My brother is looking at getting a cheap car

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: slimrhcp

Originally posted by: funboy42

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: slimrhcp
I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but it's not gonna be that easy to find a bank to finance a $3500 car. Another consideration is that in all likelihood, a $3500 car is going to have maintainence issues. So he's going to have to pay shop fees in addition to a carpayment (if it can even get financed).

We live in a small town and know the bankers here. I didn't have any problem financing my first car. Went to the bank my dad has been at his entire life and the bank gave me a loan without any credit checks. Only stipulation was he had to co-sign.

And I have bought a sh1t load of cars for a lot less then $3500 that had little or no problems at all, I got a $1200 1988 Lincoln Town Car in my Garage right now that has a leaky PS pump ($35) thats it. Aside of that and two little worn paint spots its rust free, dent free, and int looks almost new. OH and rides down the road at 75-80mph like a wet dream.

Cannot tell me a car for $3500 with no problems cant be found Wish I had the money for I found a 87 4x4 full size blazer with all new tires, brakes, engine, trans, transfer case, needs paint because its faded but it too is rust free in and out and underneath for $1500.

The reality is most people don't baby their cars. Another dose of reality is that most people are trying to get rid of their cars for a reason (ie avoiding a major repair/service). I sell cars for the most reputable Acura dealership in MD, and I can honestly say in the six months I've been here I only remember a couple trade-ins that would be decent cars to own.

Well here is a dose of reality for you is I been buying and selling cars since the age of 14 years old, bought and sold them all though high school, and did it on my fathers lot till he passed away, sold cars for dealerships in Portland OR, Joliet IL, as the service manager for Ford and Dodge and a fly by night finance company, and still buy and sell, not as often however due to my disability, to this day. I have bought cars from private individuals, at auctions, and at dealerships as their back gate trade ins you talk about. 90% of the time they are traded in because people are stupid when it comes to cars. I have done more basic tune ups and brake jobs then anything else to cars I have bought. Rarely, out of the well over 300+ cars I have owned so far have I come into one that needed something major. People with money or no common sense just figure if its not running right its broken with no concept that you cannot go 100K miles on copper plugs or original wires. Thats where I come in and buy these cars up for I know what I am looking for.

Yes for some there may be a problem that is serious but if it is misfiring but moves/shifts gears, and stops chances are it just needs a lousy $35 tune up I can do on my own or a injector. 99% of the time its just wires and plugs though and brakes. Yes there are times I may have to put in a battery or a water pump, a belt here and there, but these stories like you describe, I sit back and laugh because it allows me to find all these cars that need pretty much nothing at all but the person selling it thinks its a POS because its running on 7 of 8 cyl and doesnt know why, other then the car is old and thinks it isnt worth jack. I take it, clean the piss out f them, do the basic neglected work that needs to be done that doesnt even total $100 in parts and maybe a few hours of my time, mostly however Im using my time cleaning a car, and drive it for a bit till Im bored with it and see something else someone feels is a POS and wants to get rid of cheap that wont take much to put back into good working order. Then sell mine for a quick profit of a few hundred bucks, and start it all over again.

Been living here for a year and Im on my 4th car already

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Stay away from Cadillacs and Lincolns, or anything with exotic air bag ride systems. If they go out it will cost you a arm and a leg.
Stay VERY FAR AWAY from Ford Flex Fuel, the parts and repair cost for those depending on what it is can be anywhere from 2x to 4x the regular cost of the normal counterpart.

For his price I would look into older chevy cars of the 70's and 80's. Parts are cheap, no emission laws to worry about so you can mod the piss out of it, and can find some good rides in his range, provided he has the full $3500, or check the site below.

If your near MO at all (I havent looked) check out this place or make the trip. Country Classic Cars
You can find a good used older muscle car in his range there and I think they finance.

How do you know which ones have it? I know the obvious answer is keeping looking, but is there a rule of thumb if it doesn't outright say "airbag suspension?" My car is near death, but I don't feel like spending much to replace it, so I'll be in a similar boat as the OP. An Aurora with the V6 looks kind of nice.

 

[funboy6942]

Most cars should have a light saying leveling car or something to that effect. You can also start it and put yourself on the trunk on the car. If you here a put put sound coming from the hood or a dead give away would really be you going up in the air, its got it.

If you go to look at the car and the rear end resembles a low rider squatting on the back bumper chances are its got it, and a leak in the system (hence why its squatting in the rear or they have a few bodies in the trunk). The owner will go "Oh it will level out in a few seconds" Run away. She is a leaker, gonna cost some bucks just to find out where the leak is at and then even bigger bucks to fix it.

Some people get away with removing the stock stuff and putting on $100 after market air shocks. Look around the trunk area or back bumper for something that looks like a tire nozzle. Its not really a bad thing they went that route and its cheap to replace should one go, they just dont self level, and if you want can put some really big wide ass tires in the back and jack that sucker way up in the air Slap on a wing, some decals, dual exhaust, tint the windows, and your set for the ultimate ghetto cruiser.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: HybridSquirrel
go with the bus. im working for lexus now at a dealership so guess what my next car is gonna be? how much is he looking to spend?

Not much, $3500 tops. Looking to put $1000 down. Has zero credit history so the $1000 down is great for him.

Plymouth Acclaim.

Edit - Seeing that he's just about to get his license, I'm assuming he's 16/17ish. DEFINITELY something like this, that he can buy outright for the $1000 downpayment.

It's got an anemic engine, poor styling ... PERFECT for keeping him away from the ricer scene.

- M4H

Only 16, with a $1,000 cash budget? I'd go for the classic 1988 Dodge Aries, and spend the other $500 to get it fixed to the point where it will pass inspection

 

[regnez]

Originally posted by: fisheerman
anything Honda.... you wont have to work on it.

-fish

QFT. We owned a 1996 Honda Accord with over 190,000 miles on it, and there were no problems at all. Just had to do the typical maintenance: oil change, brake pads, rotors, etc.

 

[amicold]

Originally posted by: Mermaidman
GM car ~5-6 yrs old with the 3.8L motor.

e.g. Buick Regal, Olds Intrigue, Pontiac GP, Chevy Impaler

Yep. I own a Regal. Comparing the Cadillac to the GA is crap considering they're both GM cars, and aside from aesthetics and what not, it's the same damn company.

 

[amicold]

Originally posted by: mariok2006
Why only domestic cars? I say you stick with Buicks and Cadillac's due to the chances of finding a non-abused-old-folk-driven-one

Buick + Cadillac is domestic....General freaking Motors.

 

[slimrhcp]

Originally posted by: funboy42

Well here is a dose of reality for you is I been buying and selling cars since the age of 14 years old, bought and sold them all though high school, and did it on my fathers lot till he passed away, sold cars for dealerships in Portland OR, Joliet IL, as the service manager for Ford and Dodge and a fly by night finance company, and still buy and sell, not as often however due to my disability, to this day. I have bought cars from private individuals, at auctions, and at dealerships as their back gate trade ins you talk about. 90% of the time they are traded in because people are stupid when it comes to cars. I have done more basic tune ups and brake jobs then anything else to cars I have bought. Rarely, out of the well over 300+ cars I have owned so far have I come into one that needed something major. People with money or no common sense just figure if its not running right its broken with no concept that you cannot go 100K miles on copper plugs or original wires. Thats where I come in and buy these cars up for I know what I am looking for.

Yes for some there may be a problem that is serious but if it is misfiring but moves/shifts gears, and stops chances are it just needs a lousy $35 tune up I can do on my own or a injector. 99% of the time its just wires and plugs though and brakes. Yes there are times I may have to put in a battery or a water pump, a belt here and there, but these stories like you describe, I sit back and laugh because it allows me to find all these cars that need pretty much nothing at all but the person selling it thinks its a POS because its running on 7 of 8 cyl and doesnt know why, other then the car is old and thinks it isnt worth jack. I take it, clean the piss out f them, do the basic neglected work that needs to be done that doesnt even total $100 in parts and maybe a few hours of my time, mostly however Im using my time cleaning a car, and drive it for a bit till Im bored with it and see something else someone feels is a POS and wants to get rid of cheap that wont take much to put back into good working order. Then sell mine for a quick profit of a few hundred bucks, and start it all over again.

Been living here for a year and Im on my 4th car already

Most cars by the time they hit 100k need the timing belt and water pump replaced. Tune-ups are a given. When you start getting into leaks, abs units, head gaskets, they're repairs that most people don't think are worth it. It's great for you if you know what you're doing and how to fix them at a reasonable cost. The REAL reality is most people barely take the time to read their owners manual, let alone realize if their car is running on "7 of 8 cylinders." My point is on an older car, components are more apt to breakdown. And the average person isn't going to jump for a repair that's going to cost nearly what they paid for a car.

 

[zerocool84]

First car for ANYBODY should be a beater because they are more likely to crash it than a second car because of inexperience.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: regnez

Originally posted by: fisheerman
anything Honda.... you wont have to work on it.

-fish

QFT. We owned a 1996 Honda Accord with over 190,000 miles on it, and there were no problems at all. Just had to do the typical maintenance: oil change, brake pads, rotors, etc.

wow 190k miles thats crazy oh wait no its not. Most any car will do that and more anymore. I heard once from some guy that if you buy a domestic you might get the AIDS.

 

[WA261]

Infiniti I30. Period.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: Mermaidman
GM car ~5-6 yrs old with the 3.8L motor.

e.g. Buick Regal, Olds Intrigue, Pontiac GP, Chevy Impaler

I echo this. Go for a Buick Regal LS. It's what I have. Great car. The 2003 model got JD Power & Assoc. most reliable mid-sized car. If you shoot for a 2001 or later, you'll be best off and they can be had for very little coin if you look around.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'd recommend a Grand Marquis.

 

[BUTCH1]

Most larger lenders ( ford credit gmac ect,) will not finance a car over 5 yrs old.
their fear is it will break down and the payments will cease. There are finance
company's that will take it but be prepared to pay a whopping interest rate. Oh,
a lot of 80-86 cars were equipped with the infamous "feedback carbeurator "
in this system the carb. was adjusted "on the fly" to try to keep the car within
EPA pollution requirements. This system never worked well on ANY model and as
soon as fuel injection became practical it was ditched. I had an '83 olds cutlass
with a 2 bbl Rochester carb (electronic) and they wanted $500 for a re-built one!!

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Most larger lenders ( ford credit gmac ect,) will not finance a car over 5 yrs old.
their fear is it will break down and the payments will cease. There are finance
company's that will take it but be prepared to pay a whopping interest rate.

Most won't....there are exceptions though. I just financed a 12 year old car @6.19% over 3 years in August through my credit union....

 

[BUTCH1]

What kind of 12 yr old car needs to be financed?? was it a collectible or something??

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
What kind of 12 yr old car needs to be financed?? was it a collectible or something??

Sort of...it was a limited production model, they only sold ~7k or so 840s in NA over a 6 year run. Production numbers for the 850 (V12 version) were higher, although still quite low. I don't know if it is quite "collectible" status - or, at least not yet anyway. They did require me to provide pictures of it before approving the loan...I guess they wanted to make sure it was in good shape / worth keeping up payments on?

One of the pics I sent them - 1994 BMW 840

 

[BUTCH1]

Wow, nice ride and for a '96 a friggin cream puff!!

 

[angminas]

I do a lot of driving in my job, and my last two cars have been Toyota Tercels. Extremely reliable, good on bad roads, enough power to get up and go but not enough to tempt a young driver...I've been very happy.

Beware buying an old V8 boat for a young person. They have long stopping distances and more power and thirst for fuel than they really need. Then they run out of Freon and the power windows won't roll down. Blah.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: slimrhcp

Originally posted by: funboy42

Well here is a dose of reality for you is I been buying and selling cars since the age of 14 years old, bought and sold them all though high school, and did it on my fathers lot till he passed away, sold cars for dealerships in Portland OR, Joliet IL, as the service manager for Ford and Dodge and a fly by night finance company, and still buy and sell, not as often however due to my disability, to this day. I have bought cars from private individuals, at auctions, and at dealerships as their back gate trade ins you talk about. 90% of the time they are traded in because people are stupid when it comes to cars. I have done more basic tune ups and brake jobs then anything else to cars I have bought. Rarely, out of the well over 300+ cars I have owned so far have I come into one that needed something major. People with money or no common sense just figure if its not running right its broken with no concept that you cannot go 100K miles on copper plugs or original wires. Thats where I come in and buy these cars up for I know what I am looking for.

Yes for some there may be a problem that is serious but if it is misfiring but moves/shifts gears, and stops chances are it just needs a lousy $35 tune up I can do on my own or a injector. 99% of the time its just wires and plugs though and brakes. Yes there are times I may have to put in a battery or a water pump, a belt here and there, but these stories like you describe, I sit back and laugh because it allows me to find all these cars that need pretty much nothing at all but the person selling it thinks its a POS because its running on 7 of 8 cyl and doesnt know why, other then the car is old and thinks it isnt worth jack. I take it, clean the piss out f them, do the basic neglected work that needs to be done that doesnt even total $100 in parts and maybe a few hours of my time, mostly however Im using my time cleaning a car, and drive it for a bit till Im bored with it and see something else someone feels is a POS and wants to get rid of cheap that wont take much to put back into good working order. Then sell mine for a quick profit of a few hundred bucks, and start it all over again.

Been living here for a year and Im on my 4th car already

Most cars by the time they hit 100k need the timing belt and water pump replaced. Tune-ups are a given. When you start getting into leaks, abs units, head gaskets, they're repairs that most people don't think are worth it. It's great for you if you know what you're doing and how to fix them at a reasonable cost. The REAL reality is most people barely take the time to read their owners manual, let alone realize if their car is running on "7 of 8 cylinders." My point is on an older car, components are more apt to breakdown. And the average person isn't going to jump for a repair that's going to cost nearly what they paid for a car.

Yeah OK, you and 99% of all other people PLEASE keep thinking that so I can continue to buy older cars you think once they hit 100K are falling apart because they are old when all they need is very little tlc. 100K means it need a little more maint then usual such as maybe a timing belt, but head gaskets leaking and abs problems can happen at any point no matter the mileage.

But thats cool, its people with mind sets like yours that allows me to buy cars cheap that need hardly anything more then regular neglect maint because they look at a 8-15 year old car with 100K on the OD as being A POS time bomb just waiting to go off. Reality is if people would take the stupid time and throw the lousy $500-$1000 (down payment) into the car and give it what it needs they dont need to go spend another $25K on another car because the "POS" will last another 5 years or much more Domestic OR Import. And because a car hits 100K doesnt mean OOO Water pumps and such, they go when ever again no matter what miles, they are cars, they break, I have driven Domestics with over 200K on them and not a damn thing been done to them, I driven Imports that every day something new gave out. It just doesnt matter, when a part goes it goes. Buts it again is cool because I looooooooove people who think as you do, I get your POS for $300, put $100 and 5 hours in it, and turn around and re-sell it right away for $1500, or drive it for about 4-6 months and sell it for $1200. Either way when it leaves my hands its a fixed damn good running car and who ever gets it it gets a steal of a deal because I buy cheap from you, and pass the savings on to the next person, only diff is they get a running perfect car with a fresh tune up and brakes, that will go for another 100K.

 

[funkbass81]

Originally posted by: fisheerman
anything Honda.... you wont have to work on it.

-fish

honda's never break?

 

[funkbass81]

the 94 eldo has self-leveling shocks in the back, and i think it has the sss (speed sensitive suspension) expensive to fix, although not as expensive to fix as the shocks and struts (cvrss) on my 99 seville. 3k :Q

 

[fLum0x]

you could get a sweet bike for that price

 

[BUTCH1]

I've NEVER had a car that didn't need a water pump replaced before 120k, I've done all
of 'em myself but they don't last the life of a car,ever. Also some cars are just badly
designed ie: Quad 4 motor blows head gaskets, 3.1 GM V6, blows intake maniflold
gaskets, Ford 1.9-2.0 liter, drops valve seat into cylinder (this one happened to me)
90-94 dodge tranny's, a lot failed before 40K (class action lawsuit on this one) It's true
that a lot of people will trade in a car that just needs minor repair dealers will also take
anything in trade to make a deal and the $hitbox goes off to auction. Do some research
before buying any used car or pay a mechanic to inspect it..

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: fLum0x
you could get a sweet bike for that price

16-year-old kid + motorcycle + no training = suicide

He could get a bike, but make sure it's a 250cc at most, and training, training, training.

- M4H