Is it possible to buy a decent car for under 5 thousand?

Answer 1

Five thousand should get you a safe reliable car that will be a little older and perhaps be in need of more frequent repairs.
With a small budget it is very important to do your research and legwork to get a good deal. What you are looking for is a car that is a little older but has low mileage or on which the maintenance has been kept up. First look at the people you know who may be selling a car if you know thier driving habits and how fussy they were about thier car. You may have to settle for a four door model instead of a sports car of convertable. Also you won't be able to decide what type of car you want so stay open to thinking about what comes up in your price range.

This last bit of advice is most important. Spend the money to take the car to a trusted mechanic to check out the car and give you an idea of it's mechanical condition. If there are repairs to be done you may be able to get the price reduced to help pay for the repairs.

Answer 2

Yes especially if you live in the USA and are close to Florida or LA. Go to ebay and then ebaymotors and check out the corollas or some older versions of good cars that have lasted. I especially like Chrysler Eagle Vision tsi with around 100 thousand miles or less about the year 1997. Look for Florida cars or LA cars to avoid excessive rust. Lincoln town cars from Florida with low mileage go for around 3 to 4 thousand but these are gas guzzlers so you have that to contend with but there are some good buys in Mazda Miata's too around 5 thousand. I would have picked up a good one but the paper work involved wasn't worth the problems of going to Florida to check it all out. Good luck and remember nothing is worth what they are asking so barter.

Answer 3

Yes! According to the April 2006 CONSUMER REPORTS (the annual car issue), the most reliable used cars under $6,000 are (alphabetically):

Chevrolet Prizm '98-00
Ford Escort '99, '01-02, Mustang (v6) '98, Ranger (2WD) '98-99
Honda Civic '98
Hyndai Accent '03
Mazda B-Series (2WD) '98-00, Protege '98-00
Mercury Tracer '99
Nissan Altima (4-cyl) '98, Frontier (4-cyl) '98, Sentra '99
Saturn SL '99, '01, SW '98
Subaru Legacy '98
Toyota Corolla '98-99, Echo '00

For less than $6000 you should be able to get any one of these 'typically equipped, with average mileage'

I do love Consumer Reports. They've never steered me wrong yet, and they don't sell or advertise any of the stuff they rate.

Answer 4

Sure. What I like to do is buy a car with a blown engine or transmission (but otherwise in good shape) for a couple or a few hundred dollars and then sink one or two thousand into a rebuilt engine or transmission for it. Then, for less than $2500, I have a good car.

Answer 5

Yes. All you have to do is to go on eBay or look in the penny savers even the classifieds. You should be able to find a decent car for that amount.

Answer 6

Last year, I went though eBay and bought a 1987 Chevy S-10 truck from a policeman in Birmingham, AL. He had to sell it because his city made a law against curbside parking, and he didn't have room for this truck in his garage with his other vehicle. It's been a very useful pickup truck for me: hauls a lot of firewood & only needed minor fix-ups early on. Cost was $1550. I live in West Virginia - I had my brother who lives down south drive it up here to me while my mom, who came with him, carried him back home.

Answer 7

Absolutely. My parents found mine at a garage sale--go figure. It's a 94 Celica GT and in great condition. We got it for $2800. It's possible; just don't be in a rush.

Answer 8

An often overlooked source for car buying is ebay.

Answer 9

Absolutely. A Jaguar XJ6 series III will run you $3,000-$7,000, but a really good one can be had for $5k, for example.

Answer 10

Buy an electric car: http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
:)