Best and Worst vehicles under $6K
 

What are the darlings of the sub-$6,000 car market? What are the tempting stinkers?

My household knows that when I need knowledge & wisdom, with a side-salad of snark & buffoonery, I seek if from you all.

"I'll ask Chiefs Planet"

Child No. 3 had a 2005 Prius just go belly up. Main battery, we'll probably pay to find the bad cells to make it more sellable. So now they're in the market for a vehicle.

I used to be current in my "No subarus after 200k" and "No Buick Encores with the Ecotech" and "No Jeeps ever" type of 'wisdom', but I'm out of date. I know it's always a tradeoff between condition and miles and reliability.

I need your help.

Ya ain't seen nothin til your baby drives a Buick

Oh, and we’re part of the Springfield contingent, with *constant* ChiefsPlanet get togethers.


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Edmunds
Auto trader
Good resale research platforms

Still applies.

Yeesh, 6k? These days that's not going to get you much.

Unfortunately this is what we've found. It's brutal trying to get a car for a teenager these days. I don't have much advise other than to suggest you add Nissan Altimas to your list of cars to stay away from.

It might get you another 20 year old Prius that will go belly up in short order

Here you go.....auction is at $4200 right now with 2 hours left. I bet it'll end somewhere near 6 or 7k. Pretty cool car


https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJy...reza-wrx-wagon

Car Wizard on YouTube has a few videos about reliable inexpensive cars.

Find the vehicle then look it up. Depends on engine and transmission choice on some. There are cars where automatics are the better option. Wild

Mercury Grand Marquis in the RWD platform with V8

Toyota Corolla and Honda Accord. I’m a GM guy but those are some good vehicles. I will post some screw tube I mean YouTube videos if you want.

Also cross check potential buys on cars.com and use their user ratings as a benchmark. Me personally If it’s not 4.3 4.4 4.5 stars out of 5 I say screw it and move on to the next one. Vehicles are dime a dozen. You’re looking for practical and reliable from the looks of it. Also lots of vehicles on cars.com with free carfax. You get to check service and maintenance intervals and hopefully the prior owner kept it up and running. Or they didn’t because lots of rotten shits these days don’t even change the oil once a year. Carfax has its own app and website for searches. Edmonds as mentioned is good. Repair pal website is a good resource for your toolbox

https://www.purplewave.com/auction/2...hicle-Missouri

https://d323w7klwy72q3.cloudfront.ne...1ve/EN4510.JPG

Current Bid at $6.3k

Interesting site. Never bought anything....yet, from there.

Something with Toyota

Or if you are bald with a goatee, a 80s Camaro

I won't buy anything besides a Toyota or a Honda...have always had the best luck with gas powered models and trust the more than EV or most Hybrid.

I was going to specifically call out the Corolla and Accord, but just figured you'll never find those for under $6K unless there is some kind of major problem. They are great cars though, if you can find.

Find a car with a 3800 V6
Drive it until a nuclear apocalypse hits.
Continuing driving after.

maybe try a motorcycle

Get an old school Mongoose.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bl...1GYT_JyUo=s0-d

https://youtu.be/IMbnV28WVqw?si=JxhvHgM1LHiAWY1M

Scotty Kilmer is biased towards Japanese stuff but he’s got good videos discussing these things and specific years. Toyota I would personally stick with V6 but that’s just me. You also have the option with most of their V6 to stay with a timing chain and not a timing belt. Hondas have the belt as do some Toyotas and many others. Just buy one that has the verified timing belt remove and replace recently mileage wise done. I just stick with timing chain Toyotas. Luxury Toyota is badged as a Lexus. Check out the Lexus RX 350. Also have been advised by long time mechanic I know for past 25+ years is stay 2017 and newer with domestic suv crossovers etc. Not sure on the exacts but I trust him so it’s in my set parameters when shopping

https://youtu.be/4QgoDoSzpEM?si=BVgPrk1Zwi9Icoid

The car care nut

Subscribe to him if you like Toyota and foreign vehicles. He’s a former Toyota certified mechanic I believe now has his own shop.

Above is example of a good vehicle that still has an expensive fix. Sometimes you can’t avoid these things no matter how hard you try.

If you’re interested in a particular vehicle do a YouTube search before you buy.

Example type in: the care car nut 2010 Lexus RX 350 and see which videos pop up. Then you can double check by just doing a yt search for 2010 Lexus RX 350 and type common problems behind it.

Find a good guru and stick with them. You can chase all sorts of videos otherwise. Keep it simple and type year make model in the search for any vehicles and take your time if possible.

I remember Nissan was running a buy one, get one free special back maybe like 8-10 years ago.

I kept thinking “there is no way these are quality vehicles if they’re giving one away upon purchase”.

I've found the cheapest place to shop for vehicles is Facebook marketplace.

Bugeater and Livesteam those 2 corn cobs have good advice on Honda and Toyota on this board folks just need to do a search. Some of these vehicles are harder to come by but worth the effort in today’s market and vehicle world in general. They just screwed the hell out of so many from 2009 on up trying to usher in a horseshit electrical market where the engineering and research and development was pure junk and hope. Now we’re all getting kicked in the teeth with shit vehicles so you have to be a disciplined and lucky consumer to protect your purchases

Yeah Accords are great, but you're right, if the T belt breaks, it can bend the valves and that's when things get really expensive. Always make sure the T belt is in good condition.

Those were rock solid thoroughbreds. If you can find an older vehicle with one it would be worth it as long as it has been recently driven and not sat for years

Stupid engineers and their ideas!! Timing belt wtf?? Horseshit I say lol keep the chain!

Take this from me personally folks… Bwana has great advice on many subjects and has been a great resource for me. I’ll take him in my foxhole for life battles and advise any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Rock solid dude!!
:thumb:

I haven’t shopped for a new car in a long while, but I just Googled and found a couple 2015 Honda Civic’s for just under $6,000. A 10-year old Honda should last for a while.

I also tried Googling 2015 Toyota Corollas and wow. Cheapest one I saw was just under $8,000 with 206,000. How is that any kind of deal? The prices on those were all over the place. Most were over $10k and I even saw a 2018 Corolla for $16k lol

Welcome to post COVID pricing, where everything shot up like 80% and has only dropped like 30% but people act like it's a deal and pay the price, so manufacturers don't feel the need to step back in line because people keep buying.

Salvage aka rebuilt title vehicles that have been totaled for simple stuff like hitting a deer you can get good deals on. Lots of growth in small repair shops/dealers who work with insurance companies to acquire vehicles to fix and resell from what I’ve seen. Lots of time just a new bumper cover and hood or other body panel and the fix quotes are so high they total a very good vehicle. Just make sure you check with your insurance and your bank if taking out a loan to make sure you cover the costs etc. Do your homework with that but it is another market option folks can look at. Won’t make sense for everyone

I’d heard stories but never bothered to check for myself.

I just looked at a local Toyota dealership and they’ve got 2025 Corollas going for $24k. I can’t understand paying $16k for a 2018 over just biting the bullet and getting a 2025 with 0 mileage for $24k.

Also, in the general population’s defense, the car industry has us by the short and curlies. If your car craps out, you don’t always have the option of playing hardball and waiting out the market. Most will need transportation ASAP.

https://youtu.be/6VbxnaQh_Pk?si=3VZhY_MGTMZGqAPt

I don’t say it out loud often but I could potentially see myself driving a Toyota Highlander with the 3.6 V6. All seats folded down to throw the pony sized dog in. Pricey though. Where you might save some on these specific type vehicles is asking yourself do I really need 4x4 or will I get what I need out of fwd only. You just have to pick it apart and decide for yourself

Sure, but the average length of owning a car is something like 5-7 years I believe. What the hell cars are people buying if they NEED a new one in 5 years. The ****ing thing is still under warranty most likely.

Its mostly just people buying for status. Im still driving the only vehicle, not including motorcycles, I've ever owned. I bought a 2002 S10 in 2009 for $8k. I want to say it had 50k miles on it. Sitting at 165k now and last year the AC went out so I took it to my mechanic and he was questioning me on fixing it. He quoted me around $1k and we were just about to head into winter, but it was the compressor that went out and the bearing was starting to shit itself which is wrapped in the serpentine belt. He was talking to me about leasing cars because that's what his daughter does. I told him to fix it. I trust him as a mechanic but that's just the type of financial advice that is flooding USA. Just stupid. The truck still runs great. I'm not finding a better vehicle for $1k and in today's market that's like 2 monthly payments on a decent used car.

Why?

Nissan only makes decent trucks. The transmissions they put in their FWD cars is straight trash.

4 cyl Accords have had a timing chain since 2003

I had a salvage title Mitsubish Eclipse from 172k to 325k. Was a gem!

That was only early in the 2000's. Upon further investigating, there HAVE been a few hic-cups with Nissans over the years. Glad I have a lifetime warranty on my drive train!

Still true today. Their transmissions do not get good reliability ratings. Go Mazda if you want to go the cheaper Japanese route.

Yeah, I think it’s a mixture of those circumstances. You’re right that most people out there are buying new cars unnecessarily frequently, but having your car take a shit unexpectedly can become damn near an emergency very quickly.

We sound like we have the same philosophy. I’m driving an ‘03 that I bought in 2010! She’s been through a few hurricanes that ****ed the paint all up so she doesn’t look very pretty anymore but she still runs great.

Funny anecdote, my wife is one of the people you’re talking about. She bought a Mercedes because everyone in her family drives one. Ridiculous. A couple weeks back my battery died so I went and bought a new one. When I installed it, there was no power at all. I told her that could mean a few different things, maybe a bad connection on the terminals, blown fuse, etc. Just a bunch of small stuff. She’s like “….. well what are you going to do?” Like I was going to go out and buy a new car because mine wouldn’t start lol

Anyway, turns out the terminals were incredibly corroded. Cleaned them up and she started up just fine.

“I said,Jesus Christ! where’d you get that cadillaaaaaaaac?!”

We are in that lot that buys new (or certified pre-owned) every 5-6 years. Why? Because of the warranty.

I hit a deer a couple of years ago. Mostly cosmetic damage. $15,000. Parts are ridiculously expensive. Having a car break down in this day and age almost requires a 2nd mortgage to pay for it. I simply won't own a car that isn't under warranty.

didja see.....LIFE TIME DRIVE TRAIN WARRANTY!!!

Golf cart best

eh, a warranty doesn't pay for collision


that's insurance

Murano with chips from rocks worst

Insurance?

To each their own I guess. Just buy a solid well built vehicle and maintain it. Having a constant stream of car payments is not my idea of financial wisdom. It's nice having lower insurance costs and not being locked into a payment on a depreciating asset.

Of course insurance covers damage from a deer. It was just to illustrate how much parts cost.

I'd rather have a $400 a month car payment than get hit with a $20K bill. That's the equivalent of insurance for things that aren't covered by insurance.

On my Corolla, the window seals stretched and no longer sealed. Warranty covered it. Without the warranty? $2400. For window seals.

Again, the deer example was to illustrate the cost of parts. Of course, insurance covered that particular incident. I kind of thought that was elementary.

Yeah, the Nissan CVT is a horrible transmission. If something breaks, you have to replace the whole thing as they are built to be non-repairable.

Yep. My daughter had a 2015 Juke.

I'm sorry....I should have realized it was you talking and you're a smart guy. But sometimes on CP there are some real ding-dong posts.

The horror stories I’ve heard from friends about repair costs for simple shit and even more advanced things is just a nightmare. If you’re DIY and do some work yourself you have to do an extensive search. Otherwise it’s probably safer to go certified pre owned or better if you want to be covered. I think it’s horseshit on my old beater 03 envoy for all the stuff that’s in the way to get to swap out the thermostat that’s nothing compared to some newer vehicles that one of them my friends wife the dealer quoted over 1k to replace the low beam headlamp. I might cut a bitch over that nonsense

Just not a consumer friendly market these days

Yeah, that is my problem.

If your computer doesn't work the way it should, I can fix it. Cars? Nah, I'm just not mechanically inclined. I don't have the experience or knowledge to do it myself "on the cheap" other than maybe an oil change or battery. By the way, my warranty just covered a battery swap that would have cost over $500 otherwise.

And it's funny you mentioned a headlamp - the headlamp that had to be repaired and re-seated (not wholly replaced) after the deer cost a cool $1400.

I should also note that my penchant for replacing vehicles every few years had bought me a tremendous amount of goodwill from my preferred dealership. They will go out of their way to ensure warranty coverage no matter what the repair. Because they want me to buy another car from them down the road. I don't pay for much of anything when it comes to my vehicles, other than routine maintenance and even then, we get a discount on oil changes from said dealership.

Fk them kids.

Exactly. Nowadays they make it harder and harder with special tools and things. Or you almost have to have a hoist in your garage and not just a floor jack and stands. A person has to evaluate all that on what they are buying. In lots of ways I think it’s designed that way to keep the jobs outside of the DIY owners garage and keep it in the shop to keep those businesses and jobs available. Just a big shift in things and an in between consumer like myself has to adapt and decide what to buy or just cave in and not worry about it from a DIY perspective. Because the middle ground where I’m at on lots of things from a consumer perspective I’m just pissed at things I like or even love they no longer make. And I can’t go on an engineering killing spree without losing my soul so I just deal with it lmao

I dont have much to add here except

Visor: See the Whole Market

this has got to be the greatest car sale website ever. this aggregates ALL car sale listings on the internet.

I bought my first Toyota Camry in 1992 with 25 miles on my. A "box" Camry that I traded in on my 2nd Camry that I kept for 2 years before trading it in on a Tacoma.....

I kept that Tacoma until I traded it in on my 3rd Camry in 2016 which I still have.to this day.

I have always heard that if you do the normal maintenance and keep the fluids changed at proper intervals they will last for years.

Yeah heard the same. 4Runner has a long running reputation as well. Only 250 hp but plenty of torque. Very good steel on both brands. TRO package on trucks and suv holds their value as well. Sequoia Pilot and into the Lexus GS 470 and others have some solid vehicles that lasted quite awhile and many are still available. The problem now as the years go by and times are tough is folks put off oil changes and maintenance work and push some of them vehicles to far and they still run but they all have an expiration date. Vehicle maintenance just isn’t figured into the budget like it used to be and you can see that in used vehicles these days. Also quality control in all manufacturing isn’t what it used to be. Those solid dependable every day cars are what lots of folks are longing for today

Thanks for the link! A good versatile search function on that site. Especially once you find your year make and model you can nitpick the search for specific engine drivetrain color and key features and that’s what it comes down to. Especially like you find it’s got everything but you notice most you find don’t have a sunroof. Well use a nation wide search and you’ll find out if that’s normal or just a coincidence for your recent searches etc. Great source for folks to have in their research toolbox :thumb:

Groves maybe check out Toyota Venza…Hatchback both 4 and 6 cyl. Bang for your buck wise the minivan platform is a solid fwd spacey option and might get you closer to your price target range. Sienna and Honda odessy have plenty of 300k vehicles out there as does the Highlander. Those vehicles all hold their value well so you’re probably going to be at least in the 7-8k range to start but that’s a guess. The minivans are comparable to the success rate of the accord and Corolla just the different platform

Stay clear of Hondas with the VCM V6. Lots of problems with oil consumption and spark plug fouling. I bought a used one with 25K miles in 2012 and every 10k, it fouls a couple of plugs and starts burning oil like crazy. VCM = Variable Cylinder Management or we stop the valve train on a couple of cylinders turning it into a V4 instead of putting a six speed transmission to reduce RPMs. Major POS. Valve cover gaskets go bad and required disassembly of half of the intake manifold to change. GM tried this and had similar issues.

Yeah was that the GM cylinder deactivation experiment? Heard that was short lived. Good thought but really needs longer term R&D

This is just me, but steer clear of the known cars that last forever. They hold resale too much.

What you need is a ****ing grandma car that is 15 years old and has 60,000 miles.

A low mile ford is going to get more trouble free longevity than a 200K Corolla.

RE: new cars, I keep the wife in a good car. Dealing with the wife on a car breakdown is on my list of never ever worth it. Fortunately she doesn’t put much miles on and I have her in an 18 Yukon with 65K on it and have some time.

My pickup is a farm wagon. It’s pretty new but I put 30K or so a year on and like htis I’m not running it out of warranty. It’s a tool. I need availability. I don’t have time to **** around with breakdowns.

I have 3 old high mileage pickups for farm work. They’re reliable and I’ll run them until they’re not. I need low cost for those functions.

Surprisingly, I was doing pretty well trading 80/90 K for a 20K one. But since the used market has failen off I’m doubtful the next one will be good, but I’ll probably do it anyway. Because I’m after reliability.

So with my vehicles I have 3 distinct goals filled by very different vehicles.

Low cost mile
Availability
Happy wife.

I just bought a 2014 Ford Fusion SE to flip. Figure I will drive it for a bit before I do though. 140k clean and only dropped a thousand on it

I'm shocked at the prices of used cars these days. I've seen a few notices from friends selling cars and I thought they were way out of line. Then I checked and they weren't.

Some good advice in this thread. Much appreciated!

Gonna hit the sites and the streets and get it done!

Will keep ya posted.


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In 2018 I sold my 2008 Toyota Camry with 220k miles on it to a kid from my church for $1500. I just wanted it gone. Kid is still driving it, and has no issues. Put like another 120k on it. Nuts that I sold it for 1500 bucks, and nuts that he's still driving it.

Yeah, it sucks ass. Cars you used to pick up on the daily for 800-1200 bucks are now 4-5k. Most are in the "why the **** would I ever pay you that" category, then you realize the next group is really more like 8-10k that you used to pay 3-5 for and got a decent ride for a few years. 3 of our kids will be driving soon and I just don't want to pay much for their first car... ugh

Don't be tempted by "nice" car at surprisingly low prices. like an older Audi, BMW or old Mercedes. Those get down in the 5,000s and still look posh but within a few months (if not immediately) you'll be hit with a 2000-3000 repair bill and that will happen every year.

How true... I had a 1986 Audi 5000 wagon. The body has galvanized panels and didn't rust, the interior was heavy grey leather, it was a beautiful car. I spent a bunch of money getting the everything fixed. It had a computer system that monitored everything and would beep and flash a red triangle with a code in the center of the dash. About every year, it was beep beep beep, flash [insert code here] flash, beep, beep, beep. It meant spend another 2K on a repair. I had Import Masters on Cherry on speed dial.

We can agree on something, holy shit. It is a very interesting place to shop. I spend about 1/2 hour a day on there just looking. In fact, if it wasn't for marketplace I would drop off of FB.

We bought our Prius C on there, sold our Nitro, bought and sold 4 boats, 3 jetskis and many other things.

Before that it was Craigslist, prior to that it was the newspaper adds.

There is nothing worth a shit under 6k. Maybe find an old civic on marketplace?

Lack of supply.

The minute we drive a car off the lot, the other "side" of the dealership starts calling wanting to know if we'll sell it back to them or trade it in.

S10

Hell, I was offered 4k for the Fusion already LMAO

The frequency of that shit grinds my gears, but I also get a chuckle out of how brazen they can be about it...."I see you put 6000 miles on the car you paid in cash for just last year, do you want to trade that in at 40% of what you paid and then put yourself into a far ****ing worse situation by leasing a new car for roughly the cost of your mortgage???"

Buy an antique