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

345 messages,  Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 9:00 AM

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#296 of 345 I am the King by occupant1 Nov 25, 2006 (6:21 pm)
of Cheap...Cars   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. Replies to this message: jipster (Nov 28, 2006 6:04 am)
#297 of 345 Make that 54 and 39 by occupant1 Nov 27, 2006 (11:03 pm)
Just picked up a 1989 Celebrity for $300. Drives fine, looks much nicer than my other $300 cars, too. I think I got a winner here. Only caveat is the AC does not work, compressor is locked up tight. But I don't care, because it's almost December and it won't get hot here in TX for 3-4 more months. Replies to this message: guss (Nov 28, 2006 6:35 am)
#298 of 345 Re: I am the King [occupant1] by jipster Nov 28, 2006 (6:04 am)
Replying to: occupant1 (Nov 25, 2006 6:21 pm) I use to be the King of cheap cars... now I'm just the King of Cheap. I think the best beaters would come in at around $900-$1,500. We sold our 1994 Buick Century wagon two and a half years ago, got around $1,100 for it. Still in very good condition... air, tires, interior and exterior very nice, good miles. Did have a slow oil leak though. But, older Buick Centurys are a good bet for a beater.
#299 of 345 Re: Make that 54 and 39 [occupant1] by guss Nov 28, 2006 (6:35 am)
Replying to: occupant1 (Nov 27, 2006 11:03 pm) I bet your front yard looks nice.   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.
#300 of 345 A real diamond in the rough... by phinneas519 Nov 28, 2006 (10:41 am)
I just bought my mom a $1,000 1978 Ford Fairmont that was in *impeccable* condition. Since it was a North Dakota car, it had no rust of any sort and it took only minimal fixing to get it ready for the trip back to WI (it belonged to an old lady whose son was a mechanic). He replaced all the leaky gaskets and other niggling things and all we had to do is give it a good 10 point inspection. Only 63,000 original miles. No fading in the interior - just a wonderful beater car for mom and definitely her type of vehicle - fits her like a glove. It runs much more smoothly and silently than the '88 Volvo 760 that was previously being considered for a good bit more money. Thank goodness for older cars that are well-preserved.
#301 of 345 thrill of the hunt by occupant1 Nov 28, 2006 (9:20 pm)
definitely...   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.
#302 of 345 Manual Transmission by kbt Dec 20, 2006 (7:10 am)
I feel strongly about teaching my kids to drive stick, but don't have one. Toying with the idea of finding a cheap one to put 'em in to learn on. They'd be doing "around town" stuff but no real mileage, but the tranny, of course, will take a beating.   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. Replies to this message: qbrozen (Dec 20, 2006 7:35 am) kbt (Dec 20, 2006 8:21 am) stubborn1 (Dec 20, 2006 7:16 pm)
#303 of 345 Re: Manual Transmission [kbt] by qbrozen Dec 20, 2006 (7:35 am)
Replying to: kbt (Dec 20, 2006 7:10 am) well, there are a ton of choices. Was there a certain style of vehicle you are thinking of? Does it NEED to be a mom-van? What is a mom-van, anyway? minivan? suv? cuv? wagon?   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. Replies to this message: kbt (Dec 20, 2006 8:21 am)
#304 of 345 Re: Manual Transmission [qbrozen] by kbt Dec 20, 2006 (8:21 am)
Replying to: qbrozen (Dec 20, 2006 7:35 am) No, NOT a momvan. I just need something I can teach a teen on and not worry tremendously about her going to the grocery store with once she learns. And then her brother... then her sister. Just saying I've been in vans/SUV's for so long that I haven't paid one bit of attention to what models are reliable with stick, etc.   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.
#305 of 345 Re: Manual Transmission [kbt] by stubborn1 Dec 20, 2006 (7:16 pm)
Replying to: kbt (Dec 20, 2006 7:10 am) If you just want training on driving a stick, check with a local driving school. Some offer training on manual transmission vehicles and would probably be a lot cheaper. If you need the additional vehicle, that's another story.   You could also try some of the smaller car rental companies and see if they have anything with a manual.

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