In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
That is hilarious!! 12k is absurd let alone 15
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
That is hilarious!! 12k is absurd let alone 15
In reply to Duke :
From what I can tell a lot of forum classifieds tend to be pretty dead and I have noticed more activity on Facebook groups, though they are similarly sparse.
Thank you so much for the tips! On that last point, what if it's a rare car that I can't find many in the price point (or at all). Should I be just as willing to walk away? Examples being 318ti, is300 stick, and 128i in stick
Neon ACRs are cool!
Thoughts on imprezas? How would you say they compare to your e46?
In reply to wae :
That is quite the sketchy story! Lol that's hilarious. Glad you passed on it
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
That is a cool Cadillac!! You got lucky and then unlucky on selling it :D
In reply to wae :
Thank you very much! I hadn't thought about the cold start thing - can a warmed up engine mask problems?
I also hadn't considered the recall thing. Thanks again!
I definitely am not going to finance it - it seems ridiculous to me to finance a car at 8%+ when the risk free rate is only around 4.3%. I feel like I should be willing to do a lot of inspection on my own, but i dont know if im capable on my own, and I'm just not sure if $200 for a PPI on a $5,000 car is worth it. Then again it's only 4% more which might be worth it for peace of mind.
In reply to Racebrick :
Thank you so much! I handt considered some of this (like the married vs given name stuff). And I certainly didn't know about the corrections. Pass on any cars with title corrections?
It seems like most of the cars I'm looking at tend to be owned by car guys or nice people (of the ones I've contacted) so that has been pretty positive. But yeah I am a bit scared of meeting someone I don't know possibly at their house.
What is your standard procedure? Do you tend to look at the car at their house and then go to the bank or DMV? Do you ask them to meet you at the police station with the car? Do you bring cash or a check or only go to withdraw money once you've finalized the deal?
Any advice on the rust thing? It seems like most of the stuff in my price range that's older (read: more interesting) tends to have rust.
Do you sort this way?
FaceBook Marketplace -> Vehicles -> 80 miles from home -> $1235-$7,000 max -> choose no make or model or mileage -> transmission, manual
This should then bring up every manual trans car within 80 miles of you that are manual trans asking less than $7k. Also be sure to verify the manual trans in pictures...people are stupid.
I just did this setting 80 miles from Chicago and it brings up these interesting tidbits to me:
'07 Civic Sedan LX not the wizbang model but still a great combo of fun and reliable. Highly parent approved!
Track ready Honda Fit. Probably not parent approved but I'm sure other board members here personally know the owner.
Prelude is cool
Same thing in the Corolla flavor
Similar to Corolla but in spicier package. The ad says this is a GT-S but the trunk badge says lesser engined GT.
Bare bones motoring gives these a real sporty feel.
Another Yaris drivetrain with a different body and badge. I do caution though, how old is this ad with leaves still on the trees?
I presume that Kia/Hyundai should be avoided due to the whole Kia Boyz thing. Sad too because old Accent hatches are fun.
In reply to Evanuel9 :
I always pay cash under 10k. When I am going to buy a car I am not going to mess around with multiple trips. I come ready to buy. It's too easy to lose out on good deals, and it doesn't bother me to carry cash. I just meet at their house, or wherever they want when buying. If I thought anything was weird about it I would just bail, but so far I have avoided any issues where I felt uncomfortable during the meeting. I think weeding out people before you meet them is part of it. If someone won't talk to me over the phone, is evasive, or can't form completed sentences I just move on. I also carry a means to protect myself just in case. If you are at all nervous for any reason just meet at a police station.
In reply to John Welsh :
I hadn't sorted like that - I usually just search cars that I know are interesting to me..also I've found that people put automatic when there's a manual often so I wasn't sure if I would accidentally filter out good results. You seem to have found some stuff that I haven't come across though so I will run a search like that when I get home! Thanks!
That fit is awesome!! Real tempting. I'm gonna see if I can get my parents to not immediately veto it.
The prelude is also cool.
I'm going to be completely honest, I cannot get behind the idea of owning a civic or Corolla (unless it's an si or xrs). To me there are so many interesting cars out there that there's no point to owning a civic or Corolla. And I know that they are great platforms but they just don't excite me.
I actually kinda like accents, but living in Chicago I do not want to risk theft. My mom's car has been broken into twice during daytime parked on the street while running errands.
I had a little time so I searched again focusing a little farther out:
Rough Mazda2 wearing Saturn wheels? Rough example but this really is a 4dr Miata.
Evanuel9 said:In reply to Danny Shields (Forum Supporter) :
Are miles a factor worth putting any stock in? My parents seem to care but from what I've read, miles can mean many different things depending on care and the owner
There is another good thread on here discussing miles. When you drive a car, things wear. When you let it sit, things will deteriorate on their own. Collectors always seem to want extreme low mileage cars, but did it really get driven XXX miles per year, or did it sit for years? You can fix up a car, but mileage is the one thing you cannot fix. More miles means lower price. Good when you are buying, bad when selling.
In reply to John Welsh :
Definitely going to look at the Mazda and the fit, though that mazda2 is a bit rough.
The civic is cool but everything I read craps on the suspension and handling
In reply to Danny Shields (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks! High miles can be ok if i check that things aren't horribly worn out and low miles can be bad if things are deteriorated right?
From my other thread, here are a couple cars I've found if anyone knows anything about FiSTs, 318tis, or 240sx:
"Here's the ad if anyone knows FiSTs and wants to take a look.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/319799443729251/
If that turns out to be a real trans issue there is another one but it is over budget. It is at a dealer so it might be negotiable down to budget but I don't know.
If the FiSTs are out I'm moving on to the abarths or the track prepped fit. Maybe a mazda2.
The cars that I want the most are the 318ti or the 240 - they seem like the best combination of lightweight, rwd, and still fitting all the criteria. But I cannot seem to find any without a myriad of issues. In fact, there are barely any for sale at all in the case of the 318ti and similar situation for 240s in my price range. If I could find one that didn't have significant rust or electrical issues it would be an easy choice.but the ones I've found do have those issues, and I'm hesitant about just waiting for one to pop up - what if one doesn't?
Here are the ads for the two I've found if anyone who knows these cars wants to take a look:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/864920535372744
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1083592602672906/"
Also made a new spreadsheet!
It's got more reasonable cars on it as well.
Evanuel9 said:In reply to Duke :
Thoughts on imprezas? How would you say they compare to your e46?
The E46 was definitely the better handler. The AWD Impreza was for my daughter, and when she started autocrossing it, I put a big swaybar on the back to get it to rotate. It would rotate pretty well if you made it, but you had to work a bit to overcome the inherent understeer. It was OK, but just wasn't ever going to have the same feel and mid-corner adjustability as the BMW.
My best story:
Back in the 1980s I was really into Datsun 1200s and had a couple. Saw another for sale and went to check it out. The owner had to move and needed to sell it, saying that it smoked a little. The asking price of $1200 (1980's money) it was a no-go since it clearly needed an engine rebuild. A week later the owner called, asking what I'd give for it, I said due to the engine issue, $200. She accepted. That night my brother gave me a ride over to pick it up. On the way back, we stopped at a red light, and about five seconds later, this enormous cumulus cloud of oil smoke caught up to me and I could barely see the lights on the other side of the intersection. Good times. Got it home, swapped another engine into it and sold it for $800, using that money to rebuilt the engine.
In reply to Evanuel9 :
Here, this looks to check a lot of boxes. Owner is a GRMer from the general Illinois area who hasn't been on the forum in a couple weeks.
https://www.facebook.com/daylan.chapman/posts/pfbid0ytXkZm5pQ9UbckPPAVTLvEoTzUyt2RotbTmgdP18RGJoi212pzAE7qbLCsWm7zqfl?comment_id=2768887059917400&reply_comment_id=1462019124355194¬if_id=1705948004819477¬if_t=comment_mention&ref=notif
In reply to Duke :
Correction the owner is a friend of mine, seller is definitely good people though. The car is well known in the Gridlife community as one of the cars that made Sundae Cup a thing. It's a solid setup if somebody wants a good solid car that can also serve as starter track toy.
Epicvin is a lot cheaper than carfax and has most of the same sort of info. Around Chicago the best deals all seem to be on FB marketplace. Join all the buy/sell groups so you can see those listings. Good deals go fast. I'd have your money in a drawer somewhere ready to head out that evening if possible. When I was searching I had my budget in cash ready to go. You'll want a buddy to meet up carrying that much cash. I'd do the deal at a bank or police station.
High miles vs age- I'm less concerned about age than miles. There are exceptions- cars that are maintained can be great at higher mileage. If you find a used track/drift car there is a good chance someone has gone through it and replaced aging rubber or worn components to keep it safe for tech. Its the commuter with 200k on the clock and 100k of deferred maintenance that really worries me. Past a certain point age is just a number so long as parts are available and its been kept up. Its worth looking into model years of specific cars to see if there are problem years to avoid, or a specific year you want for a class. For example the 350z moving to club TR only applies to engines that I think are in two years of car. In any case for older high mileage cars I just want to see evidence the owner was actively fixing problems and not that it finally got an expensive enough one to sell.
Also in Chicagoland. Might be able to help depending on where your car is. Chicago is a big place.
Daylan C. said:In reply to Duke :
Correction the owner is a friend of mine, seller is definitely good people though. The car is well known in the Gridlife community as one of the cars that made Sundae Cup a thing. It's a solid setup if somebody wants a good solid car that can also serve as starter track toy.
Whoops, my mistake! Thanks for the correction.
In reply to camopaint0707 :
what is this?
In reply to Duke :
unfotunately I can't view the page. Do you have another link or a screenshot?
In reply to theruleslawyer :
Thank you! Honestly I am a bit terrified of having the vast majority of my net worth sitting in cash someone or carrying it around - It's a bit scary.
Thanks for the miles advice!
I'm in the south side near the university of chicago
In reply to Evanuel9 :
This link may work better.
Unfortunately images don't seem to be cooperating for me on the mobile site. But it's a 2010 Honda Fit prepped for the Sundae Cup time attack class with some simple mods. Car has been daily driven off and on and street driven to events all over the country for the past couple years. Last time I saw the car personally was at Watkins Glen. Owner is also a tech with experience putting fancier race cars together.
In reply to Daylan C. :
Ok, thanks what I thought it was. it's also been linked earlier in the thread. It looks like an awesome car and I am definitely considering it. Honestly, I'm considering too many cars and ending up in a sort of analysis paralysis of the different factors like weight, RWD vs AWD vs FWD, age, complexity, trackability, and speed.
One awesome thing that this has going for it is a gateway directly into the racing/track world without needing any building or prep. That doesn't exist for cars like the 318ti, e36/e46, 240sx, and WRX
I'm guessing you can vouch for the car?
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