I’m not sure. The article noted that they priced the new cars at the end of the model year when there were “tempting deals being advertised at every turn”. Also, it’s possible that 4 years ago there was still some lingering effect of the cash-for-clunkers program. (You noted upthread that these cars are not clunkers, but increasing the price for clunkers had a ripple effect on better quality used cars as well.)
I like Jeep Wranglers, and have owned several. But, it’s the kind of car people seem to buy on a whim or have their circumstances change so that they trade them back quickly.
I have bought several of my Wranglers from people who have owned their brand new car a few months when they find out they are having a baby, hate the ride, etc. Great deals to be had.
Don’t look solely at the asking price and prive depreciation: over time, fuel and repair costs add up to much, much larger costs. That’s where the little Japanese cars shine.
I haven’t seen such a test in your consumers report ( You have several in the US? We have just one, a big independent one).
Also, if buying price is an issue, and you plan to ride the car untill it is scrapped, try and buy a car that others might not want, but for the wrong reasons. A good friend of mine got a cheap deal on a bright purple Suzuki Swift, because fashionable women wouldn’t want to be caught dead in a model that was so clearly four years old, and men wouldn’t be caught dead in a little Suzuki Swift, period, and even less so ( caught buried?) in a bright purple one.
My friend, who had enough self-confidence to drive a purple Suzuki Swift, got a great deal, spent the money saved on timely maintenance, and can ALWAYS easily find his purple car in a crowded parking lot. He’s had the Suzuki now for ten years, trouble free.
Nowadays? Go to cars.com or autotrader, set the search engine to $10k and a color she likes and pick one. Cars these days are pretty reliable appliances if it doesn’t come from Europe, and even those aren’t that bad if it wasn’t something that cost $100k new.
You can occasionally find great deals on craigslist, but you have to look constantly because the best deals are snatched up within the hour. Unless you want to make a hobby out of looking for a car, check the used car sites like cars.com, autotrader.com, carmax.com, etc.
If I didn’t loathe automatics so much, I’d consider a used police cruiser for my next car, I may not particularly like ford, but the crown Vic interceptor is a pretty solid car, the newer Dodge Charger police models aren’t bad either
But I hate sludgeboxes, so they’re not an option
I think my next vehicle is also going to be an older used car, I’ll keep my current '07 VW Rabbit as a secondary car / winter beater as it would have no trade value (120k miles) and get either a small sporty rear drive car (Mazda MX-5 or Scion FR-S (Toyota 86) or a small 4wd truck (Toyota Tacoma)
On people’s front lawns with For Sale signs on them. Best thing about that, is that you can assume that a person takes care of his car about the same as he takes care of his house and yard, so you get a good clue before you even stop. Often these are cars that are being sold by a person who is tired of looking at them, and prices can be very fluid. I’ve bought several really cheap, really nice cars off people’s front lawns.
Do NOT narrow down you list of what you will accept. If you see a car for sale, stop and look. It might be a make or model that you would never have paid attention to, but a great car for a great price is always worth it, even if its a Dodge Caravan. If you insist that it MUST be a Honda or Toyota, you’re going to miss out on dozens of nice deals.
Man, I sure am glad the guy who bought my Pontiac didn’t look too hard at the yard, it’s a mess.
Sold within two days of me putting it on Craigslist for full asking price, after months of a family friend trying to sell it to various dealers.
I agree with Fotheringay-Phipps (post #12) that auto mechanics are worth investigating, especially one you have done business with. The truck I have now was fully repaired by my mechanic and the customer flaked out on payment. My mechanic sold it to me for the cost of the repair, $1400. I’ve had it for six years now without a problem.
I also suggest going to local towing companies to see if they have some unpaid impounds they are able to sell. Some of those vehicles are in great condition and the purchase price can be negotiated because the towing companies want to recover the storage costs and get rid of the vehicle.
I have a Volvo that was $15k with 60k miles on it. I would expect to get another 100k miles on it (I’ll sell it long before that, if my kids don’t total it). Its a nice little black sedan with leather seats that probably went for around $40k new. No significant body damage (a nick on the back bumper)
I’m in between cars myself, and while waiting for the new car I’ve had to find a cheap long-term rental. Looking for the cheapest possible transportation on four wheels for about 5 or 6 weeks, I got a rental deal from Enterprise that turned out to be a Toyota Yaris. It isn’t the kind of car I’d ever buy myself, but it has grown on me from the initial impression of a dinky little shoebox. I just thought I’d mention that it might meet the basic transportation needs of a lot of folks and can be bought brand new in your general price range.
It is, admittedly, at the rock bottom of the Toyota line, but it handles well, it’s nimble in the city and feels as stable as a locomotive on the highway. In fact if it wasn’t for the anemic four-banger that powers it I’d consider its handling rather sporty. It’s a hatchback and the back seats fold down to create more cargo space than the trunk of even a large car. It has a decent sound system and all the basic power amenities. It’s an interesting glimpse into how a quality car maker like Toyota handles the production of a low-budget car, and the answer seems to be: quite well, actually. Mind you the example here is a relatively new car and I don’t know how well they hold up in the long term.
What area of the country are you in? And what type of car?
In my last search I discovered this site: https://autoauctions.gsa.gov/GSAAutoAuctions/
Which sells former government fleet vehicles. They will be very well cared for, and have top of the line security and other extras. You just have to wait for the type of thing you want to come by.
In the end though, I bought through CarMax. I got an '07 Honda CRV-EXL with probably 100k miles left in her for only $7k. That includes a complete warranty so I don’t expect to spend much on repairs if they’re needed.
I’m very happy with it.
My Echo is the predecessor to the Toyota Yaris and most peoples’ first impressions are similar, as are the second once they’ve been driving them for awhile.
My Echo is 14 years old, still going strong, has required no more than routine maintenance and replacement parts due to normal wear in a car with more than 100,000 miles (like tires), gets great mileage, handles well.
The only two drawbacks are, as you noted, not an over-abundance of power (which I can deal with) and anemic air-conditioning, which the dealer warned us about prior to purchase. Otherwise, we’ve been extremely happy and wish they still made Echoes because when this one finally wears out we wouldn’t have minded getting another.
In other words, with proper maintenance the lower-end Toyotas seem to do just fine long term.
A friend has a Crown Vic. Hates it that everyone sees him coming and slows down to Speed Limit Minus One. So he gets to drive his powerful car at 54 mph…
Damn, I miss my Echo. The manual had a lot of pep. But mine got creamed by an 18-wheeler. I mean, I’m glad the Echo died and not me, but still…
What I don’t get about the OP is that if he/she can find a new car for 10k but not a used one why not consider getting a 10k new car? It won’t have the snazziest bells and whistles but if what you need is basic transportation why not?
Yeah, used to have a white Crown Vic, and for a trip or two after getting it (estate sale), I wondered why traffic was going exactly the speed limit. Then I realized that they thought I was a cop!
Sweet car otherwise though; 5.0L EFI V8, all the bells and whistles, etc…
I knew a guy with a Crown Vic who did the exact opposite. He also said people tended to assume he was a cop, so he would drive in the left lane (with his lights on, for some reason) and watch people move out of his way so he could sweep past them.
He doesn’t live in India. The lowest sticker price in the USA is $13K, plus all the dealer add ons, and good luck finding a dealer with a stripper in stock without $2-3K options. After the add-ons, you won’t find a car in a US showroom out the door for under $17K. And considering dollar-for-dollar value, there are a lot of really good reasons not to buy an entry-level car, which is another topic altogether.
Maybe I didn’t express myself clearly. Let me try to explain my thought process and tell me where my logic train went off the tracks.
-
A “good used car” is something like 3-4 years old, with appropriate mileage (10-15K per year.) That’s according to the articles I linked to upthread.
-
A good used car should cost susbstantially less than a new car, or be a better model than a new car at the same price.
-
Ergo, if my daughter can buy a Chevrolet Spark or a Nissan Versa for $10K (which is what the model year close-out dealer ads are claiming) she should be able to find a variety of 3-4 year old “good used cars” for $10K, or find 3-4 year old Sparks and Versas for considerably less than $10K.
And that’s where my logical progression falls apart. There are very few late-model, mileage-appropriate used Spark, Versa, Mazda2 or Toyota Yaris type cars available for much under $10K and there are almost no better types (Corolla, Civic, Mazda3, Chevrolet Cruise, etc.) available for $10K.
So, are the articles making a wrong assumption about real-world pricing? Is this just a temporary anomoly because dealers are trying to dump the cars on their lots to make room for 2017 models? Do I lack the ability to sniff out a good deal?