Nothing is worse than your car breaking down while driving to work. Especially if you aren’t mechanically inclined and/or low on funds. Not only do you have an emergency on your hands, but you have a lot of work ahead of you to replace something vital to your life. This has happened to me once or twice in the past. Here’s how i break down the steps to recover from this ordeal.
First things first, call a towing company or AAA for a tow. Most people will need to pay for towing ($150-$300), probably back to their apartment. If you have a good relationship with a shop, get it towed there. Otherwise have it towed to your residence if that’s an option. If your parents don’t mind, having it towed to their place is also a good idea.
If you had it towed to a residence, assuming you can’t diagnose or repair the car yourself, your best bet is to hire a mobile mechanic to come out and diagnose the problem. You will likely pay them for an hour or two just to inspect the problem and determine whether its worth fixing or not. You should know the value of your car, and if its less than a couple hundred dollars, you should try to get it fixed. If not, you should start calling places that might take your car off your hands as a donation. Some junkyards may even pay you to haul it away.
When the mobile mechanic is diagnosing your problem, it would be good to be there in person, or if possible, be there with a friend who knows more about cars than you. As you’ll be basing your fix or junk decision on the diagnosis, you want as much validation as possible on what the problem is and how much it might cost to fix it.
Let’s say the worst case scenario is here, and the car is toast. You call a donation place or a junkyard to come and haul it away with no cost to you. You now need to find reliable transportation to go to work.
If public transit or van pool is an option, do that even if it is a little inconvenient. This will at least buy you time to not get ripped off while shopping for a new car. Remember, desperation is obvious to salespeople and they will take advantage of it.
If public transit is not an option, hit up family or friends to see if you can borrow a spare car while looking for a replacement. Even if you have to pay ten dollars a day, it is better than having a 24 hour deadline to purchase a new replacement car.
Lastly, if that is not an option you need to exhaust all options before going and buying a replacement car – asking your employer if anyone can carpool with you due to your transportation issue, riding your bike, uber (if nearby), basically this is an exercise in how resourceful you are. Your goal is to buy yourself time to replace that car.
Finally, it’s time to find a new car. You’ve bought yourself about two weeks to do it by borrowing your parent’s car. First thing to ask yourself is if you have a friend (or parent) who is mechanically inclined to help you. Actually, even if they aren’t, but maybe they’re a good negotiator, it’s still better to tag team the shopping and negotiation process than going at it alone. Alone is a worst case scenario for many reasons. In fact, the more people you bring with you to look at or buy the car, the better. Numbers have a psychological effect in any situation.
Dealer or Private Party
Personally, I would first look at private party. Statistically, you will always pay more for the same car at a dealership. Also, never expect any support from the dealer after the sale. That isn’t how used car dealerships work. They are designed to move used cars as fast as they can for the most profit. However, if you are going to spend at least 5k, then you might consider including dealers in your car search to find the ones in best condition.
Make and Model
For young people who do not repair their own cars, I can honestly say your choices in your daily driver should be pretty damn narrow. I would not buy anything other than a Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura. Anything else for the price of under 5k, you will be buying “end of life” vehicles that are a year or two away from the salvage yard for the normal person who can’t do their own repair work. Toyotas and Hondas have proven to be the most durable and long-lasting vehicles over the past 40 years, with few exceptions. Some models to consider include Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Pontiac Vibe (same as Matrix), Camry, Honda Fit, Civic, Accord. These cars are not only reliable, there are a lot of them out there for sale. This means you can get a better price for them than more obscure models. Remember, you want something reliable that will not be expensive to own and operate, not a thrill-ride. If you want something with speed and excitement, get a Oculus Quest and buy a VR racing game (Really). It will be cheaper and probably more fun in every way.
For 5k, I would not look for any trucks, mini-vans, SUVs, or anything other than sedans and hatchbacks. You will get the most for your money, the best fuel economy, best insurance rates, and likely resale value. Generally, look for the newest vehicle with the lowest miles first. Then follow up with other criterias below.
One owner and documentation
Any car that can be verified as original owner, with service documentation should be at the top of your list. Generally, these will be people with money who are frugal and responsible. They will have taken good care of their investment over the years. A verifiable history of regular oil changes and factory required maintenance will be important as skipping maintenance can greatly shorten a car’s life without being obvious at the time of purchase.
Purchase inspection
If possible, negotiate the sale of the car pending a purchase inspection. For private party, you should be able to find vehicle sale agreements online that has a clause for a purchase inspection before finalizing the sale. Pay the $25 or whatever for the document, print it, and use it when buying the car. A lot of times sellers will want to sell the car for cash and title without any opportunities for the buyer to have it checked out. This can often lead to issues intentially hidden by the seller, so I’d be leery of such situations. You want to buy the car from good sellers who are honest and stand by their car, not from sellers who want to meet at a parking lot take your cash and hand you the title on the first meeting. Alternatively, you can find a repair shop in advance and have the seller meet you there with the car for an inspection before making the offer. This might be worth it if you think the car is a great candidate and the seller seems honest. Most of the time, you will be expected to pay for the inspection, which can cost up to $100, but sometimes if you negotiate the offer pending a good purchase inspection, you can ask to split the inspection cost or roll it into the purchase price, then have the seller pay it if the inspection reveals a deal-breaker problem with the condition of the car.
If you are buying the car from a dealer, you can also negotiate to have the sale pending an inspection at a repair shop you choose. Many dealers will be ok with this, while some of the shady ones will not. Obviously, avoid the ones who won’t allow you to verify their claims on the condition of the car.
Look out for condition of tires
For a 5k car, tires will be a big deal. Typically for passenger cars, decent new tires will cost $115 per wheel, so $460 per set. If you end up with a car that needs new tires, you will need to replace that as soon as possible as it’s not worth the risk driving around on tires that might be too old, recycled, mismatched, repaired, and might blow out on you on the highway. If the tires look really bad, you can also suspect that there are other hidden maintenance issues with the car.
Look out for recently replaced engines and transmissions
I personally avoid cars listed with new or rebuilt engines or transmissions as a selling point, because all components of a car work together as a delicate system. Usually, something causes the failure of the engine or transmission. Unless you know exactly why it needed to be replaced, you’re taking a chance.
Look out for salvage/rebuilt titles
Don’t just look out for them – avoid them alltogether. This includes manufacturer buyback titles due to lemon laws and salvage titles due to theft. Honestly there are enough choices out there where you don’t have to deal with these potential problem cars.
Negotiation
I won’t go into negotiation here because its too deep of a topic. Maybe I will write another post in the future as a follow up.