Hola. Please help me buy a car.

[brett701]

Hey guys.

I am not very mechanical at all.
I had a leased Nissan leaf which was good bc/ it was $250/month and electric cost for 12000 miles/yr was about $300.

My wife has a leased Altima. I have been driving it bc/ I go to work and back 65 or 70 miles round trip. We are over miles and have 14 months on the lease. I have to pay $325/month and let it sit or pay 20cents/mile.

This led me to this site. I am trying to find a car that is appropriate. I recently started in sales so I need something respectable looking. Id like to get over 50 mpg without putting a backwards cone on my car or anything comparable. Is that possible?

I wouldn't mind the kill switch, hi tire pressure, maybe fix the front grill, & potentially change the mirrors depending on the car. Maybe a few other modifications, but like I said unfortunately I can't disregard appearances entirely.

I have been reading the site a ton and looking around all over. It makes me sick to spend $4000 per year on car payments,+higher insurance rates, + the waste of gas mileage. I will never lease or buy a car that has considerable depreciation & bad gas mileage EVER again.

I've created an archaic spreadsheet that shows how much more financially beneficial it is for me to find a nice ecomodder car.

I have some assumptions in this spreadsheet that aren't obvious to everyone. Anyways, Ill post this spreadsheet later on & maybe it can be something that we all work on together to determine the differential in value.

I'm rambling. So, can you help me find a car? I have money to purchase a car, but I don't want to throw away money. My goal is to purchase a car that is a great value. Given that I'm not very mechanical what do you recommend.

Does anyone have a car to sell that is doing this for a hobby?

Thank you in advance everyone I really, really appreciate your knowledge and patience.

I live in St. Louis, MO. (I figured this might help for craigslist or something.)

Thank you.

[Frank Lee]

I'll help you buy it if I get to drive it.

[dirtydave]

I'm not sure how your hard earned $$$ can be in the same hand as what others think! You really shouldn't give a FUKK about what others think! Don't forget Its not them paying the car note! Its bad for the health brother!

All you are doing is going from point A to point B. am I right?

$$$ > haters

I would buy the Mitsubishi Mirage myself.

[brett701]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

I'm not sure how your hard earned $$$ can be in the same hand as what others think! You really shouldn't give a FUKK about what others think! Don't forget Its not them paying the car note! Its bad for the health brother!

All you are doing is going from point A to point B. am I right?

$$$ > haters

I would buy the Mitsubishi Mirage myself.

I wish I could do that. However, the world is vain and customers don't want to purchase $100,000 of product from someone driving a 1990 yellow chevrolet cavalier you know what I mean?

I don't care what anyone thinks about me unless it's affecting my income and growth.

The mitsubishi Mirage is like 14,000. I don't want to spend over 6,000 bc/ I don't want to be experiencing the depreciation of a newer car.

I am basing my decision entirely on finances & my current situation at work. I am looking for a happy medium or where Marginal Cost = Marginal Benefit.

Thanks again for your help.

[brett701]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I'll help you buy it if I get to drive it.

How long do you want to drive it? I'm cool with that.

[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

etc, etc . . . . . I'd start there!

[dirtydave]

What if the "1990 yellow chevrolet cavalier " is super clean? detailed once a week, stealth aeromods, nice 90's era style rims and blacked out interior.

Oh under 6K? $6K is a good price for the car to be good enough for other people?
Not $5K?

Ok so you want used? Then Toyota Yaris / echo / corolla.
You can't hate on Toyota! clean dependable cheap transportation
If someone laughed or turned there nose about any $6K toyota I would be pissed.

Maybe you need a new job that pays less money? Do a spreadsheet about taking a lower paying job that lets you roll in that 20 year old econobox. It might be worth it!

[roosterk0031]

2007 Chevrolet Malibu LS

2011 Hyundai Accent REGULAR TITLE

There's a couple, the 2nd would be my choice, might still have some factory warranty.

http://www.usautolinks.com/cgi-bin/w...to_id%3D344120

This is were I got my Cobalt XFE, little dent in the hood but nice price.


http://www.samsriverside.com/vehiclesDetail.php?29789

Sharp Fiesta, I don't see any damage? Both places in Des Moines, I'm sure there are some salvage dealers closer to you.

[user removed]

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

[user removed]

Toyota Corolla almost new going cheap

here is another low mile car.

regards
mech