Advice: Buying a Cheap Used Car For the Summer - Page 2

What part of NJ do you plan on commuting from?

Can't you just go to a rental agency and rent for the summer? Seems like a lot of trouble to go to on the chance you might sell it quickly at the end of your summer work and get your money back. Long-term rental rates are way cheaper per day than typical weekly rates, especially when you go to off-airport companies like Enterprise, and even cheaper still with Rent-A-Wreck-type companies. You certainly won't be buying a better vehicle than they would be renting you. If something breaks on a rental, you take it back and get another car, no issues. One mechanical repair on a used $5000 car could completely sink your plan to unload it at the end of summer and get your money back. If you are hell-bent on buying a cheap ride, I recommend a Ford Taurus (non-SHO). They are reliable, cheap, and large enough to seat more than two with luggage. You could probably sell it pretty quickly when you were done with it. Honda/Toyota is a good way to go if you want to buy a used car and keep it, but the desirable and reliable models fetch higher prices so you would be looking at older cars with those brands than you would with a Ford. I think if I needed a car no more than six months, I would probably rent one.

That's a fine price so long as the vehicle is in good mechanical condition. Be sure you get the car checked out by a mechanic before buying it and you should be fine. If you're sure that you'll be dumping the car at the end of summer then renting is a pretty good idea. You should be able to rent something from Enterprise or a similar company for a few hundred per month at most. You'll save money and you'll save time because you wont be traveling around to look at cars, getting them checked out by a mechanic etc. Plus you'll be able to get a newer vehicle that may have better comfort and safety features while being much less likely to break down.

Crapshoot. The stuff that goes bad with a Honda are the peripherals to the motor, clutches and suspension parts. The bodies hold up pretty well and so do the engines. Things like clutch slave cylinders, clutch master cylinders, alternators, radiators, suspension bushings, drive boots all wear out at or below the age/mileage of the car you are listing. $3800 seems cheap, unless it needs an expensive repair, then it isn't such a good deal. By the time I hit 120K, I was into new radiator, alternator, a couple of clutch slave cylinders, a new clutch, a water pump (replaced it with the timing belt on scheduled service), a new muffler, and a rear suspension assembly (bushings worn, but you couldn't just buy a replacement bushing, go figure) plus the usual replacement batteries and brakes, and I am not particularly hard on my cars. The car looked and drove great, but it was becoming expensive to maintain. Government auctions as in used government vehicles or confiscated vehicles? My cop friend tells me that if you want to buy a government auction car like a used police cruiser, stay away from the state police cars and look at the sheriff's department cars, which he thinks are sold in better condition. As far as confiscated cars go, unless you know exactly what you are looking for and can peg the risk of repairs or defects in that model, stay away. You really aren't going to be able to examine the vehicle very well or test drive it, let alone get an independent mechanic's examination of the car.