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Good, Cheap Beater Cars & Inexpensive Commuter Cars - how to find one?
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Shifting gears here, anyone have any advice about which beaters to STAY AWAY from? I have a friend looking for a four-cylinder used car under $3500. Not too difficult, and I don't think he's too picky. Thus far, I have only advised strongly against the pervasive disease known as the NEON, but have steered him toward the following:
Cavalier/Sunfire (mostly cuz they're plentiful, cheap, and as far as I know, pretty reliable; otherwise, I'd pass)
Geo Prism/Toyota Corolla, though you're hard pressed to find one under ten years old for under $3500, especially the Corollas (no surprise there)
Ford Escort (97 up): again, cheap to buy and fix, and plentiful, reliable, not much else to recommend
Nissan Altimas: about as much style as you can get in this segment at this price without trying to find a Camry, Civic or Accord, which are mostly old and rusty for $3500
Nissan Sentra: surprisingly expensive here in Chicago (saw a '94 in a lot for $3k asking-it looked nice, but c'mon, it's a thirteen year-old econobox!), and not all that fun to drive, IMO.
Mazda Protege-my personal favorite, reliable, FUN to drive, but probably a bit more $$ to fix than most others here, when they do break down.
Other than that, you assessments are frightfully accurate.
-Jason
Is this the same brother you bought the 'clean as a whistle' Maxima for a year or so back?
My daughters friend just got a car .. '97 Chevrolet Cavalier with 84K on it. Automatic (4-speed), AC, but no power accessories or cruise. Not sure how much her parents paid for it, but it runs good (she says it just needs a new fuel filter) and should last her a few years.
The "clean as a whistle" Maxima is getting a bit chewed up after spending too much time in college parking garages, but it still runs great.
-Jason
95 (old body but dual airbags, so no mousebelts) Saturn SL2, blue-black with leather, 159k miles, automatic, loaded but sunroof inop (and needs to be fixed or sealed up: it got stuck in the open position, she forced it closed, now it's leaking), she says interior is what you'd expect for a grocery getter of a woman with two toddlers, no radio, I didn't ask (and don't care) about the a/c, she says it's been reliable (never stranded her, etc.), but 'is what it is'. I'm moving to a neighborhood that's a bit more remote than where I live now, so a car would be a nice thing, but I can't/won't swing a payment, plus, my S.O. and brother both have cars (street parking is OK, and the new house has a two-car garage). I'm almost sure she'd let it go for $400-500. I would like to pick up a beater eventually, not sure if this is the one I want, but at the price, I feel it'd almost be foolish to pass it up. This would be strictly a grocery getter/city car. Most Saturns in this year/condition (if they're being honest) seem to be $1000-1500ish or higher retail. I don't know what to do--I can kinda take it or leave it, but I'm thinking if it lasts me six months or a year with nothing major (I won't put big $ in it), it might not be bad. Any thoughts? I know, I don't 'need' a car, and I'm cheap, but this might work out....there's not much risk, really. Anyone know if SL2s are 'interference' or not? I'd hate to buy something for even $500 and have to junk it or put $600 into a new timing belt. Aye yi yi.
Don't you wish.
Just like the Escort, they retained the idiot belts along with the dual air bags. Mathias no like. Bad medicine.
-Mathias
Mathias, it's not often you are wrong about automotive trivia, but you are wrong about this one.
The 95 SL2 did not have motorized seatbelts.
Were you thinking of 94 and older?
Honda, on the other hand, eliminated the motorized belts in mid-product cycle when they added airbags to the 1992 Accord.
I don't know about Saturns, since I never shopped for one.
james
One otherwise decent car to stay away from is the early to mid 1990s Mazda 626 with AUTOMATIC transmission. They used a Ford transmission that was plagued with repeated (expensive) failures.
james
The Mazda 626 with the 6cyl used a different Ford transmission, and a much better one. According to what I've read on MX-6/626/Millenia/Probe sites, the 6cyl combo is much better than the 4banger.
The Millenia has that combination. At 152k, my Milly is just fine in the tranny department :-)
-Mathias
Anywho, went to look at my co-worker's Saturn ('95 SL2 automatic, 160k)...it wasn't bad at all, not nearly the mess she made it out to be. I mean, I didn't have it checked out by a mechanic, but I drove it around; engine, brakes, trans and suspension felt fine (even a bit peppy), tires were a bit thin but OK and matching, body is great (and even a nice color, quite a feat in old Saturn SLs), no weird smoke or funny smells, no slimy, leaky engine bay, couple of drips on the garage floor but oil looked OK. The interior is a bit dirty but not destroyed or ripped (tan leather--luckily--and carpet, she has two toddler boys), headliner is sagging a bit (scissors), sunroof doesn't close right (silicone or maybe a 'real' repair), A/C warm, radio doesn't work (appears to need a code, so perhaps fixable). Power windows and locks all work, as do heat and defrosters. I think it has ABS (has TCS and everything else they offered, so likely), not sure, but NO dash warning lights lit. Again, this wasn't the most thorough going-through ever, but she offered it to me for $400 cuz she thinks the brakes sometimes squeal a bit. SOLD! I know it's nothing exciting, but I figure I can either keep it for however long and if it blows up, big deal, if it doesn't, I'll get at least the same money back out of it or more. Yay, one car, no payments and it can't possibly be as nasty as my last car (a $500, dented, rusty, gray, stripped '87 Accord DX sedan).
Oh yeah, and it has normal seatbelts.
Good deal if you can coax 20k miles out of the car.
It is always a good sign when the seller gives you a litany of sorrows. Generally, the car ends up not being as bad as you would think.
Good luck on the radio.
That's a lot of miles on a Saturn BUT for what you paid, you'll get your money's worth IMO.
a "err" message on the display. I have a link
to a thread to possibly unlock it. Otherwise
a GM dealer will charge you about $100 to unlock
the theft-loc feature...........
Will send it e-mail if needed............
I took a 1996 Saturn sedan manual in trade not long ago that was really worth 25 dollars. If I didn't have a demo car to drive already I would use it as a commuter.
I think I will stay away from the Koreans on this go round, see that the Escorts and Mazdas from the mid to late 90's might fit the bill. As always, I guess condition of the vehicle is most important.
IMHO, buying from the private owner is the best strategy. I am going to see a 1988 CRX-si with 64K miles asking 2350 this afternoon.
Any other suggestions??
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If I had to get a car for under $2k, I would be looking at Buick Century's ,Chevy Lumina's and on the smaller side Mazda Protege's The 2 American cars are plentiful,parts are cheap, and every mechanic in North America knows how to work on them.
BTW, I was the mistaken one about the CRX, it had 102K, it was genuine, but it had been modified to the taste of an adolescent, not the thing for me.
I have also taken to heart the suggestion about putting word out in my networks; just missed by a week or two an older Protege that was sold for $100 (my, that beats the 1966 price of the Dauphine).
Keep the suggestions coming.
Toyota Corolla 2000 for Sale - $3299
Reply to: see below
Date: 2006-08-23, 11:29AM CDT
U. international grad student, returning home in mid Sept, want to sell car before leaving.
White toyota corolla, 2000 model, manual transmission, ~64,000 miles, good condition, everything in good working order (AC/heating, cassette player/radio, power windows, power steering, cruise control etc.)
price somewhat negotiable ...
I continue the search
This is the description i found:
2 Dr, 1.6L, 5 Spd, Pwr Steer, Pwr Door Lock, Pwr Window, AM/FM Radio, CD Player, ice cool A/C, ABS Brakes, Cruise Control, Pwr Mirror, Mag Wheels, Ext. Warranty Available. Certified, E. tested, 30 days Warranty.
its a nice looking car too..helpp???
THXXXXX alot : )
what could be wrong with it if anithing at all
Well, that's about it: Anything at all could be wrong with it, and how would you know? At the very minimum, when buying used, take the car to a GOOD, KNOWLEDGEABLE mechanic and have it checked out stem-to-stern. The laundry list he'll likely come back with is going to make you think twice.
Trust me on this, I recently flubbed one and flipped it to a local dealership for a few hundred $$ loss, just to get rid of the darned thing. And I've been buying used cars for a looong time, and kinda know what I'm doing.
Small, good-quality, low-mpg cars are really pricey right now in the used market. That's what happens when gas goes up. New cars didn't rise nearly as much, because there is still more supply than demand. Also, people just won't buy an econobox for $20k.
Only buy this Integra if you absolutely have to have it, and if you can afford to throw $4000 at it in the first year without going broke. There is nothing worse -- except maybe microwave popcorn -- than making payments on a car that needs repairs, and then not being able to afford those repairs. I've seen it happen to people, and the results are an absolute disaster that messes up your life.
Given your taste, if you want to spend $9 wisely, look for an '02 Protege or better yet, Protege5. They come without the insane Honda/Acura markup used.
Long-windedly yours,
-Mathias
But 9000 for one with 160K - that's beyond crazy. That's a decent price for a 2000 with about half the mileage.
Of course the market value of the Integra, and its desirability to thieves depends on the engine (which is an easy swap into a Civic).
james
I just didn't see myself spending $$ to get a decent exhaust, and then turning around and selling it on the street.
Live & learn.
-Mathias
Of the 53 cars I've owned, 38 were purchased for $500 or less. That's for the whole car, not a down payment. Only 4 of them were inoperable at the time of purchase. All but six of them lasted more than a month. The best ones (the two Buick Centurys, one Datsun 210, and two Celebritys) lasted over a year each.
I would much rather buy a $300 car every month for the rest of my life than spend thousands or tens of thousands on a new or later model used car which I would be sick of in six months or so.
I buy my cars from eBay, Craigslist, private sellers, abandoned car auctions, and the occasional small used car lot. I like to go to smaller wrecker services for the abandoned cars because they are more likely to allow me to drive the car home. They also have locksmiths and guys selling used batteries and tires on premises to help out. If I buy a car from a city-run abandoned car auction I'd have to spend $75 to $200 to have it towed home depending on which city.
Typically, the $300-$500 cars I buy seem to run for three to six months before something major happens to it. By that point, I'll strip out whatever will sell on eBay (radios, headlights and taillights, computer, interior plastics, trim, etc) and send the rest to a junkyard. I'll get $50 to $300 for the junk car and still have stuff to resell. And if it still runs by the end of six months and I'm sick of it, I'll resell it and probably make money. 50/50 chance of making a profit and then I go buy another.
My wife doesn't get it, she drives a $4000 Lumina which we still owe half that and it's worth half of what we owe. But everything works but the cruise and it's a good looking car. So she's happy. And if she's happy, I'm happy. I just hope I can keep finding her decent cars in the sub-$5000 range so we aren't buried in some huge payment which will keep me from buying the beaters here and there when I need them. Right now I'm without a car because we made some repairs to hers and started buying Christmas gifts and paying off some old debts. But if all goes well, I'll be buying a pair of $300 cars off eBay and bringing them homein a couple weeks.
If you have the time and energy I am sure your system is one of the cheapest ways to get from point A to point B.
The only problem with your system for me would be that when I used to drive beaters I would allways get that quesey feeling in the pit of my stomach when I would go out to start the car on a cold morning. I would think the cars in your wife's price range would be a ton more reliable, and still be worth something in a few years.
Get a 98 Buick Century with 70-80k mile for $3-5,000 and drive the wheels off of it. But it sounds like you like the thrill of the hunt more than the actual cost saving compared to the time spent finding,fixing and re selling parts. We all need hobbies.
I do the same thing for my friends as I do for myself. Friend "K" asks me to find him a $400 car, and I search around and make some calls and then let him know what I found. If he doesn't like any of them, I take him to an impound auction and let him pick the car.
My yard looks terrific. The Celebrity I bought looks as good as it runs. It'll look better when I have time to detail it. Some people may call it polishing a turd, but I have beautiful turds.
Not even sure what the best models to look at are. Not many mom-vans with stick shift, it's been awhile since I've paid much attention to that.
anyhoo... how bout a pricerange?
i'd suggest a Civic. But, if that's too pricey, then a Protege. If you want to go REALY cheap, there are a million 4-cyl manual tranny compact pickup trucks out there. $2k will get you a usable one.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
And while I always buy used cars, my price range is a bit higher than what I'm hoping to pay for this little learning experience, so I was attracted to this thread.
4-cyl manual tranny compact pickup trucks
My dad had one of those sitting in his driveway for years and just last year gave it away to the yard guy. LOL! Thanks, dad.
You could also try some of the smaller car rental companies and see if they have anything with a manual.
Incidentally, and I'm only providing this as an information resource (not endorsement/advertisement), there's a site that does nothing but review beaters, but their criteria is up to $5000. It's called Beater Review at http://www.beaterreview.com