Best value: Cheap Car or Very Cheap Car?

Hi,


I need to buy a car which I then plan to sell in one or two years.

I want to buy a car for either about 7000, or for a lot less, say abotu
2.5-3K.

What is the better option for value? For which price range will the
following number be larger:

Price I can get when selling car - price I paid - any repairs needed
while driving it.

I realise there is no definite answer here, i'm just asking for
suggestions.

I guess what i'm asking is which car price range will depreciate more,
what's the chance that I will have to spend a lot on repairs for the
cheapr car, and how easy will they be to sell eventually.

For 7k I can get a certified car, so any repairs will hopefully be
covered by warranty. But if i spend only 2.5k on a car, what's the
chance that I would need to do major repairs that would cost several
grand - would it be likely that I need to repair it frequently?

Also when I sell the car I will want to do it quickly -- within a week,
how hard would this be to do for both price ranges?

Originally i planned to spend about 7G's, but have been looking on
Craigs list and finding lots of cars for 2-3k. Some with over a hundred
thousand miles, but others that are cheaper brands (daewoo, kia) with
closer to 50 thousand miles and selling for 2-3k.

I live in Houston and will use this car to drive to work along the
freeways.

Thanks for any suggestions.

These are just my opinions, but for what they are worth:
(1) I would avoid anything that has been seriously wrecked and rebuilt..
(2) I would more tend toward a higher mileage Toyota or Honda than an
American make. You are likely
to get more when you sell it.
(3) I would probably edge toward a manual transmission instead of an
automatic.. Autotrans repairs
can come quickly with higher mileage cars, especially when the trend in the
USA is to abuse them and
to delay servicing them. Autos are convenient, but are expensive to
rebuild. A manual may use up a
clutch, but that is often cheaper than an automatic to repair.


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
>
>
> I need to buy a car which I then plan to sell in one or two years.
>
> I want to buy a car for either about 7000, or for a lot less, say abotu
> 2.5-3K.
>
> What is the better option for value? For which price range will the
> following number be larger:
>
> Price I can get when selling car - price I paid - any repairs needed
> while driving it.
>
> I realise there is no definite answer here, i'm just asking for
> suggestions.
>
> I guess what i'm asking is which car price range will depreciate more,
> what's the chance that I will have to spend a lot on repairs for the
> cheapr car, and how easy will they be to sell eventually.
>
> For 7k I can get a certified car, so any repairs will hopefully be
> covered by warranty. But if i spend only 2.5k on a car, what's the
> chance that I would need to do major repairs that would cost several
> grand - would it be likely that I need to repair it frequently?
>
> Also when I sell the car I will want to do it quickly -- within a week,
> how hard would this be to do for both price ranges?
>
> Originally i planned to spend about 7G's, but have been looking on
> Craigs list and finding lots of cars for 2-3k. Some with over a hundred
> thousand miles, but others that are cheaper brands (daewoo, kia) with
> closer to 50 thousand miles and selling for 2-3k.
>
> I live in Houston and will use this car to drive to work along the
> freeways.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
>

To figure out what the car will be worth when you are done with it,
look at a similar model that is 1-2 yrs older than what you are looking
at with mileage similar to what you expect to be on it when you sell
it.

For example: If you can buy a 98 Toyota with 70k on it for $7000, and
a 96 Toyota with 110k is currently $5000 you can expect to see about a
$2k loss is sale price.

An older one(say 93) could probably be bought for $2000 and a 92 would
maybe be $1500.

The older one will definitely depreciate less. If you are selective
about what you shop for, it shouldn't cost you any more in repairs.
There are lower mileage older cars available. Also don't be afraid of
new model high mileage cars. High mileage isn't a bad thing. Check
out the apparent condition of the vehicle. If the car is neat, it's a
good chance that proper maintenance has been done. If so, nearly any
late model SHOULD BE good for 150k w/o major repairs. There are
exceptions.

Without looking at a specific car, it would be tough to say the chances
of repair. My last few cars have been <$750. I have done nothing
other than basic maintenance(oil, tires, etc) and put over 75k on each.
One of my co-workers has a new car every 2 years. He has had several
major repairs(head gasket, transmission, etc). His of course are all
under warranty, but it is still a nuisance.

JW

wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
> I need to buy a car which I then plan to sell in one or two years.
>
> I want to buy a car for either about 7000, or for a lot less, say abotu
> 2.5-3K.
>
> What is the better option for value? For which price range will the
> following number be larger:
>
> Price I can get when selling car - price I paid - any repairs needed
> while driving it.
>
> I realise there is no definite answer here, i'm just asking for
> suggestions.
>
> I guess what i'm asking is which car price range will depreciate more,
> what's the chance that I will have to spend a lot on repairs for the
> cheapr car, and how easy will they be to sell eventually.
>
> For 7k I can get a certified car, so any repairs will hopefully be
> covered by warranty. But if i spend only 2.5k on a car, what's the
> chance that I would need to do major repairs that would cost several
> grand - would it be likely that I need to repair it frequently?
>
> Also when I sell the car I will want to do it quickly -- within a week,
> how hard would this be to do for both price ranges?
>
> Originally i planned to spend about 7G's, but have been looking on
> Craigs list and finding lots of cars for 2-3k. Some with over a hundred
> thousand miles, but others that are cheaper brands (daewoo, kia) with
> closer to 50 thousand miles and selling for 2-3k.
>
> I live in Houston and will use this car to drive to work along the
> freeways.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.