The good news is that I have finally scored a decent-paying job here in the Denver area, and start my new job in about a week.
The bad news is that I need a car to be able to do my job: The times I start my shifts are crazy, varying from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m., and I will be working out of a variety of locations. If they find out I don’t have a car, I likely will lose my job, so time is of the essence.
For the past several months, I have been getting by riding the bus, but that’s not going to cut it anymore. And because I’ve just relocated back to Colorado and have been working crap temp jobs, I simply cannot afford to buy a car. I will barely have enough to cover insurance, registration and gas, at least until I’ve been solidly employed for a few months.
I really only need something to get me through the next 4 to 6 months or so, until I can qualify for a car loan. I’ve been checking Craigslist and the local papers, but most everything for $300 and less isn’t running and/or requires $300-$600 worth of work.
So, any ideas on how I can get my hands on a super cheap or free car in the next couple of weeks?
You could try calling 211. It’s a Colorado service that tries to hook people up with an organization that can help them. They may be able to refer you to someone.
I sent a note to my pal who lives up in the mountains outside of Boulder. ( Yeah, I know, not Denver. But I drove from Denver through Boulder up that mountain last year. Not so far. ) Asked for help, I’ll call her if I don’t get any answers by tomorrow this time.
Cartooniverse ( who thinks you should find a job down the block and spend the bread on an Ovation… )
Could be that the job is not going to work out. Different places at 3am? Sounds like a temp agency job. They make those sound full time but they aren’t. Work a week and off two.
I’d say find a job close to where you are. Start going door to door at every business and ask if they are hiring. Most stores with clerks will have some unposted openings.
Go on ebay and buy a car. You can probably find a 1988-1992 something or other for $400.
Get a motorcycle. They are cheap, but you probably can’t drive it legally. Nevermind
Get a rental car to tide you over. But that’ll be grossly expensive, probably $60/week or so.
Go on craigslist or something and ask people if they’d be willing to rent you their spare car for a few months. Some people have an extra car they don’t use that they may be willing to rent out.
Hm, tough situation. Searching around a bit, I found this site: http://www.carpoolworld.com/ Maybe you can find someone who you can work out an arrangement with on there.
Good luck. Hope you can find something that works out for you.
Try the Salvation Army. No really. The Salvation Army here in Oakland regularly have cars that run for $99. I suspect they’re cast offs that no one bid on at auction. They’re not much to look at but they run.
Thanks for the 411 on the 211, Frank. I’ll give them a call in the morning. I don’t belong to a church, but I did email several local churches about my predicament, in the hopes that they can direct me to services. We’ll see what happens.
Thanks, Cartooniverse! I actually live right in between Denver and Boulder, in Louisville, and I have a part-time job in downtown Boulder; it’s an easy commute by bus. I truly wish I didn’t have to buy a car. Just think of the guitar I could buy! If your friend can help, I will be forever indebted.
Um, no, this is a permanent job with a very large company in the Denver and Boulder area. I will be a full-time “on call” employee in the beginning, until I build a bit of seniority. After that, I will be able to pick my shifts, so they won’t be changing all the time.
There are several cheap cars on eBay, but no way to do a search for cars in my area; you just have to open each ad one at a time. I have been looking, though.
I can get a motorcycle license easy enough, as I used to own a bike, but it gets DAMN cold here in the winter, not to mention slick. It’s just not practical.
If it were only $60 a week, I might consider it. Where do you find rental cars that cheap? Perhaps there’s a company in my area …
That’s a great idea, Mr. Clark! I’ll amend my Craigslist ad. Thanks!
Wow, cool website, lavenderviolet, but unfortunately, I will probably be called the night before or the day of and then told which location I’ll be working out of, so that probably won’t work. Plus, probably not many people carpooling at 3 a.m. If it was a regular shift in the same location at the same time every day, that site would be the way to go.
I don’t care what it looks like. I’ll check out their website. Thanks, Stuffy!
Do you have any family from whom you could borrow a few hundred dollars short-term? No one likes to impose on family, but that’s sort of what they’re there for.
Also, on ebay you can put in a qualifier that says X miles from a given zip code.
eBay should allow you to narrow your search - under Search Options (left side of the listing and search result pages), choose “items within <box> miles”. If you don’t see this option, maybe you haven’t logged into eBay properly.
Does Rent-A-Dent still exist? We used them years ago in Seattle when our car was stolen, and they were really cheap. The car was no frills and ugly but reliable.
$8 a day is the low rate advertised at www.car-rentals.com and they have an office in Denver.
I don’t know about Colorado, but central Iowa has several car dealers who specialize in financing. Their ads say they’ll sell you a car for no money down, guaranteed, regardless of credit history. Definitely not a good long-term solution, but as a last resort, a place like that might come in handy.
Their “Car Rental USA” button won’t load. I just get a Not Found error message.
But I’ll do a search for Rent-a-Dent and Ugly Duckling Rent-a-Car around here and maybe I’ll get lucky. I didn’t realize they were so cheap. Perhaps I can stall paying till I get my first paycheck …
A car loan might be possible (my credit’s not bad) with a few months at a job, but I haven’t even started yet! I’m going to try to get a small car loan tomorrow; I’m hopeful, but not very optimistic. Thanks for the tip, AuntiePam.
Thanks, AuntiePam, I DID find a car, thanks to a loan from a very kind and generous person, my improved credit, and Subaru’s no-down-payment plan. It was easier to buy a car through financing so that I could postpone the payment till after my job started than to try to finagle enough money to buy a $1,000 car that may or may not be reliable.
Here’s a pic. It’s a 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, clearly a car with an identity crisis.
It runs like a top, and because I have the wheels, I was able to start my new job last Friday!
Thanks to all who offered ideas and advice. I don’t know how I ever got through life without the wonderful help of Dopers. You guys rock!
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