Used cars under $5,000 (advice needed) (insurance, vehicle, alarm, Japanese)

[Kowy]

Hi everyone! I'm new here, so I apologize if I did anything wrong. I'll try to be as descriptive as I can about my situation.

I am a 21 year old male currently living in Louisiana looking for his first automobile (yes, first. tsk tsk)! I'll only be using it for work & to get home with the usual grocery store run and whatnot (not an outgoing person). Right now, I just need something that's fair and runs well, a "Point A to B" vehicle, so from home to work & back would be 50 miles per day. I honestly don't care much about the appearance of it, interior design, features, etc. Safety? Sure. It's my first car, so I don't wanna get too picky My point is - I want a simple commuter car for $5,000 or less!

My current budget is $5,000, but it can extend to $6000 (if my dad decides to help me out). I have no credit, so this'll be in cash. Do you guys have any ideas on what I should get as my first love?

P.S. 1999 Honda Accord Ex (http://neworleans.craigslist.org/cto/2694919284.html - broken link) - Is this a good deal? It's a rebuilt title, timing belt hasn't been changed

I appreciate the help.

[Grandpa Pipes]

The back row of every car dealer in the nation is filled with $5,000 old dogs that may work out for you.......IF you choose well.

Best to buy from a estate sale or private party to get a good car for this amount of money or less.

The brand of your first car means nothing just now. YOU want/NEED dependable ,reliable and cheap to fix. DON'T buy gas MPG only 'cause dependable means a hell'ava lot more in cars in this price range!!

[MustangEater82]

I wouldn't pay that much for a 99 accord.

Sent from my autocorrect butchering device.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by MustangEater82

I wouldn't pay that much for a 99 accord.

Neither would I.. especially with a rebuilt title. Run, don't walk away.

[M3 Mitch]

That particular car with a rebuilt title and needing a timing belt change soon IMHO ain't worth it.

If you and/or your Dad are reasonably good home mechanics, you could go with something much older and simpler, I may sound like a stuck record but have personally had really good luck with 80's VW cars and Toyotas.

With a 5K budget the first impulse is to buy the newest car that falls in the price range, but that's not necessarily the best deal.

Any car this cheap is almost certain to need some work. Don't obsess on the Dutch Uncle checklist of tire tread, brake pad thickness etc. You are way better off to get a good solid example of a well-designed and built car, even though it needs tires soon say, than to buy what is a clunker from the get-go with new brakes all round (but they used the cheap red-back pads/shoes) and new tires all round (Chinese made crap though).

Rather than consider asking Pa for a grand to get up to 6, see if you can't find something decent for 3-4K, reserving the remaing dosh for repairs and maintenance.

[bmwguydc]

In New Orleans, you need to watch out for flood damaged vehicles. Some vehicles that are good would be the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Acura Integra, etc. However, prime examples are going to be above $6k and/or have high mileage. Some vehicles that are proven from the car service industry, and are somewhat lower-tech V8/RWD, includes the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car. The Buick Park Avenue/LeSabre are also pretty good vehicles, just watch the intake manifolds on the 3.8L engine as that's a weak link in an otherwise very reliable vehicle. The beauty of the Buicks and the Marquis is that you can usually find them from older individuals who do not tend to abuse them, and they may have half the miles on the odometer when compared with a Japanese car. You will pay a bit more for fuel, but calculate it compared to the acquisition cost of a more efficient vehicle as the more efficient vehicles will tend to have premiums attached to them in the current marketplace.

Civics can be abused and/or modified, just like their cousin the Acura Integra, so if you find one, be sure that it has not been modified, or walk away. The last type of maintenance you want to engage in with a budget-oriented purchase is trying to figure out what the last owner did when modifying the car.

[thriftylefty]

The best advice I have ever heard is don't be in a hurry. Like some of the other posters I would go big and not focus too much on gas mileage . Do the math , what you lose in gas mileage you gain in insurance cost. I have always been lucky buying the kind of cars that government fleet car buyers buy.

[gigimac]

KOWY, you done good with your post. These are the kinds that people like to throw in their two cents in droves. I don't post here much, lots of experts, but I've bought a lot of used cars in my time, I have a certain way of going about it, and so I'll just tell you what I do. I go to the library and get a couple different Car Review type books, where they confuse you with all sorts of information about what is good about these makes of cars and bad about those. Just so you know, I very rarely wind up with the best car; instead I wind up with one not quite as good but still okay. Doing this review really helps you get the more reliable type cars and that will last a long time. My review has evolved into my own library of pictures of cars that came out years before I buy them, crash report bulletins, even my own personal copy of a used car review book from I don't know when. Everything helps.

In addition to that, I have in mind certain priorities that I want. You've got yours. Some of mine include gotta be automatic, must have a place for my dogs to lay down, won't buy red, and of course year, mileage, and make. So, I start looking for cars for sale in various places, including the newspaper, any shopper type ad papers, monthly area cars for sale booklets at busy fast-foot gas stores, at used car lots, you've looked at Craig's List, to see what's out there. For me, when I'm looking at a list, I eliminate certain cars right off the bat and go for cars that meet my priorities and are mentioned in the books as decent makes of cars and that are in my price range. Through a process of elimination and also remembering cars that might work, I go look at the ones I've deemed my favs, as seen advertised or have ridden by lots and seen them. Occasionally I realize the cars and parameters I've got just ain't in my price range, so I'll go home and reevaluate what I CAN get. Eventually one becomes THE car.

I would add to your priorities a few things that help make for a dependable car. One is mileage, I always determine how much mileage I can tolerate in a car, and in your price range, you should be able to get an American-made car with around 50,000 - 70,000 miles. I have a cut-off point, where I just won't consider a car if it's got more than 100,000 miles on it. You may have your own parameters, it's just it has to be taken into consideration. Two is the year the car was made. Again, you should be able to get one starting at 2005, and the newer the better, with cut-off 2000 and up. Third is how well taken-care-of a car appears to be and is perhaps backed up with either all repair records, a one-owner car, or a car dealer who you've seen with the hood up and has his own garage and knows where the nearest repair/inspection place is.

A tip on used car dealers: He should have been around a long while, most of his cars need to look good overall, avoid lots with just five cars, it helps if they're near your house, a warranty on the paper they put on the window helps, and sometimes if you see a car but it's priced just a little too close to your budget, if you wait a couple weeks, sometimes they'll haul off and reduce it. Nearly every car should look good.

Initial impressions are helpful. I cannot tell you how many cars I've looked at where the driver seat is ripped or very worn and even leans to one side, or I'll see two exact same cars and one is a definitely a party vehicle, or the engine is filthy (altho a clean engine can be made that way with steamers), or I pull on a few hoses and they are spongy and ready to leak, or the outside is just so beat up and scratched and even has a rusty dent, that I won't even get in them.

In stark contrast, other cars have been very well-kept (or detailed), looks practically new even tho it's seven or eight years old, and I get in and only one item is busted off, I turn on the engine and it sounds fine, the radio works, a/c works, and so I take it for a spin and find I fit really well into it and nothing sets off any alarm bells. I love this car, altho each one is a compromise from my ideal, and then I try to get the price down some with a private owner, and if they'll do that, I buy it. Most small dealers won't budge on price, but great big lots will.

I would recommend you look at a Ford Focus, within your budget first of all, then the newest year, and then the lowest mileage. You want all three to fit within or tolerable to your predetermined amounts. American car manufacturers, in order to compete with the foreign market, have done a bang-up job of making really reliable and long-lasting cars. I can't say enough good things about Ford. Dodge cars won't last long. Buicks are a good buy if they have a good repair shop. Toyotas are popular and get good grades and cheaper than a Honda. And that's something to consider, too, how good is the, say, Ford dealership repair shop where you might wind up taking your car to. There are some that are just great, so that's a plus. And the reason is, within days of buying a car, I take it to the car maker dealer shop, pay the extra for this one time, and have them do a checkup on the engine, brakes, and so forth, and have enough cash to pay for this visit.

And just before I take the car to that dealer, I read the whole manual for the car which usually includes a checklist of what all you should have done at a certain mileage point, and sometimes will get a library book that shows how to do home updates to that brand of car, and I'll have a list of items I want that dealer to do on top of a regular checkup... to include a mention of how some electronic gizmo needs replacing every four years, the brakes are really not up to par (brake jobs cost), and specifically ask them to change all the fluids and filters, inspect and change hoses and belts as needed, and fix that stupid rear passenger lock that isn't working. I put that repair record in the glove compartment, along with the manual, and anything else related to buying that car. After that initial dealer visit, I usually take my cars to my fav little repair shop.

And if I can close this dissertation with one more thing that you as a younger car owner should do. And that's the dream part of owning a car. Me, I just love a moon window... this is an inoperable "skylight" over the front seats of the car. I also like a car to look good because of the paint color... a black car can look so sleek, a white or silver car can look new, or if you're nuts about red, it'll look fun for you. Get a car that has SOMEthing special to it that just makes your day. But the only problem with this is, I have YET to own a car with a moonroof! Sob. Drives me crazy. I also have never bought a house with a foyer in it, altho it's always on my preference list. I find great used cars and drive them a long time, few repairs, no buyer's remorse, simply because I knew what I wanted and because I stayed within my parameters, but dang it, I cannot seem to find a single one that has a moon roof. GG

[irman]

A few things to keep in mind

1 - If you or anybody in your family is good in fixing cars, then just look for a good reliable car.
2 - If you are not, then find a good mechanic you can trust.
--- Check any of your relatives for suggestions.
3 - Whatever car you decide on, have it checked by that mechanic, and go from there.

[rbohm]

as some have said, keep it simple, and dont be looking for the best fuel economy. however do look for a vehicle that will be comfortable to drive, fairly easy on gas, and is dead solid reliable. a few cars fit that bill that also fall into the under $5000 range. a few of them are;

1: a generation three, or generation four (96-05) ford taurus/mercury sable. stay away from the sho and the 3.8 powered ones though, and stick with either the 3.0 vulcan or 3.0 duratech V6. you can find these with less than 70k miles on them for about $2500. one thing, if you buy one with more than 100k miles on it, have the transmission checked for proper operation. these cars with the 3.0 V6 will turn in 20 mpg regularly.

2: the crown vic/grand marquis/lincoln towncar. these are solid reliable cars that regularly pile up the miles with few issues. as with any used car, have a mechanic check the car over for condition and proper operation. expect to average about 15-17mpg with these cars if you get one built after 1992.

3: most any mustang/camaro/firebird through about 1998. these cars with the V6 can usually be found for under $5000, and even some V8's as well. these cars will average about 20-23 with the V6, and about 17-20 with the V8. one thing to be careful of with these cars is, if you get the V8 cars they will tend to have some hard miles on them, and many will be modified as well, so take that into account.

4: if you can find them, older nova clone cars from 1980 or older are also good cars to run. with these cars figure an average fuel economy of 15-18 mpg. get one with the small block chevy as they are the most reliable, and they have the most parts available for them, and they are easy to work on.

5: if you look carefully you can sometimes find cars like mid 60s falcons with the six, or mid 60s chevy lls also with the six, that will serve you nicely as well. if you look at six cylinder falcons, get one with the automatic, or be prepared to upgrade the 2.77 paper three speed to something more modern and reliable like the T5 5 speed.