How Do YOU Keep Your Beater Running?

So you've settled into the comfort of knowing your Beater Car is going to last you a long time and you're going to keep it, not have a car payment, not worry about depreciation, and not bother yourself with flashy gadgets and technology (that will just break or give you a BSOD later). Now how are you going to keep it running?

If your car is older than dirt, you're probably going to spend a lot of time at junkyards. Maybe a swap meet or ten. There's other options available to you. You can become a member of a car club that has members who only own your make and model of car! These guys don't want to see any of their cherished kind of car crushed. They'll help you find parts, help you fix something that isn't made anymore, and get you back on track with getting your car in the best shape possible. You would be surprised at the kind of cars that have cult followings on the internet. I will add a feature post to this blog periodically showcasing some of these message boards, car clubs, and groups of people who cherish otherwise unexceptional vehicles.

If you have a reasonably newer car, there are skads of places to find parts and service. Some people are pretty picky and only want dealership service. But even the luxury cars like Lexus, Mercedes, and Volvo have mechanic shops who specialize in one or only a few makes. They can be found all over the country even in smaller towns. You might find a German mechanic shop that only works on Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. You might find a Toyota shop that also does Lexus and some of the captive imports like Geo Prizms who are made primarily of Toyota parts. You might even find a guy who will only work on older cars or cars with carburetors or cars that have 3-cylinder engines or smaller!

There are many different kinds of places you can find parts. We've covered junkyards and swap meets, but you can also find goodies at garage sales, flea markets, small used car dealerships, thrift stores, newspaper classifieds, ads on Craigslist and the like, eBay, and thousands of websites devoted to parts. Even the individual car forums for general or specific cars have classified sections.

If you have the space, and the kind of neighbors who don't care, you can do like I did in the post below and buy a whole parts car. Parts cars can range from empty shells to cars with broken engines to whole perfectly good cars that may or may not be titled. You can make a fortune selling off the parts off that car that you DON'T use, or you can pack it all away in your garage to use later. Then you can get most of your money back selling the shell of the car for scrap metal. Cut it up and put it in the bed of your pickup and get paid more because they don't have to go through and remove all the plastics and glass and upholstery. And when it's in a million pieces, you don't need a title to scrap the metal. Sawzalls are worth their weight in platinum for this sort of thing.

Go out, search, keep your eyes open, and you'll find a ton of ways to find the parts and service you need for your beater, so you don't have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to buy a new one!

The Beater World BiMonthly Update

One of these days I'll actually edit this daily. Really. Pinky swear!

The fleet of beaters here at Occupant Ilied Industries, a wholly owned subsdiary of Amyco, has dwindled to three recently. The giant Suburban is gone. The Buick wagon is gone. The Taurus is gone. The Torino, on the other hand, has spawned a parts car. I picked up a wagon with the same motor, transmission, axle, brakes, and basic equipment as my sedan. The interior isn't the same color, but Ford blue has good coverage and I'll dye the seats and armrest and other goodies. Wanna see pics? Of course you do...

That's the wagon, it has a nicer grille, rocker moldings, bodyside narrow moldings with vinyl inserts, rub strips for my bumper guards, some interior bits, great brake bits for swapping, and lots of wagon/Ranchero specific bits to resell. And the fenders are PERFECT so I'll get those swapped when I'm ready to paint the sedan.

That's the sedan, it's not gorgeous, it's not a Sport, it's not even a 2-door. But it's exactly what I want less the Silver Blue Glow paint.

Anyhow, I'm as always on the lookout for good beaters and I get to tour the country driving OTR for the next two months. If I see anything I can tuck in my back pocket I'll pick it up. Otherwise, it'll be another couple of months before I post, as I don't own a laptop and I am NOT flying to pick my truck up with a desktop and LCD in my duffel bag. Maybe if I get frugal with my per diems I'll be able to pick up a netbook somewhere along the way and stay connected. Wish me luck. And please, don't spend a bazillion dollars on your next car. That's what I'm about. Save your money for the repairs. Even a new car runs out of warranty eventually.

Time For a General Rant About The Auto Industry

I already posted a reply to yet another news story about what brands of GM will be killed off next. Let's do a quick review of what brands GM has killed off in the US since...THE DAWN OF TIME!

Elmore (low price car bought by GM in 1909 and killed by 1912)
Oakland (produced through 1931, created Pontiac in 1926 which survived to today)
La Salle (similar to Cadillac, sold from 1927 to 1940)
Marquette (sub-model of Buick in 1929 and 1930)
Viking (sub-model of Oldsmobile in 1929 and 1930)
Opel (European compacts sold in Buick dealerships in the 1960s and 1970s)
Geo (Japanese subcompacts sold in Chevrolet dealerships from 1989 to 1997)
Oldsmobile (GM bought it in 1910 and killed it in 2004)
Reliance and Rapid truck companies (combined to create GMC)
Daewoo (the designs live on as the Chevy Aveo, Suzuki Forenza, and Suzuki Verona)

That's probably not a complete list, either. Opel still sells in other countries and Opel models such as the Astra sell as other brands like Saturn. Holden is GM in Australia and they produced the Pontiac GTO (VT Commodore aka Monaro) and G8 (VE Commodore). Vauxhall is just another name for Opels sold in the UK. And then there is the Ranger (sold in South Africa) and countless other badge-engineered messes around the world. Ever seen a Toyota Cavalier? Take a 2000-2002 Cavalier and put amber turn signals out back. PRESTO CHANGE-OOOO!!!

GM pretty much invented badge-engineering with the "Parent Make" mess back in the late 20s. Pontiac is the only survivor from that, but for how long? Pontiac stopped making their own cars a few decades ago. They rebadge Chevys and put amber-backlit gauge panels in them. How cool is that? It isn't. And it's not profitable to make four different bumpers/grilles/light housings/interiors/wheels and more bits, just to put on one chassis or platform. A car is a car. A truck is a truck. Stop trying to make us believe you sell four different SUV's in a certain size range when they are the same truck with the same motor and some cosmetic changes. The Buick Rainier IS a Chevrolet Trailblazer which IS a GMC Envoy which IS an Oldsmobile Bravada which IS a Saab 9-7. Aren't you glad they didn't come out with Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummers in that same model? They almost did that with the minivans. Didn't they learn back from the J-cars that badge engineering brings the fail? You had the Cadillac Cimarron (sold 82-88), the Buick Skyhawk (sold 82-89) and the Oldsmobile Firenza (sold 82-88). They all died. The Cavalier lived on until 2005 as did the Pontiac J2000, I mean the 2000, I mean the 2000 Sunbird, I mean the Sunbird, errrr, I mean the Sunfire.

HEY GM!!! RENAMING YOUR BADGE-ENGINEERED CAR EVERY YEAR DOES NOT MAKE IT NEW CAR!!! PONTIAC, WHAT THE &#$% WERE YOU THINKING? It was awful, and now we have the Pontiac G5, which is a 2-door Cobalt with the tail lights of a 4-door Cobalt, amber-backlit gauges, colored piping on the interior fabrics, and a few different hubcap or wheel choices. Oh, THEY CHANGED THE GRILLE? IT'S SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE??? WOW, IT MUST BE A PONTIAC THEN!!!

*earth shaking groan sound*

OK, so now you killed off Oldsmobile, you're getting rid of Hummer, Saab, and probably Saturn. Pontiac and GMC might go, too. Wait. Why GMC? Keep them building trucks. Tell Chevy to STOP building trucks. Then you keep the GOOD LOOKING truck!!! Cadillac needs to die. Buick can live on, they sell to the golfing set, and lots of guys play golf. Girls play golf, too, but they don't buy Buicks, so screw them. Tiger will sell you a Buick but it can't be pink. Unless you're a Mary Kay consultant. And even then the latest MK cars have been white, red, or silver. I haven't seen a pink Mary Kay car since a handful of pale pink 1990 Buick Centurys showed up in a junkyard near me last summer.

I'm getting off topic again. Here's the deal. I have new rules for GM. Rules that make SENSE and should be followed to the letter.

GMC gets all the true trucks. Colorado/Canyon, Silverado/Sierra, Medium Duties, and Semis. If it is a cab/chassis, has a pickup bed, or has a cargo box of ANY KIND, it is a GMC truck. That's it. No Acadia. No SUV's. Nothing with carpet behind the second row of seats. No third row seating. If you can't hose down the cargo area and avoid getting carpet, vinyl, cloth, or leather wet, IT IS NOT A TRUCK AND SHOULD NOT BE A GMC.

Chevy gets all the other trucks. SUV's, Crossovers, Truck Hybrids, whatever you want to call them. The HHR, Equinox, Traverse, Trailblazer, Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche, minivans, whatever. If a soccer mom would drive it, brand it Chevrolet. If you offer Navigation systems and DVD players in it, brand it Chevrolet.

Chevy also gets the small cars. Sell the Aveo (if you HAVE to, I'd rather see it go away), the Cobalt, the Malibu, the Impala, the Camaro, the Corvette, whatever. Those are Chevrolet cars. They stay Chevrolet cars. Get rid of Pontiac and make the Impala and Monte Carlo rear drive. Then take the Pontiac G6 lineup and make them Buick Skylarks (or whatever you want to call them). Or expand the Malibu lineup. Call them Chevelles. Whatever. Pontiac is done.

Buick has several good vehicles. The trucks need to go. The Rainier is redundant and could be replace by the Trailblazer in a "Limited" package or something equally gaudy. The Enclave is a Traverse with leather. Gone. The Terrazza minivan is already gone, but I just want to say it needs to be gone again. I mean, please, a Buick minivan? That's sick, dude, what were you smoking when you thought that would be a good idea? The Lacrosse and Lucerne are terrific. Please bring the 3800 back in the Lacrosse, that was a great motor for damn near 50 years and could keep Buicks going for 50 more. What else do you sell, Buick? Nothing? How about coming up with a good sporty name for a small roadster and steal the Solstice from Pontiac? I just don't think it would be a good Chevy. But a Buick sports roadster, I can see that. If you have to make it a Chevy, fine. Chevy Solstice. That doesn't sound too bad, does it?

And now we come to Saturn. I just want to go on record as saying that Saturn was already dead in 2003 when they dropped the S-Series in favor of the ION. You had a car that lived for 13 years, providing no less than 25mpg city, up to 40mpg highway, was comfortable, reliable (if you don't mind checking your oil often), kept its value (if artificially through Saturn dealer networks), and had plastic polymer body panels that never rusted or looked ugly. Genius design, fair-to-middlin execution, and it would have been better to introduce the Cobalt as the 2003 Saturn S-Series and leave center dash pods to Toyota and Scion. NO ONE LIKES IT! STOP FORCING CENTER DASH PODS DOWN OUR THROATS! I'm better now. The L-Series didn't help your reliability concerns from the oil burners of the early 90s, and although the VUE was a great addition, it didn't do well enough, did it? Then you bring in the Aura which SHOULD have been the 2008 Malibu. The 2008 Malibu should have been the Aura. You take a conservatively styled sedan and sell it as a Saturn why? To make up for the abomination of the ION? Then you bring over the Astra and limit body styles and options to a select few things no one wanted brought over from the UK? And a Saturn minivan? Dude, that's sick, what wer....wait, I said that about the Buick, didn't I? I don't have anything else to say, it was a piss poor idea from the start. Chevy can have a minivan for all I care, but the other divisions don't need one. You want a premium minivan, make it a Cadillac.

The Cadillac of minivans. Oldsmobile. No, the Cadillac of minivans should be a CADILLAC. Duh!!! I saw you sneak that into my Elmore Leonard movie. Sick little twisted freaks.

Speaking of Cadillac, you know, I just can't say enough how I enjoyed Cadillac back when they made their own engines. The 390. The 429. The 472. The 500. Then you lost your sack. 425? 368? 4.1 liter? Where did my cubic inches go? 4.1 liter is about 249 cubic inches! That's one of the SMALLEST American V8's ever!!! Ford's flathead was 239, were you trying to relive Maybelline? Don't you remember the flathead in Maybelline was OVERHEATING trying to catch UP to a CADILLAC? It took RAINWATER to cool it off enough to basically COAST DOWN A HILL TO CATCH UP?!! And now we have Cadillac selling CTS's, DTS's, XLR's, ESV's, EXT's, STS's, and God knows what other 3-letter acronyms they are coming up with. I say go all the way. Forget 3 letters. Name them with the 4 letters they need to be called.

Oh wait, I have to interject here. Cimmarron!!!!!!!!!

Back to the drawing board. Or the wastebasket. I suppose GM could keep Cadillac but they better quit with trying to be everything to everyone or they're going to lose the few people still willing to buy GM vehicles by alienating their customer base.

The last real Cadillacs in my opinion were the 1979 models. 425 engine, big cushy interiors, wire wheel covers, and chrome tailfins. And they were even downsized and depowered from the massive 1975-1976 behemoths with the 500 engines. Cadillac was the Standard Of The World. That standard no longer applies. It's like DOS. No one uses DOS anymore. Cadillac is trying to be HIP and they want to play to the YOUNG people and have a BOLD statement. That's not a Cadillac. That's an Audi, or a BMW, or a small Mercedes. A Cadillac is a car you buy to say you've made it in this world. A Cadillac is fat, uses a lot of gas, and is a real bitch to park. Which is why God invented VALET PARKING. As a former valet attendant myself, parking a 1953 Eldorado convertible is one thing. Parking a 1970 Fleetwood Sixty Special is another. But parking a 2002 Seville SLS really isn't anything special. A CTS might as well be a Malibu. And the Escalades do nothing for me. OH PLAYA YOU GOT REAL WOOD ON YO STEERING WHEEL! Yeah, it burns my hands when I get in during summertime, so what's your point? Give me skinny plastic any day.

There is a reason I drive an old Buick station wagon. Because Buick, in 1988, still knew how to make a proper station wagon. The car seats eight people with seatbelts. It gets mid teens in town and up to 24 on the highway. It has a V8. It makes noise when you stand on it. The seats are comparable to overstuffed living room sofas. Everything is power operated except the glove box and the ashtray. The cigarette lighter.......IS. The seats fold down and you can fit 4x8 sheets of plywood with the tailgate closed. Outside, there is chrome and fake wood everywhere. Heck, INSIDE there's chrome and fake wood everywhere. It's just right. It's what I expect from a Buick. It delivers the pillowy soft ride and the mushy handling characteristics that let me NOT SPILL MY COFFEE BEFORE I LEAVE MY DRIVEWAY. That's what a car should be able to do.

If I left anything out, I'll be posting about this again when some more details are finalized. They have until what, June? I'll talk more by then.

How To NOT Avoid The Repo Man

At 4:00am Sunday morning, a guy in a 3/4 ton pickup truck with dark tinted glass idles his ride down the street. He stops at the end of the block and turns around. The truck pulls in front of a silver Taurus and you see a pair of beat-up arms snake under the front tires. Suddenly the Taurus lifts off the ground, a guy jumps out, straps it down, tosses a pair of red utility lights on the trunk, jumps back in, and stands on the gas, as another guy in a bathrobe starts yelling from an upstairs window.

As sneaky as that was, that was not grand theft auto. You just witnessed a repossession. Only some states license people in the business, but you'll find them anywhere. Sometimes they don't even use a tow truck, they cut their own keys with codes provided by the lender, and use little programmer's boxes to get around electronic key chips. Cars can be taken from ANYWHERE. From the street in front of your house. From your mama's house. From the bar or club you frequent. Even from work or school. Make your payments, or you don't drive!

So other than the small amount of repo agent experience I have, what does it have to do with Cheap Ass Cars?

That would be this:

2000 Dodge Durango. KBB Book Value $4550. We paid $1820 for it. You do the math.

When a car gets repossessed, the finance company or bank that had the loan on it doesn't want the vehicle. They want the MONEY. So they have to liquidate it somehow. Most end up going to dealer-only auctions, as this one did. The dealer who bought it listed it on eBay, and we bought it from him. Some end up for sale in classified ads, or sitting on the lot of the bank who loaned the money. Sometimes they sell them directly on eBay or other auction sites.

A few other examples of repos sold by some eBay sellers:

2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, front bumper damage but air bags good, runs and drives, $3650
2000 Ford Mustang GT, no damage, runs and drives, $2711
1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible, no damage, runs and drives, only had 55K on it, $1525

There are thousands more selling every week. Go look for them. Don't fall for scam artists like Repo Joe or other fake "repo auctions" as propagated by car dealerships trying to get rid of excess inventory. Some of those cars may be repos but you'll pay close to if not MORE than retail. Repo auctions are NEVER held at car lots. Maybe bankruptcy liquidation these days, but never repos.

Speaking of car lots going out of business, how many lots near you have closed? I'm looking at Forrest Chevy and Buick-Pontiac-GMC up in Cleburne, TX, they are having a liquidation and are down to maybe 60 cars on both lots. It's hard to sell these days, when people have no money, when cars cost so much money, but if you could buy a $38000 Tahoe for $24000, and it's still brand new and under warranty, would you?

I wouldn't, but I'm cheap. See $1820 Durango above. That truck would have been $5995 on a dealer lot, and financed with interest for thousands more. Even after replacing the engine we're a thousand under book. And I'm keeping the bad engine, rebuilding it, and I'll find a nice 70's Chrysler wagon to drop it in. That's just a fun personal project for me, though. I have my work cut out for me, couple of melted pistons, warped heads, etc...

The Joys of Special Finance

DO YOU HAVE A JOB?

DO YOU HAVE $199?

DO YO WANT A NEW CAR?

The ads are everywhere, and they seem to promise you a brand new car for a little bit of money down. Most people can probably walk in and buy one. But is it worth it? Let's take a look at what you get for $199 down...

2008, pretty much last year's model
Kia Spectra, a great car but horrible resale value
5-speed transmission, hope you can shift for yourself
Several hundred miles from tons of test drives because some people DON'T qualify after all

OK, so maybe it's not the best car in the world. I'm sure Hyundai has similar deals on Elantras, Toyota might sell you a Yaris for that, and Mitsubishi has some basic Lancers they could toss your way. But let's see what this deal ends up costing you in the long run.

$199 down payment
MSRP of $16,790, you pay full retail
72 month note, you get 6 years of high interest
Payment isn't very low either, try $400-$450 a month!

That's $30,000 or more for a $17,000 car. OUCH!!!

A better bet would be to find a ten-year old economy car for cash. 1998-2002 Chevrolet Prizms and Toyota Corollas come to mind, as well as 1996-2000 model Honda Civics. The 1996-2002 Mitsubishi Mirage is also an excellent deal for what they sell for these days. You can spend $1500-$3500 in cash and not have to think about car payments, interest, resale value, or full coverage insurance premiums. When you're done with the car, it'll still be worth most of what you paid.

I imagine at the end of that 6-year note, the Kia wouldn't even be worth $3500. That's a lot of depreciation, plus all the interest you pay.

Caveat Emptor!!!

Update for the sake of updating...:)

Not much new to report in the world of beater cars. Archived posts have a ton of information and I should have some more Sample Beaters, Beater Of The Week, and more bits. For now, it's Christmas, so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and I'll be back in January, hopefully with a fresh inspection sticker on my 1976 Ford Gran Torino sedan. Cheers!

Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique (Mistake?)

In the early 1990's, Ford decided to come up with a new "World Car". They introduced the Mondeo platform in Europe in 1993 and thought it would make a great replacement for the aging Tempo/Topaz models in the USA. The car was introduced in late 1994 as a 1995 model and sold well. Unfortunately by 1997 when the smaller Escort and Tracer were redesigned, the Contour/Mystique were about the same size as the new Escort range, and were pretty much obsolete. The front end was redesigned in 1998 along with the taillights and the cars continued through 1999 and 2000 with little to no changes.

An SVT Contour was produced but isn't what I would consider a beater. Catering to the same crowd as the Taurus SHO, it was a performance model and was very competent.

Standard (non-SVT) Contours and Mystiques are generally plagued with electrical problems and do not have what I would consider to be "reliable" powertrains. I often see used Contours in nice condition for well under $2000. Typically, the "for sale" Contour has some kind of no-start problem, a failed transmission, or electrical gremlins, and for $500 or significantly less. A recent Dallas Craigslist ad had two 1997 Contours for $600. That's not two cars priced at $600 each but both cars for the one price of $600. These are best left to ASE certified professionals with a lot of time on their hands.

My ex-wife drives a Mystique. I would say something about karma but that would be counterproductive as far as karma is concerned.

A coworker of mine at a courier service drove a 1999 Contour and generally was able to drive for two weeks before making some sort of repair (often for the same thing he fixed a few months prior). That's about 3000 miles, or one oil change interval, between repairs. I don't think he ever got his cruise control working the entire time I knew him.

For more details on the Contour and Mystique, visit the enthusiast site at Contour.org. The forums are an excellent place to read up on quick fixes, troubleshooting, how-tos, upgrades, and more. You can also visit the Contour wikipedia page. Ford Forums also has a Contour forum.

Humor: How To Read Used Car Classified Ads

Needs Minor Work - To every component on the vehicle.

Needs Nothing - As long as you don't plan on driving it anywhere.

Easy Project Car - Completely disassembled after garage fire. Bring a spatula and some buckets.

Some Rust - Don't put your feet on the floorboards.

Minor Rust - Major rust you can’t see.

Low Mileage - Odometer hasn't turned a mile in at least a decade of commuting.

Convertible - After driving under that truck.

Runs Great - Too bad it can't stop.

Alarm - All valuable parts are already stolen.

Nice Stereo - So you won't hear the knocking or the exhaust leaks.

Needs Paint - To cover all the visible rust.

New Paint - Already covered all the rust you used to be able to see.

Fully Loaded - Just like the seller.

All Options - 8-track player and rich Corinthian leather.

Only 43,000 Miles - It's really 243,000 but it's a 5-digit, who can tell anyway?

Rare Model - One of 200 still in existence that still runs and hasn't rusted away.

Must Sell - Before the police pick me up on outstanding vehicular homicide warrants.

Must Sell - Need to bail my grandmother out of jail before I go in.

Summer Fun - Heater is not functioning.

Summer Fun - Won't be running by fall.

Reliable - Don't leave the neighborhood.

Dependable - Don't leave home without AAA and your platinum VISA card.

Daily Driver - Back when I was a cabbie.

Only Driven Sundays - Sunday is Dollar Day at the Tri-County Dragstrip.

Engine Rebuilt - New valve cover gaskets and freshly washed and degreased.

Doesn’t Smoke - When it isn't turned on.

Trans. Rebuilt - Brake fluid smoothed it right up.

4 Speed - 5th gear is stripped.

Hurry, Won't Last - Exactly as it says. And call me anytime at 267-8433 if you have problems (Dalworth carpet cleaning in Dallas).

New Tires - They were new last year before I put it on as a taxicab.

Well Maintained - Oil changed as soon as it was empty.

Drives Like a Dream - My therapist consider nightmares to be dreams.

Always Garaged - HOA won't let me park it outside.

Family Owned - Passed down from all the methheads to me.

Fully Restored - Not a single OEM part left on it.

Smog Exempt - And after sitting in a barn for eighteen years, I can't believe it runs!

Tags Till Next Year - Until my neighbor sees his plates and sticker are missing.

Moving, Must Sell - To get as far away as possible from this car and the note lot that sold it to me.

Why a used car makes so much sense

So you're in the market to buy a car. You've done your research and decided you want a small sedan with automatic that gets 30mpg in mixed driving and won't cost you more than $350 a month for 5 years. After checking out all the reviews and specifications and prices on various websites like Edmund's and Vehix and MSN Cars, you've decided on a brand new Toyota Corolla LE sedan.

WHOA! Why are you spending so much money that you haven't even MADE yet? What if you get laid off in a few months? What if you take a pay cut, or have hospital expenses for some reason? Your nice shiny new car will get repossessed from you and you won't be able to go anywhere!

Let's break this down. The new 2009 Corolla and the 2003-2008 Corolla are VERY similar. You could buy a used 2003 Corolla LE with the same ABS, airbags, power windows and locks, cruise control, CD stereo, and everything else, for a THIRD of the cost of a new one! $18000 car or $6000 car. The 2009 model might cost more than $350 a month at FIVE years, and you might have to go SIX years to stay in budget. You could have the 2003 model paid off in TWO years at $350 a month even if you put very little down! And you'll still have the same reliable Toyota. Change the headlights and taillights if you want something different. Warranty? Who needs a warranty on a Corolla? Aren't you supposed to weld the hood shut on those and have the oil sucked out the bottom and refilled by a tube? Like in the commercials?

How To Spot Scams

When you're searching for a cheap car, there are people out there in the world who want to take advantage of you. These generally fall into three classes.

1) Curbstoners

These guys buy and sell cars for a living, but are not licensed dealers. They will buy cars from people, leave the titles open (as in not sign their name to them, but instead have you sign where they should have), avoid paying sales taxes, insurance, or surety bond cost, and generally don't sell nicer cars. They won't let you take extended test drives, they won't allow mechanical inspections, and they are operating above the law, so what gives them the need to be honest about the car? They're breaking the law already, why not say it's a one-0wner that granny owned and only drove to church and a grocery store on Sundays?

2) Foreign Scammers

You'll be browsing through car ads on CL and see a late model car for a third of what it's worth. You live in Texas, but the car pictures have palm trees in the background. The guy might claim some sob story about how he tried to import it into Schnozzbekistan but their emissions requirements were too strict and he has to ship it back and sell it. Or he's in the Army and needs to sell his car while he is overseas. Or whatever. Either way, it's a scam. If you follow through with it, you will lose any money you send the scammer and you will NOT get a car in return. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

3) Title Fraud

I'm selling this for my brother-in-law while he's in prison. FRAUD. My wife and I are getting divorced so I have to sell this right away before she gets it. FRAUD. Oh, getting a bonded title is EASY. FRAUD. If the title isn't in their name, RUN AWAY. If the title already has markings on it where it shouldn't, RUN AWAY. If it looks like someone erased a signature, RUN AWAY. If they "lost" the title but will get you another one in a few weeks, RUN AWAY. If they offer you only a Bill of Sale, RUN AWAY, unless you know what you're doing.

Where Do You Find Cheap Cars?

Cheap cars are everywhere. They might not be prominently displayed, or even say that they are for sale. You have to know where to look. Thumbing through an Auto Trader magazine or your local newspaper is probably not the best place to find your cheap car. There are other publications and websites you can check out to find the cheap cars in your area, or you might just have to wander around town and see what you can find.

Websites

eBay Motors - Used to be a great place to pick up a $100-$500 car in running condition. Not so much anymore, although I did buy my last car there for $355 and it does run and drive. I'm waiting to put more money into it until springtime. It needs battery cables, a battery, and some little bits like a reflector and a parking brake ratchet mechanism to pass inspection. You can still find driveable cars cheap, especially if you live in a large metropolitan area like Chicago or New York.

Craigslist - This is the place to go for finding cheap cars online. I have purchased no less than five cars on Craigslist in the past few years for well under $1000. All of them were fine to me. If you don't have a local Craigslist for your town, search the next nearest few towns and you'll find something. I also find that limiting search by price eliminates listings that have NO price, in which case you might miss something good.

AutoTrader - You won't find much for less than $1500 on AutoTrader because it costs money to put an ad up. But the cars are there sometimes. Doesn't take long to do a search, so go for it.

Auctions

I'll keep this nonspecific because there are literally THOUSANDS of car auctions around the country. To find local car auctions, keep in mind there are three kinds of auctions where you'll find cars.

Government Surplus Auctions - To find these, DO NOT go out on the internet and search for them. All you'll find are scam websites looking to take money from you and then give you an outdated list of auction companies and vehicle lists from five years ago. Just call your local police department, sheriff's department, school district, water utility, or whatever, and ASK THEM how they dispose of their surplus vehicles. They will likely either give you a date-time-location, or refer you to an auctioneer who they do business with, who can then give you details on upcoming auction sales.

Abandoned/Impounded Auctions - These are my personal favorites. It's almost like a grab bag (or a box of chocolates). You never know what you're going to get. Most of the time, the tow company or police department knows NO history on the cars they are selling. They might run, they might not. They might have keys, they might not. The car might not even be complete. But once you've been to a few of these you'll start picking good cars. I always look for cars that were forfeited by people who were arrested, or cars from DUI/DWI arrests. These are most likely to have keys and be in running condition (how else did they get pulled over?) and ready to drive. If you see a car at an impound auction and want to know more about it, the best bet before the auction starts is to talk to the tow truck drivers. They brought it in, they should know more about the situation. The best way to find out about these is to either check the Public Notices in the newspaper classifieds, or call each towing company and police department in your area directly.

Estate Sales and Bankruptcy Auctions - Again, you will want to contact individual auction companies here. That or check your newspaper for upcoming auctions. You might find a cherry garage queen type car, or a well-worn farm truck, or something that has been sitting in pieces for a decade or more. But it might well be worth it. These are usually held in mornings, at the residence or business location, and during the week, so make sure you can get time off work for them if you simply have to go.

Wandering Around Town

You might be able to find a good deal by just LOOKING for cars which look like no one is driving them, or have for sale signs on them, or are just begging you to ask about them. Good places to find these might be at small strip malls and shopping centers, repair, body, and transmission shops, or possibly in your own neighbor's garages and back yards.

Shopping Areas - Signs warning of towing are up but no one seems to care, because there are 12 cars for sale at your local Stuff Mart. Go check them out. Make a ridiculous low offer. You might get a great deal!

Auto-Related Repair Shops - You can get some terrific deals with mechanic's liens. Stop by a large transmission shop in your area and ask if they have any cars for sale. People might buy a car and find it needs transmission work, drop it off at a shop, and then get shocked at the $1500-$2500 bill to get it back! They abandon the car, the shop owner files for a lien, and then he gets to sell the car to cover his investment in fixing it. You can easily find $4000 cars for $2000 at these places. Regular mechanical repair shops, body shops, even brake shops can have these deals. If the same car is sitting on the side of the shop for more than a week or two, it's likely the owner just left it there and it will be for sale soon if not already!

Just Wherever Around Town - So the crazy guy in town who always walks around holding a stuffed lion lives three blocks over from you. He walks everywhere, and his Buick Regal sits in the driveway collecting sap and dust for months at a time. Strike up a conversation, see if he wants to sell it. You might see a Chrysler Sebring sitting at the local bakery for three months without moving. Maybe the owner works there and the car wouldn't start one day after work. He might even pay YOU to take it away so his boss doesn't get upset over it being there for so long. Pay attention when you drive around, your next car might be that Pontiac Bonneville sitting behind four feet of weeds waiting for you!

Why Hybrids Aren't Cost-Effective

Total Cost Of Ownership. I shouldn't have to say much more than that. Sure, a new Prius or Civic Hybrid will save you money on gas. You'll get 40-50mpg and be the envy of all your green neighbors. But you just spent $25,000 to $30,000 for the privilege! And some years from now you'll have a battery pack to replace which may cost more than the car will be worth by then!

You can save a lot of gas money at the pump by buying one of the older cars that get incredible gas mileage. In many cases you won't even have to give up automatic transmission, air conditioing, or even full-size comfort. I put a few examples below, and I will try to make this a regular feature, profiling a new little-known gas saver each week.

1) 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala

This is not an old car, nor is it a small one. But with the 3.4 liter V-6 engine, overdrive automatic transmission, and a tall final drive ratio, it can easily get the EPA rated 32mpg or more on the highway. According to the EPA's website, fueleconomy.gov, some Impala owners get 35-37mpg in 80-100% highway driving. City mileage was rated at only 20mpg but many owners report 23-26mpg in town. You get 6-passenger full-size comfort, a huge trunk, and GM reliability. I'm currrently trying to find one for my wife. Private owners are selling them for $3,000 to $6,000 and you can even find low mileage GM Certified 2005 models for under $10,000.

2) 1993-1996 Dodge and Plymouth Colt, Eagle Summit, and Mitsubishi Mirage

These cars were sold under many names, but they are all the same basic car. With the 1.5 liter 4-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual transmission, they were rated at the time by the EPA to get 32mpg city and 40mpg highway. You could get these as 2-door coupes, 4-door sedans, or wagons. The wagons typically used a larger 1.8 liter engine which was optional on the coupes and sedans. Some models even had a large 2.4 liter engine instead. The larger wagons had 3 rows of seating and could still get 24-28mpg in mixed driving. In what else can you seat 7 people and still get mid-20s for mileage? Maybe a Highlander Hybrid, but why spend $30,000 or more for one of those when you can find a mint Mitsubishi Expo microvan for well under $3,000? Automatic were available at a small mileage penalty as well.

3) 1996-2002 Saturn S-Series

Two generations are covered here and no matter what engine, transmission or bodystyle you pick, you'll get at least 25mpg in town and 35mpg on the highway. SOHC engines with manuals typically see closer to 40mpg highway. You can choose from 3-door coupes (with a small side door on the passenger side to ease access to the rear seat), 4-door sedans, or 5-door station wagons. Right hand drive versions of the wagon were made for rural mail delivery as well. Older Saturns are an even better pick if you really want to save money, but avoid the first year 1991 models as they were significantly less reliable. Saturns are also a great choice in states where salt is used for snow control as most of the Saturn body panels are made of a plastic polymer and can't rust!

That's three lines of cars that offer incredible mileage without giving up a huge chunk of your wallet. I'll have many more to come soon, including Hondas, Nissans, and Toyotas for you foreign car lovers. Some of you may remember the Civic VX, Sentra SE-R, and Tercel EZ, and I'll get to all those soon!