Cheapest way to own a car

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KrillBee

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2005
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Whats the cheapest way to own a car? I figure buying it brand new and selling it in a few years probably isnt very cost effective, but what is?

Some people I know buy junkers and run them until they die, and then buy another junker.
Others buy them a few years old, run them a few years, sell them.
Others buy em brand new, and run them until they die.
And there's many more ways to specify when to buy, sell, age, etc.

And of course, the type of car matters too. Japanese cars run forever, but doing work on them is a pain in the butt, cuz they are so crowded in the engine compartments, and so complex.

Thoughts?
 
J

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
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81
Buy a new, very reliable car and keep it for 30+ years. Do all your own maintenance, and make sure you always do it!
 
K

keeleysam

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2005
8,131
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Buy a couple year old Honda and run it until the parts are more expensive than the car is worth.
 
J

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: keeleysam
Buy a couple year old Honda and run it until the parts are more expensive than the car is worth.
Click to expand...

These days a couple year old Honda is worth as much as new...
 
spaceman

spaceman

Lifer
Dec 4, 2000
17,609
170
106
buy a 1-2 yr old car at a discount.
make sure its a model with good resale.
take good care of it, sell it 3 yrs.
rinse,repeat.
 
K

Kenji4861

Banned
Jan 28, 2001
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I personally think KIA and Hyundai is offering a nice deal with a 10 year warranty.

If a $10k car lasts 10 years.. that's great.
 
K

KrillBee

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2005
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Originally posted by: jagec
Buy a new, very reliable car and keep it for 30+ years. Do all your own maintenance, and make sure you always do it!
Click to expand...

not a bad idea, except that im not sure if there are many cars that last 30 years before rusting out!

seriously people, how do you get your cars to last that long? I live in MN, and the daily drivers you see around here that are 15+ years look pretty rusted.

i know washing, waxing, and undercoating can help, but 30 years in a winter/salty climate is a lot!

Originally posted by: Pikachu
Several year old reliable domestic, and run it till it's unfixable. There is no cheaper alternative.
Click to expand...

unfixable? any car is fixable with the right part(s)
 
P

Pikachu

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,178
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Not when the frame is gone. I choose a car based on its track record. If the engine explodes shortly after it's purchased, I'll put one in. Same with the tranny of course. If it's too far gone, I'll bail on it. Never sold a car in my life. They've always been hauled off to the wrecking yard when I'm done with 'em.
 
K

KrillBee

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2005
1,433
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Originally posted by: Pikachu
Not when the frame is gone. I choose a car based on its track record. If the engine explodes shortly after it's purchased, I'll put one in. Same with the tranny of course. If it's too far gone, I'll bail on it. Never sold a car in my life. They've always been hauled off to the wrecking yard when I'm done with 'em.
Click to expand...

true, when the frame gets rusted / destroyed, you are out of luck.
 
P

Pikachu

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,178
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I gave a '66 Chevy to a friend when I was done with it. The frame was gone, and it actually bent when braking. He took it in the woods behind his house an ran it around till it finally broke. He finished off a VW Beetle and Ford Fairlane the same way.
 
K

KrillBee

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2005
1,433
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Originally posted by: Pikachu
I gave a '66 Chevy to a friend when I was done with it. The frame was gone, and it actually bent when braking. He took it in the woods behind his house an ran it around till it finally broke. He finished off a VW Beetle and Ford Fairlane the same way.
Click to expand...

is it really possible to prevent the frames from rusting on cars that are that old? (assuming they get driven regularly)
 
P

Pikachu

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,178
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If you did a frame off restoration it could. You could just keep rebuilding it and keeping it going, but it would be more cost effective to buy another several year old domestic and start over. Nothing like having all the bells & whistles for such a cheap initial price. If you can get 7-10 years out of a vehicle you purchased for only $5,000, that's about the best you can do. Any vehicle will need tires, brakes, batteries, belts hoses and the like. The trick is finding a sturdy, cheap to keep one, that doesn't require big buck repairs.
 
I

Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: Kenji4861
I personally think KIA and Hyundai is offering a nice deal with a 10 year warranty.

If a $10k car lasts 10 years.. that's great.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but I'd tend to agree, provided I actually read over the warranty and what is covered. Something about a 10 year warranty on the cheapest car you can buy has always sounded sketchy to me. Is labor included? Is it only for the mechanical parts or parts required for it to run?
 
D

doze

Platinum Member
Jul 26, 2005
2,786
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I think the 10 year (100k mile) warranty for korean cars is powertrain only so that usually means just engine and transmission. Still nice to have some type of coverage for that long though.

For OP's original question : I bought my car a year old with about 25K miles of factory warranty and paid about 2/3 of new car cost but I got an almost new car. It is now almost 3 years old and paid off and would still sell for over half of what I paid. If you want an almost new car then buying slightly used seems the way to go.
 
T

thedarkwolf

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
9,003
111
106
Cheapest way to own a car is to buy a $1k ish beater and drive it. Helps if you can work on them yourself though. Sure you will have to work on it everynow and again but ifyou buy the right car parts will be dirt cheap, it will be easy to work on, and hopefully it won't break down that often. Paid $800 for my 89 caravan turbo 5 years ago and all together I have maybe $3k including buying it in it now and most of that is from me doing stupid crap like souping up a minivan :). Everything under the hood is new now and better then stock. If I had just left everything stock I'd have around $1500 in it total.
 
B

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I got 160K out of a 95 escort I bought new. It all depends if you have the ability
and time to do repairs yourself..I did on mine but as anyone who has worked on
a FWD car can tell you , it's not easy! a $45 water pump can take hours to install.
shop price was around $350. Also if you are going the keep it/ fix it route try to
stay away from FWD V6's as they are even harder to work on..
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,528
906
126
Cheapest way to PWN a car?

Buy a motorcycle. You can buy a fast sportbike for about $12k that will pretty much PWN any car on the road. :laugh:
 
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