I would add that an 18 year old car with 86,000 miles suggests a car that has had a very hard 86,000 miles of all very short stop-&-go trips with never a chance to warm up. That ain’t good.
“I am interested in buying a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (3.1L V6) with 86,000 miles on it.”
Why? That’s '96 GM technology you’re looking at. They went bankrupt for a reason.
“It’s not a rare classic, but in searching for “1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera”, there are very few cars that show up …”
There is a reason for that. Most GMs of that vintage have been crushed into 2’x1’x1’ blocks and shipped to China.
Buy a used Honda or Volkswagen. Or take a look at the new Korean imports; they are making good cars at low prices to gain entry into the American market.
American steel rusted out years ago.
Thanks, but the used Hondas or VWs are priced outrageously around here (or are sold in a few hours if they are not), and the 1996 Ciera appears to have very few problems when searching online.
If I could afford a new Hyundai I doubt I would be looking at a 1996 Oldsmobile…
I have to agree with @98caddy about something . . .
Certain vehicles are way overpriced
Honda and Toyota come to mind . . . particularly small Toyota trucks, Civics, Accords, and Corollas
Following up on @db4690’s post above, I just went and looked at a 1996 Honda Civic which had 200,000 miles on the body and about 75,000 miles on the motor, and they were asking $1500 for it. I was told that it needed brakes and a tie rod end.
That sounded very manageable for me, and it looked OK from the one picture that was posted.
When I went and took a look at it, all four tires needed to be replaced, the windshield was cracked, the AC compressor was not hooked up, the condenser fan was missing, the fender that was not shown in the photo was dented pretty good, the rear bumper had a big crack in it, the trunk lid didn’t look like it lined up right, and last but not least, the car was blowing smoke from the tailpipe when they pulled up.
There are people around here asking $2,500 to $3,000 for 1992-1993 Civics, the book value of which would probably be less than $1,500 (if KBB went back that far). $150.00 of aftermarket parts does not increase the value by $1,000-1,500.00.
I’m just trying to get a decent car before mine dies. So frustrating.
I have a friend who has had good luck buying used Saturns for $1000 or so and getting a lot of mileage out of them with minimal cost. You might want to give that a try.
Around here a 2002 Saturn in very clean condition with only 79k miles is selling for $1999.
Looking at Auto trader nearby for under 2k I’ve been finding Saturn SL’s,Ford Contour/Taurus,Buick’s from the late 80’s up to around 1998. It’s hard to find something for a grand or so that doesn’t need lots of repairs but Gm/Ford products are probably your best bet.