Let's talk about a "beater"
So I am the son of a mechanic of 35 years. He's been able to keep up with the current technologies and has worked on some of the most basic and advanced vehicles in the modern era.
It pains me to see people say, "buy a cheap reliable car" as if that is something easy to do. Unless you know a good mechanic that has access to dealer trades and auctions it can be tough. Here in SW PA, cars over 150k miles are usually junk. Rust due to salt, transmissions blown due to hills, etc. Unless you live in the suburbs, cars are not garage kept. My dad and I set out to find my grand mother a replacement car. I gave her a 2005 grand prix in 2014 with no rust and in 4 years of being outside, the rockers cannot be patched anymore.
We looked at around 35 cars and unfortunately my dad is retired. So he does not have access to dealer trades or auctions and most of his contacts have moved on or retired as well. This is a compilation of what we saw.
35 vehicles total
20 costing between 4-8k
- 11 had rust beyond belief
- 6 had check engine lights for multiple things (dad had a scan tool)
- 3 had a fair bit cosmetic or mechanical issues (suspension or a ton of wear items)
15 costing 8-12k
- 6 had too much rust
- 3 had check engine lights for multiple things
- 3 had a fair bit cosmetic or mechanical issues
- 2 were priced way over market value
- 1 we found for just over 12k that we bought (was listed at 14k)
We looked at a wide range of cars. Sure about half were GM, but the rest were Subaru's, Toyota's and Honda's. So this idea that people can "easily" find a "cheap but reliable" beater is a but insane. Many of these cars would cost even us thousands to maintain for a year. They could easily strand my grandmother as she travels to my uncles house every month (2 hour drive). Her old 2006 grand prix started to have issues, water pump, suspension work and the rockers were shot, patched 3 times.
Now I am not advocating for buying a new car. But we ended up reaching out to my other uncles and they all put together money for a 3 year old chevy trax for her. It has far more safety features than her old car, does much better in every crash test, should be reliable for 3-5 more years, etc. We could have gotten her a sonic/cruze but she didn't feel comfortable in them (too low and small) and she's in her 80's so comfort is a thing.
But the moral to the story is, when offering "advice" you need to understand that a "cheap but reliable" car is not an easy find and if you live up north very difficult to do in many cases. Don't assume that everyone has connections and has a reliable mechanic that can easily find good and cheap deals. My dad found me that 05 grand prix that I drive for 5 years and it was about 8k when I bought it in 2009, but that was back when he had unlimited access to thousands of cars.
***EDIT***I want to clarify something. Reasonably safe & reliable vehicles do exist under 5k. Even in my area. Out of 1 gem there are 10-20 POS Junkers. My point is, the average person cannot change their own oil. They wait 6 months after the oil light comes on to change it, drives tires to the cords and didn't know you need to replace brake pads. Those same people also don't have a reliable mechanic, know someone at a dealership or someone who goes to auctions. They do not have the know-how to find a cheap but reliable car. And if you take a look at the marketplace or Craigslist, people who are selling most of these cars say, "Only needs $20 part to pass inspection". And if you're on a 5k budget, can you afford to take 10-15 cars to a mechanic charging $100-150/car?
Let's also take a look at safety. Back in the day, without automation, head-on collisions were far more common this is why there was not need to put the front brace all the way across the front of the car. Due to better safety features, small-overlap is more common. You're 2004 civic has no front brace at a 15* offset but that 2017 Cadillac the other person is driving does. So surviving a small overlap crash in an older vehicle is actually very low.
I am not saying buy a new or expensive car. My point is, once you're financially sound, you should look to save and buy a more reliable and safe vehicle. Spending 10-14k on a CPO vehicle, unless you're in a financial mess is not a bad idea. Those Sub 5k beats can cost more than double in maintenance in just 2-3 years. Take that 5k, put it down in a 2-3 year old CPO vehicle and pay off the other 5-9k over a 2-3 year period and drive that car for another 5 years. If you HAVE to get a beater, PLEASE get someone who can help because I've seen hundreds of people get swindled.
**EDIT 2** I own a 2017 golf which will be paid off this year and wife drives a 2015 Sonic which will be paid off in a few days. We plan on driving these cars for awhile. We are considering upgrading her in a few years to a 2-3 year old car but with cash.
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