Teach me finding "good" cars

Just wondering where the place is to find really good low mileage cars are?

Craigslist is nice but I'm having a hard time finding cars that haven't been beat/riced to death. What I'm looking for are honest one or two owner unmodified original cars.

I'm not looking for a project. I want something that I can use occasionally for weekend cruising. I have a broad range of cars I am looking for. I have an affinity for 70's cars from G.M. Also would be interested in a nice Grand National or any of the "Halo" cars from the early nineties, 300zx TT, Supra, 3000 GT VR4 and the like.

I used to love flipping through the "Muscle, Sports and Classic car trader". Since the internet has wiped that off the map I've been a little sad.

Anyway, where is the place to find nice original unmolested survivors?

And to that end. If I am able to find a car teach me about keeping it nice. I currently have no indoor storage.

What is the best way to keep a nice car nice outside? I'm worried a cover would damage paint outside. Any experience in that area?

Atlanta, Arizona, SoCal Craigslists...

I wouldn't put a cover on it - a friend of mine who runs a bodyshop with his son strongly advises against it because you always end up with dust being caught between the cover and the paint. Add a bit of wind and it'll berkeley up the paint something royal.

So basically keep it clean, wash & wax regularly with good wax, try to keep the interior out of the sunlight with those windshield shades. That should mostly get you there.

Don't forget the Salt Lake City CL, plus the NV ones - they seem to have nice cars in Utah and stuff out here is mostly rust free. Plus we get a lot of retirees from CA who are into cars, so there is a supply of nice domestic metal out here. Cheap it ain't, though.

I would think enthusiast forms for the makes/models you are looking for.

I find most of my deals by word of mouth. In my line of work I talk to a lot of people and if they have something that looks interesting I ask them if it is for sale. About a quarter of the time they are ready to get rid of it right then.

It used to be the local paper in a higher end town (Western Springs, Hinsdale, Illinos) near me used to have "old man" type cars that were well kept. I agree these are harder to find.

After looking at 100+ cars on c-list and fleabay; I came across a 2007 Sentra that was well kept for sale. I lwballed and then came up a bit. LOTS and LOTS of research.

Bring a Trailer.

And, enthusiast message boards for the cars you seek.

No secret. Just patience and leg work. Hardest thing is patience. You need to react fast to promising stuff, but not be so trigger happy that you buy a sun standard product. I've had to learn this lesson with age.

Eyes and ears open at all times

I'm still learning... Not sure I ever will, tho... I'm at about 50% success rate between good cars - my GT6 and TDi (new car, so really just lucky with rolling the VAG dice there) and turds - my Cummins and E30... I really thought the E30 would be a good car - enthusiast owned, lots of history, nice condition. My god I don't know how much more wrong I could have been. Has been a nightmare almost since day-one.

With my GT6, I just got lucky. Was in the right place (Carlisle import show) at the right time. Found a really clean, two owner car about $2-3k under market value. There was literally a crowd around it when I walked up to it in the for-sale corral, but somehow I was the first person to call the number on the window.

My Volvo was bought to be parted out, but turned out to be half decent, so it then turned into a long term project.

A car has low mileage, its been idling or not driven enough. It hasn't been pushed, it'll need parts replaced because they haven't been exercised, catalyst for instance. Car has high mileage, its been well exercised, but certain parts such as gaskets or solenoids are failing. They've been replaced? Great, the next weakest thing is going to break. Doesn't matter how hard or soft a vehicle has been pushed or how "good" it is.

Buy cheap and expect to fix something.

the biggest thing is have cash in hand. they just pop up and you need to be ready to pull the trigger. word of mouth is the best way. the best cars and deals i have gotten are from word of mouth. if i even hear of someone thinking about selling something i ask "how much". if i see something sitting in a driveway that hasnt moved i stop and ask about it. just get out there and beat the bushes

you could place a wanted ad on CL, maybe even put it in the "cars and trucks for sale" category so people only looking in that section would find it.

You'd be surprised at how many you can find on the used side of new car lots. Lots of people trade in "undesirable" stuff, the dealer pays pennies for it, and then they cart it off to the auction and get $1500 for it.

I bought an 87 Cutlass Salon from a used department of a Chevy dealer. It had 36,000 miles, 442 appearance package AND Ralleye package with the floor shifter, zero rust, 307, and mile-deep blue paint for $2400. The dealer made $900 more than they would have at the auction, I got a brilliant car with low miles for cheap. They wouldn't put an 87 car out for sale unless it was something collectible. They want as new as possible. They don't waste their time with old stuff.

I frequently do searches on CL with $500 in the min and max fields. Here in Pittsburgh, that turns up a ton of sub-100k cars with a rusty fender, or a Ford Ranger with a bad transfer case, or an engine swap project that didn't get completed.

not that a Volvo 850 is a desirable car.. but I picked mine up off of a used car dealer for not a lot of money. Nobody wanted a mid-sized car with a 5 speed

Florida. God's waiting room. People retire, relocate, buy new house,new cars, new furntire, then die.

Kids come down from up north, strip the estate of jewels, cash and whatever they can pack into the SUV and then need to dump the rest so they can stop paying the tax accountant/estate laweyr and settle the inheritance so they can pay the VISA bill.

This is what you call a motivated seller situation.

In reply to NOHOME:

This^^