Teams
Forum List
Toggle sidebar

New Used Car Opinion

EnhancedFujita

EnhancedFujita

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jan 28, 2013
2,223
2,202
113
Johnston
So I killed a deer with my car earlier this week and have finally narrowed the replacement down to two used Nissan Rogue's.

What is everyone's opinion on this scenario?

Rogue 1 and Rogue 2 have the same options and features.

Rogue 1 has 9k more miles and is $200 less.

Rogue 1 and Rogue 2 are both certified pre-owned.

The test drive for Rogue 1 felt more solid and didn't have any out of the ordinary road noise.

Rogue 2's engine sounded a bit rougher, but ultimately I think it was comparable to Rogue 1.

Rogue 2 had an unidentified rattle when hitting bumps. The salesman and I both thought it was probably something rattling in the spare tire compartment, but there is no way to be sure. He is having the mechanic look it over in the morning.

So which car to pick?

Right now I've started drawing up paperwork on Rogue 1 mainly because it just felt more solid and I'm concerned the rattle in Rogue 2 is a sign that it was driven harder, though for less miles.
 
Just out of curiosity, does the rogue 2 have a CV transmission? Those are a little louder, and they feel a little strange driving, but they do get better gas mileage.

9k is a pretty big difference in mileage for only $200. Does 1 have better options or different year? Honestly, there are a lot of details that could be important you are leaving out with your blind test.

Edit:never mind, just saw you said they have the same options and features.
 
EnhancedFujita said:
So I killed a deer with my car earlier this week and have finally narrowed the replacement down to two used Nissan Rogue's.

What is everyone's opinion on this scenario?

Rogue 1 and Rogue 2 have the same options and features.

Rogue 1 has 9k more miles and is $200 less.

Rogue 1 and Rogue 2 are both certified pre-owned.

The test drive for Rogue 1 felt more solid and didn't have any out of the ordinary road noise.

Rogue 2's engine sounded a bit rougher, but ultimately I think it was comparable to Rogue 1.

Rogue 2 had an unidentified rattle when hitting bumps. The salesman and I both thought it was probably something rattling in the spare tire compartment, but there is no way to be sure. He is having the mechanic look it over in the morning.

So which car to pick?

Right now I've started drawing up paperwork on Rogue 1 mainly because it just felt more solid and I'm concerned the rattle in Rogue 2 is a sign that it was driven harder, though for less miles.
Click to expand...

Goodness. It's tough being you. Flip a coin and move on. You'll be fine.
 
Cripes. 9K is not a lot of miles- that's two flippin' oil changes. Go with the car that feels/sounds/drives more solid, but check the carfax. Don't buy a fleet car. May be lower miles, but those things are driven hard. I'd buy a high mileage car that's been babied over a hard-driven low mile car 10 times out of 10, and I'd pay more for it.
 
psychlone99 said:
Cripes. 9K is not a lot of miles- that's two flippin' oil changes. Go with the car that feels/sounds/drives more solid, but check the carfax. Don't buy a fleet car. May be lower miles, but those things are driven hard. I'd buy a high mileage car that's been babied over a hard-driven low mile car 10 times out of 10, and I'd pay more for it.
Click to expand...

This is kind of how it feels. Like Rogue 1 was driven by an old lady for 25k miles and Rogue 2 was driven by someones teenager for 15k miles.

They are literally the same vehicle, just one has less miles but has a few rattles and because of that feels less solid.

FWIW, driving Rogue 1 felt like a new car, driving Rogue 2 felt like a used car.
 
psychlone99 said:
Cripes. 9K is not a lot of miles- that's two flippin' oil changes. Go with the car that feels/sounds/drives more solid, but check the carfax. Don't buy a fleet car. May be lower miles, but those things are driven hard. I'd buy a high mileage car that's been babied over a hard-driven low mile car 10 times out of 10, and I'd pay more for it.
Click to expand...

Traditionally I've had the same opinion on fleet vehicles, but if say a 2 year old car has 15,000 miles on it, what makes you think it was driven so much harder than a 2 year old car with 30,000 miles on it?
 
psychlone99 said:
Cripes. 9K is not a lot of miles- that's two flippin' oil changes. Go with the car that feels/sounds/drives more solid, but check the carfax. Don't buy a fleet car. May be lower miles, but those things are driven hard. I'd buy a high mileage car that's been babied over a hard-driven low mile car 10 times out of 10, and I'd pay more for it.
Click to expand...

Two oil changes? How old is the oil you are using?
 
Tailg8er said:
Traditionally I've had the same opinion on fleet vehicles, but if say a 2 year old car has 15,000 miles on it, what makes you think it was driven so much harder than a 2 year old car with 30,000 miles on it?
Click to expand...

The only difference between the two are the miles and that the one with lower miles has something loose. I'm hoping they get it sorted out in the morning because I'd assumed I'd be buying the Rogue 2 until I drove it. On paper it is the logical choice and better deal.
 
SwirlyBird said:
Two oil changes? How old is the oil you are using?
Click to expand...

Modern synthetics: good stuff. Don't buy generic crap oil at Wal Mart and you'll be surprised at how long it can go without breaking down. High quality oils can go 5-6,000+ between changes. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic and change every 4K. I've driven multiple vehicles over 200K without any engine problems.
 
Tailg8er said:
Traditionally I've had the same opinion on fleet vehicles, but if say a 2 year old car has 15,000 miles on it, what makes you think it was driven so much harder than a 2 year old car with 30,000 miles on it?
Click to expand...
There are about a dozen data points missing from your scenario. Mileage is just one (sometimes meaningless) data point depending on how the car was maintained. You have to check the ownership history, maintenance history, and gauge how it feels/sounds/drives. Depending on how much your spending, you may want to pay for a multipoint inspection before signing the dotted line.
 
EnhancedFujita said:
This is kind of how it feels. Like Rogue 1 was driven by an old lady for 25k miles and Rogue 2 was driven by someones teenager for 15k miles.

They are literally the same vehicle, just one has less miles but has a few rattles and because of that feels less solid.

FWIW, driving Rogue 1 felt like a new car, driving Rogue 2 felt like a used car.
Click to expand...
There you go. Do your due diligence (look up/request ownership and maintenance records), but it sounds like your gut is pushing you the right way.
 
psychlone99 said:
There are about a dozen data points missing from your scenario. Mileage is just one (sometimes meaningless) data point depending on how the car was maintained. You have to check the ownership history, maintenance history, and gauge how it feels/sounds/drives. Depending on how much your spending, you may want to pay for a multipoint inspection before signing the dotted line.
Click to expand...

Rogue 1 has a carfax report that shows frequent routine maintenance that was done by the dealership.

Rogue 2 shows one oil change at the start and nothing else. Not to say that it wasn't maintained by a source that doesn't report to carfax.
 
Find out if either of them were made in Mexico. If yes, buy the other.

Nissan used to be top notch for reliability but since they started building cards in Mexico they've gone way downhill.
 
JFCA, what the **** is wrong with you people!?! The single most important factor and final determination should be the color!

My everyday drive is Ocean Blue Pearl Effect. You don't even need to know the make, model or year to know how ****in' cool it is.

:cool:
 
EnhancedFujita said:
Rogue 1 has a carfax report that shows frequent routine maintenance that was done by the dealership.

Rogue 2 shows one oil change at the start and nothing else. Not to say that it wasn't maintained by a source that doesn't report to carfax.
Click to expand...
I'm a do-it-yourself guy for the most part, with the exception of modern transmissions, which make me nervous. Someone mentioned CVT earlier. If these Rogues have CVTs, that frequent dealership maintenance is worth a mint. CVTs, and many other modern trannys for that matter, can be really finicky. Very sensitive to the fluid specs, fluid volume, and when they get their first flush. Put in the wrong fluid, wrong amount, or far too late in a higher mileage used car, and you could be driving a ticking time bomb with a tranny that's about to go.

Rogue 1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Help Support Us

Become a patron
Top Bottom