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In today's economy, there are millions of drivers who are driving every day a serviceable (read: decent) car that nobody would even pay $1,000 for. That's all they've got and have no resources to buy a better car. So those cars exist in huge numbers, but most of them are not being offered for sale.
What do you think single moms are using to drive to their minimum-wage job and drop their kids off at daycare?
1000 or less is possible, you just have to make sure the engine, transmission is running fine. I bought a 1990 civic for 900, drove it for a yr and sold it for 850. I only did oil changes on it.
now I drive a 97 geo prizm (corolla) and I bought it for 1250 4 years ago. I did a tune up, timing belt, and o2 sensor replacement on it. it still runs great, 28 mpg combined, and I can still sell it for 1000 right now (175k).
also my friend bought a 88 corolla in 2002, for 500 bucks. he changed the timing belt, and drove the car for 6 years, and sold it for 900! it still ran good.
I bought my Scirocco for $1000, it's not rusty, but had been in a front end collision, and came to me with new rings, bearings, brake pads/shoes, and tires. The brake pads and shoes, and the tires, were cheap crap, but the car ran and drove as bought. It desparately needed new injectors, was running rough, and probably only made about 2/3 normal power. I was able to fix what's wrong for small money, although I did manage to burn a valve before sorting the FI (pure stupidity on my part, that and I didn't know what a decent example of this car would run like).
Recently bought a '78 F-350, needs a bit of TLC, but usable truck as bought for, drum roll please - $350. Outside of a driver's door replaced by a non-matching one from a yard, it's surprisingly presentable for the low price paid. If driven conservatively, it gets about 15-17 MPG, so to the nay-sayers that would think "big truck, big motor, awful MPG" - not true. Considering the payload carried it's not bad at all on fuel.
You can buy a good, older car for $1000 or less, that runs and drives, but anything you get for a grand will probably be old enough and well-used enough that it needs some TLC. That is, if you don't live in rust country. In rust country the cars that age gracefully in the South and West are rusted to the point of being structuarlly unsound before they get to this price range.
You can sometimes score a newer car for cheap, maybe more like $1500, if it has some cosmetic body damage, or is just very unfashionable (a grandpa-mobile).
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch
...You can sometimes score a newer car for cheap, maybe more like $1500, if it has some cosmetic body damage, or is just very unfashionable (a grandpa-mobile).
Ha, I have a 90 yr old friend that still drives a car that was rolled (VW Golf). I gave him some new glass and hatch, and we call the car "Lumpy". It is a good reminder of the trip over the side of the mtn road taken by his wife. She climbed out the hatch, and up the bank and flagged down the neighbor. The car was teetering on a single tree before a HUGE drop-off. It is good to be reminded of such things when you head out for a daily drive.
I'd say yes, but it's a gamble, and it could take days or weeks of disappointment. The important thing is that your odds improve tenfold if you have some mechanical inclination, and even more if you've turned a few wrenches on your own.
I bought an '87 Caprice several years ago for $1,000. I lowered it a bit, installed an Impala SS rear swaybar and some cop car shocks along with some 15" honeycomb wheels from a Sonoma. The car rode and handled great for such a big, ugly car. During the time I had it I had the carb rebuilt, replaced the starter and water pump and fixed the a/c. For a car that had 120,000 miles to begin with and that I drove for another 5 years and over 100,000 miles, I'd say that's not too terribly bad. I sold the car for $800 and I still see it on the road today.
I think you probably could find something serviceable, but it would be very difficult. I have seen cars that should be $1000 going for three times that amount over the last year or so. Everyone just seems to think their beater is a gold mine in my area.
Yes, you can find a car for that price that is driveable.
However, one person's definition of "decent" is likely to be different from someone else's definition of "decent".
My best advice is as follows:
Avoid any car that has a timing belt.
Try to focus on cars being sold by senior citizens, if possible.
Only buy a car that comes with maintenance records.
Have it inspected by your mechanic, prior to purchase.
And, most important of all--be sure to budget AT LEAST $1,000 per year for repairs.
As long as you understand that a car in this price category is not always going to start when you need to get to work or other important places, and as long as you are willing and able to keep a large reserve fund for the inevitable repairs, then you can find something that meets your needs.
Good luck in your search!
Last edited by Retriever; 03-03-2012 at 08:05 AM..
I think you probably could find something serviceable, but it would be very difficult. I have seen cars that should be $1000 going for three times that amount over the last year or so. Everyone just seems to think their beater is a gold mine in my area.
very true.. here in seattle cars dont rust, I bought a 1990 civic hatch in 2003 for 900, then sold it a year later for 850. I still see 1990 hatches on craigslist posted for 2000 dollars firm now, and it has higher miles than mines when I sold it in 2004.
Our so-called Liberal President, with his Cash for Clunkers program, deprived about a half a million low-income and economically-stressed Americans an opportunity to own one of those low-cost but reliable daily drivers that went into the crushers.
That was the most idiotic and regressive and short-sighted program ever devised by any president, flying in the face of every economic rationality, and in discussion forums (not this one, I wasn't here yet), I was all by myself in ranting against it, shouted down by a unanimity of even the most liberal posters. It was like opposing bombing Iraq all over again.
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