Best used Car $5,000......Go!

[roosterk0031]

1999 Camry, bank the 5k for repairs and take it to 400,000 miles

[darcane]

Originally Posted by MTXA

Since you mention that you don't care how fancy your car is, I'll tell you how to increase your buying power. When I shop for a car for myself, I look for cars that have a blue book suggested price a couple thousand $$ above my budget that have cosmetic damage. I bought the car that I'm driving now @ $2200 under book because it has a couple of small dents and scratches. Just keep an eye on the ads for the right one to show up and negotiate it hard. Don't be afraid to walk away from a car but always leave your contact information with the seller so when they decide to move down on the price, they have an interested buyer to call.

This is why I got my '01 Civic HX for about half of what every other 7th gen HX was listed for...

Civics are a solid choice, although I have to admit that the trannies in the 7th gen have some flaws.

[roflwaffle]

High mileage Prius with a bad pack for $4000 and a good used pack for $1000.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

High mileage Prius with a bad pack for $4000 and a good used pack for $1000.

Blue Book value on a 12 year old Prius is down to about $3,000 for one that doesn't have issues.

[pete c]

Maybe an 05-06 Sonata could be had for that kinda change. Toyotas and hondas in that price range will be a little long in the tooth.

Also consider domestics such as a 5 speed fusion or focus. These are pretty decent cars which have the advantage (from a used car buyer's perspective) of having a domestic badge which causes their resale value to drop like a rock.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Blue Book value on a 12 year old Prius is down to about $3,000 for one that doesn't have issues.

I'd shy away from a Gen-I because of know issues with the battery packs/CVTs, but I've seen Gen-IIs with ~230k miles and a bad pack for ~$4500.

[justme1969]

Worst Vehicles | CarComplaints.com

This is a solid list here if you do nothing else correct in this operation but delete these from it you are 1/2 better off than most brainwashed consumers.

I found it after I bought the 02 civic and it went straight to h-ll.

[Sven7]

I like how in the "worst complaints" section you get transmission failure, engine failure, cracked block, and... cracked dashboard. Really?

[Smurf]

Originally Posted by pete c

Also consider domestics such as a 5 speed fusion or focus. These are pretty decent cars which have the advantage (from a used car buyer's perspective) of having a domestic badge which causes their resale value to drop like a rock.

They made a 5 speed Fusion? I thought even the Nascar versions were 4 speeds.

If I had a $5k budget, and a vehicle that I could use for now, I'd be shopping for some things I can assemble into an "ideal" vehicle. In my mind, that's finding a 4th-generation Camaro with a six-speed manual, and swapping in a 2.2L and 2.73s (or 3.23s) from an S10. But I tend to think based on pure highway mileage, unrealistic usage otherwise, as if an ecomodded vehicle is a sports car aimed specifically for one purpose.

[civic_has]

I recently purchased a 2004 Accord Ex, fully loaded leather, heated seats, sunroof. For around $5,600, and it manages to get around 32mpg in summer easily. Stick with the I4 the V6 have tranny issues.