Sup /o//g/eek here, hope this is the right board. Work just moved our team from fulltime WFH with 1 day in the office and going to need a car. I don't have a ton of money and not on the bus path to work and my climate (north midwest) is not kind in winter to bike. I don't really go out much and just need a A->B kind of vechile, would getting a "runs and drives" car from an auto auction be worth it. I don't care about a little cosmetic damage and wear and tear inside. A few friends I had did this but they were more into cars than I am. Looking at it I can get some good deals for 3k and if it lasts just 1-2 years I'd consider it worth it. I understand everything sold is "as is" and if shit happens it's on me.Anyone have experience with them? Willing to throw in a few hundred bucks for a tune up.
>>28608133>auto auctionGet a load of this retard.
>>28608141Anon I'm just looking for a cheap a->b car for 1-2, maybe 3 years until I can move out of the midwest. I'm really not looking much else, and these would be in my price range. I want to avoid doing a lease at all possibilities.
>>28608133If you know/are willing to learn how to wrench then yes getting a cheap used car and replacing the parts is an option.
>>28608176I'm willing to drop 500 off the bat to get it a tune up and replace a few things. My commute is about 8 miles so it really is only a point a->b for work during winter.
>>28608190You need to be thinking in terms of total cost of operation.If you can do your own maintenance then that makes a lot of things possible. Buying something then using a mechanic to get it running is usually more expensive then buying something in better condition to begin with.
>>28608133Buy the best condition Toyota you can afford. About 4 out of 10 cars are "dumped" at auctions so beware. Best to just scour marketplace and Craig's and find an older lady who is selling her Toyota.
>>28608133The vast majority of dealer auction cars have major issues that need to be addressed. They're thousands of dollars cheaper because they need thousands of dollars of repairs, replacement parts, and body work to be presentable.Just get a semi-reliable clunker from a local dealership and pair it with a warranty
No, given your responses, this is a stupid idea. Replacing something as simple as a sensor could be $500 AND you wouldn't be doing it yourself. Unironically get an ebike or something if it's an 8 mile commute
>>28608133How far is it? Could be worth getting an ebike with that use-case.
Get a fucking ride from a co worker or friend. You do not need a car. Winter is not going to make the car cheaper. Auctions are a very mixed bag of repo, abandoned, bulk, unmaintained in general. You do not need a car. I cannot lie.
>>28608133> A->B carsmost shitboxes on online markets can go as low for 500 to 10k $ but there is no telling what can be on each car since you dont know how to fix cars most likely but and older sedans ,subs, and hatches or pickups can still last you a while even if it says 185k miles. but if i had rec a car try to find one thats fwd or 4x4 for snow or bad rain for high mpg (aka having to spend less on gas) go for a fwd hybrid with a 4 cylinder engine ,pretty boring for a car but the market mostly ignores them making more cheap and they are basics of what a car would needif want a cheap modern car like this nissan sub compacts are sold for like 18k$any v6 or v8s would be nicer but more costly in gas in future
Feckin' Greeks. They invented gayness!
>>28608133fuck you and your comfy life.
I got mine at auction, through a broker because you need some license to buy from the real auctions.The auction place rated it a 4.8/5.It came to me with a cracked steering knuckle, dying clutch, and blown differential. It had 110k miles and was on the original timing belt that was down to threads. I'm still driving it 5 years later no issues since, but $500 for repairs seems optimistic. There was also undisclosed damage inside and out (dents, possible unreported front end accident) but I just live with it.It's a crapshoot. I've also gotten one from auction with 5k miles that was *perfect* but almost half the price of new, probably dealer show car or repo.
>>28608190$500 is really not a whole lot unless you're doing the repairs yourself, and even then it's not a lot unless you're gonna scavenge parts from a junkyard. You should really consider a lease, especially if you only need it for a couple years and are ready to write off the car the second you're done with it, if you get unlucky with the auction car it can easily eat up more than what you'd have paid for a lease just to keep it on the road, also the general unreliability of an old poorly maintained car might not be ideal if your job depends on it.
>>28608217>>28609413My friend is a mechanic, he said as long as I buy the parts he'll fix it no labor. I handle the PC shit for him and friends. My state has no required inspections just registered and insurance. Biggest issue with the use car market up here is the underbelly of the cars are salted and rusted through.>>28609317Yeah I get it's a crapshoot, my state North Dakota is full box roads and flat. This is really to simply go from A->B once a week, grab groceries after work, and maybe some other life needs. My plan is to save up around 35-55k in 3 years, doable with my rent and income, before moving to somewhere else to restart and leave this twisted frozen hell hole. I assume whatever I buy will have no real resell value anyways, but 3 years to keep my job. Inb4 someone says just uber, it's very spotty in the mornings during winter months. I've seen ubers as high as 85 dollars in the morning during wintery conditions.Thanks for the insight all.
>>28608891Few friends I knew who did this in arizona said to go look for BMW's since most are repos with unreported cosmetic damage, but my gut tells me to go for honda's and toyota's.
>>28608906I'm more aligned to buy something like this. Some cosmetic damage, older car, but 1500 for what would be used as essentially a ~20 miles once a week. Seems ideal for me, I'd have more to dump(literally) into the car if needed, but again it can get to -40F here in winter and an e-bike is not an option. Walking the 10 minutes form the closest bus stop (and waiting near it for any delays) is horrible for obvious health reasons.Picrel is what I am looking at, again I understand fully it could die on me but at least the excuse of "Well my car died" is better to my boss than "I don't own a car". I just became debt free this year so outside of my 1 year emergency living fund I don't have much in the way of cash to blow on hand, about 4000 total. If a pile of shit like this can last a year I'd still come out ahead compared to ubering costs.
