<p>I'll be attending UWF in Florida next year as an exchange student. I know I'm gonna need a car to get around. Plus, I'm planning on doing a road trip with a good friend who's coming over after the semester. </p>
<p>My budget is $1000. </p>
<p>I have two requirements: It needs to drive and it needs to be reasonably safe (as in, working breaks and wheels that don't come off). </p>
<p>Again, I don't care if it's rusty, ugly, beaten up or if the previous owner was a mobster that used it to dispose of... ya know. Reasonably safe, and reasonably drivable. I'm a reasonable guy and I know $1000 can't buy much.</p>
<p>Where would be the best place to start looking? I checked Craigslist and there are some cool beaters on there. I also stumbled upon seizedcars.com. That one almost looked too good to be true though. They charge you 50 bucks to sign up and take a good look around.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, cars in Florida are a lot more expensive than in other states. I’d really just look around Craigslist and see if any car dealers are selling anything; you can go to the dealership and often they’ll have other cars besides the one specifically on Craigslist.</p>
<p>I don’t exactly know why, but I’ve shopped around for cars in both Florida and the Midwest (so I don’t have the best survey of prices around the country, but it’s something) and cars in Wisconsin, where I live now, are vastly cheaper. This is probably because they age faster due to the weather, snow will take a big toll on a car. Therefore, cars are not expected to last as long in cold places and they are priced lower. That’s how I got a car in Wisconsin for $2800 that would have been $5000 in Florida.</p>
<p>LMAO. I just don’t care, man. If it gets me around town for 4-5 months, I’m a happy guy. </p>
<p>Is there a place where I can find clear info about how getting insurance works? I looked around and only found out that it works a whole lot different than over here.</p>
<p>You: college student with a budget of $1000 for a car.</p>
<p>Car: 1996 Pontiac Bonneville, 197,000 miles. New radiator. Needs tires. Leaking rear main seal. Clogged catalytic converter. No mention of a working air conditioner. Asking $650 and negotiable.</p>
<p>Say you negotiate a selling price of $500. The Bonneville uses 225/60/16 tires. A new set of cheap radials will run you around $350. Just a set of tires will cost you more than 50% of the selling price of the car. Unless you drive the car for at least a couple of years, you will never recover the cost of the tires alone. </p>
<p>A leaking rear main seal means that the engine is losing oil. Not a cheap repair. Depending on how badly the leak is, a cheap fix will run under $1000. A clogged catalytic converter? When the converter fails, it’s usually because the engine is burning oil. Using a universal fit converter will set you back $200 or so… A clogged converter will prevent the car from accelerating well because the converter is causing exhaust gases to build. Just replacing the converter does not fix any underlying engine problems which passes oil into the exhaust system. More money.</p>
<p>Can these problems be fixed? Sure, just throw money at it. </p>
<p>My advice: Keep looking… </p>
<p>Remember, any car selling for $1000 or less needs repairs which exceed the valuse of the car to the seller.</p>
<p>"
Remember, any car selling for $1000 or less needs repairs which exceed the valuse of the car to the seller. "</p>
<p>Very good point. You’ll see a lot of junkers with descriptions like “runs pretty good had a few problems here ‘n’ there just needs some tlc” and by “tlc” they mean it needs a new transmission that costs more than the car itself.</p>
<p>You will not be getting a car that doesn’t need major repairs for $1,000. You will not find any cars on used car lots for $1,000. The lowest will be around the $3,000 range and they are probably not even in the best condition and are at least 10 years old. You will need at least $6,000 for a good used car. </p>
<p>I know leasing a car isn’t usually a good idea, but since you only need a car for 4-5 months, then leasing a car might be a good idea in this case.</p>
<p>^^I disagree that you’d need $6,000. I’ve seen some pretty good deals starting at around $2,200. They’ve got a lot of mileage but they don’t need any repairs (cos the owner’s not a cheapskate who figures he’ll let some other schmuck take care of it). And I don’t know where you’d find a lease that short term.</p>
<p>I disagree that you need about 6k. I bought my 2003 Nissan Altima with 113k miles on it for 4k, and it has lasted really really well. I need to go a little slow over speed bumps, but other than that no major repairs needed or damage done. </p>
<p>I would honestly say you should really try to get about 3k saved up for a car if you want something that isn’t a huge rotting piece of junk. :\ Can your parents help you at all? Christmas is coming up. My car was my christmas/birthday present combined.</p>
<p>Also, remember, even though your car was only 1k you still have to pay insurance, buy license plates, etc…</p>
<p>Remember that you also need to pay for tax, title, and license. Plus, make sure that the car is certified, otherwise there is no warranty on the car.</p>
<p>Get a job, save up a couple thousand more dollars, buy a somewhat-kind of decent-won’t break down in the middle of nowhere car, work even harder, sell that car and buy a better one.</p>
<p>Many leases are transferrable and people do it all the time - some want a different car, or are moving, or can’t afford the lease anymore. Generally you just take over the existing lease payment and get whatever the remaining mileage allowance is on the lease. There normally wouldn’t be any downpayment because the origianl lessee already took care of that and they’re not expecting to recoup it. Google for lease takeovers…there are usually quite a few out there and it can be a good way to solve a short term need for a vehicle. Just make sure it still has enough miles left under the lease for your purpose.</p>