How long would you expect a $3500.00 car to last?

[pauldun170]

To directly answer the question, I expect a $3500 car to last between 3 years and 20 years depending on the car and how well the previous owner took care of the car.

 

[NutBucket]

It really comes down to how well it was taken care of and treated.

Interior usually tells you 1/2 the story....

Service records are a MUST

This really depends IMHO. I keep my cars looking new. I do all the service but I don't keep good records. Lately I've been writing stuff down in the log books provided with the cars.

What I've found is like you said. No matter the age of the car if it looks well taken care of aesthetically it was likely cared for mechanically as well. Nobody has asked for records when evaluating/test driving cars I've sold.

 

[smackababy]

I think it really all comes down to the car. My dad paid less than that for this '91 F150 around '98 or so. And it still runs amazing. Apparently, that was a rather hearty engine though. He's got almost 300,000 miles on it.

 

[Sidekicknichola]

I bought a 2000 Civic with 150k for $3200 in college.

I drove it to 270k miles, sold it for $2,000 and only ever had to spend money on basic maintenance.

Best car I've ever owned.

 

[TridenT]

Bought a 2000 Honda Civic with 116k for $4000. (The ~$500 in DMV fees and such not included...) It was in pretty good condition. Almost no cosmetic defects and in excellent mechanical condition.

It has over 165k and I've had it for 4 years. Works really well. I've done religious zealot level amounts of maintenance though. It did have to get the catalytic converter replaced because that clogged up and that was expensive... (and disastrous to my vacation) but it could happen to anyone's car. So, I'm not really hating too much on that.

I bought a 2000 Civic with 150k for $3200 in college.

I drove it to 270k miles, sold it for $2,000 and only ever had to spend money on basic maintenance.

Best car I've ever owned.

How long did you own it? That's a lot of miles to rack up in what I would assume is very little time...

 

[Gillbot]

I had a $50 ford I bought out of a field once. Put tires on it, changed the fluids and drove it for over 3 years. The entire time it got regular maintenance and ran perfect. Ended up selling it and the new owner still drives it.

This ^

That car is still running around on the streets.

 

[Bartman39]

Deleted due to excessive time on thread...

AT Moderator
Bartman39

 

[Sidekicknichola]

How long did you own it? That's a lot of miles to rack up in what I would assume is very little time...

I put on 120k over about 5 years. I was going between 20k-30k miles a year.

 

[TridenT]

I put on 120k over about 5 years. I was going between 20k-30k miles a year.

That's a lot of miles for just being in college.

 

[row]

How long would you expect a $3500.00 car to last?

till u break it

 

[Slacker]

funny to see this come back up, the 2kcvpi is alive and well, just got a new set of tires after 7 years and did rear pads and rotors.

it has a weird random crank but no start thing it has been doing for a bit over a month that I think is going to end up being the fuel pump, I am dealing with it til the weather improves then I will take a shot at it.

(it always starts eventually, some times on the first try for days on end then out of the blue it will crank and crank, might start after 10 tries, if not it usually starts half an hour later on the first try. crank sensor, cam sensor and throttle position sensor all replaced already, mostly because they were cheap and easy.)

 

[NutBucket]

Fuel pump relay?

 

[Slacker]

Fuel pump relay?

I have swapped the relay with another from the relay block under the hood, there are at least 4 of the same relay as the fp, im wondering if it is a bad spot on the pump motor shaft(but then why would it fire up on the first try half an hour later like it has so many times?), the only other possibility is the computer itself.

 

[yhelothar]

I drove a $1100 miata for 3 years. It had a salvaged title. Aside from burning oil that required me to put in a quart every 300 miles, it ran fine. I got rear ended one day which put $3000 worth of damage into it since the trunk was dented in. The guy paid me $1400 to call it even. It still looked decent aside from some paint chip from the rear bumper. I did a quick sand down and rattlecan spray. Sold it for another $1400.

 

[Doppel]

Some of you have had great luck with used cars!

 

[tortillasoup]

buy a car that saves you on maintenance and operating expenses. the crown vic is not that car.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I drove a $1100 miata for 3 years. It had a salvaged title. Aside from burning oil that required me to put in a quart every 300 miles, it ran fine. I got rear ended one day which put $3000 worth of damage into it since the trunk was dented in. The guy paid me $1400 to call it even. It still looked decent aside from some paint chip from the rear bumper. I did a quick sand down and rattlecan spray. Sold it for another $1400.

Did something kind of similar. After my $800 van was finally driven completely into the ground I bought an 03 pontiac vibe for $2200. It had been lightly back into on the passenger side damaging both doors just enough to make it ugly and cheap but they still worked fine. After a couple months of owning it I put a roof rack on it for my bikes which were promptly ripped off the roof by a cable line on my street that had come loose. Cable company gave me $1800 for damages to the car and my bike. Drove it for about a year more and sold it for $2400 without every fixing any of the damage.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

Getting 8yrs out of $3500 is great value imo. My car is worth roughly $1500 if I sell it now, but I'm confident it can get another 3+ yrs out of it if one's willing to put money into it for maintenance.

 

[hanoverphist]

Some of you have had great luck with used cars!

its not so much luck as buying something that is worth keeping. i bought a 98 civic hatch like 4 years ago, gave it to the oldest kid after i went through it and repaired a bunch of stuff. its like a new(ish) car now, and i know it will still be running well past the 350k mark. mainly due to me putting a new engine, brake system and cooling system in it. i also have a 5mt to swap in when the automatic goes out. in all, im still under 3000 for total ownership. also, the daughter blew the engine, and she paid for the replacement. i found a good, lower mileage engine and trans for 500 to put in, the other stuff i did before i gave it to her. she also wiped out the front end suspension and steering rack in a curb incident, she paid for half of that as well.

i wonder what the costs would look like if i included my time/ labor on it?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why would you think the price has any bearing on how long it will last?