Review of 500 dollar cars::Used Cars under 700 Dollars?
Review of 500 dollar cars::Used Cars under 700 Dollars?
I don't think anyone could have anticipated the wild success of the U.S. government Cash for Clunkers program. Aside from hearing constantly of the collapsed credit markets and the urgency of a 787 billion dollar stimulus program to prevent an even greater depression, you'd think two things: that people didn't have any cash or credit left to apply to new cars and, two, that there weren't that many "clunkers" out there. Wrong on both counts! Auto dealers are reporting a run on cars, taking in so many "clunkers" that some dealers are worried that the program would run out of money before they get the rebates for clunkers already taken in. There is a reported $1 billion dollars invested in the Car Allowance Rebate System and each qualifying person or vehicle could get up to $4500 dollars depending on the mpg improvement on the vehicle purchased. There are some rules required for qualified participants in the program. The "clunker" must not be more than 25 years old and must get less than 18 miles per gallon. You have to have had the vehicle insured for all of the last twelve months, and this is verified through contact with your insurance company. You'll need a clear title to the vehicle you're giving up. Because of the paperwork mountains, the additional workload has stressed both dealers and customers. I needed a new truck and, while my present truck is qualified for the program, I couldn't afford the truck I needed, even with the discount. In order to buy the truck, I would have had to take on too much debt, not a wise option in this economy. New vehicles lose thousands in value during the first year of ownership. Cash for Clunkers doesn't make sense for those who might take on too much debt outside of the $4500 you might get from the program. So I then responded to a mailer from the Ray Price Ford in Stroudsburg, Pa. and decided on a small, high-mileage compact car. The ad brochure was targeted for the low end trim Ford Focus S-model. Applied discounts included a $254 dealer discount, a $1500 Ford cash rebate to customer, an additional $500 dollar Ford Motor Credit discount for those who took the Ford financing. I didn't need the financing but took it anyway in order to get the maximum discount off the base price attached to that model Ford Focus-a base price of $16,200. There were a few conditions put upon my freedom of purchase by my wife. "Don't come home with a red one and be sure that whatever you get has an automatic transmission. And no black interior!" The automatic transmission option would cost about a $1000 bucks more. Red cars are the ones most often ticketed. Black interiors showed dirt. The ad brochure had displayed in bold italics the phrase "No Gimmicks" so I pointed that out to my salesman, Larry Gordon. The dealership had only one Ford Focus S in stock and that one had a manual transmission Gordon went to the company computer and located the nearest Focus with the S trim at a dealership in Phillipsburg, N.J. We did the arithmetic and decided to write up the deal. "Wait a minute...I'll call the dealership." He came back a few minutes later, disappointed. "Sold," he said. Under normal conditions, that would be an opening for the famous auto sales bait and switch, but not in these tough times. I took a look around the relatively small dealer outlet and noticed that the chairs and desks were filling up. A few weeks earlier I'd stopped at a large dealership in another town and you could hear the wind whistling through the gravestones-cars in this case. Nary a soul to be found; it was sad. There was a middle-aged couple in the process of buying a Ford Escape at the table next to us. I had a chance to talk with that couple and look over their car while Gordon perused the internal Ford listings of nearby dealerships. The middle aged couple had traded in a van, they told me. Across the room, there was a young African-American couple working with a salesman to get their monthly payment down. All I got from eavesdropping was that the guy was operating some sort of business and their trade car didn't qualify for the $4500 Cash for Clunkers Plan. He was trying to get a leased vehicle. At another station, there was an old couple patiently waiting for their salesperson to return. They appeared to be in their 80s, well groomed and dressed, and appeared well-to-do. While Gordon searched the internal computer listings for another vehicle that the dealership refused to give up, I sleazed over to talk to the senior-senior citizens. They were disappointed because their car didn't qualify for the "Clunkers" program. "What kind of car are you trading in?" I asked. "A 2000 Ford Escort," they said in unison. For the year, their trade-in had low mileage-73,000. They'd had a transmission problem, though, which they said was fixed twice by the dealer under warranty[V1] . Along about that time, Gordon called me over to look at another vehicle resembling the one I'd first picked out. We called that dealer and were similarly disappointed. They had a buyer for that one and didn't want to give it up. I was a little irritated and said so. "You mean those dealers won't relinquish those cars to other dealerships even when they have a sure thing sale?" Gordon explained it to me and, after I thought about it for a minute, it made sense. I could see that the Cash for Clunkers was beginning to look like a bank run as more and more people came into the dealerships, and the sales staff ran around, sweated, dodged out to smoke cigarettes at the side and rear entrances. Just about everyone with a clunker, a bank account, and a decent FICO score needed a new car-as I did. The writing on the wall of the Ray Price Stroud Ford dealership said "Let Ford Recycle Your Ride" but, if you looked hard enough, you could also see that it said the dealerships would soon run out of cars and the government could likely run out of money for the program. So I pushed for a deal on the available Ford Focus cars on the lot-higher trim models as it turned out. I selected the middle trim level Ford Focus, the SE, which had added options of alloy wheels, Sirius radio complete with subscription, MP3 hookups, and power door and window and mirror controls, and a few other things I didn't need but liked. I told Mr. Gordon of my unwillingness to pay more than $200 dollars extra for those options and that I wanted to buy a Focus close to the original price we bargained for. To my surprise, the dealership agreed and we started writing up the contract. While Gordon called my insurance company to prove that I'd been driving my own clunker and kept it insured for the past year or more, my elderly neighbors came over to ask me what car I was buying. I pointed it out through the showroom window. "That one? That's the one we wanted to buy," said Mrs. Elderly Woman. She explained they'd looked at the car before I got there, drove home, had a change of mind and come back to buy the car. Too late, I thought, irreverently. The car was mine. So the sticker price had been $17,000 and some change for the 2009 Focus SE as opposed to 16,100 for the Ford S model Focus. I got a total of $7,000 off the 17K, including $4500 for my clunker. I got some options I hadn't counted for. I got a car with an automatic transmission, one that wasn't read, and had a "charcoal" as opposed to a black interior. I put $1500 down to shrink the amount owed and I financed $9,276.39 for 3 years though I will no doubt pay the loan off in three months, the earliest I can do that without penalty. That was two days ago. There is new news on the auto front. The Obama administration warned Congress yesterday that it may have to cease the Clunker program because they're running out of money. Obama assured members that existing contracts would be honored, an assurance that did not calm all dealerships. Many dealerships have already stopped taking orders within the program. Others were forced to do so because they have run out of cars. Just a moment ago, I queried the Ford system for new Ford Focus cars by inputting my zip code. The search turned up seven nearby Ford dealers but no Ford Focus cars. All of these dealerships have posted a standard apology. A Wall Street Journal today included an article titled "Government's 'Cash for Clunkers' Program Runs Out of Gas Early." The same article tells of a single dealership, the Lee Auto Group of Southern Main, where Adam Lee, proprietor, has stopped taking in "clunkers" now that he already owns 100 of them and is waiting to be reimbursed $450,000 by the Cash for Clunkers Program. Finally, a government program that works! Well, almost.... |
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Labels: Buy a Car for 500, Cheap Cars for Sale, Cheap Cash Cars for Sale, Crazy Cheap Cars, Local Cheap Used Cars, Used Cars 500 Dollars Down, Used Cars for Sale By Owner, Very Cheap Used Cars
Review of used cheap cars::Craigslist Used Cars by Owner
Review of used cheap cars::Craigslist Used Cars by Owner
Families across the United States have been hit hard by economic recession, with a majority of families in many parts of the country simply unable to afford a brand-new car. Rather than taking out a loan on a later-model used car, consider the cars on this list of quality and cheap-to-run used cars under $5,000. The cars on this list were chosen under the assumption that the buyer is paying cash, rather than taking out a loan which carries a monthly payment. Your options will be much open to many later-model cars if you go through a dealership, but many cars made in the last several years are not built well. Those that fall under the magic $5,000 price point actually built to last and worth driving will likely be a couple of years older, and thus likely be offered without a warranty. On the bright side, owning an older and inexpensive used car outright, that is to say without owing money to the bank, will be a huge weight off your shoulders should you lose your income or face other financial difficulties. All of the used cars on this list have a low total cost of ownership, factoring in purchase price, gas mileage, insurance and cost of repairs. 5. Used Honda Accord, 1995-1999 You won't have to look too far to find a used late-1990s model Honda Accord under $5,000 that has been well taken care of. The Accord is larger than the other sub-$5,000 fuel misers on this list, so it might be the only viable option here for families with older children. There is a reason why there are more older-model Hondas on the road than cars from any other automaker, hands down. These cars stand the test of time. Honda Accords have enough technology that silly little things break from time to time, but even a "new" (refurbished Japanese import) engine will not put you out of house and home. The V6 models are known for their durability, but of course don't carry as good fuel economy as their inline-4 counterparts. 4. Used Hyundai Accent, 2003-2007 Right around the turn of the millennium Hyundai began to drastically improve its product offerings, especially the lowly little Accent. The new generation of small Hyundai cars will still come with factory warranties due to the crazy 10 year powertrains Hyundai has been offering. The Accent makes a great used car if economy of operation is your biggest concern. Because it is newer than most of the used cars under $5,000 you will find anywhere, a nearly-new Accent will be fresh if it has been maintained. Early long-term consumer reports show that the Accent will stand up to the test of time. You won't win any races or jaw-drops, but the Accent is a fine daily driver, especially with manual transmission. 3. Used Subaru Impreza, 2000-2002 The used non-WRX Impreza market is full of huge bargains, as most used Impreza buyers spring for a few extra thousands for the WRX. That makes the XXXX-XXXX standard Imprezas a super steal as frugal and fun used cars. Though not legendary for their gas mileage, these cars won't burn you too bad at the pump. Not quite as cheap to repair as the more mainstream Japanese compacts, the Impreza makes up for it in high-weather climates due to its solid all wheel drive system. These trusty little bargain-basement performers will handle in rain and snow better than nearly every compact car on the road. A well-maintained 2000-2002 Subaru Impreza can give you years of service as one of the best used cars under $5,000 out there, but keep up on your maintenance or things will get expensive down the road. 2. Used Ford Ranger, 1998-2002 Ford's Ranger is the much less common smaller truck offering. What the F-150 gets in thrills and mass-market options, the Ranger saves as a great no-frills used work truck or daily driver. These Rangers are so easy to work on, with inexpensive parts, that they make great used cars you can do simple repairs on yourself. Plus, with Ford's perfectly adequate four cylinder, the light-on-its-feet used 1998-2002 Ford Ranger offers top marks for utility and cheap cost to drive as the months and years go by. 1. Used Honda Civic, 1994-2000 The Honda Civic earning top marks as an inexpensive, great on gas and cheap to main used car is the biggest no-brainer on this list. Civics hold their resale value so well that you will not be able to get as new a model for under $5,000. Still, with some of the cheapest repair bills of any car in the industry due to the sheer number of mid-1990s used Honda Civics still running around. Honda's B15 series of engines, used in many of the Civic models during this period, are absolutely legendary for their durability. Pair that with a chassis and snick-snick manual transmission that can be driven as a gas miser or a wanna-be sports car for the poor man, and you have a winning used car combination. |
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Labels: Cars for Sale By Owner, Cheap Cash Cars for Sale, Cheap Used Car My Area, Cheap Used Cars By Owner, Craigslist Cheap Used Cars, Used Car Cheap Prices, Used Cars 500 1000, Used Cars for Sale









