Economic daily driver: under $1000

[Dumc87]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Come up north where they do safety/ emissions inspections and get your clunker!

I got my tow dolly from a used car dealer who had a friend in SC (across the non-inspected line) and he'd drag rusted out hunks down to sell as buy-here, pay-here.

NC does emissions/ safety inspections, so go at least that far north and get something that fails, cheap.

I got a camry for $400 with holes in the floor, but I patched those and

legal.


That's what I'm talking about lol

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
It's possible to find a old car that's actually decent in that price range. I got my 1998 Mustang GT for $1200. It had working A/C, didn't smoke or rattle on cold start, etc. Only issue was high mileage (163,000 miles). Previous owner just got a new car and was selling his former daily driver. I did some body and paint work, got the engine running right and ended up with $2,500 in it. Dangit, why haven't I been buying cars like this all along. I have thrown a lot of money away on cars in my lifetime. Now that the Mustang is completely restored, it's living out the rest of its life in WV as I gave it to my sister.


As much as I don't like Ford's it looks good to me, and it looks like you made out real good on that one. Nice job!

 

[fdcg27]

You want a thousand buck car that runs and drives?
Easy.
You want a thousand dollar car that runs, drives and delivers decent fuel economy?
A little harder.
You want a thousand dollar car that runs, drives, delivers decent fuel economy and will deliver reliable performance for a while on a four hundred mile a week commute?
Much harder.
You might as well just drive the Matrix, which you know to be reliable and economical.
Even five years of this use would only be another 100K on it, which isn't so awful.
May as well drive your money out of the car you already have.
Cheaper and less risky.
Do you really want to spend your weekends scrounging parts for and working on a beater?

 

[Dumc87]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You want a thousand buck car that runs and drives?
Easy.
You want a thousand dollar car that runs, drives and delivers decent fuel economy?
A little harder.
You want a thousand dollar car that runs, drives, delivers decent fuel economy and will deliver reliable performance for a while on a four hundred mile a week commute?
Much harder.
You might as well just drive the Matrix, which you know to be reliable and economical.
Even five years of this use would only be another 100K on it, which isn't so awful.
May as well drive your money out of the car you already have.
Cheaper and less risky.
Do you really want to spend your weekends scrounging parts for and working on a beater?


I get that it isn't an easy task to find a car for what I'm after, but there's several members here that are resourceful, so I thought I'd get some insight.

 

[fdcg27]

Luck plays a role as does persistent searching.
You might run across a car perfect for your intended use with a lot of looking and a little luck.

 

[Dumc87]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Luck plays a role as does persistent searching.
You might run across a car perfect for your intended use with a lot of looking and a little luck.


One thing I have on my side is plenty of time

That Copart site is really interesting.

 

[Silverado12]

Since I'm part-time I actually have time to hit the junkyards. It's really one of my favorite places to go (OK, I just admitted I have no life LOL). I had a lot of fun with the Mustang GT for the past few months.

 

[Dumc87]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Since I'm part-time I actually have time to hit the junkyards. It's really one of my favorite places to go (OK, I just admitted I have no life LOL). I had a lot of fun with the Mustang GT for the past few months.


Hey I think that's a good use of time

I like to frequent the U-pull and pay, but haven't had much time since I moved over an hour away from where I work,. and I work full time. Funny how I now envy you, and your time to junkyard.

 

[Silverado12]

It's a sickness I tell you. Another project Mustang GT.