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Let’s face it.
The only path to a car – any car – these days is to finance a new or gently used vehicle , or start a C.A.R.E fund (Cars Are Really Expensive). The average cost of a new car at the time of this writing is over $33,000.00, and the average retail of a run of the mill 1960’s Mustang is north of twenty grand!
It’s ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. If your credit were good, the payments on either the new car or the collector car would be around $500/month. What’s a car nut to do?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, you’re in luck. There’s something else – the Malaise Era. These are cars made from 1972 to 1992, when a combination of fuel economy, safety and emissions constraints conspired to make a generation of almost completely forgettable cars. The key is the word “almost”. You see, they’re still out there, and smart car shoppers can pick up some AMAZING cars for very, very little if they know how, where and what to look for. The following article will help you find that perfect ride for pennies on the dollar!
First and Foremost: Defining “Cheap” and “Great”.
Everyone’s heard a story about a guy who finds a Hemi Charger or a 427 Corvette or a Shelby Mustang in a garage/barn/shed/container which was tucked away, forgotten about and then changed hands for a few hundred bucks. Sorry to burst your bubble, bud, but this isn’t about how to find one of those cars. You want one of ‘em? Go buy a lottery ticket. You’ll have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding the Barn Find of the Century. I’ve been doing this for over 40 years now, and the number of times I’ve come across one of those cars? Zero. Precisely zero.
This is about refining your searches to find a great car at a good price. Speaking of price, what constitutes cheap? Well, with new cars averaging $33K MSRP, a good starting number would be ten cents on the dollar, or $3000. Corrected for inflation, three grand is about nine hundred bucks in 1979 dollars. A guy living at home working at Wendy’s can, in less than a year, scratch together three grand.
Are there cheaper cars out there? Yes. Are they great cars? Most likely not – and getting them to great will likely cost more money than $3000 all in. A great car has the following:
- Little, if any, rust
- No significant body damage
- A complete interior – no rips or tears
- All of its trim
- Starts, stops and turns under its own power
- Would pass a state inspection if required
- Could be driven on a long trip with minimal work.
A pristine Caprice with 63,000 miles in Seattle for $2700. Cool, huh?
So what do you look for and how to you look for it? Hang on – we’ll tell you in the next segment!
