… would you advise me to do that? I’m a little old woman in need of a little old car just for getting around town–you know, to the library and grocery store once in a while. The Toyota I’ve had since 1988 won’t pass inspection this year.
A two- or three-thousand-dollar car would be just the ticket, what with my fixed income and all, but I can’t seem to find a place to shop for a car like that in the Dallas area. Ebay seems to offer a lot of help in making a good decision if you know about cars, but I do not (and for the life of me can’t seem to generate any interest!).
I’d be ever grateful if some car-savvy person could look over Hondas being offered on Ebay and advise me at least enough to avoid any waving red flags. Wonder what the odds are there’d be something within a half-day distance. :eek:
I would try a site like Autotrader.com before looking on ebay. On autotrader you’re going to get an idea of what both dealers and private sellers are asking for the type of car you want. You can put in your zip code and then search for cars in a certain radius from your location. Once you’ve decided on a certain model, then you might see what’s on ebay.
Does it HAVE to be a Honda? Used Hondas (and Toyotas) are way, way overpriced, especially in your price range. They tend to have way too many miles for the cost.
How about a late 90s- early 2000s Geo Prizm? It shares the design of the Toyota Corolla (they were even made in the same factory in California) but usually goes for less without the Toyota nameplate.
Some other cars that might be good values in that price range:1998-2002 Mazda Protege and 626, 1996-2001 Nissan Altima, 1997-2002 Buick Century, 1997-2002 Ford Escort (surprisingly reliable!); 1998-2000 Mitsubishi Mirage.
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When I went car shopping, I discovered something interesting about the Toyota Matrix (I suspect this could apply to many Toyotas or even Hondas). If you divide the miles left on a new car (say, 250K) by the expected price, it comes out less expensive than a used car with the same features. That is to say, Toyota has built such a reputation for quality that the cars are at first actually appreciating off the lot. You are paying more per remaining mile for the used one. This is why I bought a new one, which I thought I would never do.
I would suggest running that calculation on cars found on Craigslist or Autotrader, etc. to discover which models are really cheapest. Also, I would very much suggest shopping for something near enough that you can pay $50 and have a mechanic vet it for you. I found out much too late that there was a compression leak in a little pickup I bought years ago. I ended up giving that away to a charity.
Many thanks for your help, folks. I bought a 2002 Ford Escort today and am a happy camper!
Miz
Was that because I recommended it? I had a 1998 Escort wagon as a commuter car briefly. I then sold it to my friend in 2005 - he still has it. He’s tough on cars but the Escort is trouble-free for him.
I understand GM is selling them on ebay these days. I’m gonna find a new Corvette and bid a dollar for it.
Hey, it’s worth a try…
I bought a car on ebay a few years back–I did make sure it was in the same city I was in, though. I didn’t want the hassle of shipping. It worked out great, and I was able to get the car for about $10k off full retail price.