I've been looking around for a cheap little gas getter something like a little Saturn s series or focus maybe even a neon. A car that would have been $2,000 a couple years ago. Now around me they're priced at 3500-4500. That is private party sellers as well. Are people really getting near this? Seems totally crazy to me. Are decent $2,000 cars just not a thing anymore ?
Price of cheap used cars in your neck of the woods.
- Thread starter wheelman
- Start date
$2000 will get you a potentially reliable car that needs a lot of work in my area.
A coworker of mine just bought a decent condition '99-ish, lower mileage (
Unless you get really lucky, I don't see $2,000 buying any sort of reliable daily driver. Maybe an around town beater, but expect to put some money into any $2,000 car to make it reliable.
No they are "not a thing". $5,000.00 is the new $2,000.00
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You get what you pay for. $1,400 now needs a bit of work.likely cat is near gone, oil consumption.buying someone's car your buying thief trouble.they want it gone,sold,and not gunna tell you everything.they want the money,n problem car gone. $4-5,000 your in very good shape. $2,000...struts pron on way out or halfway through brakes or something.
Carfax.
In upstate ny, the prices are not great at all, no deals to be found…
I have been looking at “older” Kia SUV’s for winter driving.
9k gets you a 8 year old suv with 177k miles.
2k gets you a 21 year old Nissan, with rust, no exhaust and check engine. Oh at least it only has 120k.
I have been looking at “older” Kia SUV’s for winter driving.
9k gets you a 8 year old suv with 177k miles.
2k gets you a 21 year old Nissan, with rust, no exhaust and check engine. Oh at least it only has 120k.
$2000 truck in 2022
I always considered trucks unnecessary. Always looked for reasons to justify buying anything, but a truck. (Like c'mon... A Prius with a trailer will do the same or better.) But this deal was too good to pass up, so here we are. In the future I don't know how to live without a truck now...
bobistheoilguy.com
Doable, just gotta stay on the lookout. I saw a couple Corolla/Yaris with 200k and 5-speeds. Just broken in, prices were $2500-$3000. Obviously they were gone within 24 hours, but similar ones do show up regularly. Just gotta keep an eye out and have cash on hand. First come first serve seems to be the theme across the board.
Central NY here. Crazy prices for sure.
Friend was looking for a car for her graduating senior in the 6-8k range.
Most of it was old and/or very high miles like you said.
Bumped to $9k and they lucked out with a decent VW.
The asking prices for beaters around here is $2500-$3500. These are the same cars that would have an asking price of $1000 a couple of years ago. And at these bloated prices I see the same listings because nobody is dumb enough to pay $3500 for a car that's only worth $800.
And the supply of cheap cars will not recover. Small cheap sedans are being made in increasingly small numbers as the market has moved to SUVs, CUVs and trucks.
Rental companies have zero inventory to flow through as used cars. Which replace the lower end cars. Which turn into the $2000 beater.
Also, everyone is looking for the "small car" to save on gas.
I look at my Enterprise "for sale to dealer" list today and they have 32 vehicles for sale, most are close to or over 60,000 miles.
Previous to March 2020, they would have 1,300 on the for sale list.
We will not get back to pre 2020 car markets.
The market is dealing with supply chain disruptions the last 3ish years and will deal with disruption going forward with BEVs
Rental companies have zero inventory to flow through as used cars. Which replace the lower end cars. Which turn into the $2000 beater.
Also, everyone is looking for the "small car" to save on gas.
I look at my Enterprise "for sale to dealer" list today and they have 32 vehicles for sale, most are close to or over 60,000 miles.
Previous to March 2020, they would have 1,300 on the for sale list.
We will not get back to pre 2020 car markets.
The market is dealing with supply chain disruptions the last 3ish years and will deal with disruption going forward with BEVs
$5000 is the new $2000 around here. Good luck with your search.
Pretty much Facebook Marketplace. There's tons of scam ads, junk, and you need to move the search area around a lot if you are after something specific, but that's basically where stuff is. Both of my Explorers were FB Marketplace purchases.
Wheelman, I would suggest that you hit your local salvage yard, and look at their "Runner list" They often will get inventory in from the impound yards, that still have some life in them. Just make sure that you can get a title with the car or one issued by the state.
Buying at auction gets you cars that 100 professionals have already looked at and passed over. And they know more than you or I.
Best spot (in my area) is still facebook marketplace. Not just the car section but general for sale, (town) for sale, garage sale, etc. Find a moron who just wants to get rid of "trouble" and show up with cash fast.
ATMs limit to $500-1000, so cars over that won't sell in the evening when banks are closed. Many do not carry cash. Be contrarian.
Best example is a car called
"Yes"
because the facebook form asks for a title, and they think it means vehicle title, not title of the ad.
Prepare to do a little work, but morons get rid of cars when they need "just one more repair" after shelling out for half a dozen other needed ones.
Back in the "old days" I got a ten-year old saturn for $250 that needed a thermostat and four (used) tires. It was february and the car had no heat and was worthless in the snow. Chick bought a Jeep LIberty to "solve" all her problems.
If you look at the pictures in the ad and there's trash on the floor and moon-dancers hanging from the rearview mirror, that's the car for you. If you see antifreeze jugs in the trunk, run like the wind!
You can spot scam ads on FBM by the breathless description of how perfect the car is, a picture with it just washed, and a generic background that doesn't really look like the houses or pavement around you. There'll be weird JPG compression artifacts too, some way of avoiding a clone detection algorithm.
Probably something at least 5k these days. Used to be at least 3k about 10 years ago. We are talking about reliable but ugly like all peeling paint, right?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I bought my '00 Camry for $2,100 7 years ago with 194k miles.
If it wasn't wrecked in the back it would probably be a $2,500 car today with 250k miles. Not sure what it'd be worth as is, maybe $1,800?
Back then:
If it wasn't wrecked in the back it would probably be a $2,500 car today with 250k miles. Not sure what it'd be worth as is, maybe $1,800?
Back then:
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