Can you buy a decent reliable car for $3k
- Thread starter Heller
- Start date
zerocool84
Lifer
- Nov 11, 2004
- 36,041
- 472
- 126
It really depends on how well the car was taken care of. I bought a 1970 VW Beetle from an original owner that bought it new back then. I bought it for $700 and I've had it for 7 years. In that amount of time, who knows how many times it rolled over 100k. It still runs perfect. The owners took very good care of the car. You really need to get a feel for the owner. That should give you a general idea if they maintained the car well. Remember, if you are not going to buy a car to repair, you need to be fairly picky.
Of coarse you can. Out of the 8 cars I've owned only two cost more then $3k and not by much and most were $1k or so. I've never really had an unreliable car either and all but two have been domestics and only one had less then 100k miles on it. The least reliable one is my current second car/beater 150k mile 89 dodge caravan turbo I bought 6 years ago for $800. Most of the things that I have had to fix though have been my fault. Just have to know what to look for.
Sure you can, however, if you're not able to do your own work, that usually means that you are less able to spot potential problem cars when you're buying them in the first place. Be sure to get a mechanic once-over before coughing up the cash.
My current car is the most expensive car that I have owned, at $2100.
My current car is the most expensive car that I have owned, at $2100.
Arkaign
Lifer
- Oct 27, 2006
- 20,736
- 1,379
- 126
Used cars can be very reliable.
One tip : Don't buy the most complex, luxury-oriented vehicle you can find for the price. Buy a simple and historically reliable model, and have $500 or so put aside for maintenance.
Other notes on buying used :
Check Carfax
Check for maintenance records.
Make *SURE* the timing service has been performed, don't take anyone's word for it.
If possible, have a qualified mechanic give the car a go-over.
Never bring cash to a meeting place, unless it's obviously safe (ie; mid-day in the WalMart parking lot, with a bazillion cameras and roving security)
Evaluate the current owner. It's generally better to buy from middle-aged folk than youngsters who are likely to have driven the car to it's limits.
When possible, find a vehicle with ~100k miles or less. From that point, with excellent maintenance habits, you should be able to wring another 100k good miles out of the thing, and it's much better to have a running car to sell instead of a used-up dead one
AVOID Turbo/SC vehicles as a cheap used option. Performance-oriented models tend to be driven harder by more demanding owners, and the extra service involved often makes the cost of ownership a lot higher on such things as Eclipses/Talons/RX7s/VWs/etc with forced induction.
Manual Transmission. Unless you can't drive a manual, or find a great deal on an auto, the manual-equipped car will get better fuel economy, be easier to maintain, and much less expensive should you need transmission service.
Some general good deals can be found on the following, depending on your needs :
Infiniti G20, a luxury version of the Sentra of all things, that is reliable, easy to work on, has excellent fuel economy, and pretty comfortable. Good feature set.
Nissan Maxima. Great VQ engine (chain, not a belt), and generally high reliability, you see tons and tons of these things out there with 200k+ miles with average maintenance habits. Comfortable.
Mazda Protege. Many Mazdas were less than reliable, but Proteges seem to buck the trend. Kind of basic.
Ford Crown Vic / Mercury Grand Marquis. Lots of old people own these cars, and they have a low-output V8 that seems to last very very long indeed. Big, comfortable, cheap rides. Only serious negative is below-average fuel economy and grandparent-friendly looks.
Honda Civic. Extremely reliable, but these are hard to find cheaply with ~100k miles. Again, sort of a basic vehicle, but well-designed.
Toyota Corolla. See Civic.
Ugly Ducklings. Many vehicles that are actually quite nice/low miles command a poor resale because of limited demand. Great examples are things like station wagons. A vehicle that normally commands ~$5,000 on the used market might be found for $3,000 or less in the station-wagon version.
Light trucks. With the push for everybody jumping on huge SUVs, huge trucks, and trendy crossovers, it's left light trucks out in the cold. Good deals can be had on pretty much any model. Ranger/S10/Colorado/Frontier/B2200/etc/etc.
That should be a good starting point. Post back here with candidates/needs/etc if you wish.
One tip : Don't buy the most complex, luxury-oriented vehicle you can find for the price. Buy a simple and historically reliable model, and have $500 or so put aside for maintenance.
Other notes on buying used :
Check Carfax
Check for maintenance records.
Make *SURE* the timing service has been performed, don't take anyone's word for it.
If possible, have a qualified mechanic give the car a go-over.
Never bring cash to a meeting place, unless it's obviously safe (ie; mid-day in the WalMart parking lot, with a bazillion cameras and roving security)
Evaluate the current owner. It's generally better to buy from middle-aged folk than youngsters who are likely to have driven the car to it's limits.
When possible, find a vehicle with ~100k miles or less. From that point, with excellent maintenance habits, you should be able to wring another 100k good miles out of the thing, and it's much better to have a running car to sell instead of a used-up dead one
AVOID Turbo/SC vehicles as a cheap used option. Performance-oriented models tend to be driven harder by more demanding owners, and the extra service involved often makes the cost of ownership a lot higher on such things as Eclipses/Talons/RX7s/VWs/etc with forced induction.
Manual Transmission. Unless you can't drive a manual, or find a great deal on an auto, the manual-equipped car will get better fuel economy, be easier to maintain, and much less expensive should you need transmission service.
Some general good deals can be found on the following, depending on your needs :
Infiniti G20, a luxury version of the Sentra of all things, that is reliable, easy to work on, has excellent fuel economy, and pretty comfortable. Good feature set.
Nissan Maxima. Great VQ engine (chain, not a belt), and generally high reliability, you see tons and tons of these things out there with 200k+ miles with average maintenance habits. Comfortable.
Mazda Protege. Many Mazdas were less than reliable, but Proteges seem to buck the trend. Kind of basic.
Ford Crown Vic / Mercury Grand Marquis. Lots of old people own these cars, and they have a low-output V8 that seems to last very very long indeed. Big, comfortable, cheap rides. Only serious negative is below-average fuel economy and grandparent-friendly looks.
Honda Civic. Extremely reliable, but these are hard to find cheaply with ~100k miles. Again, sort of a basic vehicle, but well-designed.
Toyota Corolla. See Civic.
Ugly Ducklings. Many vehicles that are actually quite nice/low miles command a poor resale because of limited demand. Great examples are things like station wagons. A vehicle that normally commands ~$5,000 on the used market might be found for $3,000 or less in the station-wagon version.
Light trucks. With the push for everybody jumping on huge SUVs, huge trucks, and trendy crossovers, it's left light trucks out in the cold. Good deals can be had on pretty much any model. Ranger/S10/Colorado/Frontier/B2200/etc/etc.
That should be a good starting point. Post back here with candidates/needs/etc if you wish.
CrackRabbit
Lifer
- Mar 30, 2001
- 16,642
- 62
- 91
Just as a note, The Infiniti G20 was not a version of the Sentra. It is based off of the European/Japanese Nissan Primera, slightly larger than the Sentra. I had one for about 2 years, even at 16 years old and 175,000 miles it got me to and from work every day. The SR20DE is a rock of an engine.
HannibalX
Diamond Member
- May 12, 2000
- 9,359
- 2
- 0
Yup. Paid 3k for my current DD. Been running strong for over a year now. I have put 35k miles on it, everything works including AC, PS, all four electric windows, electric mirrors, electronic climate control, 8-way power driver and passenger seat, 6-disk CD player. The engine (4.6L V8) runs perfect.
The car needs a few things, mainly shocks and tires. This fall I am planning on 4 new tires and shocks.
The car needs a few things, mainly shocks and tires. This fall I am planning on 4 new tires and shocks.
IronWing
No Lifer
- Jul 20, 2001
- 73,189
- 34,518
- 136
Yes, try to buy from more well off sellers. They are generally selling the car so they can replace it with something newer. They tend to maintain cars better and keep the records.
Avoid buying cars from less well off sellers. They tend to be selling the car because they simply can't afford it and therefore also couldn't afford maintenance.
Gross generalizations that have served me well in my years as a bottom feeder on the car market. Still driving a car after eleven years and 140k additional miles that cost me $2250.
Avoid buying cars from less well off sellers. They tend to be selling the car because they simply can't afford it and therefore also couldn't afford maintenance.
Gross generalizations that have served me well in my years as a bottom feeder on the car market. Still driving a car after eleven years and 140k additional miles that cost me $2250.
zanejohnson
Diamond Member
- Nov 29, 2002
- 7,054
- 17
- 81
im trying to get rid of my car actually, i want $4500 for mine, comes with the stereo, all mods
here's some pics of the car, the Accord...
modlist is: red top Prelude Type "S" h22a motor mated to F series 5mt tranny (tranny still works like new, no grinding whatsoevr), ram air intake, 2.5" straight thru exhaust (no cats or mufflers, but i plan on throwing a couple of dual tip mufflers on it if i sell it, so dual exhaust, two dual tip mufflers)
stereo is:
Pioneer MP3/WMA deck delivers 23wrmsx4
fronts: (powered by deck) Boston Accousitcs BA-105 component set (installed right the crossover is bolted to the inside of the door)
rears: factory (powered by deck
subwoofer: 2x12" Kicker Comp CVR12 2006 model
amplifier: (only powers subs) Alpine MRDM10005 (1000wrms x 1) it's loud, very loud, like cops pull you over loud.
here's a link to the car in action:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=85&threadid=2168280
- Jul 10, 2006
- 6,551
- 0
- 0
if anybody ha some free time tomorrow, if you could find some cars (Examples) in my area to look for
http://fortlauderdale.craigslist.org/car/
TBH i'd love a 2 door civic, but its hard to find one thats been maintained / not riced.
http://fortlauderdale.craigslist.org/car/
TBH i'd love a 2 door civic, but its hard to find one thats been maintained / not riced.
zanejohnson
Diamond Member
- Nov 29, 2002
- 7,054
- 17
- 81
hello, 2 door Accord > civic,
it also has a really nice stereo, a motor swap, and it's been maintained well...the motor socores great compression tests, and i go rather easy on it, you can see in my vids, most H22AS's get revved to 8k, i never run mine past 7500 because honda states in the lude manual the engine redline is 7450, even though even with the stock ECU it will rev to 8k plus, i think the limiter is at 8500rpm
and it's a looker:
pic
Are you a pimp?
These are cheap as dirt and super reliable other then the air suspension which has been replaced already.
or the more practicle car
These are cheap as dirt and super reliable other then the air suspension which has been replaced already.
or the more practicle car
IronWing
No Lifer
- Jul 20, 2001
- 73,189
- 34,518
- 136
I was going to offer to sell you this for $3k (270k miles, A/C, auto, cruise, Pioneer stereo with uppy-downy antenna, power seats, power windows, power locks, spokey hubcaps [3 of those], seating for nine, armrest, tilt steering, authentic woodgrain plastic dash, never smoked in, gravity assist enabled, and greenhouse-style heater) but my wife said no way, we're keeping it for another year. Sorry.
evident
Lifer
- Apr 5, 2005
- 12,145
- 766
- 126
96 camry is the most reliable car for $3k. its what i have and granted my parents were the first owners and took good care of it, i've put about 80k miles on it myself and it's been great. get one in good condition and you're good for at least 200k miles. if you get good tires on it, it handles great too.
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