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Best car I can get for $1000 or less

msi1337

msi1337

Diamond Member
my faithful 1982 Volvo with 300,000 miles on it is getting pretty tired these days. I will probably have to replace it within a month or two. I will have about a $1000 to spend on a car. I cannot afford to take out a loan and make payments (35 hrs retail + 15 hours college = not enough $$). So, I am just curious to find out opinions on what I should look for in a $1000 car. What should I expect? I am seeing a lot of 1985-1991 cars. Some Nissan Sentra, Lots of Ford Escorts, Toyotas, Mazdas, and lots of american cars and trucks. Anyone know what my best bet would be?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
should be able to pick up a mid 80's vw gti for around that price, parts are abundant and they are extemely easy to work on... and if you get stuck, vwvortex.com is the internet's largest vw/audi forum
 
Nissan Sentra is a good game... I drove an 89 that belonged to one of my friends... neat car. Couldn't tell you what to look for in a car that age though....
 
Find a car auction to go to. I have one in my area (oakwood goergia) that sometimes sells new model cars for less than $1000.
 
Originally posted by: boomdart
Find a car auction to go to. I have one in my area (oakwood goergia) that sometimes sells new model cars for less than $1000.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be in the same boat soon ($1K, and need a card) except I know pretty much nothing about cars. How do you prevent yourself from getting ripped off at an auto auction?

-Chu
 
Originally posted by: Chu
Originally posted by: boomdart
Find a car auction to go to. I have one in my area (oakwood goergia) that sometimes sells new model cars for less than $1000.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be in the same boat soon ($1K, and need a card) except I know pretty much nothing about cars. How do you prevent yourself from getting ripped off at an auto auction?

-Chu
Click to expand...

You can't - remember there is a reason they are selling the cars at an auction.
1. dealers have trade in cars that they don't want to put on their lot
2. people who want to unload a car that they don't want to deal with anymore.

YOu can get a good deal, but expect to do some work on any car you buy at auction
 
with cars that cheap nameplate means absolutely nothing. how the owner took care of it means everything. if you don't know anything about cars or don't have a good mechanic that can look the car over you could randomly get something from the worst beater ever to a car that will run great for serveral years to come.
 
Craigslist.org

I've gotten a couple of sub $1K cars when I was in a pinch. Just remember at that price it isn't going to last forever, but better than leasing/buying.
 
CRX? I have one and it gets great gas mileage (I fill up like once a month... though I don't drive much) and it is useful finding parking around school because of its small size.
 
Originally posted by: datalink7
CRX? I have one and it gets great gas mileage (I fill up like once a month... though I don't drive much) and it is useful finding parking around school because of its small size.
Click to expand...

You can get Pre 88 CRXs really cheap because of the bodystyle change that happened in 88. They are good deals, and cheap to fix if something goes wrong.
 
I've got a 77 Grand Marquis I'll sell you for $500. Daily driver for 2 years, no problems 🙂
Probably impractical to drive to Nebraska to pick it up though.
 
Originally posted by: boomdart
Find a car auction to go to. I have one in my area (oakwood goergia) that sometimes sells new model cars for less than $1000.
Click to expand...

Jesus man, with all the Georgia bashing on this forum at least spell the state's name right.
 
Sorry to hear about your volvo. My '86 240 wagon needed so muc work that I just went home to VT and got another volvo. I got a '91 240 wagon for 1300 bucks after registration. That was the price for a super well taken care of, needed no work car.

For 1k you won't get much where you are, my advice: take the train to VT and find another volvo. They grow on trees in our state, along with subarus and saabs.

Seriously, my dad has had 6 volvos and he can usually find one for 2-300 bucks and they only need maybe a few hundered bucks work. They're not total crap, either. It's just that everyone needs a car to survive in VT, and there isn't a lot of advertising in papers and such, it's word-of-mouth. Just go to burlington and ask around it some bars, it would be an adventure!
 
You can find 90+ 2.2l/2.5l Chryslers/dodges/plymouths with around 100k and in really good shape for $1k or less sometimes way less. They are fairly reliable, parts are dirt cheap and everywhere, and they are easy to work on. My favorite beaters and since they put that engine in everything you have lots of options. My current one is an 89 Dodge caravan 2.5l turbo that I paid $800 for.
 
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