Today in the Dollar Stretcher... 

Low Cost Car

Where would you look for a car for $500 in your area?

Brandy, I sold a car at a yard sale a few years back for 42% of its value. The friend drove it into the ground, so to speak, but I charged more than $500 for the car.

I've never had a $500 car, but I've driven cars enough miles that it may have ultimately cost the same as paying $500 for a car. It would be according to who did the calculating concerning use. I like Amy D's TWG story about the man who always trades for used Volvos.

 -thyme2save

 Link isn't working. 

I would look in the college towns.  Low cost fuel efficient vehicles have proven very difficult to find in our area.  Months of looking before finding a reliable used car for dd.  Plenty of trucks, jeeps, and SUVs for the picking, though.  

 

 I fixed the link. My daughter's first car cost $500. It was parked at the end of a driveway (on the highway) with a for sale sign. Her dad had given her a beat up Toyota that had four flat tires and was in sad shape. (I think he just wanted rid of it. ) She sold it in that condition for the $500 to buy the car. She drove the car for a year and sold it for $300 to my brother in law who needed a cheap vehicle. There are deals around if you look for them and if you're not too proud to drive what you can afford. 

The cheapest car we have ever bought was one from my brother-in-law for $300. It was a small car in running order. The next one in line for cheap was an $800 family vehicle, great interior, good running condition but it needed a new windshield.

I don't think a $500 car would be easy to find now, at least not in good running condition and not costing another couple hundred to repair.

 

The local newspaper here has a section in the classified for anything under $500. Sometimes there are cars for sale there. Look in the advertising magazines that you can buy in convenience stores for about $1.50 or sometimes they're free. Bulletin boards in grocery stores, churches, the barber shop.

Odd that this should come up now - I'm looking for just such a car for the 3.4 mile commute to the job that I started last month. I'm driving a full-size 4WD pickup truck that I bought new, is now six years old, and that short of a trip made repeatedly is terrible for it since the engine never gets fully warmed up. I often take the "long way" home but that's still not enough. So I'm looking for a "beater car" that I don't care what it looks like as long as it's safe and runs. Doesn't even need A/C or a radio. I figure that if I buy a car for $1,000 or less, insure it for liability only, and it runs for two years I got my nickel's worth.

Here you can get $500 cars but dicey. have to pass aircare which is hard.   Cars are more expensive here.  Though we buy cheap cars more into the $1500 - $2000 range.   Dh latest was $1600 mazda 323 with a little work and mine $1800 mazda mpv '91 and needed $1200 in work.

brakes, tires etc are normal wear and tear so don't count on them all cars need upkeep.

MarthaMFI:

Cars are more expensive here

I think we have similar prices on vehicles.

MarthaMFI:

brakes, tires etc are normal wear and tear so don't count on them all cars need upkeep.

If someone has $500 to spend, they likely are also needing a car that does not need repairs right away unless they are setting a minimum to pay with repairs in mind.

 

Nope for some reason new cars here average about $5-10,000 more then the US for the same models.  always has been.

for a $500 car, you know that you will have some repairs soon. Unless it was a awesome deal from a friend or family member.

The Goodwill takes cars for donations here.  I haven't checked the prices but this is probably one of the cheaper places to get a car.  My cheapest car was $1100 - 15 years ago in high school for a 77 Ford Mustang in MINT condition.