It wasn't that long ago that I could buy a $500 car and get 9-12 months use out of it, then sell it for what I had in it. Doesn't work like that anymore. I scan craigslist and I'm appalled at the horrible looking, rusty hulks with high price tags.
Some vehicles can "rebound" from deferred maintenance readily...an old RWD Volvo or Mercedes is pretty tough, and as long as the structure isn't rusty, it can be kept in decent running order by throwing parts at it as needed. Some cars just fall apart.
There's also a difference between deferred maintenance and actual abuse. A car with unrepaired collision damage, mismatched wheels and tires, windows taped in place because of bad window regulators has likely suffered other abuse.
I have found that doing a deep clean/detail job on a newly-acquired used car makes it look like a well-cared-for older car instead of an old beater AND gives me the opportunity to really look it over for damage and other issues.
Some vehicles can "rebound" from deferred maintenance readily...an old RWD Volvo or Mercedes is pretty tough, and as long as the structure isn't rusty, it can be kept in decent running order by throwing parts at it as needed. Some cars just fall apart.
There's also a difference between deferred maintenance and actual abuse. A car with unrepaired collision damage, mismatched wheels and tires, windows taped in place because of bad window regulators has likely suffered other abuse.
I have found that doing a deep clean/detail job on a newly-acquired used car makes it look like a well-cared-for older car instead of an old beater AND gives me the opportunity to really look it over for damage and other issues.
