Neeed help looking for a car

Status
Not open for further replies.

Rift

Est. Contributor
Messages
385
Age
34
Role
  1. Adult Baby
  2. Diaper Lover
  3. Babyfur
  4. Diaperfur
  5. Little
Hi I am looking at buying a car off of craigslist for around $500.00-$700.00 and
cant seem to find a car I really want but there are some cars that fit my budget so its not a total waste i only have until January first to get a car because the weather outside is getting really cold out. if you are in the Atlanta or Woodstock area and have a car to sell please PM me I am in Woodstock GA also I would be ever so greateful for any help in looking for a car thank you in advance and Happy Holidays :smile1:
 
You just can't expect a car to be dependable in that range. You'd potentially be throwing the money away. Maybe putting a down payment on something better would be ideal. Your $500 dollar car will probably require $1000s in repair. How about researching in a loan that can give you affordable payment options instead of what money you have now. You can also work on your credit. You can reduce interest with better credit.

At least being a potential car purchase to a mechanic, and he can give you his advice.
 
Exactly what MeTaLMaNN1983 said.

Unless you're a serious car guy and able to do a lot of repair work yourself / willing to go hunting for cheap salvage parts or just get really damn lucky, $700 isn't gonna get you anything you're gonna want to actually drive on an actual road for any length of time.

To be perfectly blunt, if that's all you can spare for a car right now.. between gas, insurance, and maintenance (don't underestimate this, especially on that end of the price range), licensing costs, etc.. you probably can't afford to drive. If it's at all feasible, you're probably far better off using public transit and building up some funds.

Car loans are an option, if you have no to ok credit, the rates won't be great but won't be terrible. I'd highly recommend not getting a loan until you've got a stable income and some cash buffer (general recommendation is 3 to 6 months living expenses), as cars will break down at the worst time, and not having the buffer to handle a sudden expensive car repair is how people get into out of control debt. Then get something reliable in the $7000 to $10k range (5 to 7 year old honda, toyota, etc.. with a little love they'll run for a long time).
 
Last edited:
Ok there are deal's to be had my sister got a nice tracker for cheap in his price range.
Drives great.
 
At that price only look at foreign models such as toyota, honda, etc. Ford, chevy, gmc, etc are not going to be worth crap and certainly won't last long either. (with those very few exceptions of course). Make sure it was also, only ever driven in the southern states too. The snow and salt will really ruin more than just body work.
 
I am willing to do some mechanic work on the car if it needs it as long as it a minor and inexpensive repair because I really need a car
 
Last edited:
yeah, it'll be an old banger at that price.
best to try somebody whom you know and trust, just so that you're not blindly buying a money-pit or death-trap.
dead peoples' cars can be had cheaply, with suicide-in-car preferred.
 
what about financing a car with a $500.00 down payment instead of that being the total price but if I do this it has to be a no credit check because I don't have any credit
me and my Dad were just talking about buying and gave me this idea but the thing is I never financed a car before so I'm kinda nervous about doing this do you think I should go through with this or stick to searching for a car within my price range on craigslist
 
You can finance a good used car for under $200 a month. If you get an old beater you'll be spending that much and more just trying to keep it running.

Financing a newer used car is a wiser choice in my opinion.
 
10 to 15 years again you could find a car in that price range. But today its almost impossible to find a running car under 1000.00 most cars in the 500$ range have major Mechanical problems and aren't worth 100$ or even free.... I can only recommend that you need to save a little more money before. Looking
 
At that price range you're going to find a beater car. Financing will be tough because with no credit many banks wont finance someone with no credit on a used car. Hell my parents tried to finance a one year old car with decent credit and the bank were like "ITS A USED CAR RAWR RAWR RAWR ITS SUBJECT TO BREAK WHY SHOULD WE FINANCE IT?" Was kinda screwed up.

You can probably find something decent for 1500-2000 We got an old 1996 Oldsmobile Regency 88 for around 2k and it lasted us for like 5 years before anything majorly wrong happened with it. If you're going to go on a budget that small just bring someone with you that knows cars like thoroughly who's willing to look at them and let you know if anything is really wrong with it. Also be weary of things where it's like "The part to fix it is only $15!" because that happened to my parents back in the early 90's. They bought an old GMC Jimmy S15 and the part to fix it was only $15 but to get to the part to replace it you had to take the entire engine apart so. . . yeah be weary of that. Also be weary of scams! Also dealerships will try to get more money out of you, they're all about the money. I'd recommend getting something older that is mechanically sound, like soemthing that maybe just needs tires and an AC or something. Something that only has the luxury items broken. That'll dramatically lower the price of a car. I'd also avoid manuals, you'll never know when something is going to need a new clutch.
 
MeTaLMaNN1983 said:
You just can't expect a car to be dependable in that range. You'd potentially be throwing the money away. Maybe putting a down payment on something better would be ideal. Your $500 dollar car will probably require $1000s in repair. How about researching in a loan that can give you affordable payment options instead of what money you have now. You can also work on your credit. You can reduce interest with better credit.

At least being a potential car purchase to a mechanic, and he can give you his advice.
Not true at all I've rarely ever paid more than $600 for a car used normally ill drive it for about a year do a tune-up tires and flip it for about 1200 bucks my most recent car I only paid 200 for it and it's probably the best running most reliable car I've ever owned.

When buying a used car there's a table

Fast. Reliable. Cheap.

It goes pick 2. If you want a car that's fast and reliable it's going to cost a fortune

if you want it fast and cheap, you're going to be wrenching on it a lot

And if you want cheap and reliable it's not going to be fast or pretty.

And like I said I kind of lucked out with my last one which is a 1990 Celica 5 speed. It was cheap and reliable, by no means fast compared to other vehicles I've had but for a car that only weighs like 1100 pounds on Sport Tires 100 horsepower makes a quick Nimble little turd. But at the same time there's not a panel on the car that hasn't been hit or kicked.

f1910be9eb5dd5a86b4fbb5880299ffe.jpg


It's a pos but you can find a good car for very cheap if you know how to look and you are patient
 
Go to a police auction you can get an old cop car for dirt cheap and while they are not usually desirable models or colors they are usually very well maintained and in good working order. I actually have a friend here in Douglasville Ga that buys old detective, fire marshall and code enforcement vehicles from atlanta P.D and various county/city government auctions because those vehicles havent been beat on like a patrol car has. Also you can find ford pickups from the late 60's through the early 80's on atlanta craigslist in your price range that are in decent enough shape and parts for those are cheap and plentiful right now. I will keep a lookout for you if you would like, I buy and sell because I am a sucker for a good deal so I am always scouting craigslist.
 
As for having no credit, invest in getting a secure credit card. Build your credit by paying off your balances every month. Get small loans and use the borrowed money to pay it back.

In 2015, I successfully started a loan on a car for $21,000 on a brand new car. I had no credit, a score of 540 with one derogatory remark. I had a co-buyer who has terrible credit as well. Though the interest rate is pretty high to begin with, I'm able to refinance and get a much better rate a year later. You may not be left with a fancy car, but you have a great way to have reliable transportation. A great way to start your credit and receive better rates in the future, like a house, and other potential options.

You just have to start somewhere.
 
Get a car that's in running drivable condition don't worry about the appearance and always test drive it you will usually find out if it has any issues within 50 miles. A car in the range will be wore out and probably have some issues but it you pick a good car it can just be some minor issues that are easily fixed or just dealt with. I recommend looking for a Toyota corolla or Camry. Generally nothing goes wrong with them and when something does it usually doesn't stop them from running. Subaru is my car of choice and another very good reliable brand. They tend to be a little more expensive but are great cars if you take care of them, they're pretty easy to work on and rarely have major issues but they do require some extra care and attention that a lot of other cars won't. Nothing hard mainly just extra fluid changes and tire rotation because of the awd system. Honda's can be had for cheap and make great cars but they can have more problems than the others though not always. Avoid getting American cars in this price range unless you plan to keep it fixed. American cars are the cheapest both to buy and to have fixed but they will generally have more problems. And if you are going to bother with amerian cars for cheap. Never buy a Ford focus. Just trust me they are total garbage and you will come to regret it. Dealers can't even give them away, but they still try their hardest to push them off on you because they don't want it either. Hope this helps.

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk
 
askmelater47 said:
Get a car that's in running drivable condition don't worry about the appearance and always test drive it you will usually find out if it has any issues within 50 miles. A car in the range will be wore out and probably have some issues but it you pick a good car it can just be some minor issues that are easily fixed or just dealt with. I recommend looking for a Toyota corolla or Camry. Generally nothing goes wrong with them and when something does it usually doesn't stop them from running. Subaru is my car of choice and another very good reliable brand. They tend to be a little more expensive but are great cars if you take care of them, they're pretty easy to work on and rarely have major issues but they do require some extra care and attention that a lot of other cars won't. Nothing hard mainly just extra fluid changes and tire rotation because of the awd system. Honda's can be had for cheap and make great cars but they can have more problems than the others though not always. Avoid getting American cars in this price range unless you plan to keep it fixed. American cars are the cheapest both to buy and to have fixed but they will generally have more problems. And if you are going to bother with amerian cars for cheap. Never buy a Ford focus. Just trust me they are total garbage and you will come to regret it. Dealers can't even give them away, but they still try their hardest to push them off on you because they don't want it either. Hope this helps.

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk
+1 on the Toyota my uncle has a 2001 Avensis and it's still going well
Disagree on the Focus in Europe it's a great car cheap and cheap and easy to fix , But I guess the USA built ones have quality issues due to Ford usa trying to out sell GM cars
 
parcelboy2 said:
+1 on the Toyota my uncle has a 2001 Avensis and it's still going well
Disagree on the Focus in Europe it's a great car cheap and cheap and easy to fix , But I guess the USA built ones have quality issues due to Ford usa trying to out sell GM cars
I've had several ford focus, never had a problem out of any of them great little cars. When it comes to grade A crap nothing can beat a general motors vehicle.


Constantly
Having
Every
Vehicle
Recalled
Over
Lousy
Engineering
Techniques
 
w0lfpack91 said:
I've had several ford focus, never had a problem out of any of them great little cars. When it comes to grade A crap nothing can beat a general motors vehicle.


Constantly
Having
Every
Vehicle
Recalled
Over
Lousy
Engineering
Techniques
Yep Focus is ok I've owned about 20 euro spec ones mostly the 1.8 lynx diesel 115hp engined common rail cars in both hatchback and station wagon form , most have had the Heated front screen and air con , all have had remote central locking and front electric windows and if Ghia spec electric rear windows which you can also close remotely
I have had a few Vauxhall/Opel astra's and have had no end of problems with them
 
parcelboy2 said:
Yep Focus is ok I've owned about 20 euro spec ones mostly the 1.8 lynx diesel 115hp engined common rail cars in both hatchback and station wagon form , most have had the Heated front screen and air con , all have had remote central locking and front electric windows and if Ghia spec electric rear windows which you can also close remotely
I have had a few Vauxhall/Opel astra's and have had no end of problems with them
The problem is most people over here Stateside just don't know how to take care of a vehicle I'll give American GM this, they will drive forever without any maintenance but when they go they go it's not just one or two systems it's like 20 or 30 of them, ford's are a bit more particular on maintenance but if taken care of will rarely ever fail. My 1988 F150 is going on 30 years old and closing in on 1 million on the chassis odometer and about 400k on this rebuild, factory block was bored .30 over last rebuild and it still out performs 99% of vehicles out there. But @ almost 1 million miles on the block it's trash not going to be a rebuild next time, it will get a crate motor.
 
Just stating the facts here. Everyone who commented after me about the focus has had many of them. Not one was ever good enough to be kept or lived long enough to make any sort of impression. I've never known one to live past 10 years without having some sort of catastrophic engine or transmission failure (or both). I've never bought one and never will but 2 of my close friends have bought one from a dealer even and both had completely died within 3 months. One of those friends only bought hers(against many people's advice) because after trying 4 different dealers they all told her the same thing and that was the only car they could get her financed for was a fuck-us. Meaning that those dealers really really wanted to get rid of those cars and nobody else would buy them.

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top