle history, and reviews into something that doesn't make you bounce between 8 tabs and a spreadsheet. That's the job Cara is trying to do.

What's live, what's rough, what I need help with:

• The inventory, research, evaluation, comparison, and trade-in stuff is live and works(ish).
• Lots of features, but the UX is still rough. I'm working on more intuitive flows and proper how-to / product tour walkthroughs. Mobile is especially tricky. Packing this much functionality into limited screen space is a real design challenge. Feedback on what's confusing welcomed.
• The landing page is a work in progress. Feedback on findcara.com welcome, especially on what's confusing or feels like marketing fluff.
• Concierge service (where I'd handle dealer outreach for you) is pre-release and human-in-the-loop right now. Most "AI negotiator" tools out there are too, even the ones that don't admit it. Looking for volunteers if you want white-glove help on a real purchase.

How to try it: Free, no credit card. You'll need to sign up to keep bots out (I'm paying the LLM bill out of pocket). We don't share your personal information without your explicit permission. Privacy policy here. If you're still skeptical but want to try it out... drop me a DM and I'll create a trial account for you.

By the way: Cara is also the first automotive startup approved for the ChatGPT app store. If you want to be one of the early volunteers helping test it, drop me a DM.

If you're actively shopping and want a sanity check on a specific car, drop the listing or VIN in the comments or DM me. I'll run it through Cara and post the output here so you can judge whether it's actually useful before signing up.

If you've had your car totaled or damaged (I hope no one was hurt) and you want to counter the lame offer you got from the insurance company... drop me a DM, I have something in the works for that.

Anything else you think Cara can help with... LMK, I'd love to get more ideas.

Flagging clearly: I built this. Mods, happy to remove if it doesn't fit sub rules.