Cheapskates Unite: Share Your Low Bucks Fleet.

This topic was spawned by the replies to my Pick Up thread. As I know I'm not the only thrifty person I thought it might be fun to share or nickel and dime treasures.

Datsun 1200: purchased for $270 and now at $9100. That includes all of the spares (spare race engine, extra set of wheels, body panels, starter, alternotors, brakes etc.). I got it from my friend who was best man at my wedding. 

Formula 500: purchased for 2K but it was $1300 to ship it. It's now up to $6700 and that includes 4 spare motors and an extra set of wheels. 

1990 E250 Van Coachman class B RV: 9K, purchased for 4K, fixed the AC (R12), brakes, upgraded the radiator  and tranny rebuilt. 

Tilt Trailer: $500, I got this home built trailer from a fellow SCCA member.

1962 Honda 90: This one was gifted to me on the promise that I would never sell it.

1979 Raceinc BMX Bike: $1200, I got this from my friend who was AMA Womens National Champ. The bike was built by my best man pal. I was shocked when she offered to sell it to me. For those of you not into BMX bikes; old BMX bikes are the two wheeled equvialent of 911 prices. Some BMX bikes are are pushing 10K.

1984 Club Fuji Road Bike: $20, my hoarder friend got it at a yard sale. I snatched it from him before he could take it apart.

1993 Cannonadale V200 Mountain Bike: $500 These were the first Cannondales to feature suspension. This one came from my best man pal as well, sadly he is no longer with us. He paid something like $2200 for it new.

2021 Mongoose California Special Retro BMX Bike: $485, this one is an exact replica of a 1982 Mongoose but a heck of a lot cheaper. I'm not sure it's cheap but it is cool.

The 2011 Outback:  17K in 2014, it's the most expensive car I have ever bought.

2011 Beta 520RS: 10K purchased brand new (my MX champ friend got me a deal)...................it's what I view as my only extravagant purchase.

So basically I have 2 race cars, 2 motorcycles, 4 bicycles, a daily, a trailer and an RV for just shy of 55K in the GarageMahal. 

While most of what I have was purchased because they were cheap they also have huge sentimental value. Of the 11 wheeled things I have 6 of them came from friends who I've known for 40 years. I've also tend to keep things now; I've had the Datsun 35 years or so, the Honda 90 for 25, the Fuji for 20, the trailer for 15, the Van for 15, the F500 for 9 years and the Outback for 9.  The BMX bikes are a new thing for me but I won't be selling those.

I could sell off most of the stuff and get one really cool race car for the money I have in the fleet.  My wife reminds me that I enjoy a variety of things so I traded having a really cool and immaculate race car for a scruffy fleet of fun stuff. 

I've got a couple of low buck treasures. 
 

1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Saw it being towed wrong from a grocery store parking lot, took down the tow company's name. This was in 2000.  No one on the message boards claimed to me the owner. I checked back with the tow company a couple times. They sold it to me on a lien sale for $750. It had a newly replaced engine and broken transmission. Whoever put the engine in forgot to put in the transmission mount bolts, so it cracked the bell housing. I had a 100,000 mile stock car running Galant VR4 for less than $1k. 
 

Edit: I just remembered, I had previously test driven this exact car about a year earlier. It was on sale at the local Toyota dealer, they wanted $11k for it. 
 

1995 Miata M. Back in 2006, I was managing an auto parts store when a lady came in for a battery. I mentioned that I was looking for a Miata, and she said she was selling hers, and getting ready to list it. She said $2k. I went by for a peek after work. She wasn't home, but I got to take a quick look at it in the dark. I called her up and said I'd buy it. Came by the next morning with the wife. It was our wedding anniversary. The seller said that he Craigslist post had gone up, and her phone was going off the hook. She said someone else offered $2500 sight unseen. My wife told her it was my anniversary present, and offered $2500. She accepted. Funny thing is the same thing happened a week later with a 1994 R, same price. I didn't buy it, as I didn't need to buy two Miate in back to back weeks- but I should have. 
 

I like your taste in mountain bikes.  I'd been nostalgia-hunting a flying V bike for a while, now.

I do have a 1998 Schwinn Homegrown XTR.  The bike of my dreams when I was a teenager because I didn't quite trust the carbon frame.  Aluminum frame made by Yeti, full XTR groupset.  Retail was IIRC $3800, I paid $550 shipped.  I don't ride it much after finding out how impossible it is to find XTR components, and my track records suggests that chains and cogs last a frightfully short amount of time.  Still, it makes me smile.

My Volvo is the most expensive car I've ever bought, and I bought it because I knew from experience that Volvos are easy to work on and don't need work very often.  Plus it was only $4k and came with an inch thick stack of maintenance records.  I consider it a case of paying up front for reduced costs later.  The paint still looks immaculate with no fading, and the car is holding up extremely well 130k miles after purchase.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

I like your taste in mountain bikes.  I'd been nostalgia-hunting a flying V bike for a while, now.

 

Here it is.......my buddy rode it maybe 4 times, it's immaculate.

I got a 1993 Miata for free.  Raleigh, NC in 2012.  Was posted up on a job down by NC State.  Kept seeing this neglected Miata sitting in a corner parking spot of a business/apartments that had clearly not been moved in years.  Left a note and a resident of the apartments called to say it had been there for years and didn't know who it belonged to.  It still had an NC tag on it so I took the tag number to the DMV.  Paid them $1 and they gave me the last owner's info.  The guy had an odd name so I found him on Facebook and sent him a message...

He said "oh, can't believe that is still there. I parked it there years ago when the engine is blew up.  Yours for free if you want it."  Of course I did.  Had it towed home.  Met up with him and got the title.  Turns out the "blown engine" was a shredded waterpump belt so the upper rad hose had popped.  New hose, new belt, new battery, and topped off with coolant.  It ran excellent with no real issues.  

I started typing then realized I'm not doing as well as I maybe think I should be, and spending more money for things I don't have to fix constantly may be a better idea? Ok, we don't need that kind of negativity on this message board!

Latest acquisition: 2006 Mini Cooper S vert, got it for 650 with a "bad water pump" which lead to me getting a supercharger from Duster Michael to revitalize it. Some issues with the title and maybe got one of the last Vermont loophole titles issued. I'm in it for just over 1k so challenge legal. My daughter is supposed to drive it once she learns manual a little better. Sidelined with some clutch hydraulics issues at the moment 

My tow vehicle I got a solid deal on, but paid actual money. 2005 2500hd with good rockers for 6500 because the owner got a new truck and needed money before the weekend for a big vegas trip. I just put gas in it a lot, but otherwise runner. 

The other two we got new or CPO and I just plan to drive them until it gets to the point where a single repair totals it. Almost to 300k on the Odyssey and it's only starting to annoy me, and the Jetta needs an engine rebuild just over 100k (yay low tension oil rings!!) but oil is relatively cheap.

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

Do you still have your GVR4? I miss mine.

Our lo-buck winner is also our newest vehicle: 2005 4runner V8 bought in 2016 with 150k miles for $9500. That was decently under market and the seller realized after getting a hundred calls but stuck to the deal. It was garage kept, rust-free and very clean. 80k miles later I've changed the fluids, timing belt and shocks, and am on a second set of tires. It'll eventually need an evaporator, they all do.

But it's as reliable as an anvil and we drive it everywhere, all the time, which is more than I can say for the pretty and not so lo-buck cars in the fleet.

in 1986 i paid $50 for a '66 corvair and drove it home.  i needed the engine for my '65, for which i had paid $75 a couple months earlier. changed out some gaskets, swapped the engine, and drove it for about 2 years. that was peak cheapskate for me.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

We had a buddy that was just off a  nasty divorce; I'd been given a Corolla rally car project and we found another one at a towing auction for $75.  Between the two we got him a car he drove for 3 years. This is the ebst we've ever done for a functioning car.

As for one you would actually want to drive I think the best I've done is $600 Ranger 4x4 back around 1998.

I bought my Miata Steve in college for a grand, though I had to sell it 6 months later because I needed the money for tuition. Steve was rusty and crusty but ran well and gave me a lot of fun times. Beyond that, I haven't spent more than $6,000 on buying a car in my life. All the cars in my current fleet have been purchased within the last 4 years:

My truck: $6,000 2002 Silverado. I'm the second owner. The previous owner laughed when I told him his truck was the most expensive car I'd ever bought.

2012 Mazda3: My parents made me a sweetheart deal of $3500 on it when I graduated college in 2019.

1991 Miata race car: I bought Elvira, my second miata, from some local SCCA hillclimb racers. it doesn't have a top and so it sat on craigslist for a few months before I was able to rent a place with a garage and buy it up. I think I paid $4100.

But far and away my best deal I've made was buying my stock car for $1,000. It was complete but had been sitting for a couple of years. I got it started without too much trouble and now I'm in the middle of retrofitting a dry sump system in my build thread.

a gentleman never tells, except at the $2000 challenge where we are required to

In reply to yupididit :

Yes, I still have it. I modded it with the plans of taking it to the Challenge but that never happened. I made all of the mods as sleeper and factory looking as possible. It passes CA smog checks with a 20G and 750 injectors. 

My low buck special was a $50 Morris minor Traveler. ( the woodie wagon) 

 there was some minor surface rust on the inside engine bay and he was told that made it unsafe to drive.  
  At the last moment the owner took the new battery out and gave me an Extra $15  off.  
  The brakes were out of brake fluid so I used the engine to slow down while my buddy towed me home.  I noticed the dome light coming on when I let the clutch out. A couple of stop signs later the engine was running!!   No battery,  engine running!  
  Oops,  I ran into the back of his pickup.  Luckily it was a thick wooden bumper.  No damage.  But there it was idling nice and smooth. 
  Turns out the generator  developed a charge  even without a battery. 
      So I used the parking brake and we got it home. Bought a  scrap battery for $2. Flushed the lead  sulfate out.  Filled the brakes, changed the oil.  And got a year out of it before I blew up the engine.  

My 97 Civic CX, I'm the second owner and I bought it in May of this year. Paid $1500 for it. After the profit from selling the $2022 challenge Integra, and spare parts, I'm in it for ~$600  with the wheels, seats, exhaust, coil-overs and spare d16y8 vtec engine/ECU. Hoping to get it all done and running turbocharged for $2500. I should throw a build thread together to keep me accountable 

My Cheap Fleet

- 2001 Toyota Sequoia: When I purchased it, I bought it from the original owner in 2018. It had 169k miles on it with a briefcase full of service records and receipts. All for around $5000. It's now at 235k on the odometer (likely 260k with adjustment from bigger tires). It needs some serious TLC as some parts on it are just tired.....like the door latches that I can't find a replacement too. 

- 2005 Honda S2000:  I got lucky and bought another 1-owner car in the dip of the S2000 market in 2016. 118k miles when purchased, 135k now. I got it for a steal. 

- 1994 Honda Accord: It's now our Champcar but it was once one of our teammates daily drivers that he procured for $800. I bought it from him for $200 and drove it until we did racecar things to it. 

- 1994 Mazda Miata: I bought it for $2500. It doesn't have an engine or transmission but it's got a nice cage, wheels, and suspension in it. 

I helped the girlfriend procure a 1-owner 2015 Subaru Crosstrek CPO with a 100k B2B warranty. It had 20k on it at the time we purchased and ended up getting it for like $15k. 

In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :

You Sir are my hero.

 Funny how "...low bucks..." means different things to different people. 

I bought my Miata from a forum member for $600 and an extra set of wheels. Gave the extra set to another board member, sold the car to a guy I worked with for $1000. Then later he sold it back to the original member for $400. 

Last year bought my ZX2 for $400. Changed out the water pump (guy thought it was a head gasket for some reason) and drove it a year. Sold it in June for $950. It was a good deal for both parties. 

If we go far enough back there have been some pretty good deals.

There are others, but these come to mind:

'69 triumph spitfire for $75 back in about 1999. An oil change, new fluids, battery and the darn thing started and ran. I rebuilt the hydraulics and drove it for a while with some 914 seats that I'd snagged for $20. I had about $200 into everything. Later I did other things, but that's another story.

'79 RX-7 2000ish. $100 for the car, it had been in a rollover and popped the rear windshield, It didn't run when I got it, but a fuel pump and rewiring some grounds got it going. I never got the title for that one, so after spending some time driving it down forestry roads, I pulled the drivetrain and ended up using it later for other shenanigans.

'80 Toyota corolla station wagon, also $75. around 2001. I swapped in a junkyard Webber DGV and manifold, drove the thing 5K miles and gave it to a friend who needed a car.

'88 Dodge Colt Turbo. 2002. I paid the guy $150 for the car with known issues, had a buddy drive me 200 miles to pick it up (and he went directly from dropping me in the parking lot to his duty assignment, so no backup plan if the car didn't work). I arrived, replaced a couple of fusible links, hardwired a fan switch and drove the thing home. Then I proceeded to gut it, put in a cage, and put about 10K miles of forestry roads under the car, plus normal DD duty for a few years.

Somewhere in here was a 1975 beetle for $300 with a freshly rebuilt dual port, but a badly broken transaxle.  I swapped the gearbox and sold it for $1500

1990 Miata, mariner blue. $300 in 2004. Missing the head, bad top, bad interior. I ended up buying a replacement engine for it but never installing it. It sat. I sold it sometime around 2007/8 to someone who was planning to use it for a challenge car. I never did hear anything more about it.

Then I drove "responsible" cars for a while, and rented apartments, so I didn't have room for many projects.

Sometime in late 2011 I bought another Miata, this time a '91 with 180K on the clock. Everything in that car was worn out. But it was $800 and running and driving, so I bought it. I drove it until I found my '97. Eventually I gave it to a friends kid.

'63 ragtop baja bug for $800 in 2016.

Last year I bought a '63 spitfire chasis/drive train with a modified Berkeley body along with a literal half ton of spares for $600

My only project acquisition since then probably doesn't count in most people's eyes.

My boys are currently driving a BMW X5 purchased from a forum member for $500, $125 for an new engine from another forum member.

Peak bang for the buck cars for me was 1993.

1985 RX7 $1500

1978 CJ Renegade $1500

1985 Grand Wagoneer $2000

1984 Grand Nathional $3000

1989 BMW M3 $9995

Currently my value car is my 2008 Mustang GT Paid $8500, sitting at 30K miles right now.  

Best deal ever, and my favorite car ever.

$65, purchased off the weed infested back row of a used car lot. It had been parked there for a couple years after being traded. Was a horrible beige color. I got it running, drove it for a year, paid some young auto body guy $300 to paint it and drove it for several more years. I did own a few of these before, so had the wheels and other parts to finish it off.  Would love to have another (rust eventually killed this one) but too many parts are impossible to get now.

I paid $300 for this and drove it for several years, doing nothing to it. Don't recall what I sold it for, but at least $500.

A lot of my great deals were back in the 80s-90s when you could still buy unwanted cars this cheap. Can't do that today hardly. I did buy this Ranger from a co-worker who was moving and didn't want to take it with him. I think it was $300. It had almost 300,000 miles on it and was completely gutless with the 3.8 and stick shift. I fixed some things and flipped it for $1200 or so.

Oh brother, I would take pages if I listed them all.  Most of you know that I have automotive ADD.  I love buying inexpensive cars, playing with them for a while, and moving on. I've had at least 70 or 80 that were below $5,000. Ranging from free all the way up. My entire current fleet is under $6000 each. My wife and I were actually going to fight the bullet and buy a $30,000 car soon, but decided we were happier doing this and using that money for travel and adventures. My current fleet is:

2008 BMW 328xi $2700

2002 Honda Insight $2500. For sale

1997 Boxster - $4800

1991 Toyota MR2 - $5600

1991 Miata - $3200

Prior to this thread, I thought I ran across a few great deals over the years (mostly in the way of cheap wishbone Honda's and Miata's). I now know there's a lot more to learn about the art of the cheap car. Some of you gentleman are in a different league. 

roninsoldier83 said:

Prior to this thread, I thought I ran across a few great deals over the years (mostly in the way of cheap wishbone Honda's and Miata's). I now know there's a lot more to learn about the art of the cheap car. Some of you gentleman are in a different league. 

I bought a nonrunning 1990 Nissan Sentra for $100, in 2004.

  It had a bad MAF which was part of a $500 throttle body assembly and her daughter told her to stop fixing that thing and buy a new car.

I went to a junkyard and got a throttle body for $25.  Put it on and went.

Car got 42mpg, which was amazing.

Over a year and a half of ownership, I installed four tires at $25 each, a ball joint, and a set of pads and rotors.

It was getting very rusty, and I got a great deal on a Golf, so I put it on Craigslist for $400 and it was gone in four hours.  I figure that not counting oil and fuel, I sold the car for more than I had in it after driving it for almost 30k miles.

'04 Saab 9-5 Arc: $800

Came with a tune bringing power to Aero levels, Bilsteins, set of Aero rims

'86 900S, rare 2-dr notchback: $400 (~20 yrs ago) 

Left note on windshield. Pinion bearings were going. Today, sadly, still a project car