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Good, Cheap Beater Cars & Inexpensive Commuter Cars - how to find one?

356 messages,  Last post on Nov 14, 2010 at 10:25 AM

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Messages Page 1 of 36

#1 of 356 Cheapo Beaters by fishinjosh

Mar 23, 2001 (7:45 pm)

if there's already a board for this, I'm sorry... I searched and couldnt find one. so anyways here it is: say you have, oh, $1200 to buy a car. it has to be some semblance of reliable (no early 90s Hyundais), some semblance of fun to drive (no Buick Centurys or pickups), and some semblance of economical to own (no Camaros!, or Benzes). I know the best thing to do is scour all classifieds and ghetto car lots for the best deal, but if anyone has any experience with buying these suckers I'd love for you to share your wisdom!
 
ideas: older Jettas/Golfs/Rabbits, any mid/late 80s Honda, VW Beetle (!), older Corolla/Prizm/Nova, Mazda 323, MX-3, K-cars, Escort/Protege, first Saturns, 80s Celica, Stanza... ? I think the older Benzes, Volvos, and Saabs are too expensive to keep up at that age, but I could be wrong.
 
As much as I'd love a late 70s Camaro with a 350, I'm afraid that wouldn't be practical. Oh, and happy driving, and enjoy your nice cars; one day you may not be able to make payments and you'll be in my situation!!!
 
Josh

#2 of 356 Cheap and semi-reliable by andre1969

Mar 23, 2001 (8:51 pm)

Josh,
 
I have some experience with old beaters, so maybe my insights might help. If you want something cheap and more-or-less reliable, I'd say just about any Chrysler product with a 225 slant six or 318. The bigger engine cars are pretty reliable, too, but would be anything but fuel-efficient! My cousin just bought a '75 or '76 Valiant for $1200, and it only had about 50,000 miles on it. I've seen the car, and my grandmother told me how much he paid and the mileage, but I don't know all the details. Unfortunately, my cousin tends to tear the hell out of cars, so it won't be in pristine condition for long
 
Most GM RWD cars from the 70's and 80's are pretty reliable, too, and when they do break, parts are plentiful. I've heard bad stories about the Buick 231 from that era, but then I've also heard of plenty of them that have lasted hundreds of thousands of miles, so I guess it mainly depends on how well it was taken care of. I had one that lost all oil pressure at 73,000 miles, though. There was so much debris in the oil from the engine wearing out, that the shavings tore up the oil pump gears! A friend and I changed the pump gears, but I knew it was on borrowed time and got rid of it. I've also heard bad things about the Pontiac 301, but otherwise, most of these cars were pretty reliable and predictable.
 
If these cars are too big/old for you, then I'm sure a Honda or Toyota would do fine. Just remember, the further back you go, the more prone to rust they are, and I think the older engines needed frequent valve adjustment because of solid lifters or something like that. I think an older Japanese car would also be harder to find parts for than an older American car, and when they do break, will probably cost more.
 
As for K-cars, they're not TOO bad, if you get one of the more basic models. We had an '88 LeBaron turbo, though, and it was totally shot by about 108,000 miles or so. Among the problems: trip computer, paint, a/c compressor, power antenna, radiator, engine compression, turbo, head/gasket, major suspension work, leaking tranny fluid, etc. It was a good looker and performed well, and got good gas mileage, but after the first 65-70K miles, it started causing plenty of trouble. Somehow, we trusted it enough to drive it from DC to Washington State and back, when it was in the high 70/low 80K range. They are fairly easy to work on though...the distributor and spark plugs are right up front, so tuneups are a breeze.
 
I understand your situation, too. When I bought my Intrepid, I was delivering pizzas 20-25 hours a week in addition to my full time job, and the prosperity of the stock market seemed like it would go on forever. On a good week of delivering pizzas, I could easily make the monthly payment on the car. I could make the car payment, make the mortgage payment, not worry about budgeting, and still have money left over.
 
Well, that came crashing down a few months ago. I finally got sick of delivering pizzas and having no social life, so I quit on the spot one night after they got me mad. Well, suddenly, I had to budget my money, the monthly payment on the car started taking a bigger chunk of my income, and, well, let's not talk about income taxes So I'm back to delivering pizzas!
 
Trust me, there's no shame to driving a beater...check out my profile and you'll see that I've had plenty of 'em! Good luck to you!
 
-Andre

#4 of 356 personal experience (long post!) by blyndgesser1

Mar 27, 2001 (6:50 am)

Through graduate school I was dependent on a series of beaters--an '82 Accord, '79 Monte Carlo (Buick 3.8 V6) and '85 Monte Carlo (4.3 V6). Of the three I liked the Honda best--it handled well and was generally pleasant and adequately powerful despite being a 4 cyl/automatic combo. I would've preferred a 5-speed, but it was a hand-me-down so I took what I could get. When the car was new it was terrific, but after 100k miles it was not as cheap to maintain as I hoped. Two major issues: (1) not everybody knows this, but the timing belt MUST be changed every 60,000 miles in order to keep the engine from self-destructing, and the water pump should be changed at the same time; (2) as the miles add up, Hondas have a tendency to eat the little bearings that hold the distributor shaft. Pull the distributor cap off--if there's a fine gray powder inside, the distributor's toast, and it WILL leave you stranded. I sold mine when the distributor was going bad around 150k miles. I also had carburetor trouble, but I've been told that's unusual for Accords. A handful of little problems showed up--the switch that controls the engine cooling fans died, as did the fuel pump, the alternator, and the starter, but none of these disabled the vehicle because I got to them in time. And the power steering leaked, but that's manageable if you just look under the hood regularly and top it up. Yes, parts are VERY expensive if you buy new ones, but rebuilt parts will do for most folks and will save lots of money.
 
The Monte Carlos provide an excellent example of the two extremes GM cars can reach. Both were one-owner cars when I got them, and both had been generally well maintained. But the '79 was never "right"--the valve cover gaskets leaked oil and had to be redone twice, and there were a lot of nickel-and-dime repairs. In one 18-month period we spent $150 a month on repairs (at the rate of one repair a month, regular as clockwork). Oil leaks, starter, alternator, water pump, rear springs (one broke), motor mounts, transmission mounts, etc. All cheap, but rather inconvenient just the same. On the plus side, the only time it actually had to be towed was when the starter died. I got it at 97k miles, and sold the remains at 150k.
 
The '85 Monte Carlo was much more reliable--despite what folks will tell you about GM cars from the '80s having flaky electronics, the only such problem I encountered was a stuck knock sensor on the electronic spark control system. Just add premium fuel and no sweat. I bought it at 56k (!) miles and sold it at 120k. I spent nothing except for tires, brakes, and shocks. By the time I had it set up right, it actually handled well, believe it or not. Looked like Granny's go-to-church car, of course, but it cruised comfortably at 75 mph and got 24 mpg in my mixed commute. I wasn't crazy about the car, but it DID work quite well. I guess I got lucky with it.
 
Stephen
somewhere in south Georgia and looking for another good $2000 Honda

#5 of 356 '89 Subaru Loyale Wagon by raybear

Mar 29, 2001 (3:14 pm)

4WD stick shift. Paid $300 for it 4 years ago, had to put $600 into it right away. Not real powerful, but has low range 4WD so I can take it in the woods. My fishin' car.

#6 of 356 Beater cars: how do you find one? by cutehumor

Feb 14, 2003 (4:49 pm)

Replying to: raybear (Mar 29, 2001 3:14 pm)

#7 of 356 by cutehumor

Jul 13, 2002 (7:22 am)

Replying to: raybear (Mar 29, 2001 3:14 pm)
hi
 
I'm looking at purchasing a beater car for basic transportation only. Can anyone recommend reliable makes for this purpose especially those not asking for a premium price? I'm looking for a car or truck under the 5k range with low miles if possible up to 5 model years old. Do they exist? Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of vehicles? How should you look for one? only buy from someone with maintence records? Especially since reliability is the most important factor for me. Some people think I'm crazy, but I love low insurance costs, no car payments, and regular maintence is a plus which you would have to do with a new car anyway.

#8 of 356 Sounds like you should by afk_x

Jul 13, 2002 (11:04 pm)

Replying to: raybear (Mar 29, 2001 3:14 pm)
Buy a used Saturn. Private party you should have no trouble finding one in your price range.

#9 of 356 Cute .. by rroyce10

Jul 14, 2002 (6:48 am)

Replying to: raybear (Mar 29, 2001 3:14 pm)
.... You might try a Toyota .. Ooooop's I mean a Chevy/Geo Prizm, perhaps a 96 or a 97, or a Mazda Protege' .. also a 96/97. These are great little vehicles, will run 150k+ with little or no headaches ..
 
      Should be in your price zone .. !
 
        Terry.

#10 of 356 $5k by ghulet

Jul 17, 2002 (10:00 pm)

Replying to: raybear (Mar 29, 2001 3:14 pm)
That's hardly a 'beater', at least not to me. Finding a good $5000 car isn't difficult, finding a decent $500 car is, LOL.
 
I agree with what Terry said above (and has said countless other times). Also, you might do OK with a Ford Escort or Chevy Cavalier, especially with a 5-speed; they're not exactly glamorous or state of the art, but you can find one (probably 97-99) for around $5k, and it should provide years of low-cost transportation.

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