Anyone care to suggest a car for me?

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Interesting.

But who knows, maybe my little s**t can will just keep on going & going like the energizer bunny.

If it's still going in the Summer, I might find an old opening sunroof and cut a hole in the roof and silicone it in place. A coworker asked "what if it leaks??" and I replied "what if it does??.. I'll drill a hole in the floor." lol it's a 1990 Civic with 463K Kms that I crashed twice in December making it worth about 50 bucks, well, okay, maybe $150 in scrap value - TOPS. Hell, if it looks like we're in for a long stretch of sun with no rain maybe I'll just cut a hole in the roof and leave it open.

As for the sleeping comfort, hmm, who knows.. maybe a couple $10 thrift store blankets will make it comfy enough for me to get by with. I'm basically going to drive it until it dies.



Also, I have a (entirely legal) plan to try to buy a vehicle for much less than half of it's fair market value. If I can find the right situation, I don't even care what kind of car/truck it is, I'll buy it & drive it around with a for sale sign on it until it sells, then switch back to the civic, rinse & repeat. So if that ends up working out for me, there won't really be a search for any specific car.. just the right situation where I can buy it for a rock bottom price & then make money flipping it. That right situation is that it has to have been up for repo for at least 6 months, then banks will accept extremely low offers on them. The hard part will be finding a car that's been up for repo for at least 6 months that hasn't been trashed. But if I can find one… and then another.. cha-ching!

Well, this s**t just got real..

My car's done. Transmission is slipping/not engaging - totally plugged & done. I had it towed near a wrecker to scrap it, but found out I may be able to get a 1 year transit pass (worth ~$2700) in lieu of the ~$200 in scrap value, so I'm applying for that before I scrap it. I was trying to get it to 500K Kms, but only hit 485K Kms. Ah well, I paid $700 for it + ~$500 in repairs and drove it 51K Kms. That car didn't owe me any money!

I'll likely take transit for 1-2 months, do my taxes from last year and wait for my return, then buy another beater - whatever the best fuel efficient hatchback or wagon available for under $1000 happens to be. I have more money, but it's all invested and I want it left for the longer term return & don't value flashy bling cars AT ALL.

So, if anyone has any suggestions for cheap beaters.. feel free to fire away. I may go for another civic hatchback, or perhaps a corolla wagon if I can find one when the time is right. Anything else you'd consider in the almost free price range?

how much would a junkyard tranny set you back? in any case, can't go wrong with a ricer.

Dunno, but more than the car is worth.. it's worth the gas I put in it, basically. Also, these cars in the junkyard all have about this mileage or more on them, anyways. And IF I was going to repair it myself, I'd tear this tranny apart and clean it, as that would likely fix it just fine since it's a hydraulic fluid pressure problem vs. it being mechanically worn out/broken. I don't have a garage/shop/tools etc to do any of that in. I've only done roadside/driveway repairs. And it's certainly not worth paying a shop to do any of this. Car's done beyond economical repair costs.

Yeah, probably get another Japanese econo hatch or wagon again. Depends what's available at the time I'm ready to buy.

it saddens this aspie when an otherwise serviceable object is rendered economically obsolete. what a world.

I feel ya, but it's not like it hasn't had a lot of use.. 485K Kms. Plus it's not otherwise perfect, either. It's been crashed a couple times and doesn't have perfect wheel alignment by a long shot lol

I really shouldn't have looked at cars for sale on craigslist tonight... there's a great '95 Acura Integra for sale near-ish to my work for $800 that looks pretty good! I really shouldn't bother wasting any time looking for a couple of months until I'm ready to buy something again. Waste of time/sleep time, annnd will only serve to annoy me when I miss out on good deals. Ah well, lesson learned. Zzzzz time! Long work week ahead of me.

sleep tight

My friend has a rolled over 2.2 subaru outback he inherited, it cost $400 usd but the isuzu automatic/AWD shifts perfectly and the alignment is fine. It's also cool because of the limited slip differential and heated seats. If you want more power, the old 2.2 turbo Legacy wagons are also plentidul up there. Absolute toughest option IMO if your mechanical vocab eschews German/Swedish; they were built in Oklahoma by the CRX anyway.

It's worth spending up a bit for a decent GSR, Type R or later Civic SI, you can also find the 4wd japanese import Civic Ferio in BC. Just about all of those would normally return the same or better fuel economy. The Ferio I really wanted to try...

ideally you should opt for a car with the standard soft suspension, as those are far more likely to have been driven gently, stiff sports suspensions make squeaks and rattles come out sooner, driving over most [generally crappy] north American roads.

There are several sub $1k subies for sale locally, but I'm weary considering the lemon of a 2000 legacy outback limited I had several years ago. Depreciation & repairs cost me $10K to drive it 45K kms in just over a year. That was with a $12.xK purchase price. Horrendous.

I think for a super cheap car again this winter I'll likely stick with Honda/Toyota, maybe Suzuki - one of the bulletproof Japanese brands vs. ones with known issues. So many cylinder/head issues with Subarus - even though everything else but that went on mine lol. But time will tell what I end up with... still gotta wait a few business days to see if I get my 1 year transit pass in lieu of scrap money. Then even once I buy a beater I might just drive it to the train station, pay $1 (I think) to park if I can't get a free spot, then take the train for free some days. Most of the errands I would run after work are closer to my home than work, anyways.

Fingers crossed that I get that transit pass this week & then in a couple months find the perrrrrrrfect putt-putt A-Beater 'mobile to cruise around in!

with all this frugal money management, you must be doing fiduciarily alright

Yes & no.. haven't had a lot of work this Summer, so didn't really move forward with savings and investments much. But I did spend a LOT of time at one of the most beautiful beaches on the entire planet, as well as more time kiteboarding at another picturesque spot. I also spent 2+ months of my free time working on a charity fundraiser project for a youth homeless shelter where 40% of residents are LGBT. etc.

As for my investments, a couple are down right now, one is up OK. But it's about the long term. I expect the couple that are down to be up after our federal election in the Spring as new leadership means new laws & policies that will change and shape industries. The other that's up I expect to take off very well over the coming year as the company is doing a lot of work right now that should pay off nicely. If all goes well, I could be doing quite well in a year or two. Time will tell. I'll continue earning, saving, and investing.

As for wheels, I was chatting with a coworker about his plans for buying a used car in the future and remember my idea for potentially buying cars below market value. I'm going to take the train for a couple of months, and then I'll give that idea a shot and see if I can't get something worth a fair market value of $5-10K+ for ~$1K. It's entirely legal and ethical. The hard part will be finding vehicles & owners in a particular set of circumstances in order to make it work. I'll try, though! Then IF that works out AND it seems I'll be able to do it a 2nd time or more.. well then I'll just drive whatever I buy around until it's sold & then buy another, rinse & repeat up to the legal maximum of 5 car sales/year w/o having to have a motor dealers licence. Probably won't be so easy to find cars like that, though.. but I'm gonna give it a shot and find out.

so you're looking for distressed automotive properties? has potential

Essentially. I was once in that financial position & I know what the banks will accept as offers on vehicles that haven't had their payments made in more than X time. Soooo, gotta try it.

^^^could be the start of a lucrative side business at least.