How much is a cheap car in your country?

[Samson]

It really amazes me how cheap you can get a fully functional car for here in the UK. I was at a car auction last night, and you could easily get an apparently fully functional car for 100 GBP. For example -

Vauxhall Cavalier, '92 long MOT, 100,000 miles 100 GBP
Daewoo Matiz, December 99, long MOT, 20,000 miles, 775 GBP
Mazda MX-6 (2.5l, 161(?) bph), '93, short MOT, 170,000 miles 285 GBP
Peugeot 309 turbo diesel, did not look at the details, 30 GBP

You also get 7 days insurance free. You could be certain to turn up any day and drive away in a car for less than 200 pounds. This is cheaper than hiring a car for 2 weeks, and kind of insignificant compared to the cost of petrol. I wonder if it is like this in other countries. I belive that in the US it is had to find a working car for less than 2000 USD.

I am really interested because I am thinking about a longish holiday some time this summer, hopefully to somewhere that has skiing, so I am particully interested in answers from anyone from australia, new zealand, chille, argentina or anywhere else that has skiing in the northen hemisphere summer.

I have bought a few cars at the auction. Out of 6 (4 for me) I have only had 1 that was not fully functional. The highlights are my present car a saab 9000 turbo (93, long MOT, 150k, 75 GBP), a ford mondao (93, long MOT, 100k, damaged rear door, 15 GBP, 30 GBP for a door) and a MG B GT ('80, 4 months MOT, 50k, 500 GBP).

I belive it is to do with the affluence of the nation, esp. in the early 90's and today. There were many cars bought new then, and there are not enough people who are willing to drive around in older cars now to use them all. As the manufacturing quality got a lot higher than preiviously around this time most of these cars still work.

 

[bhsup]

Yeah, I go to a local auction periodically to help out family who are in the business. It is truly amazing. The mileage is the real price killer. It's amazing how much the starts truly plummeting after 70K or so.

It's where I just got my latest vehicle.

 

[Samson]

Yeah, I go to a local auction periodically to help out family who are in the business. It is truly amazing. The mileage is the real price killer. It's amazing how much the starts truly plummeting after 70K or so.

It's where I just got my latest vehicle.

This the US? My brother lives there (CA) and i looked at cars a bit and I could not find any cheap ones at all. How much can you get a working one for?

 

[Sidhe]

Yeah, I go to a local auction periodically to help out family who are in the business. It is truly amazing. The mileage is the real price killer. It's amazing how much the starts truly plummeting after 70K or so.

It's where I just got my latest vehicle.

Are you an Englishman in Misourri VRWC? That's the cross of St George flag, the English flag? Just curious sorry for thread jacking.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

You also get 7 days insurance free. You could be certain to turn up any day and drive away in a car for less than 200 pounds. This is cheaper than hiring a car for 2 weeks, and kind of insignificant compared to the cost of petrol.

I think that you are right in that short term, buying a car is very cheap. But the reason that they are cheap is because you are likely to spend a fortune to keep the bloody thing on the road.

 

[Samson]

I think that you are right in that short term, buying a car is very cheap. But the reason that they are cheap is because you are likely to spend a fortune to keep the bloody thing on the road.

I disagree. The mondao I had ran for 8 months until the MOT ran out, and it only needed 70 quid to pass but I bought the saab for that much and did not have to go through the hastle of getting the work done. My saab has now been running for 7 months without me spending a penny on it.

My golden rule is to never spend more on a car that it cost, so when you are spending this little on a car that basicly means if anything serious goes wrong I throw it away and get a new one.

I really belive the reason they are cheap is because of basic supply and demand. There are more 10- 15 year old larger cars than there are people who want to drive 10 - 15 year old larger cars.

[EDIT]Oh yes, and for me the more I spend on a car the less reliable it is. The most expensive cars I have bought are;

The MG 500 GBP. Nothing but problems, but it is british so what do you expect.
A ford Seirra, 425 GBP broke down twice
An Astra, 375 GBP. Best car I owned, had it for 5 years, broke down once.
A Rover 216 vitesse, 325 GBP. Broke down on the way home.

I have not spent more that 200 on any other car (~10 cars?) and none have broken down. Generally not economical to get through the MOT, bloody guvment.

 

[Abaddon]

very true.. but the best bit is, run the car into the ground.. then just spend another £200 buying another,, just keep chopping and changing.

 

[Samson]

very true.. but the best bit is, run the car into the ground.. then just spend another £200 buying another,, just keep chopping and changing.

Yeah, that is a big advantige. Not only do you get cheap motoring, but you get to drive loads of cars that just a decade ago you would have to be rich to drive.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

The mondao I had ran for 8 months until the MOT ran out, and it only needed 70 quid to pass but I bought the saab for that much and did not have to go through the hastle of getting the work done. My saab has now been running for 7 months without me spending a penny on it.

Don't get me wrong, there are good older cars out there. Finding them is the key.

My golden rule is to never spend more on a car that it cost, so when you are spending this little on a car that basicly means if anything serious goes wrong I throw it away and get a new one.

Not to mention that older cars are less efficient.

I really belive the reason they are cheap is because of basic supply and demand. There are more 10- 15 year old larger cars than there are people who want to drive 10 - 15 year old larger cars.

I agree that this contributes to the low value.

The most expensive cars I have bought are;

The MG 500 GBP. Nothing but problems, but it is british so what do you expect.
A ford Seirra, 425 GBP broke down twice
An Astra, 375 GBP. Best car I owned, had it for 5 years, broke down once.
A Rover 216 vitesse, 325 GBP. Broke down on the way home.

Yes, but none of these cars are particularily expensive. I imagine that had you bought a car for £1625 it would have out lived all of these vehicles one after another. Plus you wouldn't have the added cost of selling or disposing of the care and looking for a new one each time itbreaks down.

 

[classical_hero]

For us here a cheap car would be about $1000 dollars. You really canno get much cheaper than that without getting a bomb.

 

[Samson]

Not to mention that older cars are less efficient.

Somewhat less efficent, but the big thing is to get the real bargins you need to buy bigger cars. I was a little tempted by the Daowoo Matiz I mentioned in the OP, 1 litre and only 6 years old with only 20k on it. I am not sure if I could face the drop in power though.

Yes, but none of these cars are particularily expensive. I imagine that had you bought a car for £1625 it would have out lived all of these vehicles one after another. Plus you wouldn't have the added cost of selling or disposing of the care and looking for a new one each time itbreaks down.

I do not think I could;
- 1625 is not a lot to spend on a car. It seems to me there is a big jump from ~200 to ~2000, and for a "reliably reliable" car I think you really need to be looking at 3 - 4 grand. And for that you are not going to get a RWD car, and I could not go 7 years without having on of them.
- Once you get to this sort of money, if something does go wrong you kind of have to get it fixed. This really adds to the cost of motoring, and seems to me a lot more risky than being able to throw it away.
- These (other than the astra) were the worst cars I have owned. All the rest do not come to 800 all together and probably reprasent 100,000 miles.
- You note the astra did me for 5 years? The seria was about a year, and the vitesse for over a year. 7 Years is a long time for a 1600 GBP car to last, and I am sure you would spend a lot more on keeping it on the road.
- I still have the MG, and it has to be worth 800, possibly 12 - 1800.
[EDIT] And I forgot to add, you can give a car to a scrap yard for free these days, and it costs nothing to sit in an auction. I have never sold a car, either the MOT runs out and it costs to much to fix 1 little thing or I give it to a member of my family or a friend so I get a chance to drive something more interesting.

 

[IglooDame]

I could get a reasonably functional car around here for US$1000 or so, and have at least a 50/50 chance of it lasting more than a year.

 

[Samson]

For us here a cheap car would be about $1000 dollars. You really canno get much cheaper than that without getting a bomb.

About 420 GBP? Not as bad as america (unless I am mistaken) but still a lot more. I guess the market is just a bit different. I wonder if it is less snobishness, people do not look on driving a 10 year old car as some sort of failure.

 

[sanabas]

I drive a 25-year old toyota corolla that cost me 100 australian pesos.

 

[CartesianFart]

We call a old used car a 'beater', mostly ford escorts,tempo etc.etc.
Fun to play with and can get a good deal about 100 dollars or more.

 

[Samson]

We call a old used car a 'beater', mostly ford escorts,tempo etc.etc.
Fun to play with and can get a good deal about 100 dollars or more.

Interesting. I wonder if it is different in different parts of the states, as I could find none close to this price in the SF area.

And would you use such a car for comuting, or a 5000 odd mile trip? What would you say is the chance of it breaking down?

 

[CartesianFart]

Interesting. I wonder if it is different in different parts of the states, as I could find none close to this price in the SF area.

And would you use such a car for comuting, or a 5000 odd mile trip? What would you say is the chance of it breaking down?

If you are a backyard mechanic or have redneck friends to tune it up by way of a local car parts store,i say about 6 month to a year.5000 odd mile trip is out of the question though.

 

[Samson]

If you are a backyard mechanic or have redneck friends to tune it up by way of a local car parts store,i say about 6 month to a year.5000 odd mile trip is out of the question though.

I guess that is quite a difference. I never touch the insides of my cars, except perhaps the brake pads or oil if I am feeling brave. I actually meant a 500 round mile trip, I do them all the time in my cars (pretty hard to drive 5000 miles in the UK).

 

[CartesianFart]

I guess that is quite a difference. I never touch the insides of my cars, except perhaps the brake pads or oil if I am feeling brave. I actually meant a 500 round mile trip, I do them all the time in my cars (pretty hard to drive 5000 miles in the UK).

Same here.I never fixed my car except one time i did replace an alternator and thermostat of my 92 Ford Tempo,the rest i just give a case of beer to a local friend of mine who not only love car repairs for a hobby,but also a damned drunk.

 

[amadeus]

You could pick one up for as cheap as $100 if you know where to look. Granted, it could be a piece of junk, but that's the risk you take when you're too cheap to buy a decent one.