Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a pic somewhere but I couldn't find it. Split probably 9 inches along the sidewall/tread line. Run flats will run completely flat. My daughter goes to college next year. I will most certainly consider putting run flats on her car.
In that case, you may have just changed my mind.
Let me know if you find it. I'm interested in the stiffer sidewall if nothing else. My vehicle (Chevy Volt) is classified as a subcompact, yet weights nearly 4000 pounds dry. Even inflated properly (38 PSI per door sticker) the sidewalls do seem to flatten considerably more under that weight than other autos I've owned.
About to get into a $500 truck, an 86 F-250, it needs a carburetor, but my partner has one ready to put on, and the old dude with the truck is cool with him putting the carb on before buying it.
Of course, this deal is only appealing to a guy who can change out a carb without having a full garage to work in. Which, my partner is quite capable of doing.
Around here, rust-free examples of these older Ford pickups just abound.
I have not seen this truck, but, even if it's beat up and ugly (he says it is anything but) it's a good deal for $500, and if we don't want to keep it, no doubt can flip it for $1000 or even $1500.
Cars below $1000, notwithstanding that Mazda 323 I posted about previously, which seems to be ready to run with just normal maintenance, are mostly for guys like us who do their own work.
Typically these cheap cars have not been on the road much, that's why they are for sale. And they commonly have issues that the current owner does not want to deal with. Sometimes as simple as just needing tires. It's not uncommon for more issues to crop up during the first few months of operation, the "teething period" so to speak, I don't freak out about these as the teething period will come to an end in a few weeks to a few months. At least that's my experience.
This is probably a side effect of online ads giving you much more room to talk. You could only fit so much info into a 3 line classified newspaper ad. I wouldn't let a list of issues deter you. It means the person is being upfront and honest and doesn't want to waste their time or your time by hiding a problem from you.
I should probably take Click and Clack's advice and that is whatever you have saved up to buy a used car with, spend half of it on the car and the rest on repairs.
Let me know if you find it. I'm interested in the stiffer sidewall if nothing else. My vehicle (Chevy Volt) is classified as a subcompact, yet weights nearly 4000 pounds dry. Even inflated properly (38 PSI per door sticker) the sidewalls do seem to flatten considerably more under that weight than other autos I've owned.
I couldn't find the pic but it looked very much like the tire in this article.
If your Volt is like my C-Max Energi you don't have a spare. Just a portable pump and a can of fix a flat. I always have hated that. If I get a nail fine. If I would get a blow out like in the picture above, I'm stuck.
I drive two ugly, older, but paid-off beater cars.
As long as they are running with minimal upkeep and only the occasional repair, there is no way I'm going to sell them.
When I go on a long trip, for the price of about one month's new car payment, I just rent a nice vehicle. I put the mileage, wear and tear on the rental.
Even though I could do it, there's no way I'm going to sell these cars and strap myself with an expensive new car payment and the corresponding cost of full-coverage insurance.
Not worth the depreciation to me, and, as long as the beaters run OK and the air conditioning works, I'm happy. When they are no longer drive able, or not worth the expense of repairs, I will drive the/tow them straight to the scrap pile for the couple of hundred bucks they will give me.
I think a lot of other people have adopted this way of thinking, and that's why you're not seeing as many inexpensive used "trade-ins" and why, when you do find cheap ones, they are usually practically beyond repair, or ready for the scrap pile.
To be fair, I do have a very short work commute - if I had a long work commute, I would have to upgrade to something a little more reliable.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
I still buy and drive beaters.
Low scrap price = very cheap deals at abandoned vehicle and charity auctions.
I have several drivers I bought for $35 minimum bid.
4x4 dually CTD have gone up in price. I used to get them for <$3k, but had to recently pay $5k (bout killed me, but... only 146k miles means 854k miles left on her to get me to 1m miles. That should work out OK for low cost / mile.
My daily driver is $0.04 / mile, including cost of car, fuel, maint, insurance.
Low scrap price = very cheap deals at abandoned vehicle and charity auctions.
I have several drivers I bought for $35 minimum bid.
4x4 dually CTD have gone up in price. I used to get them for <$3k, but had to recently pay $5k (bout killed me, but... only 146k miles means 854k miles left on her to get me to 1m miles. That should work out OK for low cost / mile.
My daily driver is $0.04 / mile, including cost of car, fuel, maint, insurance.
How much work/money do you put into getting them in condition to be driving?
I'm not sure what Stealth does, but a "new to me" older car usually gets a grand or two of upgrades, maintenance catch up, repair of issues I knew about when I bought it, and those that pop up in the first year or so of driving. After that first year they are just about as reliable as a newer car.
My Scirocco came to me with seized centrifugal advance in the distributor, dirty fuel injectors that I replaced, a bent rear "axle" wishbone that I replaced with a junkyard part, and I put the headlights on Bosch relays as the wiring to the headlights is rather undersized from the factory, and has a lot of plugs and other joints that develop higher resistance over time. I paid $1000 for it, came to me with new rings and bearings in the engine (previous owner said it didn't need anything else), a new clutch, new brakes all around, and 4 new but cheap and totally crap Firestone tires. I have probably put about another $1000 into repairs and upgrades, doing the work myself, as opposed to ordinary maintenance that one has to do on any car that racks up significant mileage.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,563 posts, read 81,147,605 times
Reputation: 57767
My first car was $30, in 1966. After that I paid $75, $300, and $475 for the next few. Considering that in 2010 I bought a little beater Ford Escort for $950 and drove it (to a sketchy Park & Ride while in a vanpool) for 4 years, I would say that the cheap cash car is still around, but most on Craigslist. The cheapo dealers can't sell anything that cheap, considering salaries and rent although there are a few, such as on Aurora Ave in Seattle. I tried to link one for an example buty these places don't even have websites.
BYEBYE, all that cashy-deal-goodness, for the most part, went the way of the DoDo
when they did that idiotic cash-for-clunkers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
