used car 4 6 or 8 cylinder

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: Alex_V
Fours do not inherently burn oil. What type of vehicles are you considering? More variables than I care to type with that question unanswered.


I'm looking for the best car I can buy for the cheapest price (3g). I'm pretty open.

 

[Alex_V]

A clean Buick LeSabre has the potential to last a long, long time. I maintain a '96, '98, and '04 with 186K, 228K, and 285K respectively, and you can often find an exceptionally clean one for 3.4/3.5 don't appeal to me nearly as much.

I've worked on several Hondas with the F23 4 cyl. and they all had over 200K on them but purred like a kitten. On the other hand I wouldn't have an Odyssey/Pilot/Ridgeline with the J35 V6.

You can wind up with a specimen of the most statistically reliable car ever and do nothing but work on it, or you can find one of the junkiest models around that will go for ages. It's part plain old luck, part your ability to judge how it's been treated and maintained.

 

[Cujet]

Engine longevity is only one factor in vehicle lifespan. My current Jaguar X-Type (180K miles) runs perfectly, looks near perfect, but the rest of the car's reliablity is not so great. It's worth $1500, maybe.

A well maintained Honda or Toyota will likely outlast the others in overall reliability. Hyundai and Kia are known for short engine life around here in hot n humid South Florida.

I'm not sure a correlation can be made between cylinder count and engine lifespan. The idea that a 4 cylinder works harder to push a certain size car has some merit. Whether that translates into shorter lifespan is just a guess. Certainly, Honda 4's achieve superb longevity, while many Kia, Hyundai, and yes even some Toyota and GM 4's don't.

Contrast that with the Ford Modular V8's that regularly go 400-900K miles. Ford's 2.7 and 3.5 Ecoboost truck engines are very hard working engines, known for lasting a long time. There are at least a few operators with 250K miles now.

Honda now sells an Accord with a 1.5 turbo engine. I suspect it will last a very long time.

 

[Rolla07]

I think the challenge at 3 grand is finding a well maintained car. Unfortunately with your budget, it makes it more difficult to find something reliable. Resale value on cars with solid 4 cylinders are quite high. I bought my car used with 53k miles or so and im at about 155k miles.

 

[MCompact]

I currently run 2 fours and 3 sixes; I'm partial to the inline six, particularly the ones from Munich. Having said all that, I would not hesitate to buy a 4, 6, 5, V8, V10, or V12- it depends entirely on how I want the engine to perform in a given vehicle.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
I currently run 2 fours and 3 sixes; I'm partial to the inline six, particularly the ones from Munich. Having said all that, I would not hesitate to buy a 4, 6, 5, V8, V10, or V12- it depends entirely on how I want the engine to perform in a given vehicle.


Not sure if here your speaking of a BMW. I had a nice 1998 525 that I bought for 2000. 2 years later it needed a 2500 headgasket. I junked it for 800 and was semi happy. I hated to lose it but the cost of repair seemed silly. More than I paid. Now they scare me a bit. I read about one who paid 2500 and it overheated a few days later...Headgasket

 

[meep]

has NOTHING to do with cylinder count. In fact, the more cylinders you have, the more moving parts, and the more parts and seals, and the higher chances of something goes wrong. It takes one busted seal/ring/x to leak. an 8 has twice the number of those parts than a 4.

I find 5-cyl to have an interesting sweet spot between being small and yet having good power. But that's just bc I've enjoyed a couple of volvos.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Myself, personally, I will never buy another V engine in a transverse layout. Longitudinal?(RWD, Subaru AWD) heck yes.
but for transverse,FWD applications, Inline engines for me.

too much hassle to access/work on the rear bank of a transverse V. (Just My Opinion...)


Any headgasket issues here: 2004 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS for sale with a 2.5l,

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: SirTanon
Yep, you're wrong to avoid all 4-cylinder engine cars. Please note the Fusion in my sig. It has the 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine, and as you can see, it's got a ton of miles. Still gets me back and forth to work 110 miles round trip, every day.


I don't think that they are concerned with being able to drive the car, it's the emissions that they are concerned with passing. I don't know how CA does that, but in Maryland it's based on your OBDII codes, so if no CEL, then you pass. I'm assuming that the car is 1996 or newer.

 

[blupupher]

Hyundai/Kia is not the problem. # of cylinders is not the problem.

Previous maintenance is the biggest player in oil consumption (for the most part, there are some engines out there with problems).

I had an '04 Hyundai Elantra 4 cylinder with almost 140,000 miles on it, and it used no oil at all.
My sisters 2010 Santa Fe with a 4 cylinder has almost 160,000 miles and uses maybe 1/2 qt every 5000 miles.
Mom's '07 Saturn Vue with a 4 cylinder and 135,000 miles uses no oil.
My wife's '12 Scion with a 4 cylinder and 42,000 miles uses no oil.

My '02 F150 V8 uses a qt every 1500 miles (used motor with 120,000 miles on the motor when I got it).
My brother in laws '04 F150 V8 uses a qt every 2000 miles (164,000 miles on it).

Maybe I need to stay away from V8's?

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: clarkflower
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Myself, personally, I will never buy another V engine in a transverse layout. Longitudinal?(RWD, Subaru AWD) heck yes.
but for transverse,FWD applications, Inline engines for me.

too much hassle to access/work on the rear bank of a transverse V. (Just My Opinion...)


Any headgasket issues here: 2004 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS for sale with a 2.5l,


The 2.5 those years ate HG. Look for a VW Golf, Jetta, Beetle with a 2.0 slow and a stick. Good drive train, not a performance car but solid and reliable, cheap and easy to repair.
They are plentiful in that price range with plenty of life still left in them unlike Toyota, Subaru and domestics that are almost done.

 

[clarkflower]

Thoughts

03 Buick 3800 119k Supercharged $2000
03 Matrix 170k $2700

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Myself, personally, I will never buy another V engine in a transverse layout. Longitudinal?(RWD, Subaru AWD) heck yes.
but for transverse,FWD applications, Inline engines for me.

too much hassle to access/work on the rear bank of a transverse V. (Just My Opinion...)


+1

OTOH, 4 cylinders are often the most efficient engines due to fewer moving parts (total friction count) and simpler plumbing

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: clarkflower
Originally Posted By: earlyre
Myself, personally, I will never buy another V engine in a transverse layout. Longitudinal?(RWD, Subaru AWD) heck yes.
but for transverse,FWD applications, Inline engines for me.

too much hassle to access/work on the rear bank of a transverse V. (Just My Opinion...)


Any headgasket issues here: 2004 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS for sale with a 2.5l,


The 2.5 those years ate HG. Look for a VW Golf, Jetta, Beetle with a 2.0 slow and a stick. Good drive train, not a performance car but solid and reliable, cheap and easy to repair.
They are plentiful in that price range with plenty of life still left in them unlike Toyota, Subaru and domestics that are almost done.


Thanks Trav

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: clarkflower
Originally Posted By: MCompact
I currently run 2 fours and 3 sixes; I'm partial to the inline six, particularly the ones from Munich. Having said all that, I would not hesitate to buy a 4, 6, 5, V8, V10, or V12- it depends entirely on how I want the engine to perform in a given vehicle.


Not sure if here your speaking of a BMW. I had a nice 1998 525 that I bought for 2000. 2 years later it needed a 2500 headgasket. I junked it for 800 and was semi happy. I hated to lose it but the cost of repair seemed silly. More than I paid. Now they scare me a bit. I read about one who paid 2500 and it overheated a few days later...Headgasket


I've had seven I6 BMW and five of them were driven over 130,000 miles. I've never had a head gasket issue. The usual culprit is a neglected cooling system and/or two or more severe overheats.