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your best $500 car
- Thread starter mopar_monkey
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The one with the subjective "best" mechanicals and an intact interior.
Right now I'd say another 98-99 LeSabre with a blown transmission. I'm very familiar with that car. Swapping a transmission would be doable. For $1000, I'd have a reliable daily driver, and something I could turn around and flip for a little bit of change.
Right now I'd say another 98-99 LeSabre with a blown transmission. I'm very familiar with that car. Swapping a transmission would be doable. For $1000, I'd have a reliable daily driver, and something I could turn around and flip for a little bit of change.
1971 chevy short bed fleet side, 66,000 original miles. Old guy thought he was taking me when he wanted $500 for it.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
My wife's 2001 Focus. Has needed some minor stuff like brakes and exhaust work, but runs like a top otherwise.
Bought a 1995 aspire for $650 but drove it over a year, when the gas prices were topping 3.89 a gallon in California. I broke even on fuel vs my 25mpg vehicle after roughly 6 months. The clutch pedal linkage under the dash bent numerous times and i didn't want to find a welder so i sold it as-is for $450. Festivas and aspires have a great following for the fact there is little to go wrong with them. Many older mazda engines are a direct swap, resulting in doubling the output for very little money. Lots of people are turned off to old subcompacts by the lack of safety features...some are motorcycle owners LOL.
I've only had one. In college, I bought an '87 Buick Regal with a knocking Olds 307 for $550. I swapped that engine out for a $350 Olds 403 I bought from a local salvage yard. That was a fun car. I eventually sold it to someone who took the 403 out and put in a Buick 455 and went to the drags with it.
It's actually too bad the car was in such bad shape (it was pretty ragged). It was a well-loaded Regal Limited, with the "Concert Sound" 6-speaker audio system, the 200-4R transmission, 3.08 rear end (relatively uncommon), and F41 suspension (though the rear sway bar had gone missing at some point).
It's actually too bad the car was in such bad shape (it was pretty ragged). It was a well-loaded Regal Limited, with the "Concert Sound" 6-speaker audio system, the 200-4R transmission, 3.08 rear end (relatively uncommon), and F41 suspension (though the rear sway bar had gone missing at some point).
I got a 99 Jeep Cherokee for $150 with a sealed bid auction from my work. 160k, 4wd, automatic, fleet white. Very cold AC, stripper gauge package with speedo and fuel and idiot lights for everything else, including overheat! (We blew the motor in its twin by overheating-- you can't see it "almost" do it and take corrective action.)
Had vinyl graphics on the side that got hair dryer/scraped off, you could still see them if the lighting was right. Took another $150 for a radiator and muffler to get roadworthy. This was back in 07 so it was only 8 years old; I sold it to a guy up the hill and still see it driving around.
My olds silhouette, bought on the open market for $300 plus a $10 fuel injector off ebay to get running right, just took the wife and kids to Ohio and back. Cranking AC going up mountain passes at 75 MPH in 3rd gear and pulling 27 MPG.
Had vinyl graphics on the side that got hair dryer/scraped off, you could still see them if the lighting was right. Took another $150 for a radiator and muffler to get roadworthy. This was back in 07 so it was only 8 years old; I sold it to a guy up the hill and still see it driving around.
My olds silhouette, bought on the open market for $300 plus a $10 fuel injector off ebay to get running right, just took the wife and kids to Ohio and back. Cranking AC going up mountain passes at 75 MPH in 3rd gear and pulling 27 MPG.
Bought a Rabbit Diesel back in the '80s for $200 with the odometer broken around 150,000 and the passenger side badly dented in an accident. Commuted 120 miles per day in that car for two years doing nothing but oil changes and filter occasionally. Never even changed the fuel filter or tires. Probably put 50,000 miles on the car getting around 55 mpg. Then sold it back to the guy I bought it from for $200 and he drove it for another few years.
1st car, '65 malibu rust bucket in '87 for $375 IIRC. inline 6 had a knock so we swapped in a 283, then promptly blew the powerglide, so swapped in a muncie 4 speed.
had a '78 grand prix for a few months while I was working on my main car some years later, the GP cost about $350. had the 301, full leather, and liked to overheat, but never let me down. rear end blew out after I sold it to a friend.
they were both great cars, considering what they cost and what I needed them for.
If I needed another $500 beater, it would be a saturn S series.
had a '78 grand prix for a few months while I was working on my main car some years later, the GP cost about $350. had the 301, full leather, and liked to overheat, but never let me down. rear end blew out after I sold it to a friend.
they were both great cars, considering what they cost and what I needed them for.
If I needed another $500 beater, it would be a saturn S series.
I bought a 1978 Cadillac Elderado for $400. The car didnt really need anything, nobody wanted such a big car, I guess. Had the 425 in it, leather seats, rode like a dream. Wasnt powerful, but got incrediable gas milelage. I bought it just for a work car, but ended up faling in love with it. We had it for 4 years, I put tires and heater fan motor in it, plus fluid changes. I drove it more than any of our other cars, we took it everywhere, on family trips, it never sat. When I moved to Florida, I needed to downsize so I sold it to my Brotherinlaw, for $600, who is a idiot, he beat the snot out of it, wrecked it about 4 times, it still ran good when he parked it. My wife and I talked and out of all the cars we owned, we miss that car the most. We actually wished we would have kept it and sold her car before moving to Florida.
1994 Ford Tempo. Bought it for $500 with 125K KM's (78K Miles) on it and the A/C still worked and there was 0 rust.
Drove it to well over 300K KM's (Speedo broke at this point) with minimal repairs other than maintenance and then hit a deer and totaled the car.
A/C was still working before I hit the deer.
I most likely would still be driving it if I didn't hit the deer.
Those Cast-Iron Head/Block engines were bullet proof.
Drove it to well over 300K KM's (Speedo broke at this point) with minimal repairs other than maintenance and then hit a deer and totaled the car.
A/C was still working before I hit the deer.
I most likely would still be driving it if I didn't hit the deer.
Those Cast-Iron Head/Block engines were bullet proof.
In 1995, I bought a 1979 Ford Fairmont for $100 from a couple in the church I attended at the time. It started so I gave them 5 $20 bills. They asked me if I wanted to drive it. I said no, anything that started was worth $100.
I drove it for three years, put over 50K miles on it during that time, and sold it for $500
I drove it for three years, put over 50K miles on it during that time, and sold it for $500
Never bought an old car, but a great aunt gave me her 1981 Olds Omega when her eyesight became bad in 2000. Only 90,000 km and I drove it from Vancouver to Ontario. It had the 2.8L V6 and eventually warped the intake manifold in 2004, ran pretty much perfectly until then. I got it fixed but it never ran well after that, sold it for $1200.
Then I inherited the Neon from my grandfather and after a headgasket job it seems to be pretty good too.
If I had to buy a $500 car tomorrow I'd go look at some 1st gen Neons because I know abit about them now, or look around in the classifieds for something that is "worthless" that needs a small repair to get it back on the road.
Then I inherited the Neon from my grandfather and after a headgasket job it seems to be pretty good too.
If I had to buy a $500 car tomorrow I'd go look at some 1st gen Neons because I know abit about them now, or look around in the classifieds for something that is "worthless" that needs a small repair to get it back on the road.
Only one I've ever had was the '65 Mercury Park Lane, the big 4-door Lincolnesque sedan with the power *rear* window that slid down behind the rear seat. I paid about $550 for it in 1981. White, paint a little ratty, interior maroon leather -- I had to have the rear seat recovered. It ate tires, but a set of 4 bias-plies was only $100. I was lucky to get 14 mpg, but gas was only a buck a gallon back then. The A/C blew cold, the oil was easy to change -- and I had no car note.
I ran it for almost four years without serious issues. If I had it today, I would get it repainted -- I always wanted to paint it gold over that maroon leather -- and cruise.
I ran it for almost four years without serious issues. If I had it today, I would get it repainted -- I always wanted to paint it gold over that maroon leather -- and cruise.
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
and after a headgasket job it seems to be
If I had to buy a $500 car tomorrow I'd go look at some 1st gen Neons because I know abit about them now, or look around in the classifieds for something that is "worthless" that needs a small repair to get it back on the road.
The previous owner of my mazda b4000 4wd felt this way. His CL ad read "doesn't accellerate and barely stops".
I did a spot of googling and cleaned the MAF sensor, now it accellerates. Fixed the pinhole in the brakeline and now it stops.
My can of MAF cleaner probably has enough in it to put 100 Fords back on the road.
If I needed a car tomorrow for cheap it'd be a saturn s-series based on my mechanical experience and their parts availability.
and after a headgasket job it seems to be
If I had to buy a $500 car tomorrow I'd go look at some 1st gen Neons because I know abit about them now, or look around in the classifieds for something that is "worthless" that needs a small repair to get it back on the road.
The previous owner of my mazda b4000 4wd felt this way. His CL ad read "doesn't accellerate and barely stops".
I did a spot of googling and cleaned the MAF sensor, now it accellerates. Fixed the pinhole in the brakeline and now it stops.
My can of MAF cleaner probably has enough in it to put 100 Fords back on the road.
If I needed a car tomorrow for cheap it'd be a saturn s-series based on my mechanical experience and their parts availability.
I'm very close to paying $500 for a 2000 Saturn SW2 DOHC 5 speed wagon with every option. It needs a subframe, cause the towbar that was hooked up to it, hit a parking median and pinched the frame.
The car has 120k kms and runs perfectly otherwise. There are mint subframes at the local wreckers and the job is not even that hard.
Otherwise I've never paid $500 for a car, but I've paid $800 twice. The best $800 car was my 97 Saturn SL1. My friend still drives it over 3 years after I bought it. It has been rock solid reliable in a 50 mile daily commute.
The car has 120k kms and runs perfectly otherwise. There are mint subframes at the local wreckers and the job is not even that hard.
Otherwise I've never paid $500 for a car, but I've paid $800 twice. The best $800 car was my 97 Saturn SL1. My friend still drives it over 3 years after I bought it. It has been rock solid reliable in a 50 mile daily commute.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
If I needed a car tomorrow for cheap it'd be a saturn s-series based on my mechanical experience and their parts availability.
Wouldn't $500 be one of your more expensive saturn acquisitions!? My manager has 98 SL1 that is like new and a dealer offered him $500 on a trade in... He treats it as well as his 1971 Barracuda so he declined the offer/test to see if he is stupid.
If I needed a car tomorrow for cheap it'd be a saturn s-series based on my mechanical experience and their parts availability.
Wouldn't $500 be one of your more expensive saturn acquisitions!? My manager has 98 SL1 that is like new and a dealer offered him $500 on a trade in... He treats it as well as his 1971 Barracuda so he declined the offer/test to see if he is stupid.
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