Cheap first cars...how much do they REALLY cost

LeVeL said:
idk about Greece, but in the US you can find miatas in decent condition for under 3k and there are plenty of decent stock civics to choose from
Click to expand...

I'm not in Greece, God damn it :) It is Athens, West Virginia, US and A! :p

(there is also an Athens, Ohio...where I plan to go to grad school eventually...)
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
I'm not in Greece, God damn it :) It is Athens, West Virginia, US and A! :p

(there is also an Athens, Ohio...where I plan to go to grad school eventually...)
Click to expand...

Yeah, yeah. Get back to me when I bother reading your entire "Location" line and not just one word from it :blush:
 
Back on topic, I just scouted eBay and there are NO cheap MX-5's. Their price is usually above the $3,000 mark.

thedguy already explained why his was so cheap.
 
Last edited:
_HighVoltage_ said:
Anyways, I don't think most of you have gotten the idea here. I'm not talking about project cars.
Click to expand...

Well, personally mine's far from a fixer-upper.

_HighVoltage_ said:
I'm not talking about beater cars.
Click to expand...

Mine's far from a beater.

_HighVoltage_ said:
We are looking for reliable, fun cars that you can trust to drive across the country today.
Click to expand...

Oh come on now, play fair, this is a pretty big country... and I got shit to do today... :hmm: .... Nah, yeah, I think it could do it. I bought it in Melbourne and then drove it back to Adelaide the very next day. That took trust. Now that I've owned it and I know it's fine? Yeah, I think it could make it. I don't see why not! I've always wanted to drive from Adelaide to Darwin. I'll do it! Just watch me!

The only thing you might have me on there is 'fun'. But honestly, my idea of fun behind the wheel is a flat, straight, open road at dusk - no, no, wait - at dawn... yeah... and the biggest Cohiba in the world. Mmmm.

_HighVoltage_ said:
This automatically excludes most cars over 200k miles
Click to expand...
Ha! Mine's done just over a quarter of that!

_HighVoltage_ said:
or the cars from the 80s.
Click to expand...
Hmm, well, uhhh :unsure: Hey! Look! Behind you! *runs*
 
katwalk said:
The jeep and rabbit will NEVER go that cheap unless it is being sold by an idiot. Any MK1 golf will very quickly get snatched up by a VW collector and they will drop good money on one as a project car. I have looked for the jeeps myself and they are ALWAYS expensive even with plywood windows.
Click to expand...

You need to look over in New York Saw a MK1 golf for 2400 fresh repaint just needs headliner work. Jeep Cherokee's go for next to nothing.
 
Austere, your car is an obvious exception. There aren't a lot of cars from 1971 that can be used as daily drivers today, not if they cost $3,000.
(flamesuit ON, before Nabster comes in this thread :))
 
I think it's possible to get a reliable, non-project car daily driver (maybe one that's not too much fun, more of a "reasonable" car) for under a thousand bucks, at least over here in Europe.

Of course, nine of ten cars in the segment below 5000 bucks are either pure junk or potential project cars (in other words: junk in which enthusiasts see more than just junk). It takes time, care, and at least a good friend who knows his way 'round cars to buy a good car for small money. But it's possible.

Two of my friends got themselves early-1990s VW Polo hatchbacks for 500 and 550 Euros, respectivly... While those are chronically underpowered, they still offer huge amount of storage space for cars of their size, have no rust problems worth mentioning, the engines run smoothly, the only things they both did (more as a precaution than anyting else) was to change all fluids in the car right after buying. But as has been mentioned earlier, that should be done with every used car you buy from private.

Point is: Both of them settled for a specific model before starting to shop for a new car and then spent weeks browsing online and offline ads and visiting private-to-private car markets on weekends. The gallery of utter junk they (and me, i went with them some times) saw in this time was hilarious, especially when compared to the ads "descriptions".... but in the end, both found perfectely well-kept cars, and that despite the scrapping scheme having slimmed the low-cost car market even more.
 
Last edited:
Austere said:
I bought a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280S for $3,500 a few years ago. I've spent, maybe.... fifteen-hundred on it? And that includes tyres!

Funny thing is, you can buy a car that's mechanically identical, from the same manufacturer, and the same time period and everything but with two less doors and no roof and it costs ten times as much! People are idiots.

It's actually quite cheap to run. It can get expensive to fix but thankfully there isn't much wrong with mine. Touch wood. Also, I can do a lot of work on it myself if I need to. When you the lift the bonnet all you see is a naked straight six and two carburettors. Granted, they're the most devious carburettors ever made but still, they're the only real complicated bits on the car.

My plan is to keep it forever and to just replace worn out parts as I need to. Surely that will be cheaper than buying a new car every 8-10 years.... Surely.:unsure:

Plus, I've always got a nice S-Class handy. An ace in the hole as it were. You can't tell that I'm broke or that I don't bother to wear underpants half the time.:mrgreen:

Oh and some day... just some day... they might go up in value.:shifty:
Click to expand...

Whoh! Haven't seen you around here in ages! Last time I recall seeing a post from you, I believe you just got a 1337 or something containing it for your numberplate...

Anyway! If you look hard and smart enough, you can find some real bargains. When I was going to look at a 70,000km Mitsubishi Sigma with the 2.6L Arston 4 cylinder, which has a decent bit of pull for a crappy 80's RWD box. I believe it was about $1000 bucks. Sadly, it was already gone!

Keep an eye out in the papers and you can find a real clean, low mileage grandpa car. Hell, that's what my Bluebird is - been in the family for something like 3 years now, the only thing that's broken is the radiator thermostat, which was replaced.

Besides, if you buy a $1000 car that runs really well, gets you around for 6 months and it explodes, that's cheap motoring. And it doesn't matter if you smack it into someone else or a wall or whatever, because you can throw it away and not care.
 
^^ I forgot to mention that when I got into the wreck with my Interceptor they cosmetically totaled it because of its age.

They sent me a check for $2,700!
 
Dsemaj said:
Besides, if you buy a $1000 car that runs really well, gets you around for 6 months and it explodes, that's cheap motoring. And it doesn't matter if you smack it into someone else or a wall or whatever, because you can throw it away and not care.
Click to expand...

Again...all right if you're just going to drive around town, not if you plan long trips with the car. For example, in the Fall I've planned 1,000 mile trip with the Volvo. Would I go if I knew the timing belt, head gasket or something else may explode any minute? No.
 
Just spent 2,200 GBP on a Toyota Yaris 1.0 VVTi GLS from 1999 for mu 17 yo daughter (yes I know, she is a lucky girl!) - 130,000 miles and goes like a dream!

Whilst a learner 670 GBP to insure - once she passes her test I expect it to go up substantially!
 
Momentum57 said:
You need to look over in New York Saw a MK1 golf for 2400 fresh repaint just needs headliner work.
Click to expand...

Over here "fresh repaint" is a code word for rustbucket...
 
public said:
What kind of a dream is it where you drive a Yaris?
Click to expand...

I've driven a Yaris, and In my opinion it would have to be a nightmare.

Worst. gearchange. ever.
 
My complaints about the 1st gen Yaris are centred around the tin can feel of the car, especially on gravel. And I hate the center-mounted speedo.
 
Challenge yes. ...

Toughen her up a bit. ...

Apart from 1 - 2 or 3 - 2 where it is a bit 'notchey' especially when cold, everything else is fine, body work is a bit tatty but no rust to speak of.

byrt what do you want when you are 17 yo girl - something to get you to college and take the old man down the pub (yes that is going to happen!) - that is it really.
 
Around here, you need to shell out 5-7k euros to get a decent basic early-'90s Miata.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top