How much to spend on a strictly economy car?

[Sidewinder]

In the early 1990's you could get a 10-year-old Honda or Toyota for $3K.

 

However, it is not the 1990's anymore.  : /

 

If I want new-to-me wheels, we're talking basic, point A to B, 5spd manual and a sunroof/moonroof, to serve my transportation needs for the next four or five years or so, what sort of price range should I be looking at?  BofA, which is possibly my favorite lender and I one of their favorite borrowers, won't write a car loan in Minnesota for less than $8K, but I wonder if I might be able to spend less than that (& obviously finance it elsewhere).

 

: /

[Sidewinder]

Also totally screw all of that; I want a sportscar

[Bad Doctor Frost]

15 hours ago, Sidewinder said:

Also totally screw all of that; I want a sportscar

Why not both? Get a Miata. Cheap. Economical. And 100% pure sports car.

 

AND!! Since you're in MN, you have Zach at MiataSource right there.

 

Problem solved. You're welcome.

 

EDIT: Be careful, though. People on this site (may she rest in peace) struggle with windows on their Miatas at car washes.

 

ABORT! ABORT!

Edited December 28, 2022 by Bad Doctor Frost
I miss Hlburi.

[centex]

There are plenty of older cars that are mechanically sound.  This is a good time of year to look at convertibles up north.  That market picks up again in a few months as Spring rolls around.  They may not be top shelf Hagerty scoring vehicles, but they can still be fun...

 

If you were closer to Texas, I could get you into an XK8 coupe for under $5K as long as you didn't mind the mileage and paid attention to the fact that it was always serviced at the same Jaguar dealership.  It doesn't get you a drop top or a manual tranny though.  

 

Miatas are pretty much bullet proof, especially the NA and to a lesser extent, the NB.  The seals can be problematic especially if the top has been replaced but the seals were not.  I keep a towel in mine for heavy rains because a very small gap on the driver's side window will let water drop in.  Still on the original engine despite being north of 200K miles, although it does have a replacement tranny out of a '92 black and tan that went in around the 200K mark.  

 

If you can forego the sports car element, there are some deals to be had on the older X-types and S-types, both of which could be had in a manual.  I've had two of the X-types and dad had two of the S-types.  He showed his and won several awards (neither was a manual).  My ex got the 2004.5 X-type when we split up and she later traded it.  I drive my 2003 almost daily...it is 5spd and AWD.  When the manuals can be found, you can still often see them under $3K.  And, since it shared a design with a Ford-design, there is a lot of interchangeable parts on the expensive-to-replacium sort of stuff.  I've got about 185K miles on it, ~85K of which I have put on in the past eight or so years.  The only major expense in that time was a new clutch around 140K miles.  It also sees the same dealership for service that the F-type and XK8 go to...I just trust my service writer more than a non-Jag shop.

[Sidewinder]

3 hours ago, centex said:

There are plenty of older cars that are mechanically sound.  This is a good time of year to look at convertibles up north.  That market picks up again in a few months as Spring rolls around.  They may not be top shelf Hagerty scoring vehicles, but they can still be fun...

 

If you were closer to Texas, I could get you into an XK8 coupe for under $5K as long as you didn't mind the mileage and paid attention to the fact that it was always serviced at the same Jaguar dealership.  It doesn't get you a drop top or a manual tranny though.  

 

Miatas are pretty much bullet proof, especially the NA and to a lesser extent, the NB.  The seals can be problematic especially if the top has been replaced but the seals were not.  I keep a towel in mine for heavy rains because a very small gap on the driver's side window will let water drop in.  Still on the original engine despite being north of 200K miles, although it does have a replacement tranny out of a '92 black and tan that went in around the 200K mark.  

 

If you can forego the sports car element, there are some deals to be had on the older X-types and S-types, both of which could be had in a manual.  I've had two of the X-types and dad had two of the S-types.  He showed his and won several awards (neither was a manual).  My ex got the 2004.5 X-type when we split up and she later traded it.  I drive my 2003 almost daily...it is 5spd and AWD.  When the manuals can be found, you can still often see them under $3K.  And, since it shared a design with a Ford-design, there is a lot of interchangeable parts on the expensive-to-replacium sort of stuff.  I've got about 185K miles on it, ~85K of which I have put on in the past eight or so years.  The only major expense in that time was a new clutch around 140K miles.  It also sees the same dealership for service that the F-type and XK8 go to...I just trust my service writer more than a non-Jag shop.

 

Which, is what I said basically.

[hegemony]

what did you buy? @Sidewinder

[DRTDEVL]

On 12/27/2022 at 2:02 AM, Sidewinder said:

In the early 1990's you could get a 10-year-old Honda or Toyota for $3K.

 

However, it is not the 1990's anymore.  : /

 

If I want new-to-me wheels, we're talking basic, point A to B, 5spd manual and a sunroof/moonroof, to serve my transportation needs for the next four or five years or so, what sort of price range should I be looking at?  BofA, which is possibly my favorite lender and I one of their favorite borrowers, won't write a car loan in Minnesota for less than $8K, but I wonder if I might be able to spend less than that (& obviously finance it elsewhere).

 

: /

In 2019, I got an 8-year old Prius for $4800 in MN...  It all depends upon how comfortable you are at fixing issues.  This one was lit up like a Christmas tree, but it only needed rear wheel bearings and speed sensor harnesses (the sensors are integral to the bearing assemblies), and the lights shut off on their own.

Here in 2023, I am still driving that Prius, 75,000 miles later.

[Sidewinder]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:58 PM, hegemony said:

what did you buy? @Sidewinder

 

Half-gallon whole milk, dozen white jumbo eggs, two Texas Red grapefruits, buttermilk, sweet onion hamburger buns, cranberry nut granola cereal, and a treat of fresh blueberries.

[Sidewinder]

(Now I'm not sure if this belongs in the Automamotive forum or not...  : /  )

 

1. Have any of youse had experience with the car-buying "benefits" touted by certain cc companies and organizations (like AAA)?  According to AAA, I have access to their "car-buying service" which seems not to be anything other than a link to truecar - this is the same experience I've had using the car-buying perk for American Express cardmembers.  In both cases they show me a selection of vehicles from truecar that is narrower and not any more enticing, price-wise, than one finds by just walking up to the front door of carfax or cars.com, without any AmEx or AAA card to wave around.

 

I've spent less time checking out the "exclusive" networks o' car dealers that Chase and CapitalOne have stitched together for us elite customers of theirs but at this rate I'm comfortably certain that those are also nothing special. 

 

Is there something I'm missing?  Has AAA membership or AmEx/Chase/Cap1 customerhood brought any real benefits to any of you car shoppers out there?

 

2.  What about this thing where you buy a car online from far away (e.g. one 2017 Chevy Equinox I'm eyeing is in Plymouth, Michigan) and they deliver it to you (sometimes from not so far away; I found one in Rochester MN as well) for a few hundred dollars' delivery fee.  Indeed I leased my Corolla back in 2012 without having test-driven it, but that was just a 3-year lease I was committing to (and not seeking anything more than getting away from Metro Transit) at the time.  For a full-on PURCHASE it seems like maybe not the way to go.  I have trouble discounting it entirely though, as I have found a few out-of-state (but still Midwestern) listings that seem possibly perfect.  : /

 

(Edit: See, it seems the Chevy Equinox had to many problems in the pre-2016 model years but that the ones since then have done very well reliability-wise - in some cases even eclipsing the Corolla.)

Edited May 6 by Sidewinder

[hegemony]

On 5/5/2023 at 7:35 PM, Sidewinder said:

(Now I'm not sure if this belongs in the Automamotive forum or not...  : /  )

 

1. Have any of youse had experience with the car-buying "benefits" touted by certain cc companies and organizations (like AAA)?  According to AAA, I have access to their "car-buying service" which seems not to be anything other than a link to truecar - this is the same experience I've had using the car-buying perk for American Express cardmembers.  In both cases they show me a selection of vehicles from truecar that is narrower and not any more enticing, price-wise, than one finds by just walking up to the front door of carfax or cars.com, without any AmEx or AAA card to wave around.

 

I've spent less time checking out the "exclusive" networks o' car dealers that Chase and CapitalOne have stitched together for us elite customers of theirs but at this rate I'm comfortably certain that those are also nothing special. 

 

Is there something I'm missing?  Has AAA membership or AmEx/Chase/Cap1 customerhood brought any real benefits to any of you car shoppers out there?

 

2.  What about this thing where you buy a car online from far away (e.g. one 2017 Chevy Equinox I'm eyeing is in Plymouth, Michigan) and they deliver it to you (sometimes from not so far away; I found one in Rochester MN as well) for a few hundred dollars' delivery fee.  Indeed I leased my Corolla back in 2012 without having test-driven it, but that was just a 3-year lease I was committing to (and not seeking anything more than getting away from Metro Transit) at the time.  For a full-on PURCHASE it seems like maybe not the way to go.  I have trouble discounting it entirely though, as I have found a few out-of-state (but still Midwestern) listings that seem possibly perfect.  : /

 

(Edit: See, it seems the Chevy Equinox had to many problems in the pre-2016 model years but that the ones since then have done very well reliability-wise - in some cases even eclipsing the Corolla.)

how about a 1940 LaSalle?

[Sidewinder]

6 hours ago, hegemony said:

how about a 1940 LaSalle?

 

Gee, our old one ran great...