Buying a cheapo car?

[Onwards]

Hey all,

I'm considering buying a very cheap used car (around $1000) but this is not something I've ever considered doing until now. My mom and sister live in TX (thousands of miles away) and their car went capoot recently. My sister and I tried to finance a slightly used car together, but her lack of credit and our lack of more than $1k to make a down payment is preventing that.

Recently my work situation changed and I'll be working from home, so I was thinking about sending them my Toyota Matrix (which I'm still making payments on) and buying an old Toyota (over 150k miles) for $1000 or so, my reasoning being that my livelihood doesn't depend on my car anymore (but theirs does). I know a cheap used car might need repairs, but I'm thinking that it'll still cost less than committing to payments on a more expensive used car (which might need repairs anyway, unless it has less than 50k miles). I won't be driving it much, and I'll be able to save a few hundred dollars a month. It'll cost about $700 to get my Matrix down there, but I still think this is a workable solution.

Any thoughts on this? The other more radical thing I considered was renting a car twice or thrice a month to buy groceries and go out (usually up to Portland, or to a state park), and using a bicycle or even a moped if I need to otherwise (especially during this time of year, when it's sunny and pleasant).

Any other ideas?

Thanks for reading this, and thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

[Onwards]

Some notes I scratched up while considering this:

Keep my car, help sister buy car
90/month Matrix insurance
200+/month, 60-72 months, used car payments (for a dependable car)
1000 down payment (probably)
----
1000 down, 290+ monthly


$700 to send car to my sister
1000 to buy cheapo car
?/month for cheapo car insurance
?/month for cheapo car repairs/maintenance
----
1700 down, 150+ monthly?


$700 to send car to my sister
120/month to rent car once a week
1000-3000 for scooter (if necessary)
?/month for scooter insurance
----
700-3700 down, 120-175 monthly?

[Seeker]

I guess another alternative would be to send them the $1k and see if they can fix the car.

You've not really said anything about the old car // how many miles nor the age of it nor what is "kaput" about it. This might be the best alternative considering all your options.

Paying $700 to drive from Oregon to Texas would not be the only cost involved... these also the "way back" to consider plus, license trasfer fees and whatever else Texas requires.

[Onwards]

The transmission is gone. It's an old Buick LaSabre, 100k miles I think. The AC also doesn't work, and there are a few other things wrong with it. There will be other repairs that it needs, and I'll probably end up footing the bill, so I'd rather put the money towards making sure they have a reliable car that won't ask for big repairs in the next few years. Plus, I don't want them in a car that isn't so reliable; if the car breaks down on them, it's a very expensive (and sometimes dangerous) proposition because they're in the desert--the heat, towing, work missed, etc.

$700 to have the car shipped down, from OR to TX. That's cheaper than me driving it down for several days then flying back up, especially if you consider the money I lose by not working for those days.

Another option that just came up is for me and my boyfriend to purchase a car for us, and send them the Matrix. He's going to need a car anyway when he gets a job, so it might be better for us to get one now. Still crunching the numbers on that option.

[Onwards]

Oh, and they wouldn't have to register it. It's already registered down there; I moved up from there recently and haven't gotten Oregon plates for the Matrix yet.

[MonkeyMama]

I've owned 2 cars in the $1k range. One lasted 7 years, one I drove for 3 years and then traded up (nothing wrong). They were a Toyota and a Saturn and frankly I'd take them any day over a newer car of another brand.

You can do good with a really old Toyota or Honda. I wouldn't buy a car that didn't look well kept (indiciation of how the car was cared for inside too) and without having a trusted mechanic (or something like AAA) check it over. But you can buy a pretty decent car for $1k. I think overall people are scared of the idea, but if you do your homework and have time to do the leg work, you can usually find a decent deal. It depends where you live too. There is just such a glut of used cars where I live. If you live near some highly populated areas, check out Craigslist. I'd look at some of the cars listed for more and try to talk them down too.

[Onwards]

Thanks, MonkeyMama. That's good to know. I see people driving cars that are past their prime, and they seem to get from point A to point B just fine. I have apprehension about the whole deal from growing up with a single mom who's terrified of cars, and shudders at the thought of even changing a tire!

The situation's been resolved, for now. My boyfriend bought a car--a used 07 Nissan Sentra with less than 20k miles on it (retired rental car). He was going to need one anyway in the next few month when he gets a job that involves commuting. I'm going to send the Matrix down to Texas and I'll share the Nissan with him. If we do need a second car, which I doubt we will, I'll definitely get something in the $1k range. Or maybe even a moped or scooter to save $ on gas.

Thanks, everyone, for your input!