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Please recommend an old, cheap, small reliable car for the city.

ibex333

ibex333

Diamond Member
Looking to buy my 2nd car. I'm a sucky driver - only got to drive my 1st car for a few months before Hurricane Sandy took it away from me - so no driving experience really. It was a Honda Fit 2007 Sport Edition and I paid 11k for it that summer before everything happened.

Now I'll be happy if I can come up with about 7k. Maybe dad can add 1-2k extra, but I'd like to not count on it. This is my absolute max, and I really cant go any higher. For this amount of money, what can I get that would still run ok, and not cost too much to repair if it breaks down?

Some points.

1)This car doesn't have to be fun to drive, powerful or cool. I only need it to get me from point A to point B in New York city, and I need it to handle average allowed highway speeds without giving me trouble in case I need to drive out of town. (No long trips - maybe 2-3 hours away)

2)It must be small or medium sized. Parking is horrible here, and I don't really care for large cars.

3)Must have good gas milage. I'm super cheap, and my paycheck is low.

4)Must be "hopefully" reliable/cheap to repair if something happens.


Off course I understand old cars are generally not reliable or gas efficient, but I just want to hear some options. Is there anything remotely descent I can get with my 7k?
 
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Lots of options...

Do you have any limits on how old you are willing to go?

You can get plenty of used cars in that range: Civic, Accord, Camry, Corolla, Focus, Echo, Yaris, Altima, etc. etc.... Any of those would fit the bill...
 
Well, no. I don't have that limit, but I feel like if I go too old, all I'll be doing is paying mechanics to repair my car. ; )


Also, are there any good reliable websites to buy used cars? If I go to a dealer, they are sharks here. Basically they constantly try to sell cars for 5k or more than they are worth, and refuse to haggle more than a few hundred dollars.So I'm thinking maybe this time I'll just try to buy from an individual seller.
 
old dohc saturns ie sc2, sl2, sw2, I wouldn't go earlier than 97, as that's really old.

the manuals get FANTASTIC gas mileage, and still can handle highway speeds well


old civics and corollas, but they hold value really well and rust
 
ibex333 said:
Well, no. I don't have that limit, but I feel like if I go too old, all I'll be doing is paying mechanics to repair my car. ; )


Also, are there any good reliable websites to buy used cars? If I go to a dealer, they are sharks here. Basically they constantly try to sell cars for 5k or more than they are worth, and refuse to haggle more than a few hundred dollars.So I'm thinking maybe this time I'll just try to buy from an individual seller.
Click to expand...

If you are a savvy buyer, or have friends that are knowledgeable and can help, Craigslist is an option. I've bought my last 3 cars from CL and sold two there.

If you have no brand preference, I think buying a family-owned (suburban if possible) Accord, Civic, etc. ensures a high-probability of getting a decent car. My 2002 Accord (4-cyl) has 190k on it and I would not hesistate to drive it cross country. I bought it used with 120k on it 5 yrs ago well under your budget... just to give you a data point.

There are likely a lot of options in your area (if your profile is accurate), here is an option in my area again just as a pointer:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/cto/4597941214.html

Be smart when you look around, ask for help, post the links here, ask for CARFAX and maintenance records, etc.
 
Remember with any used car how it was treated can be a lot more important than the name on it.

Best thing to do is come up with a long list of cars that would work and keep looking till you find a good condition one.

Here's a start...
Chevy Cruze
Ford Focus
Mazda 2/3
Nissan Sentra
Hyundai Elantra

Just try and stay with the current body style or less than 6 years old.

I usually skip the Civics and Corollas due to them being held on a pedestal for what you get. Not unreliable cars but cost to much for what you get IMO.
 
Always wanted to ask... How do people tell what's a good mileage for a car for it's age? Whats the general reference there?
 
ibex333 said:
Always wanted to ask... How do people tell what's a good mileage for a car for it's age? Whats the general reference there?
Click to expand...

Note that these are merely guidelines. A car that's been driven more/year may in fact have less wear and tear since it is very possible those are long highway trips, vs. a low-mileage/year car that is being driven on repeated short trips in town... so mileage and avg. mileage/year is yet just another datapoint when looking at used cars.

I would consider:

<8-10k year is low
10-15k/year is average
20k/yr is on the higher side
 
Why not another Fit? I guess they are probably somewhat more expensive used compared to others due to the Honda effect.

For a super basic car I'd probably look for something old like an Echo... even if its in the shop more, how much could it cost to fix? I feel like newer = more expensive to fix.
 
Jimzz said:
Remember with any used car how it was treated can be a lot more important than the name on it.

Best thing to do is come up with a long list of cars that would work and keep looking till you find a good condition one.

Here's a start...
Chevy Cruze
Ford Focus
Mazda 2/3
Nissan Sentra
Hyundai Elantra

Just try and stay with the current body style or less than 6 years old.

I usually skip the Civics and Corollas due to them being held on a pedestal for what you get. Not unreliable cars but cost to much for what you get IMO.
Click to expand...

+1 couldn't have said it better. Add Scions to your list. They can be great budget finds kinda like the Pontiac Vibe's were. The Scions are re-badged Toyota's so you get the reliability but the brand recognition is lower. Xa's sell for similar $$$ to Yaris but have nicer interior.

Skip the middle man and avoid dealers. Private seller only.
 
Insomniator said:
Why not another Fit? I guess they are probably somewhat more expensive used compared to others due to the Honda effect.

For a super basic car I'd probably look for something old like an Echo... even if its in the shop more, how much could it cost to fix? I feel like newer = more expensive to fix.
Click to expand...

A lot, heh.
 
Jeez, you want to buy a car and you're in NYC?

Anyway, you could get a honda fit again... If you're going to be driving it a lot in NYC then you might want a hybrid (honda civic hybrid from 2005 is an attractive car to me, but they're very attractive to a lot of people... so they're overpriced frequently and hard to find for a decent price).

Outside of that, you want to keep looking at subcompact cars if parking space is a real concern. NYC gets pretty cold so make sure the heating works really well...
 
+1 for an old Saturn. The DOHC (SC2, SL2, SW2) are more reliable engines and only get slightly worse mileage, which is still fantastic.
 
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