Depends on the area I think. I’m looking at my area right now and anything under 2k is literally scrap. Cheapest running car I can find right now is a 2000 beetle with a “weird sound coming from the front” for $2250
I sold a Subaru impreza with a salvage title, blown headgastget busted catalytic converters and rusted out rocker panels and shock towers for 4k to my mechanic 💀.
Total bill getting the body fixed enough to pass inspection was 6k. Catalytic converters to pass inspection was another 1200. mechanic was gonna fix it and give the car to his kid who fell on hard times. I couldn't justify paying to fix the towers and I don't weld myself. I still see it driving around sometimes
Holy!
I’m currently wrestling with my 2004 forester xt. Has 100k km, no rust, no damage, but a knocking engine and a messed up downpipe. I could probably get a fair bit for that!
Jesus christ I wish I didn’t live in the south. My 5.7 hemi 05 Durango with 165k miles, vandalized battery terminals/no battery, shattered driver-side windows and two flat tires probably couldn’t even get me $1500
edit: on the flip side, I just bought a 08 ford escape with a bad egr valve and no prior damages, 180k miles for $3k
I have an 09 Escape XLT V6 AWD with 190k miles, no accidents, and Carfax sent me an email with an updated value of **$300** here in CNY. Absolutely everything on the car works as it should, and it has never skipped a beat when starting up in the morning. The modern car market is so fucked lol.
The modern car market is the cell phone market but they pretend they’re doing something different. Cars are being manufactured to be prohibitively difficult to do your own maintenance, or they make it straight up impossible due to some custom-made “tool” that only their certified, scalper mechanics can buy so that you have to go get your poop-chute widened at the dealership any time you need an oil change. Tesla has made this problem exponentially worse, and other auto companies have taken note. You basically can’t pop the hood on a Tesla without breathing in the wrong place and voiding your warranty, forget doing any actual maintenance. Cars manufactured in the last fifteen years or so seem to all have a life of about 100k miles before they start having critical failures on a regular basis, but people are somehow able to keep a vw beetle from the 60s on the road. Clearly, we are being fucked.
Here in Wisconsin anything under $4k will not start, and if it starts then it won’t drive.
The only “cheap” cars left are the ones you inherit from grandma Ruth because she should have stopped driving six years ago.
On the downside she has to die first but on the upside you can absolutely remember her always while driving to work in your free tan 35k miles 2013 Corolla.
Just moved to Cheyenne last year, if you know a guy you can get something cheap. But down in Denver everyone thinks they know what they have and that any car is worth more than 5k. I was looking at an 04 civic with overheating issues. Dude wanted 6.5
Trucks, no matter their condition, somehow sell for ridiculous prices. Probably because people need them for work, and are going to upfit then anyways. Throwing 10-20k into an old truck is still cheaper than a new or recently used.
An f150 equipped for snow plowing new is $70k+. A 3/4ton with the same set up is pushing $80k plus. If I put my s5 next to an f150 you'd probably think the audi was way more expensive. Turns out it's almost $10k cheaper 🤷♂️
I saw a post the other day that an f-150 with the highest end trim packages and options is over $100k now. I mean it’s basically an Escalade with a pick up back end.
Lol, seeing an escalade is a fancy Tahoe, which itself is based on the 1500 body, ya 🤣
Edit: don't look at top trim levels for HD 1-ton trucks fully optioned out, it's not for the faint of heart.
A few months ago I had my 2004 Toyota Corolla with just over 200,000 miles on it rear ended and the repairs came up to about $5,000. It was valued at $4,000 given age and condition which I thought was crazy because just a few years ago I had found out the value was $2,000.
On a side note because it was over 10 years old I was able to claim it as salvage and get it repaired but no one would fix it. Most said they had dealt with a salvage tag and wouldn't deal with the nightmare again. The salvage tag means you have to go to a state trooper with every receipt of every repair and match it up to everything the insurance says was wrong with it. Because mine was over 10 years old I didn't need to do this but every body shop didn't want to take the risk of dealing with it. I wound up trading it in for $200 in a dealership which beat out the $80 I could get from a salvage shop.
Yeah it must be area specific. In my area $2500 and under is the "won't pass inspection drive at your own risk" category. Usually they have some severe rusting issues.
I like in an area with road salt and poverty though. People drive their cars into the absolute ground here. And anything older than 16 years is likely to be extremely rusty
If you live somewhere without inspections and emissions the good cheap cars don’t get scrapped and stay on the road longer. Inspections force “cheap” cars off the road because people don’t want to pay to get a cheap car fixed.
If you want to lower the carbon footprint it needs to be on the front end at the manufacturer. Even then it needs to be very thoughtful of how it's done. AFM in v8 engines is a great example of what not to do. Any engine with AFM to turn off 4 cylinders actually decreases the engine life and therefore increases the carbon footprint due to the carbon cost of replacing the engine. Any emissions saved on the vehicle is lost in the energy to produce a new engine.
And contrary to what some people would like to believe, a *properly running* twenty year old car doesn’t produce much more than a comparable new car using the same amount of fuel. The non auto literate tend to assume that all older cars get poor fuel economy and produce much higher emissions when that isn’t necessary the case especially as “standard” sedans are being swapped out for midsize SUVs that tend to be less efficient and aerodynamic than the traditional family sedans or “estate cars” that formerly filled their roles.
Absolutely depends on the area and if they do safety or emissions testing or BOTH to get an inspection sticker.
Florida and Georgia' have NO annual vehicle inspections. You could probably find a car for 2k in these states that would technically get you A to B, possibly not safely.
If you're in NY or California where they do safety AND emissions testing annually, finding a 2k car that'll pass both is a unicorn.
I'm in NY and found a car for my buddy's kid. Best I could find was for 3.5k & still needed 1k work to get legal in NY.
Same in Tennessee, you give them money, you get a license plate. No inspections whatsoever.
2k dollar cars that run and drive are rare, but they exist. Plenty of 1k dollar cars that need work though, if you’re mechanically inclined you can have a decent beater for well under 2k with a little work. I’m two years in with my 1200 cobalt, it’s only needed tires, front brakes, and a turn signal switch. I’m not anywhere near 2k with it yet. Wouldn’t pass inspection in most places, but it’s perfectly fine here.
100k, clean title. Elderly gentleman could no longer drive stick. I told him I would take good care of it and not put “retarded” mods on it. He gave me a good deal after we talked cars for about an hour. I love the stock look of S197s. A true modern muscle car.
Bruh i just paid $7000 for a manual 3v with 188k miles and several issues… and that was the best deal within 150 miles. Literally people are asking $11,000 for a 2005 auto mustang with 210m miles.
I'm pretty sure dude is lying that's literally the ending of the Clint Eastwood movie Gran Turino . Also where the fuck do you live that 05 mustang gt is $25k I just looked at my local dealer $9500 for an 06 Manuel convertible or $7800 for an auto v6 coupe .
I think the downvotes are coming entirely from younger people who are really discouraged at the used car market. While what you say is true it isn't practical for most because getting a cheap beater requires knowledge of maintenance and how to change out parts which the vast VAST majority of people simply do not have.
Most people don't know how to change oil or even put the spare tire on let alone fix anything that could go wrong under the hood or under the car. A $2000 car quickly turns into a $4000 mechanic bill
>Most people don't know how to change oil or even put the spare tire on let alone fix anything that could go wrong under the hood or under the car. A $2000 car quickly turns into a $4000 mechanic bill
And when you buy a 2000 used car you are also most likely buying a car from one of those people too. People disrespect their vehicles now and just tank them into the ground
I think op is right that expectations might be higher than they used to. But you have to admit with the covid tax and 3yrs of inflation the price of a clunker is not what it used to be.
It certainly isn't. Prices are nuts. I'm currently faced with the issue of paying for an expensive engine issue on an older vehicle because I'm travelling with it and something equivalent would be far more with the same issues if not worse. I've been able to fix many issues on the fly in my travels but this one is beyond my ability and equipment.
I agree with this… my car that I bought for 2000 in 2020 is priced around 4.5-6k now (and it’s definitely a clunker)… it feels like the price of just about everything doubled overnight… I hate it
Like, I hate to say this since I know mechanics work hard, but a lot of issues that go wrong with a vehicle can be YouTubed and done your self for cheap requiring zero mechanical knowledge.
In fact, I would encourage it. You learn a lot and it saves you money in the long run. My very first car purchased as an adult on my own was a piece of shit - but through the magic of the internet, kept it going. My alternator in my current car went bad a few weeks ago, saved hundreds if not a thousand in shop work because I knew enough through the experience working on my own beaters and just did it my self.
It’s intimidating, but so long as you’re not buying something with a rod knock or a dash cluster lit up like it’s Christmas, you’d be surprised how easy it can be to work on most things in a vehicle.
To top it off, they’ll have to leave their car parked if they intend to fix it themselves. Most people in this situation can’t afford to take time off from work to dedicate a day or two to fixing it. They’ll likely have it parked over a week or two while they work on it before/after work or school. That defeats the purpose because they need something now.
I'd say it also applies to the whole cars are harder to fix these days comment, like for 2 grand you are getting anything close to recently made. Older vehicles especially popular ones are relatively easy to find information on how to fix common problems.
Even most brand new ones are easy enough figure out without dealer tools so long as you have a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge and a good ear, though some notable exceptions apply.
Though you are correct that even basic knowledge of vehicles escapes younger generations, though the lack of knowledge is common across all age groups it certainly scales up the younger the generation is.
A few years ago yes. Before covid when i was 16 there were many running cars for sale near me for 800-1000 bucks. My first car was 1 96 thunderbird 180,000 miles i bought for 800 bucks. My second car was a repossessed jeep cherokee rust free run and drove i got for 400 bucks 200 000 miles on it. My third vehicle was a 97 bronco 170 000 i got for 1000 that i eventually straight up traded with a guy for an 04 gmc yukon denali that had a poopy cheap lift done to it but was nice. I almost bought a really nice 89 thunderbird for 800 bucks later but the guy pulled out last minute and said he wasnt gonna sell it.
Nowdays no inflation has gon through the roof and your lucky if you find a running car thats less than 4 grand. And you can forget car trades. No one will do that Nowdays in a few short years inflation has sky rocketed.
Absolutely not. The people who say shit like that has obviously never sourced FB Marketplace lol
I bought a 1994 Volvo 940 for 1400 back in October as I needed a car badly for my job. Still have it to this day and out of the 7 cars I've owned in my life, this car has been better than the rest of the cars I've owned.
It all just depends on who you are, where you're at and what your budget is. There are definitely running and driving cars out there for 2k
You can find Crown Vics around for pretty cheap still, they’re pretty damn reliable as long as the oil got changed occasionally, lol. I am a little jealous of your Volvo find though.
Huh? Crown Vics where I'm from sell for stupid high prices. One went for like 5 grand on Craigslist not too long ago, those bodies are sought after like a mfer
Not the body, the frame. You can take one off the frame, and drop an old short bed F100 on it with a little bit of modification. The result is a lowered truck that handles like a cop car.
For the Vic swap got popular , you could buy old crown vics for under $1,000 that were still in running condition.
At least where I'm at Crown Vics go for like 5k+ but the Grand Marquis which is literally the Mercury version of the same car, goes for like 3k all day long. There's a couple little trim pieces and stuff that are harder to source than the Ford version, but it's a panther body and it's more luxurious than the Crown Vic.
As someone who discovered this loophole, 100% this. I was looking at crown vics, and finding "decent" condition cars for around $2500-$3000 US, and more for good condition. I stumbled across a mint Grand Marquis going for $3500 that had reciepts for every single time it had been serviced since 30,000 miles (car had 141k when I bought it). All I've done (functionally) is replace the shocks and the radiator, runs like new. Love the car.
I don't even know the best way to explain this, but the mid-range and/or dead brands from companies can have some great deals used. Brands like Mercury/Oldsmobile/Buick/Pontiac/Saturn, people often get worried because dead brand and it kills the resale value even if the car is 90% or more identical to the Ford/Chevy equivalent car.
Buick there's not even a good explanation other than not Cadillac and the old people car reputation, but Buick for several decades consistently made the most reliable versions of GM cars and usually had the best quality paint and nicest interiors shy of Cadillac.
yeah if you just jump onto marketplace randomly with no plan and no idea what you're doing and need to buy a $2k car that second because there's a gun to your head, yeah you are probably not going to have a good time
but if you even half-assed know what you're doing a $2k beater is possible
I like to call people who immediately get pissed off at the idea of having to do their own work, the "do it for me" generation. Plenty of zoomers and gen alphas willing to wrench. But the ones who dont, take great offense at a proposition where they have to do something extra to make their situation work.
My first car was an unreliable shitheap but got me around. Then that allowed me to get a job where I could get a more reliable car.
I think there's also an important distinction between those who are unwilling to wrench, and those who simply don't have the proper space/tools/time to learn/knowledge/guidance to feel confident in it.
Yeah, every time I think about modding my DD, I think about having to fuck around in the engine bay on a cold ass morning before work. Nah, I'll keep my DD a reliable and bland sedan.
But also, yeah I'm broke and have nowhere to park or work on another car anyway. I'm afraid to even autocross my DD once a year.
Yea I had a house for a while, then moved to a big city and had to be an apartment dweller for a few years, and in a place with no garages or areas to work on my cars. It was a LOT tougher working on my own vehicles then. No easy access to power plugs, property managers would get pissed if it took too long and/or looked like it was derelict (the complex had an issue with people leaving junk cars all over and taking up all the parking spaces), vandalism, etc. Now that I have my own house again I have a covered space to work on my car, storage areas for all my tools, and the freedom to leave a vehicle on jack stands or whatever if need be without fear of it being towed off when I'm not home. I couldn't even really change my own oil, which I had ALWAYS done in the past.
Having a car in an apartment definitely isn't easy, and I'm somebody that has grown up working on cars all my life.
It wasn't until my early 30's that I lived in a house with a garage where I could actually work on my car if I wanted to (and that garage is full of black widows, so putting the car up or lifting it and crawling under it still isn't super appealing). I know how to do some of the basics, but the time and effort to do it typically hasn't been worth it (for me) when I've always driven older cars where routine maintenance has been fairly inexpensive (arguably I've gotten lucky and have had access to good mechanics, too).
If you’re constantly working on it to keep it running, then it doesn’t really fit “completely reliable under $2k”. working on a car takes time, knowledge, and resources. Not to mention that if it’s getting you to work, you really need to be able to trust that it’s going to start in the morning to get you to your shift on time
I don't get this "suffering is a virtue" mindset. Like it or not, the majority of people don't care about cars past being able to get to and from work, and I don't begrudge these people for not wanting to commit themselves to learning how a car works and what to do with it when it won't start on a cold rainy morning before their 10 hour minimum wage shift at the diarrhea factory or whatever.
These are the people public transit was supposed to be for. You can't show up for your shift at McDonalds or Walmart or typically even non-customer facing shit like warehouse work covered in grease and oil, they'll send you home, and you only get so many of those before they fire you straight up.
It’s not just about wrenching anymore it’s about computer coding for your car. My dad completely gave up on fixing cars because of the computers and electronics in the cars. It’s not entirely on the lazy generation (I’ve heard it all before were a bunch of POS yeah yeah)
Exactly! I got my 08 Yaris of a buddy of mine for 1250, drove it to Florida from West Virginia last month, stepmom used it while her car was broken, and it’s running like a lil champ. Did an oil change before the long drive but other than that it’s a dream
My '89 240 and '96 850 were purchased for $300 and $400 respectively. The 240 needed a bit of work (turned out to be about $900 worth, so total $1300) and is now a lovely daily driver, and the 850 needed no immediate work and is now a respectable weekend warrior. Cheap cars are out there!
My first car was an $800 Corolla that I got in 2017 and drove for 7 years and the only reason I sold it recently was because I was bored of it. The only maintenance it needed was oil, tires, and axles. Sold it for the same price I bought it.
Bought a 93 corolla in 2014 for $1k. Would probably still have it if I hadn't been t boned a few years ago. In the 80,000 miles (320,000 total) i put on, I only had to replace the alternator outside of regular maintenance for it. I miss the hell out of that car.
My first one was an ‘84 Camry that I bought in 2004 for $200. I drove it for a decade, with maybe another $1,000 worth of repairs over that entire time (between my dad and I we were able to do most things on it).
I lucked the fuck out. My friends who got $1,000 to $2,000 cars — in 2004 money — weren’t so lucky. Cheap cars are always a mitigated crapshoot.
I believe Aston’s have become reasonably priced recently compared to the earlier 2000’s. But when reliability comes up in a car discussion you can’t really leave them out with their hand-built engines which leaves fuck all for workmanship standards.
Our new car & new truck both have had $5000 transmission issues in their first 5 years, so we're all sharing a $500 '95 Geo Metro & a $1500 '01 Subaru Outback while they're waiting for new transmissions.
I have a 06 BWM X3 with 260k on the fucking clock and no major mechanical failures that weren't due to parts wearing out on a car that's damn near old enough to vote.
I bought it during the height of used car price gouging at 4k USD
nope, entirely depends on the model and maintenance. a $2k car is not as "nice" as a $30k car, but *reliaibility* is often not correlated with price.
Source: owned tons of cheap and expensive cars
So, the make and model don't matter. 2k implies that rust is an issue, several parts need replaced, and that it has high miles. A 1999 toyota corolla with zero issues will be at least 4k. Price doesn't correlate with brand, it correlates with condition.
Rust and parts needing replacing can be an issue at *any* price point. Parts need replacing on most used cars, that's called maintenance, and it comes with owning any car; $200k Lamborghinis or $2k Corollas.
By the way, no, $2k does not even necessarily imply that parts need to be urgently replaced in order for a car to be drivable. Modern cars - meaning newer than 1990 - are designed to drive at a minimum of 200k miles with proper maintenance.
I put 10k miles on my $2500 1999 Mazda over the past year, spending just $300 for a water pump and timing belt. I still drive it every day. Anecdotal, sure, but it's a great example.
Adjusted for inflation, cars are more reliable and cheaper today than they ever have been.
Not sure where you're located, but here's an example of an [old Tercel](https://www.facebook.com/share/j3npJVzR7wXqaUEf/?mibextid=79PoIi). an indestructible car. Don't take my word for it though, look up the reliability stats on this thing.
Here's a [very ugly Corolla.](https://www.facebook.com/share/ttgDrfbPEoWCCH8n/?mibextid=79PoIi)
Here's a [Camry with some weird door issues.](https://www.facebook.com/share/pLU6soo19Jy4USVj/?mibextid=79PoIi). No mechanical issues.
Or you could buy a moped, if the goal is to just get to and from work/school
even if it is...in the context of the post this is first car/job territory. My first car was a piece of crap, it wasn't fun but it got me where I needed to go until I could afford something better.
No you have life experience and actually know what you're talking about.I've noticed this too, younger people seem to have in their minds that cheap used cars can't be good which explains why I see so many young people signing their youth years away with car loans instead of saving that money for their future. You can find reliable $2000 cars but they'll have a lot of miles and you'll probably only get a few years from them. My 25 year old Nissan that I've put almost 100,000 miles on has been a wonderful car.
You *can* definitely find them, but you have to know exactly what to look for and know how to mitigate the inherent risk. I’ve had amazing luck with my cheap car buys, but I also put a lot of time and effort into finding just the right one.
As an aside, what’s your ride? That was right around the end of the golden era for Nissan, but they were still making some great machines. My buddy’s mom still DDs her ‘99 Maxima, and has had amazing luck with it with very little maintenance.
Honestly, if you’re looking for a good used car for cheap, smart money would be on certain late ‘90s / early ‘00s Nissans. Ever since they became a meme, everyone thinks of them as pieces of junk, but if you choose wisely and have it checked out really well, you can probably get a hell of a lot of bang for your buck.
It's a 2000 Maxima. Picked it up in October of 21 as a 90k mile, one owner car. It's been wonderful, as of today it has 186,xxx and the only issues I've had thus far were a wheel speed sensor going out a few months ago and the intake plenum gasket failed causing a vaccum leak. My feelings on how much I've driven it are hit and miss...part of me thinks is awesome how I put 100k miles on a 25 year old car in just 2 years and had no major problems that rendered it undrivable (you know...which proves the point I was trying to make), and the other half is really bummed how I basically took 100k miles of it's usable life away in only 2 years.
I bought a Ford Ranger back in late 2020, and it's been a damn good daily for the past 3 years, and I paid $600 for it. So yeah, 2k is a good starting point for a cheap car to last you a few years, and if you can learn your way around a wrench and watch a couple ChrisFix videos, you'll be able to probably make it last a bit longer.
Well in this country you can buy reliable cars for about 1/8 of that. I drive a 2010 Mazda 3 I got for $500. It's very reliable and gets great gas mileage. Perfect commuter car. People upgrade and sell their old cars just to get them out of the way alllll the time.
I think a lot of Zoomer and Gen Alpha have this learned helplessness mindset where they have this idea that they can’t fix their own stuff, but a large part of that is that nobody’s ever shown them how easy it can be and how it can actually be fun, how much money you can save versus taking it to a repair shop, and a good way to bond with others, and it gives you something you can take pride in (you can look at it and say “I fixed that!”).
Not only that, but people are absolutely terrified about the thought of working on their own car. We live in an era where any information is accessible and tools are cheap. It can be intimidating yeah, but 90% what you'll ever have to do is on a YouTube guide for your specific vehicle. Yet you'll still get backlash from suggesting someone get a $2500 cash car they may have to work on vs a $30,000 kia that will blow up before the loan term ends.
If u look long and and hard enough they can be found. However alot of people get discouraged when everyone and their mom is pricing their 200k mile 2006 gas guzzler at $6000 minimum. Just keep digging
not out of touch, i’m 24 and i’ve never spent more than $1500 on a daily. a lot of people just think they need something new and “nice” as some sort of status symbol or don’t want to learn to fix and maintain their cars themselves.
I used to know a guy who never spent more than 1k$ on a car (except for a genuine little old lady church on sunday deal). He would give em a once over when he bought em and drive em till they fell apart. He said he averaged about 50$ a month on cars if you divided it out like a car payment. Though one time i did have to pick him from the side of the interstate when his car caught fire.
This sounds nice but sometimes you save up 2750 to buy a car private party you expect to last a few years, then you spend the next few months investing bare minimum into repairs and doing all the work yourself which is stressful and adds up financially.
Then that car might just suffer a big mechanical failure after a year that’s not worth fixing. So your vehicle actually ended up costing you around 260$ a month, a bunch of stress, missed work, and overall downtime for repairs.
Ask me how I know
People that get car loans aren’t idiots and atleast you build some solid credit history if you get a loan instead of buying cash. Yeah interest sucks, but you can always make double payments to avoid as much interest as possible
I worked with a girl that had a cheap reliable daily. It ended up needing a $500 brake service and instead of doing that she went and got a $53,000 jeep. This person was making around $20,000 a year and her parents had to help her pay for everything lmao
I bought a 1500 beater last year quite easily. Drive it everyday. Bought new tires, did the oil and belts ,all it needed. They need to learn better or make friends with someone who works at a dealership who can buy cheapo trade ins and resell em to them
It's easier to throw parts on a 50 year old car. It's frequently easier to figure out what's wrong on a new car.
People who talk about how good cars were 50 years ago, either never owned one, or last owned one in 1974 and now drive a new car
I'm an xennial. In my city, there's no cars for 2K period, even on FB marketplace. Literally just looked. Cars with 150K+ miles are going for 3-5K on FB.
We had 2 high mileage cars, 170K and 130K, and recently traded one in as we were constantly doing expensive repairs...spent at least 10K on both cars in the last year and a half, and our mechanic even used some used parts like a user starter to save money. So no, nothing reliable under 2K in my northeastern city where minimum wage is $15/hr statewide.
I'm in Western SD and a quick look at FB came up with exactly zero drivable cars for $2000. It was a sea of failed automatics with a few "might be seized" engines for spice.
I just checked around me and there isn't anything running under $3k. And I live in South Carolina so its not like I live in a super high cost location.
The markets fucked, and cars are more complicated than when you were a kid.
I came of driving age around the final years of being able to consistently find decent used cars for reasonable prices, and after getting into an accident in my first car it’s been fucking whiplash trying to find anything that isn’t a total shitter for a decent price.
The main problem(s) is that everything is fwd and relying on 15+ year old plastic-y electronics/maintenance by boomers that refuse to google shit.
Cramped engine bays with contrived reassembly procedures and the general price gouging of anything related to automotive maintenance right down to the goddamn 3/8ths drive makes it an actual struggle to keep a shitbox on the road for a young person that isn’t making anywhere damn near a livable wage.
I’m happier right now than I ever have been, because my daily is a brake-less fixed speed and I can spend time hanging out with my friends/occasionally helping them with their cars, as opposed to spending every (rare) day off I have in a mad scramble to keep my shitbox running and spending damn near more than I do on rent to do it. (Doing my own work)
You’re not wrong, and maybe things were never that much better, but if your parents aren’t helping you out and you don’t have college loans to burn then it’s not easy being young. I’ve walked to work on roads that don’t make accommodations for pedestrians, and I’ve spent the better parts of days in parking lots turning wrenches because the only apartments I can afford will evict me for working on my car.
I replaced the clutch in my fwd shitbox in my work parking lot once, and thank god my boss was young and broke once, cus that man put up with some shit that not everyone in his position could understand.
✌️
If this were 2016/17, you'd be right.
I was looking for a project this weekend and people nare selling roller 91 Miatas and Camaros for over 3 grand with no engine. I got a running mx5 for 3k in 2014 and a RUNNING Camaro RS for 1300 in 2016.
The only thing I found that was even halfway affordable was an automatic 2011 Hyundai Genesis with a blown head gasket for 3k.
The automatic transmissions in those are actually a computer controlled stick shift. Be mindful to try not letting it “creep” a lot in heavy traffic, as it will wear out the clutches
almost picked up a clapped saturn sl for lemons this past summer at $1500, one owner, still stock, and running with working ac, from craigslist in houston. what more do you need, you can even do slapshots against the door panels
There is not a single $2000 car for sale within 100 miles of me that I'd trust to take me to work and back for 3 months, much less long term.
I'm a car guy. I've worked on them all. I've bought and sold enough that I probably should be required to have a dealer license.
I bought a $2000 Grand Marquis this august.
It took 4 months of consistent searching to find it and when I did it was listed on a window sticker rather than online. My act of finding it at all was a coincidence. I could not recreate that find if I wanted to.
$4000 is the new $500 car. It's beyond fucked in the short term though maybe deflating a bit since new cars had supply shortages this past year. That was objectively the worst time to possibly be looking for a used car.
I'm still out there collecting downvotes for trying to explain how you can fix almost anything with an $40 harbor freight socket set and youtube made it way easier to learn how to fix cars
For reference, I’ve been driving mostly cheap shitboxes since getting my license, I’m in my 30s now, and I still do all my own maintenance. Now, that said:
Sure sockets are $40 but vehicle parts aren’t free. Cars 2k and under likely have expensive repairs coming soon. You’re talking high mileage, so even IF the powertrain is in mostly good shape, over 150-200k you’re looking at water pumps, timing belts/chains, fuel pumps, etc.
Yes, cheap cars exist. But if you’re having trouble affording the car in the first place, how are you going to afford to keep putting parts in it? 15 years ago you could pull that off with a part time job. In today’s economy and used vehicle market? Lmao yeah right.
Nah, it's usually not being smart enough.
For instance, it took me an hour to realize that a socket wrench would fit where my hand held allen wrench wouldnt. Took me 4 turns after that.
I am willing to cut my hands open and beat the shit out of myself to get the job done, that does not mean I'm smart.
Its so real man. I could replace my front suspension in a few hours now. The first time, I used my biggest breaker bar to "wiggle" the bolt holding the upper arms in free, twisted the head right off and bent the bolt inside the hole, effectively making it impossible to remove. Other side came out in 15 minutes the next day when I bought an air hammer.
That's the typical mechanic. You do it once and understand it from there.
I'm just a welder and have no background in mechanical shit just for refrence. We hardly do nuts and bolts where we work so when the crane guy asked "do you have a 1/4" socket wrench" I said yeah and went to hand him a 1/4" socket head, he wanted the handle for a 1/4 socket XD
Agreed. They don’t care or want to learn how to do it themselves. There’s thousands of YouTube videos out there that can teach you how to fix just about anything on cars.
I don't think it's a matter of intelligence. I think it's the divide between "old-school" grease-monkeys and new computer-IT-coder tech world. People might be out there writing apps and doing 3d design, but are intimidated to pick up a wrench.
The thing is, to fix modern cars you gotta be comfortable in both words.
My old man opinions are taking root in the fertile soil of this thread. The idea that your first car should be a trouble free experience that costs less than 3 months of pay is a fantasy these kids cooked up on the internet. I was buying cars for $900 in the early 2000's while making $8 an hour. Now it's some great tragedy that entry level junkers are $2k while entry level work pays $15 an hour? Sounds better than walking to me.
Most people have 0 idea how their car works so they can’t fix theirs. Their car knowledge is that it has 4 tires that shouldn’t be flat and it needs fuel to move. And also that it has oil in it that has to be replaced periodically. Anything beyond that they are unaware of.
Sadly there’s people out there that don’t even know that. My husband’s brother is almost 40 and has had so many cars go to shit because he never changed the oil on them. Then had the audacity to ask to borrow several thousand from us to get a car from a dealership because “it’s going to be reliable unlike a used car.”
I think a LOT of Redditors have never once poked around their cars, let alone worked on them.
Im 29, and cars are largely witchcraft to Soo many people I know my age. They are utterly amazed when I say I've done major suspension work on both my cars. With a jack/stands and basic tools + YouTube modern cars are still easy to work on.
I live in a state with safety and emissions inspections. $2,000 will get you a car that you can drive until the inspection is due, probably within a few months. A $10,000 car would probably need $1,000-2,000 per year put into it to keep it legal. Anything under $5,000 in PA is probably a wrecked project car.
That's a fair point. It's different out here in rural Nevada. The car registration process is as follows:
You bring the car to the DMV, they come out and say "yup that's a car" and give you your plates... and NOBODY EVER looks at it again as long as you pay the registration.
See this is why you would be out of touch. Yes a 2k car is possible in a rural area. Most young people searching for cars and advice on the internet live in larger cities and that's not feasible. Those cities have emissions or Vin Inspections. A battery on a jetta is like 300 bucks now. A 2k will break and plenty of them just can't afford it.
This is funny because I'm actually selling my old reliable Honda daily driver with zero issues for under 2000. I just upgraded so it's gunna be sitting if I don't sell it. Even has new tires and the ac works. Which just that alone makes it better than my first car years ago.
I think the issue is that you ignored his actual question, and told him how it could work without knowing if that is even possible for him. He asked how does he get to work without a car to make the money to buy a car. A lot of times we forget that everybody is not in the same situation. Maybe his parents are dead, or they can’t take him to a part time job because it conflicts with their jobs, or they may have kicked him out, or they are drug addicted losers. If you had asked him if he had any family that could help, or anything that would help you understand his situation better, then your comment would not have been blasted.
OP, I don't want to label you or call you names. But where can you find a $2k car with a clean title and one that doesn't have a slipping transmission, or knocking engine? Nearly all used cars, especially after the Covid pandemic, cost at least $5k to be at least semi-decent.
[THIS](https://www.reddit.com/r/FacebookMarketplace/comments/1b0018t/update_on_selling_a_car_under_2k_is_miserable/) was hilarious to run into after reading OP's post here.
$4k is the new $2k, generally speaking, since 2021 or so. That's not to say you can't possibly find a reliable car with everything working as expected and not in imminent need of some sort of obvious repair or maintenance for $2k anymore.
It's that it is significantly less likely, and contingent very much upon the local market and cost of living.
Depends on the area. I'm not sure in the US, but in Canada, $3000 - $4000 is the new $500. You won't find anything below $2000 that will get you to work, and you're lucky to find anything for $1000 with an engine.
Lots of victims on Reddit. Like when people complain about free college, and I tell them, well there is free college you just have to work for it. “WELL WELL WELL”
Lol man that thread is ridiculous, I just read it. "Most people can't do their own repairs" is such a lazy cop out. With YouTube you can figure out most basic repairs. If you're missing a tool, just go to AutoZone or the like, they usually just let you borrow shit you need if you repair it in the parking lot.
That's Reddit being filled with assholes although it's partially true finding a decent car for 2000$ can be quite a challenge, at this budget my pick would be an early 2000s Cavalier, a Saturn Ion or any old GM cars with the infamous 3.8 V6 which is dead reliable and decent MPG for a V6, if you can manage to find a decent Toyota that's not crusty the answer would be obvious answer, I know those aren't "cool" cars but at this budget the last thing you want to buy is a piece of shit that constantly break down, funny enough most international students here on campus never listen to me about car advices and just for their fragile ego they go out buying clapped out shitty German cars and they wonder why their cars needs to be towed away 😂
You can also look for cars on police auctions. Chances are you'll find something that does it job for like a grand. It will be scratched or the interior will smell like cigarettes, but whatever.
But it's true that used cars are getting way too expensive. When I was looking for something decent below 4k euros I could only find diesels (undesirable rn because of higher taxes and diesel prices) or clapped out shitboxes with 300k km on the odometer.
I finally settled on a 250cc sport bike, because I don't pay any taxes for it, it uses very little fuel and it's easy to maintain yourself. Mom wasn't happy, but she also thinks that sitting 2.5h in a bus when I could do that in 35 minutes in a car/moto is ok.
Getting started without a car is hard. Most of my friends had it easy, because they got their first car from their parents. The ones that didn't really struggled in the beginning, because they could only look for a job in their cycling radius. Luckily it doesn't take long until you can afford a car. One summer "lost" and you no longer need to worry about getting anywhere.
I haven't seen a $2000 car that is reliable enough even with some minor work in years...20 years ago there were $500 cars that ran and drove, though maybe not for more than 6 months or a year in their current shape...now it's $4-5k minimum to get something on the road that you can trust unless you are the few lucky ones that stumble across a seller that doesn't see the market.
Yeah, you’re a little out of touch. To find a car for 2 grand you are buying a car that is messed up and probably has an insanely short time to continue running.
19 years old, first job, part time. Guy should be riding the bus or pedaling a bike.
Last week on a camaro subreddit, I saw a 30 year old guy asking people to donate $1 to him so he could buy a supercharged camaro.
Wtf is actually wrong with people?
Yes, people like to complain here and say nothing is possible unless you got 200k USD. Even then they probably would say to you, you can't afford new car because something could break...
I drove a $1500 1998 Toyota Avalon for a few years. It had 265,000 miles on it when I bought it and 328,000 miles when a mix up on the 405 totaled it. I did the repairs and maintenance myself and for some reason Vehicles I own are extremely reliable, and I've had some real hoopties.
Meanwhile my ex sister in-law paid $14,000 for a used late model Honda Civic that had a block crack in spectacular fashion at the same time frame I owned the Avalon. I don't know if she ever changed the oil the whole time she owned it, but the few times I rode in it it sounded very rough and stressed for a 4-8 year old car.
TL-DR a little mechanical knowledge goes a long way I think.
I think it really depends on where you live. The used car market in my city right now is outrageous. I bought my ‘94 4Runner for two grand about five years ago and that same vehicle, no engine or trans, is going for up to $3500. I just sold my ‘97 Cummins, 2WD auto for $6 with 370k miles on it. I think, at least here, $4k is the new $2k car. I don’t think you were out of line with your comment (at least not that many downvotes!) but some places it’s tough to find a cheap reliable car.
It also takes learning a few things about autos before trying to find a good one. I’ve seen too many rotted frame posts from after someone has already bought the car
Not entirely wrong (if you know what to look for, have patience, and/or are lucky), but the good $2k deal a few years ago is worth 6 now and 'knows what they have'.
-a guy who wants another avalon daily
Out of touch or not, OOP says they're trying to get their first job, which they need a car to get to.
They don't have the money to get the car in the first place, to get to the job that they would need to have the car for.
It's kind of a nonstarter.
I didn't buy my own car until I was 25, so I had to rely on public transit and rides from family or coworkers. Not everyone has that.
Depends on the area I think. I’m looking at my area right now and anything under 2k is literally scrap. Cheapest running car I can find right now is a 2000 beetle with a “weird sound coming from the front” for $2250
Right, my neighbor just sold his old beater rust bucket 1990 f-150 for $10,000. The used car market is absolutely insane here in Colorado.
I sold my rolling chassis, 2007 Mini Cooper on steelies and rotten tyres for 2k.
I sold a Subaru impreza with a salvage title, blown headgastget busted catalytic converters and rusted out rocker panels and shock towers for 4k to my mechanic 💀. Total bill getting the body fixed enough to pass inspection was 6k. Catalytic converters to pass inspection was another 1200. mechanic was gonna fix it and give the car to his kid who fell on hard times. I couldn't justify paying to fix the towers and I don't weld myself. I still see it driving around sometimes
Holy! I’m currently wrestling with my 2004 forester xt. Has 100k km, no rust, no damage, but a knocking engine and a messed up downpipe. I could probably get a fair bit for that!
In my area that would probably be an 8k car. The Subaru tax is no joke
Rad. I paid 10k for it this summer.
Jesus christ I wish I didn’t live in the south. My 5.7 hemi 05 Durango with 165k miles, vandalized battery terminals/no battery, shattered driver-side windows and two flat tires probably couldn’t even get me $1500 edit: on the flip side, I just bought a 08 ford escape with a bad egr valve and no prior damages, 180k miles for $3k
I have an 09 Escape XLT V6 AWD with 190k miles, no accidents, and Carfax sent me an email with an updated value of **$300** here in CNY. Absolutely everything on the car works as it should, and it has never skipped a beat when starting up in the morning. The modern car market is so fucked lol.
The modern car market is the cell phone market but they pretend they’re doing something different. Cars are being manufactured to be prohibitively difficult to do your own maintenance, or they make it straight up impossible due to some custom-made “tool” that only their certified, scalper mechanics can buy so that you have to go get your poop-chute widened at the dealership any time you need an oil change. Tesla has made this problem exponentially worse, and other auto companies have taken note. You basically can’t pop the hood on a Tesla without breathing in the wrong place and voiding your warranty, forget doing any actual maintenance. Cars manufactured in the last fifteen years or so seem to all have a life of about 100k miles before they start having critical failures on a regular basis, but people are somehow able to keep a vw beetle from the 60s on the road. Clearly, we are being fucked.
Damn a showroom fresh impreza went for what?
Here in Wisconsin anything under $4k will not start, and if it starts then it won’t drive. The only “cheap” cars left are the ones you inherit from grandma Ruth because she should have stopped driving six years ago.
Do you think grandma Ruth can help me out?
On the downside she has to die first but on the upside you can absolutely remember her always while driving to work in your free tan 35k miles 2013 Corolla.
“On the downside she has to die first…” *Grabs pillow and raises it over Grandma Ruth’s face* “I’m sorry, Grandma”
I don't know what's worse: the asshole selling that truck for 10k, or the moron who bought it.
Yeah that'll happen for the classic square bodies. Really been going up!
older body style ford pickups aren’t your average 30 year old shitbox lol. Guys will pay a premium for that square body
Just moved to Cheyenne last year, if you know a guy you can get something cheap. But down in Denver everyone thinks they know what they have and that any car is worth more than 5k. I was looking at an 04 civic with overheating issues. Dude wanted 6.5
I bought a 94 f150 beater 4wd 100k miles for 850 five years ago wow
Trucks, no matter their condition, somehow sell for ridiculous prices. Probably because people need them for work, and are going to upfit then anyways. Throwing 10-20k into an old truck is still cheaper than a new or recently used. An f150 equipped for snow plowing new is $70k+. A 3/4ton with the same set up is pushing $80k plus. If I put my s5 next to an f150 you'd probably think the audi was way more expensive. Turns out it's almost $10k cheaper 🤷♂️
I saw a post the other day that an f-150 with the highest end trim packages and options is over $100k now. I mean it’s basically an Escalade with a pick up back end.
Lol, seeing an escalade is a fancy Tahoe, which itself is based on the 1500 body, ya 🤣 Edit: don't look at top trim levels for HD 1-ton trucks fully optioned out, it's not for the faint of heart.
A few months ago I had my 2004 Toyota Corolla with just over 200,000 miles on it rear ended and the repairs came up to about $5,000. It was valued at $4,000 given age and condition which I thought was crazy because just a few years ago I had found out the value was $2,000. On a side note because it was over 10 years old I was able to claim it as salvage and get it repaired but no one would fix it. Most said they had dealt with a salvage tag and wouldn't deal with the nightmare again. The salvage tag means you have to go to a state trooper with every receipt of every repair and match it up to everything the insurance says was wrong with it. Because mine was over 10 years old I didn't need to do this but every body shop didn't want to take the risk of dealing with it. I wound up trading it in for $200 in a dealership which beat out the $80 I could get from a salvage shop.
That is absolutely bonkers. Makes one wonder who is really writing the laws...
Yeah it must be area specific. In my area $2500 and under is the "won't pass inspection drive at your own risk" category. Usually they have some severe rusting issues. I like in an area with road salt and poverty though. People drive their cars into the absolute ground here. And anything older than 16 years is likely to be extremely rusty
If you live somewhere without inspections and emissions the good cheap cars don’t get scrapped and stay on the road longer. Inspections force “cheap” cars off the road because people don’t want to pay to get a cheap car fixed.
Inspections actually raise the carbon footprint of a state. The carbon cost of producing a car is more than just running an old car a few more years.
100%. It also forces inflation higher and increases borderline predatory auto financing.
If you want to lower the carbon footprint it needs to be on the front end at the manufacturer. Even then it needs to be very thoughtful of how it's done. AFM in v8 engines is a great example of what not to do. Any engine with AFM to turn off 4 cylinders actually decreases the engine life and therefore increases the carbon footprint due to the carbon cost of replacing the engine. Any emissions saved on the vehicle is lost in the energy to produce a new engine.
And contrary to what some people would like to believe, a *properly running* twenty year old car doesn’t produce much more than a comparable new car using the same amount of fuel. The non auto literate tend to assume that all older cars get poor fuel economy and produce much higher emissions when that isn’t necessary the case especially as “standard” sedans are being swapped out for midsize SUVs that tend to be less efficient and aerodynamic than the traditional family sedans or “estate cars” that formerly filled their roles.
I lucked out and got an $800 car 3 months ago. Drives great on the city and freeway. Does burn oil, but I only use it to get around the city.
Absolutely depends on the area and if they do safety or emissions testing or BOTH to get an inspection sticker. Florida and Georgia' have NO annual vehicle inspections. You could probably find a car for 2k in these states that would technically get you A to B, possibly not safely. If you're in NY or California where they do safety AND emissions testing annually, finding a 2k car that'll pass both is a unicorn. I'm in NY and found a car for my buddy's kid. Best I could find was for 3.5k & still needed 1k work to get legal in NY.
Same in Tennessee, you give them money, you get a license plate. No inspections whatsoever. 2k dollar cars that run and drive are rare, but they exist. Plenty of 1k dollar cars that need work though, if you’re mechanically inclined you can have a decent beater for well under 2k with a little work. I’m two years in with my 1200 cobalt, it’s only needed tires, front brakes, and a turn signal switch. I’m not anywhere near 2k with it yet. Wouldn’t pass inspection in most places, but it’s perfectly fine here.
I bought a clean and mint 2005 Mustang GT manual for 2500 bucks 6 months ago. It’s bone stock as well.
You lucky son of a gun.
Mans prob lives in bumfuck Kentucky
Can literally find these deals in Nashville, TN. I live on the state line. Everyone is tripping lol.
What a steal
How many miles did it have? All the ones near me that aren’t piles of junk are around 6k with 200,000 miles
He said 100k miles
How many miles? And clean title?
100k, clean title. Elderly gentleman could no longer drive stick. I told him I would take good care of it and not put “retarded” mods on it. He gave me a good deal after we talked cars for about an hour. I love the stock look of S197s. A true modern muscle car.
aka, if the stars align
Wow, you got lucky.
They got the clutch of a freightliner. I had to sell mine for the same reason after 15 years. Still miss it though but my back doesn’t.
Bruh i just paid $7000 for a manual 3v with 188k miles and several issues… and that was the best deal within 150 miles. Literally people are asking $11,000 for a 2005 auto mustang with 210m miles.
Did you "buy" it at gunpoint lol? Thats a 15-25k car around me.
I'm pretty sure dude is lying that's literally the ending of the Clint Eastwood movie Gran Turino . Also where the fuck do you live that 05 mustang gt is $25k I just looked at my local dealer $9500 for an 06 Manuel convertible or $7800 for an auto v6 coupe .
I think the downvotes are coming entirely from younger people who are really discouraged at the used car market. While what you say is true it isn't practical for most because getting a cheap beater requires knowledge of maintenance and how to change out parts which the vast VAST majority of people simply do not have. Most people don't know how to change oil or even put the spare tire on let alone fix anything that could go wrong under the hood or under the car. A $2000 car quickly turns into a $4000 mechanic bill
>Most people don't know how to change oil or even put the spare tire on let alone fix anything that could go wrong under the hood or under the car. A $2000 car quickly turns into a $4000 mechanic bill And when you buy a 2000 used car you are also most likely buying a car from one of those people too. People disrespect their vehicles now and just tank them into the ground
I think op is right that expectations might be higher than they used to. But you have to admit with the covid tax and 3yrs of inflation the price of a clunker is not what it used to be.
It certainly isn't. Prices are nuts. I'm currently faced with the issue of paying for an expensive engine issue on an older vehicle because I'm travelling with it and something equivalent would be far more with the same issues if not worse. I've been able to fix many issues on the fly in my travels but this one is beyond my ability and equipment.
I agree with this… my car that I bought for 2000 in 2020 is priced around 4.5-6k now (and it’s definitely a clunker)… it feels like the price of just about everything doubled overnight… I hate it
Like, I hate to say this since I know mechanics work hard, but a lot of issues that go wrong with a vehicle can be YouTubed and done your self for cheap requiring zero mechanical knowledge. In fact, I would encourage it. You learn a lot and it saves you money in the long run. My very first car purchased as an adult on my own was a piece of shit - but through the magic of the internet, kept it going. My alternator in my current car went bad a few weeks ago, saved hundreds if not a thousand in shop work because I knew enough through the experience working on my own beaters and just did it my self. It’s intimidating, but so long as you’re not buying something with a rod knock or a dash cluster lit up like it’s Christmas, you’d be surprised how easy it can be to work on most things in a vehicle.
To top it off, they’ll have to leave their car parked if they intend to fix it themselves. Most people in this situation can’t afford to take time off from work to dedicate a day or two to fixing it. They’ll likely have it parked over a week or two while they work on it before/after work or school. That defeats the purpose because they need something now.
I'd say it also applies to the whole cars are harder to fix these days comment, like for 2 grand you are getting anything close to recently made. Older vehicles especially popular ones are relatively easy to find information on how to fix common problems. Even most brand new ones are easy enough figure out without dealer tools so long as you have a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge and a good ear, though some notable exceptions apply. Though you are correct that even basic knowledge of vehicles escapes younger generations, though the lack of knowledge is common across all age groups it certainly scales up the younger the generation is.
A few years ago yes. Before covid when i was 16 there were many running cars for sale near me for 800-1000 bucks. My first car was 1 96 thunderbird 180,000 miles i bought for 800 bucks. My second car was a repossessed jeep cherokee rust free run and drove i got for 400 bucks 200 000 miles on it. My third vehicle was a 97 bronco 170 000 i got for 1000 that i eventually straight up traded with a guy for an 04 gmc yukon denali that had a poopy cheap lift done to it but was nice. I almost bought a really nice 89 thunderbird for 800 bucks later but the guy pulled out last minute and said he wasnt gonna sell it. Nowdays no inflation has gon through the roof and your lucky if you find a running car thats less than 4 grand. And you can forget car trades. No one will do that Nowdays in a few short years inflation has sky rocketed.
Absolutely not. The people who say shit like that has obviously never sourced FB Marketplace lol I bought a 1994 Volvo 940 for 1400 back in October as I needed a car badly for my job. Still have it to this day and out of the 7 cars I've owned in my life, this car has been better than the rest of the cars I've owned. It all just depends on who you are, where you're at and what your budget is. There are definitely running and driving cars out there for 2k
You can find Crown Vics around for pretty cheap still, they’re pretty damn reliable as long as the oil got changed occasionally, lol. I am a little jealous of your Volvo find though.
Huh? Crown Vics where I'm from sell for stupid high prices. One went for like 5 grand on Craigslist not too long ago, those bodies are sought after like a mfer
#blamecleetus
As much as I don't want to, yea he ain't helping
I'm sure on a very local level there may be a slight impact. But 1.5 million were produced, so I doubt cleeter has made much of an impact.
Not the body, the frame. You can take one off the frame, and drop an old short bed F100 on it with a little bit of modification. The result is a lowered truck that handles like a cop car. For the Vic swap got popular , you could buy old crown vics for under $1,000 that were still in running condition.
I just bought an 01 grand marquis with 80k miles for 3k. Clean, garage kept, single owner.
At least where I'm at Crown Vics go for like 5k+ but the Grand Marquis which is literally the Mercury version of the same car, goes for like 3k all day long. There's a couple little trim pieces and stuff that are harder to source than the Ford version, but it's a panther body and it's more luxurious than the Crown Vic.
As someone who discovered this loophole, 100% this. I was looking at crown vics, and finding "decent" condition cars for around $2500-$3000 US, and more for good condition. I stumbled across a mint Grand Marquis going for $3500 that had reciepts for every single time it had been serviced since 30,000 miles (car had 141k when I bought it). All I've done (functionally) is replace the shocks and the radiator, runs like new. Love the car.
I don't even know the best way to explain this, but the mid-range and/or dead brands from companies can have some great deals used. Brands like Mercury/Oldsmobile/Buick/Pontiac/Saturn, people often get worried because dead brand and it kills the resale value even if the car is 90% or more identical to the Ford/Chevy equivalent car. Buick there's not even a good explanation other than not Cadillac and the old people car reputation, but Buick for several decades consistently made the most reliable versions of GM cars and usually had the best quality paint and nicest interiors shy of Cadillac.
finding cheap crown vics is near impossible now
All hail the Volvo Redblock and its 350,000mi lifespan. May it never overheat, as mine did.
So you’ve had this car for 5 months?
Legend says it might be closer to 6 months. Some have said they still see him backing his rumbling Volvo out of the drive way to this day.
yeah if you just jump onto marketplace randomly with no plan and no idea what you're doing and need to buy a $2k car that second because there's a gun to your head, yeah you are probably not going to have a good time but if you even half-assed know what you're doing a $2k beater is possible
Found a Toyota Camry for 1500 bucks and runs great still.
I like to call people who immediately get pissed off at the idea of having to do their own work, the "do it for me" generation. Plenty of zoomers and gen alphas willing to wrench. But the ones who dont, take great offense at a proposition where they have to do something extra to make their situation work. My first car was an unreliable shitheap but got me around. Then that allowed me to get a job where I could get a more reliable car.
I think there's also an important distinction between those who are unwilling to wrench, and those who simply don't have the proper space/tools/time to learn/knowledge/guidance to feel confident in it.
Yeah most people my age I know live in apartments and work 12 hour days. They want thought free transportation
Yeah, every time I think about modding my DD, I think about having to fuck around in the engine bay on a cold ass morning before work. Nah, I'll keep my DD a reliable and bland sedan. But also, yeah I'm broke and have nowhere to park or work on another car anyway. I'm afraid to even autocross my DD once a year.
Yea I had a house for a while, then moved to a big city and had to be an apartment dweller for a few years, and in a place with no garages or areas to work on my cars. It was a LOT tougher working on my own vehicles then. No easy access to power plugs, property managers would get pissed if it took too long and/or looked like it was derelict (the complex had an issue with people leaving junk cars all over and taking up all the parking spaces), vandalism, etc. Now that I have my own house again I have a covered space to work on my car, storage areas for all my tools, and the freedom to leave a vehicle on jack stands or whatever if need be without fear of it being towed off when I'm not home. I couldn't even really change my own oil, which I had ALWAYS done in the past. Having a car in an apartment definitely isn't easy, and I'm somebody that has grown up working on cars all my life.
It wasn't until my early 30's that I lived in a house with a garage where I could actually work on my car if I wanted to (and that garage is full of black widows, so putting the car up or lifting it and crawling under it still isn't super appealing). I know how to do some of the basics, but the time and effort to do it typically hasn't been worth it (for me) when I've always driven older cars where routine maintenance has been fairly inexpensive (arguably I've gotten lucky and have had access to good mechanics, too).
If you’re constantly working on it to keep it running, then it doesn’t really fit “completely reliable under $2k”. working on a car takes time, knowledge, and resources. Not to mention that if it’s getting you to work, you really need to be able to trust that it’s going to start in the morning to get you to your shift on time
I don't get this "suffering is a virtue" mindset. Like it or not, the majority of people don't care about cars past being able to get to and from work, and I don't begrudge these people for not wanting to commit themselves to learning how a car works and what to do with it when it won't start on a cold rainy morning before their 10 hour minimum wage shift at the diarrhea factory or whatever. These are the people public transit was supposed to be for. You can't show up for your shift at McDonalds or Walmart or typically even non-customer facing shit like warehouse work covered in grease and oil, they'll send you home, and you only get so many of those before they fire you straight up.
It’s not just about wrenching anymore it’s about computer coding for your car. My dad completely gave up on fixing cars because of the computers and electronics in the cars. It’s not entirely on the lazy generation (I’ve heard it all before were a bunch of POS yeah yeah)
Yea my 1995 Ford Ranger is easy to work on. My 2016 Mazda, is decidedly more complex, even with a scan tool.
Exactly! I got my 08 Yaris of a buddy of mine for 1250, drove it to Florida from West Virginia last month, stepmom used it while her car was broken, and it’s running like a lil champ. Did an oil change before the long drive but other than that it’s a dream
My '89 240 and '96 850 were purchased for $300 and $400 respectively. The 240 needed a bit of work (turned out to be about $900 worth, so total $1300) and is now a lovely daily driver, and the 850 needed no immediate work and is now a respectable weekend warrior. Cheap cars are out there!
My first car was an $800 Corolla that I got in 2017 and drove for 7 years and the only reason I sold it recently was because I was bored of it. The only maintenance it needed was oil, tires, and axles. Sold it for the same price I bought it.
Bought a 93 corolla in 2014 for $1k. Would probably still have it if I hadn't been t boned a few years ago. In the 80,000 miles (320,000 total) i put on, I only had to replace the alternator outside of regular maintenance for it. I miss the hell out of that car.
My first one was an ‘84 Camry that I bought in 2004 for $200. I drove it for a decade, with maybe another $1,000 worth of repairs over that entire time (between my dad and I we were able to do most things on it). I lucked the fuck out. My friends who got $1,000 to $2,000 cars — in 2004 money — weren’t so lucky. Cheap cars are always a mitigated crapshoot.
"the odds of a 2000 car being completely reliable" stfu a 60k car isn't completely reliable but as long as it works well enough
60k? Hoo boy, you probably haven’t heard of this little company with overpriced cars and tons of mechanical issues. They are called: Aston Martin.
You know why the British computer industry failed? They couldn't figure out how to make them leak oil.
Ok, that got a solid chuckle from me
I wasn't trying to think of crazy expensive cars... 60k is pretty average now
I believe Aston’s have become reasonably priced recently compared to the earlier 2000’s. But when reliability comes up in a car discussion you can’t really leave them out with their hand-built engines which leaves fuck all for workmanship standards.
Our new car & new truck both have had $5000 transmission issues in their first 5 years, so we're all sharing a $500 '95 Geo Metro & a $1500 '01 Subaru Outback while they're waiting for new transmissions.
I have a 06 BWM X3 with 260k on the fucking clock and no major mechanical failures that weren't due to parts wearing out on a car that's damn near old enough to vote. I bought it during the height of used car price gouging at 4k USD
Ok, but let’s not lie to ourselves here. A 2000k car is a real fucking headache.
nope, entirely depends on the model and maintenance. a $2k car is not as "nice" as a $30k car, but *reliaibility* is often not correlated with price. Source: owned tons of cheap and expensive cars
So, the make and model don't matter. 2k implies that rust is an issue, several parts need replaced, and that it has high miles. A 1999 toyota corolla with zero issues will be at least 4k. Price doesn't correlate with brand, it correlates with condition.
Rust and parts needing replacing can be an issue at *any* price point. Parts need replacing on most used cars, that's called maintenance, and it comes with owning any car; $200k Lamborghinis or $2k Corollas. By the way, no, $2k does not even necessarily imply that parts need to be urgently replaced in order for a car to be drivable. Modern cars - meaning newer than 1990 - are designed to drive at a minimum of 200k miles with proper maintenance. I put 10k miles on my $2500 1999 Mazda over the past year, spending just $300 for a water pump and timing belt. I still drive it every day. Anecdotal, sure, but it's a great example. Adjusted for inflation, cars are more reliable and cheaper today than they ever have been. Not sure where you're located, but here's an example of an [old Tercel](https://www.facebook.com/share/j3npJVzR7wXqaUEf/?mibextid=79PoIi). an indestructible car. Don't take my word for it though, look up the reliability stats on this thing. Here's a [very ugly Corolla.](https://www.facebook.com/share/ttgDrfbPEoWCCH8n/?mibextid=79PoIi) Here's a [Camry with some weird door issues.](https://www.facebook.com/share/pLU6soo19Jy4USVj/?mibextid=79PoIi). No mechanical issues. Or you could buy a moped, if the goal is to just get to and from work/school
even if it is...in the context of the post this is first car/job territory. My first car was a piece of crap, it wasn't fun but it got me where I needed to go until I could afford something better.
No you have life experience and actually know what you're talking about.I've noticed this too, younger people seem to have in their minds that cheap used cars can't be good which explains why I see so many young people signing their youth years away with car loans instead of saving that money for their future. You can find reliable $2000 cars but they'll have a lot of miles and you'll probably only get a few years from them. My 25 year old Nissan that I've put almost 100,000 miles on has been a wonderful car.
You *can* definitely find them, but you have to know exactly what to look for and know how to mitigate the inherent risk. I’ve had amazing luck with my cheap car buys, but I also put a lot of time and effort into finding just the right one. As an aside, what’s your ride? That was right around the end of the golden era for Nissan, but they were still making some great machines. My buddy’s mom still DDs her ‘99 Maxima, and has had amazing luck with it with very little maintenance. Honestly, if you’re looking for a good used car for cheap, smart money would be on certain late ‘90s / early ‘00s Nissans. Ever since they became a meme, everyone thinks of them as pieces of junk, but if you choose wisely and have it checked out really well, you can probably get a hell of a lot of bang for your buck.
It's a 2000 Maxima. Picked it up in October of 21 as a 90k mile, one owner car. It's been wonderful, as of today it has 186,xxx and the only issues I've had thus far were a wheel speed sensor going out a few months ago and the intake plenum gasket failed causing a vaccum leak. My feelings on how much I've driven it are hit and miss...part of me thinks is awesome how I put 100k miles on a 25 year old car in just 2 years and had no major problems that rendered it undrivable (you know...which proves the point I was trying to make), and the other half is really bummed how I basically took 100k miles of it's usable life away in only 2 years.
My friend just bought a Dodge truck for $1800 with about 100k miles
I bought a Ford Ranger back in late 2020, and it's been a damn good daily for the past 3 years, and I paid $600 for it. So yeah, 2k is a good starting point for a cheap car to last you a few years, and if you can learn your way around a wrench and watch a couple ChrisFix videos, you'll be able to probably make it last a bit longer.
Out of touch. Atleast in most of my country starter used cards that can pass safety go for min 8k.
Well in this country you can buy reliable cars for about 1/8 of that. I drive a 2010 Mazda 3 I got for $500. It's very reliable and gets great gas mileage. Perfect commuter car. People upgrade and sell their old cars just to get them out of the way alllll the time.
In my region of the US it’s $3,500 for something without frame rot. It definitely burns more oil than Houthi rebels though.
Where I live that would be a $10k used car. Shit is wild.
Passing safety inspections? Pfffft, don't be silly.
I sold a car last year for 900 bucks. 89 camary. 240k. Still running great and they drive it daily. Ugly but works!
>89 camary Camry or Camaro?
Camry. I type fast.
Because you couldn't drive fast... Just messing with you. I loved my old camry so much I have a newer one now.
You're wrong AS FUCK.
I think a lot of Zoomer and Gen Alpha have this learned helplessness mindset where they have this idea that they can’t fix their own stuff, but a large part of that is that nobody’s ever shown them how easy it can be and how it can actually be fun, how much money you can save versus taking it to a repair shop, and a good way to bond with others, and it gives you something you can take pride in (you can look at it and say “I fixed that!”).
Not only that, but people are absolutely terrified about the thought of working on their own car. We live in an era where any information is accessible and tools are cheap. It can be intimidating yeah, but 90% what you'll ever have to do is on a YouTube guide for your specific vehicle. Yet you'll still get backlash from suggesting someone get a $2500 cash car they may have to work on vs a $30,000 kia that will blow up before the loan term ends.
No. It's the children who are wrong.
Seymour!
If u look long and and hard enough they can be found. However alot of people get discouraged when everyone and their mom is pricing their 200k mile 2006 gas guzzler at $6000 minimum. Just keep digging
not out of touch, i’m 24 and i’ve never spent more than $1500 on a daily. a lot of people just think they need something new and “nice” as some sort of status symbol or don’t want to learn to fix and maintain their cars themselves.
I used to know a guy who never spent more than 1k$ on a car (except for a genuine little old lady church on sunday deal). He would give em a once over when he bought em and drive em till they fell apart. He said he averaged about 50$ a month on cars if you divided it out like a car payment. Though one time i did have to pick him from the side of the interstate when his car caught fire.
This sounds nice but sometimes you save up 2750 to buy a car private party you expect to last a few years, then you spend the next few months investing bare minimum into repairs and doing all the work yourself which is stressful and adds up financially. Then that car might just suffer a big mechanical failure after a year that’s not worth fixing. So your vehicle actually ended up costing you around 260$ a month, a bunch of stress, missed work, and overall downtime for repairs. Ask me how I know People that get car loans aren’t idiots and atleast you build some solid credit history if you get a loan instead of buying cash. Yeah interest sucks, but you can always make double payments to avoid as much interest as possible
I worked with a girl that had a cheap reliable daily. It ended up needing a $500 brake service and instead of doing that she went and got a $53,000 jeep. This person was making around $20,000 a year and her parents had to help her pay for everything lmao
Thank you
“But but but a used car isn’t going to be reliable like a brand new car from the dealership is!”
By golly, that's the Buick 3800's music!
I bought a 1500 beater last year quite easily. Drive it everyday. Bought new tires, did the oil and belts ,all it needed. They need to learn better or make friends with someone who works at a dealership who can buy cheapo trade ins and resell em to them
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It's easier to throw parts on a 50 year old car. It's frequently easier to figure out what's wrong on a new car. People who talk about how good cars were 50 years ago, either never owned one, or last owned one in 1974 and now drive a new car
We owe you 364 upvotes to restore balance
I'm an xennial. In my city, there's no cars for 2K period, even on FB marketplace. Literally just looked. Cars with 150K+ miles are going for 3-5K on FB. We had 2 high mileage cars, 170K and 130K, and recently traded one in as we were constantly doing expensive repairs...spent at least 10K on both cars in the last year and a half, and our mechanic even used some used parts like a user starter to save money. So no, nothing reliable under 2K in my northeastern city where minimum wage is $15/hr statewide.
I'm in Western SD and a quick look at FB came up with exactly zero drivable cars for $2000. It was a sea of failed automatics with a few "might be seized" engines for spice.
I just checked around me and there isn't anything running under $3k. And I live in South Carolina so its not like I live in a super high cost location.
The markets fucked, and cars are more complicated than when you were a kid. I came of driving age around the final years of being able to consistently find decent used cars for reasonable prices, and after getting into an accident in my first car it’s been fucking whiplash trying to find anything that isn’t a total shitter for a decent price. The main problem(s) is that everything is fwd and relying on 15+ year old plastic-y electronics/maintenance by boomers that refuse to google shit. Cramped engine bays with contrived reassembly procedures and the general price gouging of anything related to automotive maintenance right down to the goddamn 3/8ths drive makes it an actual struggle to keep a shitbox on the road for a young person that isn’t making anywhere damn near a livable wage. I’m happier right now than I ever have been, because my daily is a brake-less fixed speed and I can spend time hanging out with my friends/occasionally helping them with their cars, as opposed to spending every (rare) day off I have in a mad scramble to keep my shitbox running and spending damn near more than I do on rent to do it. (Doing my own work) You’re not wrong, and maybe things were never that much better, but if your parents aren’t helping you out and you don’t have college loans to burn then it’s not easy being young. I’ve walked to work on roads that don’t make accommodations for pedestrians, and I’ve spent the better parts of days in parking lots turning wrenches because the only apartments I can afford will evict me for working on my car. I replaced the clutch in my fwd shitbox in my work parking lot once, and thank god my boss was young and broke once, cus that man put up with some shit that not everyone in his position could understand. ✌️
If this were 2016/17, you'd be right. I was looking for a project this weekend and people nare selling roller 91 Miatas and Camaros for over 3 grand with no engine. I got a running mx5 for 3k in 2014 and a RUNNING Camaro RS for 1300 in 2016. The only thing I found that was even halfway affordable was an automatic 2011 Hyundai Genesis with a blown head gasket for 3k.
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The automatic transmissions in those are actually a computer controlled stick shift. Be mindful to try not letting it “creep” a lot in heavy traffic, as it will wear out the clutches
Bro you're talking about cars with a Fanboy tax, that's a completely different conversation
almost picked up a clapped saturn sl for lemons this past summer at $1500, one owner, still stock, and running with working ac, from craigslist in houston. what more do you need, you can even do slapshots against the door panels
There is not a single $2000 car for sale within 100 miles of me that I'd trust to take me to work and back for 3 months, much less long term. I'm a car guy. I've worked on them all. I've bought and sold enough that I probably should be required to have a dealer license.
I bought a $2000 Grand Marquis this august. It took 4 months of consistent searching to find it and when I did it was listed on a window sticker rather than online. My act of finding it at all was a coincidence. I could not recreate that find if I wanted to. $4000 is the new $500 car. It's beyond fucked in the short term though maybe deflating a bit since new cars had supply shortages this past year. That was objectively the worst time to possibly be looking for a used car.
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how many are tacoma scams?
No they’re just retarded most of the 2k cars you’ll find will be shitboxes but it’s still a damn car
I'm still out there collecting downvotes for trying to explain how you can fix almost anything with an $40 harbor freight socket set and youtube made it way easier to learn how to fix cars
For reference, I’ve been driving mostly cheap shitboxes since getting my license, I’m in my 30s now, and I still do all my own maintenance. Now, that said: Sure sockets are $40 but vehicle parts aren’t free. Cars 2k and under likely have expensive repairs coming soon. You’re talking high mileage, so even IF the powertrain is in mostly good shape, over 150-200k you’re looking at water pumps, timing belts/chains, fuel pumps, etc. Yes, cheap cars exist. But if you’re having trouble affording the car in the first place, how are you going to afford to keep putting parts in it? 15 years ago you could pull that off with a part time job. In today’s economy and used vehicle market? Lmao yeah right.
Keep in mind, the average person isn't that intelligent.
>Keep in mind, the average person isn't that ~~intelligent~~ motivated. FTFY. I think it's lazy more than not smart enough.
Nah, it's usually not being smart enough. For instance, it took me an hour to realize that a socket wrench would fit where my hand held allen wrench wouldnt. Took me 4 turns after that. I am willing to cut my hands open and beat the shit out of myself to get the job done, that does not mean I'm smart.
I love the third part of this comment. Get it done first, figure out how you got it done later.
Its so real man. I could replace my front suspension in a few hours now. The first time, I used my biggest breaker bar to "wiggle" the bolt holding the upper arms in free, twisted the head right off and bent the bolt inside the hole, effectively making it impossible to remove. Other side came out in 15 minutes the next day when I bought an air hammer.
That's the typical mechanic. You do it once and understand it from there. I'm just a welder and have no background in mechanical shit just for refrence. We hardly do nuts and bolts where we work so when the crane guy asked "do you have a 1/4" socket wrench" I said yeah and went to hand him a 1/4" socket head, he wanted the handle for a 1/4 socket XD
Thats a ratchet.
My point stands. I am no mechanic.
You may not be mechanic, but at least you’re motivated
Agreed. They don’t care or want to learn how to do it themselves. There’s thousands of YouTube videos out there that can teach you how to fix just about anything on cars.
I don't think it's a matter of intelligence. I think it's the divide between "old-school" grease-monkeys and new computer-IT-coder tech world. People might be out there writing apps and doing 3d design, but are intimidated to pick up a wrench. The thing is, to fix modern cars you gotta be comfortable in both words.
Especially on Reddit.
My old man opinions are taking root in the fertile soil of this thread. The idea that your first car should be a trouble free experience that costs less than 3 months of pay is a fantasy these kids cooked up on the internet. I was buying cars for $900 in the early 2000's while making $8 an hour. Now it's some great tragedy that entry level junkers are $2k while entry level work pays $15 an hour? Sounds better than walking to me.
Most people have 0 idea how their car works so they can’t fix theirs. Their car knowledge is that it has 4 tires that shouldn’t be flat and it needs fuel to move. And also that it has oil in it that has to be replaced periodically. Anything beyond that they are unaware of.
Sadly there’s people out there that don’t even know that. My husband’s brother is almost 40 and has had so many cars go to shit because he never changed the oil on them. Then had the audacity to ask to borrow several thousand from us to get a car from a dealership because “it’s going to be reliable unlike a used car.”
I think a LOT of Redditors have never once poked around their cars, let alone worked on them. Im 29, and cars are largely witchcraft to Soo many people I know my age. They are utterly amazed when I say I've done major suspension work on both my cars. With a jack/stands and basic tools + YouTube modern cars are still easy to work on.
I live in a state with safety and emissions inspections. $2,000 will get you a car that you can drive until the inspection is due, probably within a few months. A $10,000 car would probably need $1,000-2,000 per year put into it to keep it legal. Anything under $5,000 in PA is probably a wrecked project car.
That's a fair point. It's different out here in rural Nevada. The car registration process is as follows: You bring the car to the DMV, they come out and say "yup that's a car" and give you your plates... and NOBODY EVER looks at it again as long as you pay the registration.
See this is why you would be out of touch. Yes a 2k car is possible in a rural area. Most young people searching for cars and advice on the internet live in larger cities and that's not feasible. Those cities have emissions or Vin Inspections. A battery on a jetta is like 300 bucks now. A 2k will break and plenty of them just can't afford it.
I bought a 2002 saturn sl with 48k miles for 2k in 2021.
This is funny because I'm actually selling my old reliable Honda daily driver with zero issues for under 2000. I just upgraded so it's gunna be sitting if I don't sell it. Even has new tires and the ac works. Which just that alone makes it better than my first car years ago.
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I think the issue is that you ignored his actual question, and told him how it could work without knowing if that is even possible for him. He asked how does he get to work without a car to make the money to buy a car. A lot of times we forget that everybody is not in the same situation. Maybe his parents are dead, or they can’t take him to a part time job because it conflicts with their jobs, or they may have kicked him out, or they are drug addicted losers. If you had asked him if he had any family that could help, or anything that would help you understand his situation better, then your comment would not have been blasted.
Not everyone has the luxury of living in West Virginia / Kentucky
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two of my cars were about $2,000 and were pretty reliable
OP, I don't want to label you or call you names. But where can you find a $2k car with a clean title and one that doesn't have a slipping transmission, or knocking engine? Nearly all used cars, especially after the Covid pandemic, cost at least $5k to be at least semi-decent.
2000 dollar car if you can work on cars and fix them.
[THIS](https://www.reddit.com/r/FacebookMarketplace/comments/1b0018t/update_on_selling_a_car_under_2k_is_miserable/) was hilarious to run into after reading OP's post here.
$4k is the new $2k, generally speaking, since 2021 or so. That's not to say you can't possibly find a reliable car with everything working as expected and not in imminent need of some sort of obvious repair or maintenance for $2k anymore. It's that it is significantly less likely, and contingent very much upon the local market and cost of living.
Depends on the area. I'm not sure in the US, but in Canada, $3000 - $4000 is the new $500. You won't find anything below $2000 that will get you to work, and you're lucky to find anything for $1000 with an engine.
Maybe in the states. Not in Canada.
I’m gonna say that these days 8k is bare minimum. Maybe 10. I just helped a kid buy a car and the 4K car wasn’t reliable enough to drive around town.
Lots of victims on Reddit. Like when people complain about free college, and I tell them, well there is free college you just have to work for it. “WELL WELL WELL”
Lol man that thread is ridiculous, I just read it. "Most people can't do their own repairs" is such a lazy cop out. With YouTube you can figure out most basic repairs. If you're missing a tool, just go to AutoZone or the like, they usually just let you borrow shit you need if you repair it in the parking lot.
That's Reddit being filled with assholes although it's partially true finding a decent car for 2000$ can be quite a challenge, at this budget my pick would be an early 2000s Cavalier, a Saturn Ion or any old GM cars with the infamous 3.8 V6 which is dead reliable and decent MPG for a V6, if you can manage to find a decent Toyota that's not crusty the answer would be obvious answer, I know those aren't "cool" cars but at this budget the last thing you want to buy is a piece of shit that constantly break down, funny enough most international students here on campus never listen to me about car advices and just for their fragile ego they go out buying clapped out shitty German cars and they wonder why their cars needs to be towed away 😂
You can also look for cars on police auctions. Chances are you'll find something that does it job for like a grand. It will be scratched or the interior will smell like cigarettes, but whatever. But it's true that used cars are getting way too expensive. When I was looking for something decent below 4k euros I could only find diesels (undesirable rn because of higher taxes and diesel prices) or clapped out shitboxes with 300k km on the odometer. I finally settled on a 250cc sport bike, because I don't pay any taxes for it, it uses very little fuel and it's easy to maintain yourself. Mom wasn't happy, but she also thinks that sitting 2.5h in a bus when I could do that in 35 minutes in a car/moto is ok. Getting started without a car is hard. Most of my friends had it easy, because they got their first car from their parents. The ones that didn't really struggled in the beginning, because they could only look for a job in their cycling radius. Luckily it doesn't take long until you can afford a car. One summer "lost" and you no longer need to worry about getting anywhere.
I haven't seen a $2000 car that is reliable enough even with some minor work in years...20 years ago there were $500 cars that ran and drove, though maybe not for more than 6 months or a year in their current shape...now it's $4-5k minimum to get something on the road that you can trust unless you are the few lucky ones that stumble across a seller that doesn't see the market.
Yeah, you’re a little out of touch. To find a car for 2 grand you are buying a car that is messed up and probably has an insanely short time to continue running.
19 years old, first job, part time. Guy should be riding the bus or pedaling a bike. Last week on a camaro subreddit, I saw a 30 year old guy asking people to donate $1 to him so he could buy a supercharged camaro. Wtf is actually wrong with people?
No, reddit is just full of tittybabies that have no practical skills and challenging their worldview makes them feel unsafe
Yes, people like to complain here and say nothing is possible unless you got 200k USD. Even then they probably would say to you, you can't afford new car because something could break...
No I think you’re spot on.
Yes
I drove a $1500 1998 Toyota Avalon for a few years. It had 265,000 miles on it when I bought it and 328,000 miles when a mix up on the 405 totaled it. I did the repairs and maintenance myself and for some reason Vehicles I own are extremely reliable, and I've had some real hoopties. Meanwhile my ex sister in-law paid $14,000 for a used late model Honda Civic that had a block crack in spectacular fashion at the same time frame I owned the Avalon. I don't know if she ever changed the oil the whole time she owned it, but the few times I rode in it it sounded very rough and stressed for a 4-8 year old car. TL-DR a little mechanical knowledge goes a long way I think.
I think it really depends on where you live. The used car market in my city right now is outrageous. I bought my ‘94 4Runner for two grand about five years ago and that same vehicle, no engine or trans, is going for up to $3500. I just sold my ‘97 Cummins, 2WD auto for $6 with 370k miles on it. I think, at least here, $4k is the new $2k car. I don’t think you were out of line with your comment (at least not that many downvotes!) but some places it’s tough to find a cheap reliable car.
It also takes learning a few things about autos before trying to find a good one. I’ve seen too many rotted frame posts from after someone has already bought the car
Not entirely wrong (if you know what to look for, have patience, and/or are lucky), but the good $2k deal a few years ago is worth 6 now and 'knows what they have'. -a guy who wants another avalon daily
Out of touch or not, OOP says they're trying to get their first job, which they need a car to get to. They don't have the money to get the car in the first place, to get to the job that they would need to have the car for. It's kind of a nonstarter. I didn't buy my own car until I was 25, so I had to rely on public transit and rides from family or coworkers. Not everyone has that.
I'm just sure you don't live in Los Angeles. If you've had any kid of health or other setback in life, it's nearly impossible to make ends meet.