Where is the best place to get a good reliable cheap car?

Answer 1

car auctions, if you have someone to take with you that knows a bit about them..

Answer 2

AVOID AUTO AUCTIONS AT ALL COST!!!!!!!!!!

You usually end up paying more than they're worth because of clueless tards who get competitive and overbid. Is it any wonder that these auctions sell KBB Retail books only?

You also end up with crappy cars that haven't been safety checked. We bought one few years back and as we were driving off the lot, the brakes failed. We couldn't have known, of course, because they don't let you test drive em. Cost about $500 to fix. Ended up spending $4000 for a $2000 junk.

The only legitimate auctions are dealer only ones. It's not open to the public as you must possess a dealer license to attend. The prices are lower than loan values.

There are those with dealer licenses who are willing to take you along for a small fee. You can probably find them on Craigslist or maybe ask around used car dealers in your area.

But the best place I have bought a cheap, reliable car was surprisingly at a Nissan dealership. They had advertised this 1988 Honda Accord for $900. It had over 200,000 miles but the test drive went well so I bought it. It had brand new tires so if it broke at least I could sell the tires. I ended up driving another 20,000 miles (all trouble free) and sold it a year later for $600.

So there are gems out there.

Answer 3

The car auction here is a joke, you can't test drive the car and the prices usually go for more than out of the classifieds. I have bought two cars there that I had to get towed home... one only made it a quarter of a mile before the tranny warmed up and stopped working! So much for a "Good Runner"... I even saw them auction a car as having a "small oil leak" when in fact there was a huge hole in the block! It puked out 2 quarts when I was looking it over the day before.

I would buy from the classifieds, or better yet, Craigslist.com. People will list cars there that they couldn't afford to pay $50 to list them in the newspaper. And most people will let you take it for a spin around the block.

Answer 4

A cheap car tends to be an older car, and older cars tend to not be very reliable.

Cars are probably the biggest rip off because they depreciate so much, so I can understand why people don't want to spend a lot on them. But it's probably best to buy a brand new (or nearly new) car and then take really good care of it, get it serviced every year, and it should last for ages.

Failing that, look at which cars hold their value the most, and which depreciate. The Seat Ibiza depreciates really quickly, so you can probably pick up a relatively new one for not very much. Go to a dealer rather than buying privately because you have better warranties and rights, etc.

Answer 5

You may have seen the Tesla electric sportscar http://www.teslamotors.com
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You may have even seen the T-Zero electric sports car

http://www.acpropulsion.com/ACP_FAQs/FAQ_cars.htm
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These two cars show that it is now possible to build electric cars that can out-accelerate a

Ferrari, and go 250 - 350 miles on a single charge. But both these cars are very expensive.
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So who else is working on electric cars?
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Would you believe China? They have to work on EVs. There won't be enough oil to support

China's future economic growth.
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I drive an old electric vehicle. I also have friends with electric vehicles. Some of them

have recently been able to buy some amazing, cutting-edge EV batteries from China - example:

http://www.everspring.net/product-battery.htm
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These batteries are better, and cheaper than the ones in those $100,000+ sportscars above.

If you look at the chart, you'll see they are as cheap as lead-acid batteries, and they hold

up for 1100 charges, twice as many charges as the other LI-Ion batteries on the chart.
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Now, look at this car:
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http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
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It's a Chinese electric car, which will be imported into the USA next year. The driving

range is almost as good as those sports cars above. But it only costs $28500.

Answer 6

Anywhere. Buy one in an unpopular colour, orange, beige, turqoise etc because dealers won't want it to sell on. Somes red cars get faded on the roof, this should reduce the price.

Most people want Air Conditioning, if you are prepared to do with out it, pick a model which would often have AC, but hasn't.

Other missing extras will reduce the price, 2 doors, steel wheels, no radio or no CD player.

Answer 7

If you are looking for some model, make a search in www.autotrader.com. You can even make a search only in money, for example, car less than 3000. Next is good luck.

Also, talk to friends and relatives, you can always get the typical grandma car for a good price.

Answer 8

Try local papers, or take a leaf out of Jeremy Clarkson's book and go down to your local main dealer and see if they have anything they have taken in as part exchange, he got a top of the range volvo for £1, good luck.

Answer 9

Ebay, cars.com and used car magazines/dealers.. I'd go to any car dealership and talk bout used cars with the sales rep cuz dealerships have certified used cars which r better than uncertified used cars..

Answer 10

save looking in newspapers for automobiles being privately offered. commonplace all people is far less possibly to tear you off. motor vehicle plenty frequently are greater high priced than a private sale. stable success!!

Answer 11

have a look in your local paper and see if theres an auction nearby. take a mate that knows alot about cars (your local mechanic will do) and buy away!