tl;dr is there a reliable, cheap car anymore? Seems like older cars are expensive to maintain or easy to steal. What the best value for less money? My non-frugal friends just do not understand. Or are they right that I have to spend $7-10k??
All I ever wanted was an old, paid off car. A frugal beater, with great gas mileage. Mostly I take transit with my work-paid bus pass, so I barely need a car for occasional weekend trips and groceries (I'm in a food desert). And I had just what I described I wanted. Life was good. For four beautiful years, I owned a trusty 1996 Toyota Corolla. I bought it for $1800. It had one pervious owner, and 170k miles.
But it was robbed repeatedly. For years. I never kept anything in it because it was so easy to break into. Then last week, it was stolen. I wasn't too surprised because I knew old cars are easy to break into. However, 2 days later the police recovered it. It was trashed. Heroin needles, garbage, damage. I spent $1000 cleaning and fixing it up. A month and a half later, it was stolen again. Now it's gone for good. It the most commonly stolen make of car in my City. But dang. I'm poor, broke, and just want a damn set of 4 wheels to get me from point A to B for less than $1000 a year. Anyone else have this challenge to being frugal? I want an old car, but old cars are easy to steal and expensive to maintain if they have any hidden issues. Is there such thing as a reliable car for under $5k? My last Toyota was damn near perfect, less than $1000 per year on it, great gas mileage, but is now a hobo free car rental company. Any recommendations for a reliable car under $5k?
June 06, 2018 at 12:05AM
