Hola. Please help me buy a car.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Low Low Miles 2007 Yoyota Yaris Great Deal

A little outside your price range but the low mileage has to be worth a bit, been on cl 22 days so they may be willing to negotiate.

regards
mech

This one here.

50k miles is about the sweet spot for the worst of the depreciation being done but still having very few mechanical problems.

Too bad it's not a manual though.

[user removed]

True about a manual but if he drives the Yaris versus the leased Altima then he can get the mileage range back down to where he does not suffer the 20 cent per mile surcharge, which works out to $2000 per 10k miles. At that rate if he puts 30k on the Yaris versus the Altima, it would just about pay for the Yaris.

Leasing a car is basically renting depreciation, much better to get out of that trap immediately than to worry about transmsission options if you're driving on perfectly flat land and highway almost exclusively. The Yaris at reasonable speeds should do 40+.

regards
mech

[ksa8907]

I may have missed it if you had a budget, but around my parts you can get used 3rd gen prius for 12-16k all day long. easy 50mpg and they look good.

http://carbondale.craigslist.org/cto/4846141765.html

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ctd/4825798998.html Lots of miles, but under 10k

[synergy]

Honda Insight.
Either generation.

1st gen you can get easily 50mpg just by driving it. It is only a 2 passenger and would fit well within your budget.

2nd gen would be close to being out of your price range and would require a few mods to reach 50mpg BUT youd be getting a relatively new car 2009+ and it would cost about 7-9k.

You mentioned you don't want to spend more because of depreciation and other factors BUT the 2009-2010 Insights price is already so low that I bet in 5 years a well looked after 2009 insight will still fetch 5k+ Look at the 1st gens.

or a Honda Civic hybrid.

For what your looking for a hybrid or TDI would be all that would fit the bill. With current gas prices and the cost difference between diesel and petrol Id go with a gas hybrid.

[brett701]

I am trying to make owning a a car almost as cheap as possible without looking like a bum. This is one of the reasons I'm gravitating towards cars sub $3,000 bc/ the price tag does not have much room to move.

[cowmeat]

You didn't really specify your budget, but FYI in the St Louis area on Craigslist (for under 3,000 bucks) there are:

83 Honda Civics
95 Saturns
43 VWs

Like I said, there are a ton of Hondas in that price range in your area. You should have no trouble finding a nice looking ecomoddable platform to start with there.

I just quoted myself!

[user removed]

"Not very mechanical at all"
"Driving leased cars"

Apparently your appearance makes a difference in your sales-income. Rule 1, don't mess up the income, much too rare these days.

You were spending 8-9k a year on leases, not including property taxes, higher insurance and other fees.

If you buy a low mileage car, then pile the miles on it for several years, say 90 k in 3 years. Then the low mileage car now has average mileage and would still be worth $3k used, with very little out of the pocket maintenance costs.

I like the Yaris, it requires little maintenance and fits your needs to a t. It will also resolve the issue with the over mileage on your lease and give you the means to get things under some sort of control, auto expense wise. You must have decent credit so the price of the Yaris is within your capabilities and if anyone judges you for driving a Yaris then I hope they don't cost you too much income or job security.

regards
mech

[roosterk0031]

Drop the 50 mpg requirement, go for a more reasonable 40 mpg, if you do 20,000 miles a year it's only 100 gallons mores, 30,000 miles/year, 150 gallons more. At $200 to $600($4 a gallon x 150 gallon). Plenty of cars can get there or close, and a if a Elantra won't due image wise and I understand that, IMO domestic's are better for sales vs driving Imports (built here or not doesn't mater).

With the Altima going away I'm thinking a 4 door, rated mid to 30's hwy, decent size for wife (?kids) wife would need to drive it so assuming Auto. Could be as big as a 4 cyl Malibu rated just over 30 or as small as a Sonic/Fiesta, a recent Focus or Cruze would be big enought and make the mid to high 30's, get 40 with careful driving(coasting really). Will take a little searching to find one for 6k, but a little more give a 2010+ rated upper 30's.

Get one with hail dents and park away from the building so they can't see them. Looks great at a distance.

[user removed]

In general I agree with rooster, but the hail damaged car is not worth what they are asking for it. Maybe at half that price which would be closer to what the insurance company allowed for the owner to keep the car.

Also if you buy a hail damaged car make sure your insurance company is aware of the prior damage, you might be able to get it fixed by a "dent doctor" using paintless processes then get it checked out by your insurance company so you could get full coverage assuming you want full coverage.

My brother had a Cadillac he bought for $3k. It got in a hail storm and they paid him $3k. He drove it another year and sold it for $1500 without fixing the hail damage.

regards
mech

[roosterk0031]

One of my nieces boyfriend now husband used to buy at insurance auctions and told me they probably paid under 3k for my Cobalt XFE I paid almost 7 for. But they've moved to Arizona before I could use him. One of my older brothers in Kentucky is getting his at auctions.

I'll have to look into what it takes to be able to go when I'm looking for my next car and cut out the middleman.