These Are The Cheapest Running Cars In Your Area
Buying a used car right now sucks, but there are still deals to be had.
So, you need a car. Just a couple of years ago, that would have been fun — you would have had an excuse for all the classified-ad browsing you were probably doing anyway. But things have changed. The car market is bad, and not getting better.
But, it seems, some cars have slipped through the cracks. Yesterday, we asked for the cheapest running cars for sale in your area. You gave us not only cars we hadn't seen before, but even locations we wouldn't expect to hear from. Here are some of our favorites.
A Cavalier In Austin
If it weren't for the fact that it is a Chevy Cavalier, this would be a screaming deal:
Austin area: 2000 Cavalier with 78k miles for $790.
There was also a Mazda MX6 for $500, but it has been sitting for years and needs a new clutch before it will move under it's own power.
This Cavalier is weirdly clean, regardless of the price point. An interior like this belongs on Bring A Trailer, not on the lower end of Craigslist sales. Sure, some of the exterior panels may not "match," but that's a small price to pay for those perfect seats.
A BYD F0 in Beijing
Where I live there is almost no way to buy a car privately and transfer of ownership without using a dealer is challenging because of the amount of laws and paperwork involved. Locally, cars tend to be extremely well cared for and maintained. We don't get much rain, they don't salt the roads in the winter and most people just use them for commutes. Because of a 15 year age limit, old cars can go for quite cheap despite the low mileage and overall good condition.
The cheapest I could find is a 2008 BYD F0, it has a 1l engine, manual transmission and only 10,000KM on the odometer. Getting a license plate is near impossible and when someone finally wins the right to a license plate they usually buy a nice car so older cheap cars are virtually unwanted.
This little guy is being sold for 4000RMB which is exactly $600 according to google.
There are quite a few in this price range as well.
These cars are all in Beijing, I'm sure if I searched for a more rural area they would be even cheaper.
It makes me want to buy a boatload of these cheap but clean cars and sell them in the US where broken down POSs are going for way too much.
I have a dream of doing a roadkill type journey next time I get back to the states but junk I find interesting can't be found for less that $15,000 anymore when a few years ago I could find all sorts of interesting things under $10,000.
Imagine a world where a car with 6,200 miles on it is "older." Around these parts, that's basically a new car — or, sometimes, literally sold as new.
A CX-7 In Sacramento
Something that actually runs and might make it home:
$700 Mazda CX-7
Getting an unsmoggable car (that's the technical term) like this CX-7 in California can be a great deal. If you live somewhere without CARB emissions, such as "literally any other state," you may be free to just drive the car as-is — no mechanic required.
A Fiat Marea in Torino
I know you all want some insight on which is the cheapest running car you could buy in Italy.
Where I currently live, in northern Italy the cheapest vehicle is a 350€ Diesel Fiat Marea, my dad used to own one of these when I was a child.
The cheapest car near my hometown in Sicily is instead a beautiful Fiat Cinquecento, that seems to be in good condition, for 600 €
I don't know if this is the Jalopnik content you've signed for, but you now know what Italian shitboxes look like
This is absolutely the Jalopnik content we've signed for. A love of shitboxes transcends border, nationalities, and languages — we are all one people, united in our love of cars that barely start.
A Milan in Asheville
Auto Auction
'07 Mercury 210K $525 "buy now"
Otherwise, show up at an auction, place the lowest bid on everything (not a blind bid, on the block order) that runs and take whatever you win first.
Searching through salvage auctions is truly an excellent move for this challenge. Sometimes, those buy-it-now prices can actually be pretty reasonable — like this clean-title Mercury.
A Disco II In Fort Wayne
Would you want to but a Land Rover Discovery II for eight hundred bucks? If you would, then (a) get therapy, but also (b) here ya go:
It is claimed to still run. Technically this an auction with a starting bid of eight hundred bucks, but honestly, who would?
I'll be honest: I'm tempted. This Discovery II has a good body style, a good color, and the perfect amount of dust. I need someone else to buy this so I can close the tab in peace.
A Civic In Pittsburgh
After scrolling through all the bullshit listed as either $1 or an estimated monthly payment there was this $500 Honda Civic.
Eh. I would drive it.
Sure, the body panels may not line up. And yes, there's only one photo. Yeah, it very well may have been totalled, given the markings on the windshield But for $500, are you going to turn down a "good running" Civic?
A Montana In Michigan
A 2004 Pontiac Montana with 195,000 miles for $1,100.
The seller says you can drive it away, but also notes the need to replace brake lines, the power steering pump, and a shift linkage. So you can drive it away with much physical effort and while avoiding any non-gentle stops. Talk about making the cut on technicalities. More importantly the van has a "clean tittle". I never buy cars with dirty tittles, so this is my grand winner for the Ann Arbor area.
Getting by on a technicality is still getting by. Sure, you may have to drive incredibly gingerly home, but you might still make it. This Pontiac Montana may not be named for a Salt Belt state, but it's sure lived in one.
An Explorer In Dayton
2003 Explorer, asking $1,000
This Explorer is in rough shape. The engine ticks, it leaks oil, and the rockers and struts have fallen victim to years of bad roads and salt. But if it vibrates at highway speeds, that means it can reach highway speeds. For $1,000, you can't ask for much more.
A Polo In France
in my area this seems like the cheapest but only semi-legit, is a VW polo, 750€. runs but the seller says nothing about the inspection, so it would not be legal until it is inspected and everything fixed to standard. so a bit ehhhhh...
but this one Clio for 1500€ has its inspection, so it runs and is good and clean.
Imagine having mandatory safety inspections before your car is allowed on the road. Imagine buying a VW Polo, only for someone to look underneath and ban it from use due to rust. We Americans can only dream.
A LeSabre In San Diego
$600 in San Diego. Needs brake master cylinder although it runs & drives.
It's got the good ol' 3800 V6
This LeSabre (or LaSabre) may not be the prettiest, the least rusted, or have the most air in its tires. It may not have fancy, modern amenities like "satellite radio" or "functioning brakes." But you know what it does have? If you do, please explain it to me.
A Sentra In Edmond
Edmond, Oklahoma (part of the Oklahoma City metro).
A 1993 Nissan Sentra Coupe (I'd consider it a 2-door sedan). 4-cylinder, 5-speed manual, 455,000 on the odometer. Per the seller, fifth gear is missing and the clutch is out. Still, it technically runs. It would probably be pretty cheap to get fully sorted, too.
Yours for $750. Personally, I'd offer them $400.
This seller purchased this Sentra new back in the 90s, with the explicit goal of putting half a million miles on it. They got so close, and their human bodies gave out before the little Nissan did. That alone is worth full asking price.
A Civic In Cortland
I was not expecting "New York" to mean it's near Mount Pleasant.
I thought it it'd be more in-city.
As for actual input here, with links (and a single space to allow the URL to show);
In Craigslist, sitting at $1,800:
https://ithaca.craigslist. org/cto/d/mc-lean-2011-chevy-hhr/7486155285.html
Facebook Marketplace (I'm only trusting this listing: there is a $1,000 K1500 Chevy, but it's a truck that was seemingly pretty rusty before it was parked), at a whole $1,200:
Nothing says "this is for sure a real ad for an actual car that one hundred percent exists" like a listing full of the grainiest, most pixelated photos ever created by mankind. This poor Civic, reduced to 240p even before Facebook's image compression. Where are people still finding cameras this bad?
A Stratus In Mansfield
A $500 Dodge Stratus. It ain't pretty, or clean, but it apparently runs & drives.
"1999 Dodge stratus, 162416 miles, runs and drives, has body rust,scratches and dings,its, title in hand, selling AS-IS"
I love the idea that this seller expects prospective buyers to ask for work to be done on a $500 Stratus. Is someone really going to demand new tires on a car that sells for this little?
A 2500 Long Bed in Hindsboro
$600 will get you a 94 Chevy Silverado 2500 Long Bed with 154,000 miles, a little rust, a questionable transmission, weak brakes, and a power steering leak.
This Silverado's transmission may not work, but the 4WD system apparently does. The battery looks fresh, but everything else in the engine bay looks... we'll call it period correct.