Best place to search for a car

General Discussion
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for buying a cheap car and hoping for 25,50 sometimes even 100k miles with minor repairs is a needle in a haystack, especially if your planning to do ton of personal and work driving. But most cars near 150k-175k are on the near of problems

Since there’s 10-15 ways to shop for a car what is the best?

I’ve always heard, if you just want to beat mileage into something, just having an extra car for the winter, get a $500-1000 option. Then do oil changes and repairs yourself.

For the cheapest cars, better then facebook or CL, auctions. But vice versa I heard auctions can be a complete bust. especially not being able to drive it, however, some reason also heard there’s some you can test drive at, some they drive up and down and some they just turn it on or some you have no clue what you’re getting. Is this very dangerous place to get a beater?

Car lots, talking more on private owned rather then dealership branch. I assume car lot guys grab a $500 auction car, oil change it, maybe breaks or any minor issues and detail engine bay and car and list it for $1500? Or would car lot owners get better quaility cars then potentially auctions get

Then obliviously FB/CL marketplace, guess comes down to know what to look for and listen and feel for. but at the $1000-$2000 range are you just most likely gonna buy other peoples problems or get junk.

Just curious since all 3 was were curious if you were looking for a winter vehicle or something you can add 50,000 miles to without really damaging any car value, which route would you personally go?

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If you could find reliable cars at $1000 to $2000 that you could get 50,000 miles out of without expensive repairs, why would people spend so much more.

That is not a realistic budget, If that is all you have, but you need a car, you will just have to take your chances.

Private party sales are the least expensive and word of mouth is best. Ask everyone you know if they know someone with a car for sale cheap.

I have bought cars at auctions, but you have to get the right price and be prepared to possibly have to put in an engine or transmission or fix the a/c.

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Not saying its common, Just know people from highschool that had the same car for 3-4 years going to school even if it was just a 2006 grand Pontiac. Maybe did breaks or something, but just seen buicks and hondas do amazing things, just takes real well care from previous owner.

I have basically unlimited funds to spend on a car, But when i brought up to a buddy of a new car. He just thought it was personally dumb to mileage out a brand new car in 3-4 years, he said he rather risk buying cheap cars and hoping them to last and only go thru a few.

so was curious best system going that direction without lowest chances of risking. Or turning a 28k vehicle into 12k in few years.

4

Well, It can be done, but it is a part time job.Older cars in that price range that have been well cared for are hard to find. The usual progression is that as cars get older, people are reluctant to spend money on maintenance or repairs.

I had a 92 Plymouth Minivan that was about 10 years old with less than 100,000 miles on it. I was looking at a used Chrysler minivan the Chrysler dealer wanted $10, 00 dollars for. The dealer offered me $200 for my trade. I said wow, that is a great deal, he said we will do the paperwork. I said no paperwork necessary, for $200 my van is an unbelievable bargain, I am keeping it. It went to the junkyard 40+ thousand miles and 4 years later because of rust.

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I guess ill ask you since were talking, would you yourself feel a lot better about a 4k private owned then a 1k, or do you feel both is a risk, besides knowing basics what to know for, maybe 5,000 miles tranny starts choking.

also lol to go with your story grandmother owns 92’ buick cant think of model, 68k miles, and super mint, always in garage, no hail damage, barley any rust like maybe under the car. also got offered 200-400. Still driving it 2 years later but still only probably added 1,000 miles lol.

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$4000? $1000? A $4000 car is more likely to last longer than an identical $1000 car, except for the age and presumably mileage. The dollar comparison doesn’t work when comparing a Camry to a Yaris. If I wanted an inexpensive used car, I’d look for a low mileage bargain. I did exactly that in 2012 when I bought a 2010 Cobalt LS for $10,000. It had power nothin’ except steering and brakes, and that is why it was probably so cheap. She still drives this car today and has no reason to get rid of it. You might also look for a car owned by a senior citizen. By that time they after have learned to take car of their cars to make them last longer.

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OK, just search all the dealers web sites close to you . Look for 2019 vehicles that are still unsold and most of those will have listed discounted prices . Or even if you have a Carmax site near they have decent warranty on their vehicles. Why would you want a really cheap vehicle that might need a 1000.00 part like in your other thread. Vehicles depreciate , there is no way around it .

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I’ve got a few friends that have gone that route. The most successful was a $150 car that the former owner thought had a bad timing set. My buddy replaced it and drove the car for a long time. 5-6 years. Never changed the oil, just added used synthetic oil drained out of his fun car and installed a new filter once in a while. He just used it as a commuter car.

It was awful. Rusty, ugly, no AC, seats were junk. Smoked, leaked… none of us wanted it in our driveways. But it was a cheap, somewhat reliable ride. He got it cheap because it was ugly and the former owner didn’t want to spend the money to fix it. THAT is the kind of car to search Craigslist or word of mouth for.

The bigger question… Do you really want to drive a POS for 4-5 months out of the year to preserve your fun car? A car that WILL require constant service of some sort to keep running. Using up your time and resources on a car you don’t even like? I don’t.

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I have bought several cheap used cars on Craigslist. Some of them, like my truck have been amazing deals, even with the repairs they ended up needing. Others were a poorer buy, because after a few months they needed repairs which would have far exceeded their value, had I paid someone else to do the work.

The last time I needed to buy a used car on Craigslist, the biggest problem wasn’t even avoiding cars with costly mechanical problems–it was avoiding cars with hidden liens on the title, and sellers claiming to have clear title, when the title isn’t even in their name. That is actually, the far bigger risk, because most mechanical problems are fixable, but title problems often are not.

A lot of dishonest people take out online title loans on their car, and of course, they still have the physical title, which shows no liens, since the lien is recorded electronically with the MVD. Similarly, some people owe criminal fines, restitution, parking fines, back child support, unpaid state taxes, etc. and the state will slap a lien on the title. It is up to you to obtain the VIN and do a lien search on the MVD lien search website before buying the vehicle. Otherwise, you might find yourself unable to title and register it. If the seller offers up any excuse why they don’t want to give out the VIN, run away!

Similarly, a lot of people sell vehicles with a so-called “open title” meaning that they never bothered to register the vehicle in their name. This is a big risk, because if you make a mistake filling out the title, or if it becomes lost or damaged before you put the vehicle in your name, you have no way to contact the registered owner for a replacement. Now you’re stuck paying for a Level 3 inspection and bonded title (and that assumes there are no liens on the vehicle) otherwise you’re stripping it for parts and junking the body.

Mechanical problems are the least of your worries when buying a used car! At least at an auction, you’re guaranteed to receive clear title, even if the vehicle doesn’t run.

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but i was more so asking,

will 4x $1,000 cars potentially have way more mileage and life left in them vs the $4,000 option.

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At least in the winter time, forsure that route. (salt and snow)

I dont really like driving a 22mpg $3 a gallon premium gas car, when a civic can hit 34mpg and cost $2 a gallon.

So when im delivering pizza or turn on door dash or at the warehouse job if i ever have to grab something from another nearby facility, I actually kinda dont wanna drive the fun car. During nights, car meetings or races or track time… but for daily driving lol, ill just rack up tickets or probably blow gaskets or something driving a booster all day everyday for 1000 miles a week.

It’s fun but i want to save the magic, First time driving it gave me pin and needles for that dopeamine and seroatin chemical rush. I assume thats why most people just drop loads of $$$ into their car. To create a hella imbalanced chemical explosion in your own mind.

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First saturn i bought needed hella repairs
next went chevy prizm with toyota corolla engine inside, that things rings were shot and burning hella oil. Made it 6 months and 15,000 miles for $1200 and got $100 for scraping it. So mileage paid for that car but when looking for cars i always feel im gonna get another saturn type of car, then maybe flawless 3-12 months besides maybe breaks or lights or alternator or something simple.

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The more you know about cars and the more you are able to take care of mechanically the greater your chance of getting “lucky” with a bargain car. I’m supposed to be an expert but have watched a few good buys turn into scrap iron before I could get enough mileage out of them to cover their cost.

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really? for delivery everyone said the ugly beaters that sound like beast. I’m only on my third car so got few more to go and some more youtube repairs before I get car bumper to bumper. Havent done timing chains or any linkage yet for example, staying away from motor work since not sure how much i wanna spend on tools.

But i always thought with 0.34 cents a mile make 10,000 miles get $3,400 and spend $1300 on gas + if anything went wrong in that time. Still would be left with $100 scrap and $2000 for having a rust beater.

But your saying just spend the extra for a 100k mile car, because all youll probably find is some POS cans and chances of you finding another car 6 months, 15k miles no problems is like a 1/10 chance.