Author Topic: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k  (Read 6738 times)

MilStachian

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SingleMomDebt

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2014, 07:54:21 PM »
Two of my favorite want cars are in there - the Jeep Cherokee and the Toyota Landcruiser or Lexus 450. :)

Davids

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2014, 08:10:17 PM »
The Crown Vic, arguably the best used car to buy!

expatartist

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2014, 09:06:47 PM »
Amazing how cheap these cars are in the US. Great article, thanks for posting.

Krum312

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2014, 09:57:04 PM »
I must say as a Mustachian I am not impressed by this list. I've never paid more than 5k for a used vehicle. There are many more reliable, dependable as well as efficient cars that did not make this list. A 6-8 cylinder vehicle are not any more dependable than four cylinder vehicles, but 6-8 cylinder cars cost more in fuel and maintenance for the life of the vehicle. Isn't a Lexus just a Toyota with a more expensive name and more expensive parts? I am not surprised by the cars chosen on this list. There are many very popular and common vehicles with plenty of parts around. I do like the Toyota Carolla. I would have picked more four bangers than the Ford Ranger.

destron

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2014, 10:31:13 PM »
A bunch of those cars and trucks may last a long time, but they get horrible gas mileage.

MayDay

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2014, 06:57:10 AM »
We had the manual corolla, but a '99. It died at 180k. It was a great car while it lasted, though. 

ketchup

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2014, 08:03:53 AM »
They might all be "dependable" but they're not the most Mustachian.  The Corolla at the top of the list definitely is at least.

Sid Hoffman

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2014, 09:47:10 AM »
A bunch of those cars and trucks may last a long time, but they get horrible gas mileage.

Yeah the Taurus might be ok if you have a fairly constant-speed highway commute or something, but other than the Corolla, they are all horrible on gas mileage and maintenance costs when things do go wrong.  I currently have a pretty crappy used car (1997 Escort Wagon, no heat, no A/C, very worn shocks, runs rough at low RPM in spite of $900 in repairs since purchasing it) so I bookmarked a search on Craigslist for 2004 and later $1500-4000 cars.

I'd say the best candidates are generally things like the Ford Focus (often in undesirable to the world, desirable to us) wagon form, various compact and subcompact Kias and Hyundais, Mazda 3's, Nissan Sentras and Versas (especially the hatchback version), Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix (Pontiac version always cheaper), and if you're willing to take a little chance, Suzukis are always dirt cheap here, probably for the same reason Pontiacs are cheap: the brand is not officially sold here anymore.

I basically never see anything from Honda or Toyota in good condition for under $4000 in my area.  The southwest and on in to California is an area where those brands are considered the best cars money can buy, so you see stupid stuff like 10 year old Civics with 285,000 miles and a salvage title still selling for $5000.  IMHO, a 90,000 mile Kia Spectra for $3200 looks a lot more attractive.

On the topic of gas mileage, I decided to look at it from a mustachean standpoint.  I myself have put about 2500 miles on my Escort in the 6 months I've owned it, so to me, I am willing to call 5000 miles a year a good working mustachean midpoint.  Most of those tanks in the Jalopnik article will probably deliver 15mpg in mixed driving.  A compact or subcompact should easily be 24mpg, even if we're talking about some of those older Kias with an automatic.  I say that as a two-time Elantra owner with automatic transmissions.  I'll call gas $3.50/gallon.

Old tank: $1166/year
Compact: $729/year

Another factor is that for things like cleaning fuel injectors, replacing spark plugs, coilpacks, or anything else, you simply have more of them on a 6 of 8 cylinder car than you do on a 4 cylinder car.  I'd be willing to say that you'll probably spend an extra $150/year in maintenance, even if nothing breaks.  By my math, it's going to cost you at least $600/year more to have an old tank than a compact, even if that compact doesn't get spectacular mileage to begin with.  The gap widens even more if you drive more miles or are looking at more efficient compacts, like in the 30mpg range.  So over 5 years, the old tank will cost you an extra $3000 more.  Since the point of the article was cars under $5000, suddenly it means your budget for a tank would be $5000, but really that tank would cost you more like $8000 versus a $5000 compact.

lackofstache

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2014, 10:12:56 AM »
I've got a 94 Ranger XLT. It's got the smaller 4 cylinder & a 5 speed manual. It gets better gas mileage than some may think, I rarely drive on the highway w/ it, but in the city it gets ~25mpg. I drive between 3500-5000 miles/yr and it was free. It currently has 101,000 miles. & cost me $250 in tires when I got it. Besides oil & brake fluid, it hasn't cost me anything.

I've honestly been trying to make it make sense to get rid of it, but I haven't been able to find something else for the price this would sell for (~$1500) that would save me much $, any thoughts? 

biscuitwhomper

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2014, 11:30:03 AM »
That Landcruiser is infamous for being a thirsty dog.    You will be lucky if you break 12 mpg.    On the positive side, its inline 6 is a rugged powerplant.

JPinDC

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2014, 11:51:58 AM »
My first car was a Ford Escort (5 years old at the time) bought on eBay with a busted front fender and 90k miles for $2,500. My dad was a mechanic and fixed it up (including a new fender from the junkyard), and I drove it another 8 years and 90k miles. They say you never know what you've got 'til it's gone....that's totally how I feel about that car.

MikeBear

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2014, 01:58:55 PM »
Stay completely AWAY from the 1998-2002 model years Toyota Corolla and Chevy Prizm version.

They came with the 1ZZFE engine, which was their first aluminum one, and it had a fatal design flaw that causes extreme oil guzzling. Toyota refused to repair the engines under warranty, and they took until almost 2002 before they fixed the problem permanently.

I owned a 1998 Prizm  I bought used in 2001 that developed this issue. For years I had to put in a quart of oil every 1000 miles. The last 2 years of ownership, it was 1 quart of oil every 300 miles. 

Sid Hoffman

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2014, 10:06:40 AM »
I've got a 94 Ranger XLT. It's got the smaller 4 cylinder & a 5 speed manual. It gets better gas mileage than some may think, I rarely drive on the highway w/ it, but in the city it gets ~25mpg. I drive between 3500-5000 miles/yr and it was free. It currently has 101,000 miles. & cost me $250 in tires when I got it. Besides oil & brake fluid, it hasn't cost me anything.

I've honestly been trying to make it make sense to get rid of it, but I haven't been able to find something else for the price this would sell for (~$1500) that would save me much $, any thoughts?

For so few miles, I'm not sure anything else makes sense.  A lot of cars get pretty pitiful fuel economy on short, in-town trips, mine being one of them.  I only wish mine didn't come with so many problems when I purchased it or else it would be fine.  Since yours is not having any mechanical problems I would just keep it.  It's not costing you hardly anything to maintain, fuel costs are likely in the $50/month range, and I'll bet insurance is dirt cheap too.  I'd just call it good until you absolutely have to replace it.

As I and many others know from experience, it's not difficult at all when buying a very cheap used car to find out it needs thousands of dollars of repair work to make it right.  Since you're only spending $600/year in gas, you'd basically never be able to make up the difference in gas if you end up with a used car that ends up needing a lot of repairs.

lackofstache

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2014, 01:22:42 PM »
Thanks for the affirmation Sid.

guitar_stitch

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2014, 07:45:14 AM »
Pff.  That Taurus is a junk box.  I've seen several of them with failed ECMs and blown head gaskets.

MayDay

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2014, 11:18:39 AM »
Stay completely AWAY from the 1998-2002 model years Toyota Corolla and Chevy Prizm version.

They came with the 1ZZFE engine, which was their first aluminum one, and it had a fatal design flaw that causes extreme oil guzzling. Toyota refused to repair the engines under warranty, and they took until almost 2002 before they fixed the problem permanently.

I owned a 1998 Prizm  I bought used in 2001 that developed this issue. For years I had to put in a quart of oil every 1000 miles. The last 2 years of ownership, it was 1 quart of oil every 300 miles.


DING DING DING this is what killed my corolla at 180k miles.

Of course, I was still able to sell it for 900$ since it's a Toyota y'all!

Wargent

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2014, 11:38:48 AM »
I think it's also important to look at the average price and mileage you get with these sub-5000 dollar vehicles. Hondas and Toyotas hold their value incredibly well. Find me a sub-5000 buck Honda civic with under 100,000 miles that's not beat to Hell. Now go look for a sub-5000 dollar old boat (crown vic, grand marquis, taurus). You'll find examples under 75,000 miles all day for 3-4k. Most of them are just as reliable and cheap to repair as their Japanese counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I've driven/owned many Hondas. I just think it's important to think about numbers other than the em-pee-geees

Paul der Krake

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Re: Ten Of The Most Dependable Cars You Can Buy On eBay For Less Than $5k
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2014, 11:58:08 AM »
I basically never see anything from Honda or Toyota in good condition for under $4000 in my area.  The southwest and on in to California is an area where those brands are considered the best cars money can buy, so you see stupid stuff like 10 year old Civics with 285,000 miles and a salvage title still selling for $5000.  IMHO, a 90,000 mile Kia Spectra for $3200 looks a lot more attractive.
Same thing here. Sellers are either completely deluded or it's like hospital pricing and nobody actually pays list price.