There are three types of beater: cheap, cheaper and push start. A cautious consumer can’t let brand snobbery blind him to the truth about a car. Case in point. A low mileage leathered-up Olds Silhouette minivan. In Gold. Sure it’s the epitome of GM mediocrity, equipped with more parts bin pieces than a Junkyard Wars jalopy. But, in this case, the owner stabled the Silhouette in the great indoors. A ream of paperwork highlighted the undeserving loving care the machine received. So I bought the old Olds for $2200. I’ll be financing it for a little over four grand. Hey, it’s a living.
Like most of my domestic purchases, I’ve had good luck buying unpopular cars with great owners. But there are plenty of examples of worthwhile beaters born across the pond. I cently picked-up two old school Volvos. Number One: a one owner, zero accident, pristine 1995 Volvo 940. Number Two: a 1990 Volvo 240 with a perfect interior in good running order.
Neither can be bought cheap unless you’re lucky. A quality conservatively maintained vehicle almost always goes for a price premium at the auctions. I was fortunate in this regard. The 1995 model cost me $1450. The 1990 model $700. Decent prices for truly exceptional cars.
In fact, if I ever were able to focus on purchasing specific cars, both of these Volvos would be on my short list. The bulletproof red brick B234 engine, classic rear wheel-drive architecture and simplicity of service make these Swedish vehicles a virtual W123 equivalent– without the weight and price penalty. If I ever move to Maine, I might even start a rental car business using old Volvos like these.
The miscellaneous bin was mostly domestic this time. Someone bought a 1994 LeSabre with 90k original miles for $500. It had an older owner for 10+ years and a mind numbingly idiotic young driver for it’s last six months. New fluids, new antenna a wash, and a passenger side mirror later and it looks as good as new. Well, as much as a beater can…
A 1999 Mercury Sable LS went for $650 (it needs a blendor motor for the temp control). Everyone assumes that the trannies are bad in these things, but the Arctic temps in the Southeast pushed the forgiving Christian owner (radio stations, literature and bumper stickers) over the edge. I also got a 1996 Mitsubishi Mirage with 46k miles for $900 and a 1999 Subaru Legacy wagon for $1300. The Subaru is a Southern car that will need a new radio and front right wheel bearing. If you take care of the maintenance issues early on a Subaru, they last forever. This one thankfully was dealer maintained and will be sold for $2900.
[For more information about these or other cars, contact steven.lang@duke.ed
You would have loved the 1991 Caddy DeVille I took in trade last week. Red on red leather, 83k, 1 owner. The car was perfect inside and out. Paint, carpet, leather, all perfect. Gave them $1000 for it.
Have you seen how poorly those POS GM minivans performed in crash tests by the IIHS?
Summary:
* Major Collapse of the occupant compartment left little survival space for the driver.
* Extreme steering wheel movement snapped the dummy’s head backward.
* The unnatural position of the dummy’s left foot indicates that an occupant’s left leg would have been seriously injured in a real-world crash of this severity.
* The forces on the left lower leg were so high that the dummy’s metal foot broke off at the ankle.
No thanks.
Give us an update when the inlet manifold gasket lets go, will ya?
I really hope you didn’t get one with the 3.1L or 3.4L V6… that engine family is horrible… the epitome of utter crap.
Now you make a living this way, and I understand, but still there’s a bit of a credibility issue when you called the two beater Volvos “truly exceptional cars”.
dwford: You would have loved the 1991 Caddy DeVille I took in trade last week. … 83k, 1 owner. The car was perfect inside and out. … Gave them $1000 for it.”
If the $1,000 was a trade-in allowance subtracted from the list price of their new(er) car, they actually got nothing for the Caddy. Such a deal.
Still, I wonder if that ’94 Buick would be a better choice for a cheap highway cruiser.
My wife has an elderly cousin who is thinking of selling her ’93 Crown Vic with fewer than 40K miles. It’d be a nice cruiser but I’d feel bad if I paid her less than market value. And I hear those Fords are head gasket time bombs. A $3,000 repair would make it a bad buy at any price. Guess I should ask about that before making an offer.
Steven,
That 945 I asked you about turned out to have a piston slap so we’re just going to flip it once the title clears. The body is solid enough to be worth putting in a used engine, but daughter #1 can’t wait. Meanwhile I found a transmission shop that was willing to McGyver the shifter on her Tempo so she’ll drive that until we find a replacement beater.
# dilbert :
January 20th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Now you make a living this way, and I understand, but still there’s a bit of a credibility issue when you called the two beater Volvos “truly exceptional cars”.
The 200 and 700/900 series Volvos are about as indestructible as any car ever made. I’ve owned a Jaguar and a Lotus and the 760 Turbo I owned is still one of my favorite cars. Competent, safe and comfortable. If you can find a 200 or 700/900 with less than 125,000 miles, you can probably drive it for a decade without needing any major repairs.
Now you make a living this way, and I understand, but still there’s a bit of a credibility issue when you called the two beater Volvos “truly exceptional cars”.
You must have missed the memo. RWD Volvos are not only mechanically indestructable, they’re safety tanks as well.
I’d love a 7 series wagon or Bertone coupe.
holydonut- crap yes, but easily repaired, plus they don’t have overly complicated OHC drivetrains or timing belts which break and destroy everything
Parts are cheap too, occasionally free
I know of a 1990 240 that has under 50K miles and the owner is 87 years old
There’s also an 89 one with 180K in my backyard. It’s not running and I’m too lazy to fix.
The last car my parents bought was a ’95 940 wagon, in 1999. It was a lovely car. Not much power, but the engine was happy to be flogged. Nice steering, decent handling, solid. It ultimately went to my nephew, who is still driving it.
I hope with the credit crunch going on more people will start to love the world of the beater. I am sick of seeing people driving in 20,000 cars since the payments are “manageable” at 6 years. The best part of driving a beater is when someone hits you it is payday due to abundant junkyard parts.
You must have missed the memo. RWD Volvos are not only mechanically indestructable, they’re safety tanks as well.
You missed the latest safety meeting! Here’s the memo:
Dave M:
Someone around here has one of those old Bertone coupes. It has the angular five-spoke 760 turbo wheels (I don’t think those are stock), bumpers and lights held together with duct tape, rust around the lower parts, and a myriad of dents here and there, but I’ve seen it almost daily for the past two years. I absolutely love those cars. They’re boxy, boring, rare, and ever so slightly different from all the other ’80s Volvos. That really gets me going.
It looks like a trash heap, but it’s still running daily. I’m an hour outside of Pittsburgh, and we don’t exactly have Jalopnik’s mild SoCal vehicle preservation weather. My ’02 Diamante, a Pitt car since it was first sold, already has rust in the rear wheel wells and door seams.
A couple notes from a long-term serial Volvo owner: Both of those car have the B230 red-block motor, NOT the B234. The B234 is the 16 Valve version sold only 89-90 in 740GLEs and 91 940GLEs. That one is trouble with a Capital T. Timing belt breaks, goes BOOM. B230 is the regular 8-valve 114hp (160hp with turbo) version that is all but indestructible.
But I completely agree, a late 740 or any 940 is about the best long-term ownership proposition there is. Simple, stupid easy to DIY fix, they don’t rust unless egregiously abused, and the mechanicals are eternal. Comfortable too – great seats, good A/C. Downsides are of course a complete lack of style (though I think the wagons are cool), NVH only slightly better than that of a riding lawnmower, and 0-60 times measurable on a sundial. Turbos are much faster at a cost of slightly increased maintenance costs.
I currently have a plain-jane ’94 945 non-turbo in the fleet. Paid $1700 for it last summer, absolutely everything works and nothing ever breaks. I think I have put less than $500 into it, including new tires. I also recently picked up a ’93 965 (for $2000) – this one is a lot more complicated having the 2.9l inline six that needs careful timimg belt care. But so far so good with that one too – heck of a nice car, and with 201hp a whole lot faster than the 945. I have to admit to trading a bit of bulletproof for a car that will get out of it’s own way. Hugely quieter too.
Well-kept Volvo wagons are also also all but invisible to the mobile revenue collection brigade too!
50Merc:
My wife has an elderly cousin who is thinking of selling her ‘93 Crown Vic with fewer than 40K miles. It’d be a nice cruiser but I’d feel bad if I paid her less than market value. And I hear those Fords are head gasket time bombs. A $3,000 repair would make it a bad buy at any price. Guess I should ask about that before making an offer.
I bought my Mom’s 93 Vic at 63k. I am at 98k and no sign of head gasket problems. You might inquire about oil consumption. Mine has been surprisingly high. My mechanic tells me that some of em drink oil and some of em don’t. And market value? I don’t think its very high. I would buy that Vic in a heartbeat.
Some of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen were Volvo bricks with Mustang 302’s and T5 5 speeds swapped into them. Everything fits, and you get that awesome exhaust note.
It may be an exceptional car at the time, or it may be an exceptionally good for a car that is 14 to 19 years old, or an exceptionally good car for the price. But given what is available in the market today, new and used, I wouldn’t call those exceptional cars without some sort of qualifier.
noreserve :
It reminds me of the crash test results for the old Chevy Blazer – “Sever or fatal injury certain.”
Also, anyone who would put a teen in a Tempo is a negligent parent.
I’m partial toward RWD domestic trucks as beaters. They can go forever with a little TLC. Finding that good original owner can be a challenge.
No love for the B234! Sure, it’s an interference head, but so is every Honda I can think of.
Our 90 740 GLE was peeing oil on the driveway, so this tyro wrench, armed only with a torx driver and tin snips, took half an hour and excised the balance shaft belt. No more drip, and wifey loves her Blizzak-beshod brick here in Michigan’s winter wonderland.
I’m rather to my well-running 2nd car: 84 760 B230 ‘red-block’ with 262k miles. Had to replace the original oil pump this past weekend and a rebuilt original turbo is up next. Original auto trans, starter, alternator, AC unit… Yeah, it’ll become a headache someday or replaced soon but right now I have no car notes.
A lot of good responses. I’ll do the best I can to answer them.
dwford: I’ve got a friend of mine who rode a 1991 Deville for over 300k miles. The electronics can be a pain and his case, the water pump committed hari-kari on the way to Macon, GA. Still, if you replace all the hoses and fluids, a low mileage Caddy can be a great buy. Parts are disgustingly cheap at the local recycling center.
noreserve: You’re right, but the same holds true for many of the same vehicles from the same era. The test for the prior Gen dustbusters cars was particularly heinous… almost Chinese in nature. Videos like that are the reason why I’m driving a late model vehicle, but not everyone wants to blow the type of money that is required. Hence my endorsement of Volvos.
austinseven: Already happened. Evidence of replacement and non-burnt/non-brand new transmission fluid are the first two things I look at in a GM minivan.
holydonut: I disagree. If you remove the intake manifold gasket out of the equation, the powertrain is actually better than the rest of the vehicle. The 1994 LeSabre was one I bought specifically for that reason… although that one’s a 3800.
dilbert: I don’t bother with insults. Life’s short.
50merc: The LeSabre has the better powertrain. More fuel efficient, plenty comfortable and whisper quiet.
Ronnie: I don’t remember you asking me about a 945. But I would definitely encourage a second opinion. You may want to visit Brickboard.com or a Volvo specialist.
Dave M: Yep. My three top choices for an older beater would be a 1994-1995 940, a 1992-1996 Camry or a 1996-1997 850. From an overall cost, reliability and safety perspective, those come out at the top.
davey49: In my first year of buying and selling Volvos were the predominate vehicle. They tend to be conservatively driven, well maintained, and back then it wasn’t a privacy issue to acquire the records in the glovebox (now they’re usually thrown away). Other than Lexus at the time, I knew of no other brand that had a more conservative dealer loyal demographic.
Holzman: Sold one a few months back with 247k miles on it. Wife actually preferred it over the 2002 S-Class. Go figure.
TEW: I look forward to the day when most cars are seen as nothing more than glorified transportation modules. The dirty little secret of this industry is that about 85% of the people in it add virtually no value.
rpn453: I’m no sure if any compact to subcompact vehicle in the US can compare with a Renault Modus as it applies to safety. It’s an exceptional vehicle with an exceptionally high price that reflects the quality of materials put into it.
Kalapana: Diamantes are beaters incarnate. The wagon versions are particularly invisible and difficult to sell. They are excellent values for what amounts to a dirt cheap price.
krhodes: You’re right. The B230 is the 4-banger in all the 940 North American models but the 1991 SE. I get used to referring to sedans with a 4 (244, 944) and wagons with a 5 (245 /945) and apparently transposed it onto the engines The B234 is actually one bastard of an engine. I’ve only seen one good one in the last three years.
jpcavanaugh: Paint it white, put a spotlight on the side, and watch the seas of traffic part.
JG: Awesome cars. However at the auctions they’re almost like a Jaguar car with a 302. Nobody knows what to do with them.
dilbert: The qualifier is ‘beater’. Late model cars are not beaters unless you’re sipping Kool-Aid with Christina Aguilera.
jmo: Ouch!
ihatetrees: Yep, they’re hard to find but I’ve had a few. Just got a 1 owner 2003 Ram 2500 Quad Cab with the Hemi engine and leather for $2500.
Did you ever see Get Shorty, with its jokes about the Silhouette as “the Cadillac of minivans”?
I had a 1984 volvo DL that I sold to an attractive lady friend at 150k. She drove it 15000 miles or so with no service whatsoever. According to her, when she finally took it for an oil change, it had NO OIL. Yet was still running. ?? No to mention I abused the hell out of the car, routinely burning out in 2d gear as the car begged to do ;)
Regarding the Crown Vic, I’ve found the 1990s Ford Panther platforms and their 4.6L V-8 engines to be quite reliable well into old age, counting over several examples that I or people that I know have driven.
This post reminded me of my problem, about which I wanted to ask about for a long time. Sorry if it is a little off or too long, but I found no better forum to share this.
Next week I will be moving to Orange, California, USA from Debrecen, Hungary, Europe for four months and people there say that I will definitely need a car, because public transportation is almost non-existent.
I saw that there are many bus lines and some trains, but based on my invitation “they are infrequent and usually do not go after work hours and on weekends.” Is it really that bad? Of course, I’ve heard the rumor that you cannot live without a car in Southern California, but is it this true?
I will be spending time at Chapman University, so I won’t really have to move around a lot, but I would not like to just sit on campus, but instead explore California.
At home public transportation is not so good, either (only one bus in every hour sometimes, and none after 10pm), but the distances are not comparable. Also I use a car here, too (a BMW X3 sd about which I wrote in connection with the X5 article) and it would not be nice to have to move around without one at a place which has worse public transportation than my hometown (I mean, I was in Paris recently, and for example it was OK, there you can get anywhere with subway and you never have to wait more than five minutes).
So, my question is: based on this, do I really need a car? If yes, there is the problem of what and how and for how much. Because, what I saw on the net was the renting for four months is not worth it, leasing is not an option for such a short time, which leaves buying, but it is also problematic, because four months is not years and I don’t/can’t want to buy something 20k+ not to be able to sell it later.
What I was thinking about is a car in the price range (or slightly above, max. 1500-2500, but the less the better) featured in the article. As US market is very different from EU I cannot use my knowledge of brands and makes there. I love cars, and I know a lot about them, drove many and can give advice (sidenote: and not unwanted advice) to friends regarding all different stuff when buying a car, but that’s only true to EU models and I am no mechanic either.
So I would need a car, which would not break down, does not have a shitty exterior and a cracked up, torn down interior, runs good and has A/C. I am open to any advice, I liked my BMW Zs, so an older sports car or convertible would be fun, but a working one does not seem to be realistic in this price range. I also liked the few American cars I’ve sat in – except perhaps for the bit artificial driving experience – , but they were all new, so I don’t know about the old ones (however , as most Europeans I’ve met, I like muscle car styling), and also about their reliability.
I did a search on a few web pages, but with no knowledge about most of the cars offered it is hard to tell the difference between the offers.
So my questions are, basically: what, where and how (perhaps there are short time leases, or long time rents I don’t know about, or places I can sell the car immediately when coming home) should I buy in Orange, CA for four months?
I will really appreciate if anyone cares to read this through and answers, thank you.
Well, you can always buy in Atlanta and drive it cross country. I have a Volvo 940 Turbo that would probably be optimal, and I also have 100% Ebay feedback. Feel free to email me at steven.lang@duke.edu
steven:
you write (in regards to crash safety):
“rpn453: I’m no sure if any compact to subcompact vehicle in the US can compare with a Renault Modus as it applies to safety. It’s an exceptional vehicle with an exceptionally high price that reflects the quality of materials put into it.”
This is rather dismissive.
What about the safety of the old volvos compared to modern [cheaper] cars currently available in the US?
ie – engineered crumple zones, etc…
I imagine that most vehicles designed in the last 5 years would provide better crash protection than these volvos…
Steven, I enjoy reading about what you look for in a reasonably priced old car. Please continue this educational series, I will continue to read it.
Thank you, sir! Two gold stars.
“What about the safety of the old volvos compared to modern [cheaper] cars currently available in the US?”
Sound like a good topic. Why don’t you write about it?
nneo, welcome to America. I do hope you can see a lot of our country; it’s so much nicer than what you see in the media.
My best friend had a 2001 Olds Silhouette very similar to the one in the photo up until yesterday. He got it with 60K one owner miles 3 years ago for $6500 and it was in like new condition.
Fast forward 3 years years later and that same van is still running well with over 150K miles on the clock with the original motor and tranny. The intake gasket was replaced at 100K along with spark plugs and wires and a new waterpump for good measure, tranny flush, new tires and brakes were done at 110K but thats about it. It still starts perfectly at 20 below zero temps, goes down the road with no vibrations and all the power options work as new.
He just traded this van in for a 2005 Buick Terrazza CXL creampuff that he got for a mere $7995 with 50K one owner miles in mint shape. The new Buick van is quicker and more refined than the 2001 Olds, has the superior 3500 engine which doesn’t seem to have the intake issues and it rides and handles better too.
Hopefully it will prove just as reliable for him.
If you take care of the maintenance issues early on a Subaru, they last forever
I hear that from Saab owners all the time. The problem is that those maintenance issues are frequent and not inexpensive. Most cars that gearheads consider “tanks” are the same: good, but they require care and feeding.
I’ll give Toyota one thing: they are extremely forgiving of owner neglect.
I’ve heard the rumor that you cannot live without a car in Southern California, but is it this true?
Well, yes. The lower population density here means even with the token public transportation that does exist, you’ll spend hours trying to get anywhere without a car.
nneo:
Having a car in the LA area is not always 100% essential for basic day-to-day tasks — especially if you don’t have small children with you and up for some walking — but it is very useful if you want to have reasonable access to all parts of the city and be able to take trips out of town. Buying a beater is not a bad option, but I don’t think you must do it.
That being said, if you are thinking of different brands and companies, you could probably find a mid-90’s Toyota Corolla for your price range, which should have good fuel economy and be reliable. Not very sexy, though. If you want a real, somewhat old-school American experience, try looking at a late ’90s Buick or Chevrolet. A well cared for example should hold up just fine.
In any event, look over the registration and insurance requirements on the state department of motor vehicles website before going out and buying the car. The paperwork process can easily turn out to be less straightforward than it should be, if you do not come into it ready.
But you should look over your plans and needs to see if you really need to own a car full time. In addition to the purchase price, you’ll have to budget for taxes, registration fees, insurance, oil changes and the possibility of repairs. Then you have to sell the car when you are leaving. If you can do it, you’d recoup a lot of your outlay. If you don’t manage it, you’ll waste your time and then have to give the thing away. If you can work things that you won’t need a car most days of the week, it might pay to forget about buying and just rent on the weekends or vacation periods. I had a friend who did this as a grad student at UCLA for a number of years. Also, when reserving a rental through one of the major companies (Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, etc.) use a website to compare slightly different or back-to-back rental periods. For instance, most companies quote ~$600 per month for long-term rentals, while if you price it by the week they charge $120 / week, which is somewhat cheaper per day. If you made several two or three-week long reservations back to back, covering your whole stay, you’d save a few dollars each day you had the car, plus if you decided after the first two weeks that you don’t need a car the whole time, you could cancel out any of the follow-up reservations with no hassle and just book in the weekends you need. A final thing about rental cars: on the one hand, you can often return them to any office affiliated with the company you used, in any city in the country, making one-way road trips possible. On the other hand, if you actually do return the car to an office in another city, you will be charged a remote return fee, which can add up — call ahead before you just do this.
nneo
You could rent my Cadillac for the 4 months. Insurance, registration etc. wouldn’t be an issue since that would all be included. We have just been using one car that gets better gas mileage and that one never gets used. I would have to fix the A/C since it doesn’t blow cold. I might even drive it out to Cali for you and visit my brother on the way. But compared to your BMW it will feel like driving with pillows on your hands and feet, thick pillows.
50merc, I can also second the Crown Vic. My girlfriend traded her ’92 about a year ago. (Passenger side frame was rusted through – Minnesota winters.) It still ran like a top at 125k, always started on the cold days. I can’t recall ever touching the engine or tranny. No oil usage. There was a problem with the brake booster – brakes would stick “on” and drag. I think there was a TSB on it though. The local Ford dealer fixed it.
@nneo
There are parts of Southern California that are quite walkable and/or have decent public transportation.
The Chapman College area is NOT one of them.
On the plus side, we do have some extremely inexpensive car rental companies in the area.
http://www.foxrentacar.com/
http://www.rentfourless.com/
http://www.carrentals.com/
If you explicitly rent for a month, it’s quite expensive. But you can probably string together some weekly rentals for less than $400/mo.
We also have a *huge* number of used cars for sale at any time. If you only need it to last 4 months, I’m sure you can find something for $2k.
Here are a few places to look at what’s available.
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cta/
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/cta/
http://www.recycler.com/Results/AUTOS__OTHER_VEHICLES.aspx
http://www.autotrader.com/
I live about 35 miles from the Chapman campus. Let us know if we can be of further help.
nneo, another place to check for month-to-month rentals is Rent-A-Wreck. Their cars aren’t as nice as the majors’ fleets, but they undercut the big guys’ prices.
Old Beaters are great!!
I don’t like to subject my good cars to commuting or running daily errands, so I always keep at least one beater in the fleet – and generally do all my beater shopping on craigs list.
My beater of choice is late 90s Mazda 323s & Proteges. I currenlty have a 91 323 w/170K on it. I paid $250, spent an afternoon changing a bad clutch, and it has not missed a beat for the last year. It gets 38mpg, is really sporty to drive (same motor as early miata, great feel from manual steering), and very simple to work on.
One great added benefit is the lack of worry – with dents, scrapes, and a red tape covered tail light, thieves never give it a second look, and if its damaged – I just don’t care. Its regularly parked in places I would never leave my Benz or BMW, and I often leave tools and other valuables under the hatch cover, confident that no one is going to think the stuff in the car is more valuable than the car itself.
“If the $1,000 was a trade-in allowance subtracted from the list price of their new(er) car, they actually got nothing for the Caddy. Such a deal.”
As if someone pays full sticker for a new Sonata. My customer got invoice-trade-rebates. Not the best deal that could have been gotten and not even the best deal he was offered (several months ago), but his daughter got involved and ended up mucking things up thinking she was protecting him and actually ending up getting him a worse deal..
Unfortunately the Caddy was too old to resell at a new car dealership and was let go to a wholesaler for $1200.
Another minimum commission deal for me…after 4 months of work.
dwford, thanks for the clarification. You treated them well. But I’ve known old folks who did pay sticker less a trade-in value that was mostly if not all a routine discount from MSRP, yet they thought they’d sold the car to the dealer for a handsome price. Then there was the senile geezer across the street who bought TWO new Plymouths because the price he paid was so fabulous “he’d be sure to make money re-selling one of them.” (I think the man’s son got that scam undone when he learned of it.) How do those shark dealers sleep at night?
NBK-Boston, 50merc, Redbarchetta
NBK-Boston and 50merc, thanks for all the help and messages. NBK-Boston, your detailed advice highlighted some things I was thinking about when I said I am not I am really not sure about buying or renting.
I will check out the websites (also the rent a wreck), but Redbarchetta, if you are serious about the Cadillac thing I would like to talk to you about the details. I have driven many cars and I don’t expect a Cadillac (I don’t know the year/type, but any Cadillac) to handle worse than a Wartburg (with a semi-existing clutch and a steering wheel that had to be turned around once for the slightest turn) or an AutoVAZ Lada 2105 (although I didn’t drive these for more than 10kms, but I was using a Peugeot 306 for years, which I loved), it won’t be a BMW for sure, but I would be happy to check it out.
While this column is interesting to read, I have to question the ole “highway miles” reference.
Generally speaking, “highway miles” is code speak for “we want more of your money for this high mileage vehicle than it is worth”. It is in the same genre as “only driven on a Sunday by a little old lady”. I see this descriptor used quite often by both amatuers and dealers on sites such as Craigslist et al, usally as a way to obfuscate around the fact that someone is trying to get top dollar, for a relatively new model, but very high mileage domestic. In my opinion, all things considered such, mileage is mileage. It’s still wear and tear. And while it is true that IF a vehicle is driven within it’s design parameters, i.e max speed/RPM, highway miles are preferable. But I’ve seen plenty of fools on highways abusing speeds and engines and transmission in the process. And if the so called highway miles are in any metropolitan city, the under hood heating, stop and go wear on brakes and transmissions are every bit as detrimental as the dreaded “city miles”.
There seems to be no magic in finding sellers wanting to dispose of used domestics with over 100K miles logged on them. Say what you will, but, at that point, the doomsday clock is ticking for a domestic model. The real trick in the car business, is finding those elusive opportunities to buy a 3-5 year old car, with most of its appreciation out of the way, with between 50-70K miles. That’s the real deal. And it is certainly not unreasonable to expect to be able to find good used vehicles that have been driven on average of 15K mles per year. Those 100K+ miles critters might be fine for financing at the local “buy here-pay here” corner lot, but I do not consider them to be any kind of special gem or require any special skills to be unearthed.
My experience at many of the autctions is that the cream has been skimmed long before the auction, and there is usually a reason why many of these cars have to resort to the auction line in order to be sold. Just a thought.
Steven,
When you finance it for “a little over 4 grand”, is that the interest, the cost basis when selling it, or the total amount of the sale of the vehicle to a private party PLUS interest?
Just wondering