So what kind of car can I expect for 2 grand?

[SandrA9810]

It seems around here, people hang on to their cars for a long long time, so even older cars seem to hang onto some value.

I found a 2002 huyndai accent, 150K miles. But there's an oil leak, possible bearings wearing out, and the front has some damage. The transmission has been rebuilt, but that's about it for major repairs. A tune up was done, but it's hard to tell the condition of the oil leak.
It was listed for 2,000, but the girl is willing to take 1500 for it.

I'm just trying to figure out the worser of which evil I want to take with this route. Having a car is a big NEED, it has to happen before the 11th when school starts up again. But the amount available for the car is not going to change.

It needs to last about a year and half.

Ohh and how worth it is it for the carfax report?? 50 bucks for 5 reports seems like a lot of money. Didn't they used to offer a monthly subscription for like 30 bucks?? Or maybe it was 2 weeks for unlimited pulls.

 

[smokeyblue]

That car seems like kinda a nightmare. If you're looking for a good car for $2000 look for an old Buick or oldsmobile. The engines on those cars run forever and there are parts galore out there.

 

[cbg1027]

Look for an early 90's Volvo 240. If you find one that was well taken care of, they will run FOREVER, and the maintenance costs on a 240 are quite reasonable.

The 240 was one of, if not the best model Volvo ever made, and the ones from the early 90's were the best because Volvo had been making them for 20 years by then, so they were 'perfected'.

I have a 1993 Volvo 240 that I got ten years ago and am still driving it. It has about 220k miles on it now. I have no plans to get another car in the foreseeable future because my maintenance costs are less per year than a car payment on a cheap new vehicle would be.

No it's not all that pretty, and they're old. But the 240 is a reliable, safe car and the value of mine right now, according to Kelley Blue Book, is about $1,500.

My brother got a 1980 Volvo 240 in 1990 and drove it until 2001. He drove it across the country several times and it had over a million miles on it. He had to sell it when his daughter was born because he needed a sedan and his 240 was a coupe model. It's still running strong, I see it around town sometimes.

 

[Hannathy]

Thanks to cash for clunkers you aren't going to have much luck finding anything! That took all the older model cars that would now be in that price range off the roads and were sadly and stupidly destroyed. We looked for a loooong time to find a used car and ended up taking out a loan and getting newer than we had originally planned.

 

[mrodgers]

Thanks to cash for clunkers you aren't going to have much luck finding anything! That took all the older model cars that would now be in that price range off the roads and were sadly and stupidly destroyed. We looked for a loooong time to find a used car and ended up taking out a loan and getting newer than we had originally planned.

Not really true about the cash for clunkers. That program took EPA 18 mpg cars, which means that hardly any cars fit the program. It was mostly trucks and SUVs.

 

[SandrA9810]

there's a ton of old cars on craig's list around here. But I guess the "economy" of this area is much lower class. So they have less money for new cars and don't sell off their old cars till they're ready to hit the bucket. Back in Dallas, people trade in and get rid of their older cars more often, since there's more money in the economy there. So you can find a newer car for relatively cheap.

One of the other issues is the Smog Test for California. While it's not legal to sell a car that has not been smogged, there's not much recourse that can be done or to make the owner do it before selling. So there's a lot of "as-is" ads.

BTW, my b/f is like 6'7", so he's sorta gotta be able to fit comfortably in the car.

 

[SandrA9810]

http://modesto.craigslist.org/cto/2132110655.html

Yay or Nay on this car?? I noticed the dent in the back, but doesn't look like it was anything big. And has low miles for a Honda.

 

[Purseval]

I bought a 1998 Mazda Protege for $1800 4 years ago and haven't done a thing to it besides tires and oil changes. Probably keep it another 10 years. There is another one exactly like it for sale down the street for $2000. I could probably get it for $1500 but just don't have anywhere to put it. There are definitely decent inexpensive cars out there.

 

[prncess674]

http://modesto.craigslist.org/cto/2132110655.html

Yay or Nay on this car?? I noticed the dent in the back, but doesn't look like it was anything big. And has low miles for a Honda.

The Accent is a TINY car and your 6'7" BF would be miserable. Accords are great cars! The dent would not be a deal breaker if it runs great.

 

[Kate and Pete]

Try Craig's list. We bought DH a Jeep for $2200 - only 90,000 miles. He drives it to and from work (about 4 miles/day) - so, not much, but we've had it for two years now, no problems!

Good luck - it does take time to find the perfect deal!

 

[happily single]

I would steer clear of the Hyndai. In My opinion the older models were "disposal cars" meaning you pay for them and drive as them as long as possible then dispose of them. You can certainly find something along the lines of an Oldsmobile, Chevy or Honda for that price. You have a while before you have to buy, so be patient.

 

[bdcp]

150K miles on a 8-9 year old car is really high. Sounds like that car has been driven hard. I would avoid it altogether. My DS used to work at CarMax and truthfully, they would have given the owner less than $500 for that vehicle at most and then sent it to be auctioned for less than $2,000. Look at used Honda's and Toyota's and one that has been maintained properly. If you can find one with 100K miles on it, it will last you at least a couple of years and probably 5+.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Hondas and Toyotas with 100K miles around here go upwards of $10,000. We had been shopping for vehicles for about 6 months and used car prices are ridiculous. The Hyundai already looks to be a money pit, don't throw any more money into that hole. I agree with using Craigslist, and check surrounding areas.

We ended up buying new and adding a payment. I hate payments, but car repairs are worse. Having dependable transportation is essential for both of our jobs, anything under 8-10K wasn't getting it done for us.

 

[elgerber]

I can tell you from searching a year and a half ago for my son, that $2000 won't get you much of anything anymore. Hondas or Toyotas with over 200k and bodies falling apart is what we were finding. We did find a couple of Mazda Proteges that were decent. We also found a lot of Saturns with replaced engines. We ended up with a low mileage 97 T-Bird, but that took 2 months of searching to find. Good luck in your search.

 

[racechick8293]

There have been many good points made here already. I would agree that

a- a Hyundai of that age can be considered a car that was designed to be disposable

b- a GM with a 3.8 engine would be a good choice. The engines last to 200k easily if well maintained. I like the combination of the 6 cylinder for a bit of power and the gas mileage is fairly good.

I would suggest looking for a car that may be a few years older, but was a higher end model when new. I once had a 93 Bonneville SSEI that had all the bells and whistles, because it was the top of the line model. While it was a few years older than I would have liked, the fact that it was well taken care of and all the toys to play with made it one of my favorite cars I've ever driven to this day.

You may want to look for a car auction- there can be good deals to be had at some, especially if you know what to look for, or have someone that does. At any rate, I would stay away from any used car dealer- the markups about double what they actually purchase the car for.

 

[Kitzka]

http://modesto.craigslist.org/cto/2132110655.html

Yay or Nay on this car?? I noticed the dent in the back, but doesn't look like it was anything big. And has low miles for a Honda.

I think this 96 Honda is worth looking at. I think 10k miles a year on a car is pretty decent. plus the engine looks very clean. DH's sister had a 91 and drove I until it hit about 250k, which was about 5 years ago. It ran great until the end and she only got a new car because she was having a baby and she needed a4 door instead of a 2 door.

Good luck

Lara

 

[Hannathy]

Not really true about the cash for clunkers. That program took EPA 18 mpg cars, which means that hardly any cars fit the program. It was mostly trucks and SUVs.

sorry you are wrong. every dealer we have spoke to has told us this. And my nephew who is a VP at a dealership said the same thing. Every person I knew got rid of a car no one got rid of a truck. Not too many suv's in the age bracket.

 

[SandrA9810]

Well I doubt that many people around here took advantage of the cash for clunkers. There just isn't an income for new cars around here. The streets are lined with buy here, pay here places. Which I will be avoiding like the plaque. I haven't found any other searches, besides craigslist, it's what I've been using. And have been looking for a month. In the beginning it was to see what I could get, now I'm looking for the right car.

For 2grand in this area... Late 80's-early 90's honda's and toyotas, usually between 175-200K miles.

Passing the smog test, and having a clean title also drives up the price, like 200-300$, automatics also seem to be about 300-500$ more expensive as well.

I want the right car... I'm just loosing hope on finding it. And people don't always list for their value, I check edmunds and kbb when a car peaks my interest. There's some people listing cars for 2500... When the car even in"EXCELLENT" condition is only valued for about a 1000.

I'm gonna call on that honda now.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Have you tried checking out Auto Trader dot com? You can search by price, make, model, mileage, etc. You can also narrow it down to search by private seller, or by car lot.

 

[SandrA9810]

Most the listings for autotrader show up for cities really far away from here. There's like only one or two cars listed for the price range.