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Smart Shopper 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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It' a shame that this went down but I did free ads for a couple of weeks and got no interest. I had two calls from people that were interested but neither called back when they said they would. LeSabre I really hoped that I'd find a working guy that could really use it because it served me pretty well for two years. Instead it went to the junkyard for 200
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Replying to: gsemike (Sep 22, 2007 9:38 am) I would have haggled over the type of beer and made that offer. 
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Replying to: british_rover (Sep 22, 2007 9:48 am) |
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Replying to: british_rover (Sep 22, 2007 9:48 am) |
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I guess this is really really really going to depend on your mechanical knowledge, but I just went to my first government/prosecutor's office type auction thingy yesterday. I was pretty entertaining. They had a few high-end items that went for top dollar, but they had roughly 100 other vehicles that were mostly junked or government owned. This included several plain-jane clean Escort wagons with ~100k miles and several plain-jane Crown Vics with ~100k miles ... most of these not clean, though. There were a couple of good ones. It seems (and it stands to reason) that the previous cop cars were pretty beat up, but there were other ones that were pretty nice. I'm not sure what they were used for, but they only had a small black number stuck on one fender (as opposed to all the other badging of a cop car ... most of which has been stripped away to leave nice shiney paint underneath to contrast the worn paint all around it). There were a couple of cars I was interested in. One was of the aforementioned Crown Vics. 108k miles, darned clean, 1998, 4.6 V8 (of course). CEL was on, but she started right up with a bump of the key, air blew ice cold, tranny responded (can't drive them), and no leaks underneath. The other was an S10 pickup with the 4.3 V6 and auto tranny and working AC with 93k miles. Unfortunately, we just couldn't stay all day and after 3 hours and still not approaching the cars I might have bid on, we left. Just as well since my driveway is full anyway.  In general, the Crown Vics were fetching upwards of $1200. I figure if the clean ones stayed under $2k, it would be a pretty good beater. I didn't get to see what the Escorts fetched. Pickups seemed to be the hot item with the crowd that was there. A '97 F150 got $5k! |
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since my son is just starting to drive (has his permit, can't get a solo license until next June), this is going to be a timely thread, given his budget! Probably going to look at a stick, depending on how he takes to driving my Accord. That's one reason to buy now, it will save wear and tear on my clutch! Mike, i would have given the $200 for that Buick, plus the case of beer. then caught heck from the wife when I got it home. Also, there is one other resource to consider (if you have one). My neighbor is the GSM at a local Ford dealer. i figure to talk to him at some point to see if he can intercept some cheap trade in that they won't retail and "divert" it to us, if it is just going to auction anyway. Or I will just ask Bill to find us an older but clean running (attractive not a requirement) 3 or 5 series! Actually, i saw a '92 5 series parked on a loawn yesterday, but wasn't able to stop. Not sure of the price, but it had "runs great" painted on the windows. Only thing I didn't like is it had heavy cheap tint on all the side windows.
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Replying to: stickguy (Sep 24, 2007 9:29 am) I'd be VERY reluctant to buy a 8+ year old European car. IT will cost a fortune to replace the normal wear/tear stuff versus a domestic, or even Japanese or Korean car. I started my driving life in 2002 with a 1996 Accord Automatic. Perfect car for a new kid behind the wheel, just make sure you find one with ABS (mine is an LX therefore it was a rarely-found option in 1996). I've been driving this car since then, put about 55,000 miles on it (plus 25,000 on my new 2006 Accord during that same time- I drive them both because my 1996 is so bulletproof!) I currently have 175k miles on the '96; the A/C is still cold, the automatic shifts like it always has, and I've spent about $300 a year on wear and tear replacements (brake master cylinder, cracked radiator, that sort of thing). Same transmission, same A/C, same alternator, starter, even original rear brakes and full suspension. Getting new shocks soon as the car is starting to have a little more "bounce" over big dips in the road. Depending on your budget, you could get a car similar to mine for $3,500 or so. An EX 4-cylinder (which would have ABS) with a stickshift would be a VERY nice/fun car with decent but-not-overwhelming power, safe handling, and stellar reliability. You know this, you have an Accord! Let us know how your search goes! |
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Replying to: thegraduate (Sep 24, 2007 11:16 am) well... ok, the bimmer was a tad more expensive, but that was due to 2 extra cylinders, so 2 more wires and 2 more plugs. But you get my meanings. When it comes to brake pads, wires, plugs, fuel filters, air filters, shocks, struts, rubber bushings, or what have you, I have not found the make of the car matters 95% of the time. Now, the other 5% of the time can be a killer. $100 a pop for the shocks and struts on my Alfa is a bit out of line. But that applies to alot of parts on the Alfa. The Bimmer is downright cheap in comparison.
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Replying to: qbrozen (Sep 24, 2007 11:39 am) I'd steer clear of ANY VW at all costs!
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Replying to: thegraduate (Sep 24, 2007 12:16 pm) For me, the parts have similar costs and the jobs take me about the same amount of time, so I am assuming a good indy shop will charge you the same for both cars for similar repairs. |
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