How far would you drive on a gamble for a used car?

Depends on the vehicle - which we DON"T know in this thread. I will say I will travel maybe an hour for a common/popular car but will travel cross country (and have several times) for a nice classic or Corvette.
He said its a 2008 with 114K miles and has a manual trans and they want $5K. Its clearly no classic.

We could start a guessing game? Civic hatch back?
 
I drove 540 miles one way from SD to MO and another 540 miles back to pick up my 2014 Corvette. My brother knew of the car but had never inspected it. He knew the owners and the cars had been stored and driven occasionally for 6 years after the husband died. The 2014 I had purchased last June only had 22,000 miles on it. I bought it and had Discount tire install four new Michelin tires on it and my buddy and drove it home the next day. He drove my 2012 Civic and I drove the Corvette home. It was a very fun trip without any catastrophic problems. For a 5,000 car I would limit the trip to a day up and back or about 600 miles total.
 
How far would you drive for a free car.. I'm withholding any details for the sake of debate.
I’m hesitant to tell the make/model because I don’t want to know how far someone would go for this particular car. I’m interested to know how far you would go to see a car you might like to own. IMO that’s different than how far one might drive to see a car they would LOVE to own, because I think the answer to that is probably a much farther distance.

I would drive a lot farther to see a cherry 1983 Supra than for a 2008 Camry.
 
I’m looking at a $5000 car online. 2008 model, 114k miles.
If it's a 2008 Corvette 6-speed with 114k miles being sold as is with no warranty, I'd drive cross country. Scared money makes no money. But I would imagine most 16 year old cars are sold without a warranty, and unless contrary to state law, they are also sold as is. I see nothing worrisome about that. If you want something with a warranty, buy a late model.
 
For a car like that, I'd drive a few hours.

When I was in college I went to go look at a Corolla a couple hours away. Photographed really well. Showed up and looked at it for maybe 60 seconds before walking away, it was a real pile.
 
So far farthest I drove was 5hrs one way, and that was for car parts.
For a car my farthest is around 3hrs so far, but I'm not opposed to going for longer, if the car is really special to me.
Like a low-mile and/or clean example of 2008:
- manual Mazda 5
- 2.7L or 6.1L Dodge Magnum (yes I dislike 3.5L and 5.7L)
- 6-speed manual or AWD Buick Regal GS
- 6-speed manual 3.5L Nissan Altima sedan, not coupe
- last true automatic Nissan Quest, with those loooong moonroofs and ALL the bells and whistles.
- and a bazillion other automotive oddballs...
 
I think the details here are important. If it's just a run of the mill get around car, likely no. If this is some enthusiast car that just has some miles on it, I'd do it for the right car. I have a feeling I'll be doing this soon as my 14 year old has expressed interest in wanting a VW and I want to get her something cool even if I have to travel a bit for it.

That scenario for me is well worth it. She's into cars and I want to nurture that. I know she'll take good care of a car she likes and there's reasonably priced cars that will fit the bill even if it takes a bit of travel.
 
So far farthest I drove was 5hrs one way, and that was for car parts.
For a car my farthest is around 3hrs so far, but I'm not opposed to going for longer, if the car is really special to me.
Like a low-mile and/or clean example of 2008:
- manual Mazda 5
- 2.7L or 6.1L Dodge Magnum (yes I dislike 3.5L and 5.7L)
- 6-speed manual or AWD Buick Regal GS
- 6-speed manual 3.5L Nissan Altima sedan, not coupe
- last true automatic Nissan Quest, with those loooong moonroofs and ALL the bells and whistles.
- and a bazillion other automotive oddballs...
You guessed it. It’s a manual Mazda 5.
 
You guessed it. It’s a manual Mazda 5.
In that case drive. Drive far lol. Realistically not many things can be wrong with it.
I am 99% sure that it's listed AS-IS due to that damage on the driver rear quarter panel. Plus bigger dealers usually have policies about age and miles, like 8yr/100k mile rule for example, and any car outside of that rule is automatically listed AS-IS.
 
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I was betting on another xB²

The only thing that era Mazda does well is rust, the rocker rot has me concerned for the subframe

Tread carefully 🧐, but I'd drive 1 hour to look at in person
I've walked home disappointed over less 🙄
This is the one I really want but it’s a good 10 hours away and at least $1000 overpriced.


Before I made the drive I would ask for a photo of the underside with it on a rack.
 
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