Guest Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 My moms car was rear ended about two months ago. Insurance just barely got around to paying her for the vehicle. Unfortunately, all they paid out was $2800 and change due to the salvage title of the vehicle. Although I'm around the car biz all day long. I look for used cars in all places including craigslist. At $3000 and under, it's a sorry arse field of available cars. I'm mainly only looking for Japanese grocery getters, no American brands or German. $3000 really doesn't get you much car now a days. A bunch of run down piles of garbage with 200K plus miles or beat to snott bodies. I found one 2002 Accord with one of my customers, had a minor 1/4 panel damage, other than that the car was super clean with only 130K. For a Honda, that's low miles. But the title turned out to be salvage also due to the 1/4 panel damage. Just a rant. Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 First generation acura integra are awesome. anything under 300,000 mile is running like new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I'm trying to stay with in the late late 90's and early 2000's, preferably early 2000's. Which narrows the field down quite a bit. I'm gonna start looking at the online dealer auctions or insurance auctions for damaged vehicles with clean titles. I prefer a car with a blown engine or trans, as I can get those fixed relatively inexpensive. A broken down car maybe the cheapest way to get a newer Jap car. I have customers that are wholesale buyers at various dealers, gonna give that a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Oh youll prolly find some nice camry cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanta Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I feel your pain all too well. Look for a Subaru Outback. They're pretty affordable. Avoid the 2.5L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spadey Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I would think you could find a Saturn or 2 my uncles just got a 97 Saturn with around 30,000 miles for 2600 and the car was mint!! Also we got a 97 jetta for 400 bucks I mean its not perfect on the inside but it runs good and never caused any problems. Might just have to wait it out a little to get that good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Must be a Cali thing. There's nice Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans around here for $3kish. maybe some dents or dings here and there, and the mileage may be pushing 100k, but they all still have lots of life in them. All the junky cars here are $2k or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Must be a Cali thing. There's nice Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans around here for $3kish. maybe some dents or dings here and there, and the mileage may be pushing 100k, but they all still have lots of life in them. All the junky cars here are $2k or less. Yeah, it's a SoCal thing. Junky high mileage cars are abundant, salage titles everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 What about taking a weekend and your tow truck and going a state or two over to try and find something with more bang for your buck? Might be worth the extra gas and time to end up with a nice $3k car instead of a $3k wreck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 What about taking a weekend and your tow truck and going a state or two over to try and find something with more bang for your buck? Might be worth the extra gas and time to end up with a nice $3k car instead of a $3k wreck. It's crossed my mind. Colorado, Utah etc. I know a transporter from Texas to LA that will bring me a car cheaper than the cost of diesel for me to go out there. I really would love a Diesel VW Jetta, but they big bucks now since the fuel spike. But for all practicality, a Toyota or Honda will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 If you want something cheap and reliable I would go with a honda or an escort. Honda's are a little more money because of the notable reliability of them but parts are cheap and they're super easy to work on. An escort or equivalent (tracer, protege) are great little cars no matter what alot of people say. I drove mine to just under 200k and it still had many, many miles left in it when I sold it. Parts are super cheap and again they're rather simple to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer_amx Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Easy.. mazda protegegood gas mileage, very very reliable and well built, im partial to the 96-98 body style but the newer models look decent as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) Yeah there are alot of salvaged title cars out there. The high miles on some of these cars makes me wonder. 8 years old and 200k + miles on the car? That's a long work commute. It's annoying when people lie in their for sale ads. Looks ok in the pictures but when you go see the car it's a total pos. Edited December 30, 2012 by ucw458 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Yeah there are alot of salvaged title cars out there. The high miles on some of these cars makes me wonder. 8 years old and 200k + miles on the car? That's a long work commute. It's annoying when people lie in their for sale ads. Looks ok in the pictures but when you go see the car it's a total pos. Thats the other problem. That's why I'm trying to stay away from criagslist cars and mostly looking with wholesale guys I know. Time is not in my favor though, need to get her a car at the earliest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 dude, our 99 altima is nearing it's end, and I can't justify putting more money in to a car that i HATE haha. it's such a turd. anyhow, it's hard to find decent cars for even 4000 in cali now. it's stupid. we want something that has at least some style and even for a crappy 5 series or an a4 people are asking WAY over blue book. idk, i'm starting to feel the need to buy another pre-smog datsun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 This is part of the consiquences of cash for clunkers. Lots of cheap used cars got scrapped. The remaining cars now cost more. I can get double the blue book value for my toyota truck. But the reason why people will pay 4k for my 91 yota is the same reason why I want to keep it. Reliability and low mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Sweet deal here... http://springfieldil.craigslist.org/cto/3508822229.html Little more than $3k, but low miles. I have no trouble driving a state or two or three away to get the car I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobH Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 to bad your not closer to florida i have a 2000 camry im trying to sell i put a 30k mile engine in 6 or 7 months ago installed new timing belt water pump tesioner tesioner pulley idler pulleytrans flush and filter new tires anyway im only selling it cause i got a dif car and i cant sell it cars just arnt moving around here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud81918 Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 I know you said no American, but don't write off the first gen Ford Focus with a Zetec. They are an honest little car that can be found for around that price. As a Saturn owner. I'd warn you that the S-series cars are getting pretty old and have there share of issues as milage increases, but I think the Focus is ripe. Good ones can be picked up for thousand less than a comparable import and they are solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOSTED88tsi Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 look at how easy this was http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=134910&hl=haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Rob, that Camry would'nt last one weekened with a for sale sign in SoCal. Seriously. Cloud, I'm aware of the Focus's reliability, the Ztec that is not the single cam. Though single cams can be reliable once the factory problem of dropping valve seats is corrected. But those Focus are going for good money around here, almost as much as a comparable import. Mitsu's are off my list, they're crap, in all honesty. Mazda's are crap too, ugly and basically disguised Ford products. Subaru's are OK, but unless it's top of the line model, they are quite ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyers151 Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 How about a 2wd Jeep Cherokee? I know you said you prefer import commuter types, but it's hard to beat a 4.0 Jeep motor for reliability, and the 2wd chassis will get 20mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Mazda's are crap too, ugly and basically disguised Ford products. Actually you have that backwards. Ford used more mazda engines & platforms than mazda did ford's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Actually you have that backwards. Ford used more mazda engines & platforms than mazda did ford's. Yeah, I know. But both suck, almost equally. I need a not so crap econobox. I even started considering Nissan Maximas. They are reliable as heck, but fuel economy is not that great. There's an '07 Ford Focus close to me with tag axle damage and left 1/4 panel damage, am considering looking at it tomorrow. If the price is right, maybe it's worth the trouble of repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Yeah, I know. But both suck, almost equally. I need a not so crap econobox. I even started considering Nissan Maximas. They are reliable as heck, but fuel economy is not that great. Don't get a maxima. Look for an altama with a inline 4 cyl. There Ok on gas and about as nice. Only real issue I have ever seen is that stupid valve cover seals leaking oil into the plug holes, and you have to basicly replace the whole cover. Not a major job, but a bit of a PITA for something a proper seal would fix (proper seals seem to not be avalable for them ether) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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