Q–Your recommendation for a $1,000 beater? J.B., Chicago
A–If you are talking about a summer runabout for the teenager in your house, you might want to raise your sights.
Finding a car for less than $1,000 that won’t cost you another $1,000 to keep running is a chore.
That’s not to say there aren’t some decent cars at decent prices. We did a spot check among dealers and found an ’88 Mustang at $1,900 (manual transmission) and an ’87 Pontiac Grand Am at $2,400.
But you won’t find a wealth of $1,000 cars out there whose bolts aren’t overly brittle.
You’ll find cars for less than $2,000 in the ’87 to ’89 age, but they’ll have abundant miles and often a manual transmission. They’ll have a dent or ding or minor scar, and the cabin will never have that new-car smell or look again.
For the sake of conversation, let’s raise the ante to $3,000, which brings us into the ’90s and, in many cases, a variety of vehicles that offer at least a driver’s side air bag.
The National Automobile Dealers Association used-car value guide provides some interesting numbers. For example, consider the following retail prices on a variety of 1991 models:
A Chevrolet Cavalier for about $2,900, Ford Escort for $3,150, Pontiac Sunfire for $3,550, Toyota Tercel for $3,950, Ford Mustang (with 4-cylinder) for $4,000, Pontiac Grand Am for $4,000, Ford Taurus for $4,325, Toyota Corolla for $4,400 and Saturn SL1 sedan for $4,700.
Before you bust your bladder reaching for the phone to call us, these are average retail prices for used cars as guesstimated in the NADA guidebook, so if you find one of the above for $1,000 more or $1,000 less, keep in mind that the number of miles on the clock, condition of the vehicle and its equipment will mean prices will vary, possibly by a lot.
But we digress.
The cars listed are nice, but mostly are economy models. Your teen will want a sports coupe such as the Chevy Camaro. The ’91 with V-6 and automatic would start at about $5,625, with V-8 and automatic about $6,000, in Z-28 duds about $8,100.
If the car is to be bought for summer employment, chances are the teen won’t earn enough money to pay for it. And insurance premiums for a teen in a sports coupe are significant.
But wait, we’ve listed cars, and the kid prefers a sport-utility vehicle.
The value of ’91 sport-utes shows how demand for those vehicles when new affects their value on the used-car lot.
A two-door ’91 Chevy Blazer with two-wheel-drive retails for about $6,600; same vehicle with four doors and four-wheel-drive goes for $9,150. The ’91 Ford Explorer in two-door, 2WD form goes for about $6,475, in four-door, 4WD form $9,150.
So you’ll go Japanese to save money. Think again. A ’91 four-door, 2WD Nissan Pathfinder goes for about $9,750.
How about a pickup truck?
A ’91 Ford Ranger 2WD with automatic would go for about $5,875, a Chevy S-10 2WD with automatic for about $5,950. If you find either with 4WD add $2,000 to the price.
Some final words of advice:
– The rule of thumb when buying used is that if you can’t pronounce the name of the vehicle or the company that makes it, don’t buy it.
– Don’t be surprised that if you find a 1-year-old fully loaded Rolls-Royce Silver Spur for $3,000 and a 30-year-old stripped-bare Camaro, Firebird or Mustang for the same price, your kid will justify the Camaro, Firebird or Mustang.
“Kids don’t want a Mom or Dad vehicle,” said Lee Weinman, a Chicago Ford dealer. “When parents and kids walk in, you can see the kids looking one way, the parents the other–the kids at the sports cars and trucks, the parents at the family sedans.”
– If hellbent on spending as little as possible because the car is “just for around home,” keep in mind the highest percentage of accidents occur close to home.
– If you will soon be in the market for a new vehicle, consider passing your old one down to the kid, unless, of course, it’s a fully loaded 1-year-old Silver Spur.
– Vehicles kids will reject, even if the dealer paid them to take one, are full-size sedans such as the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Chevy Caprice and any Oldsmobile or Buick; any $3,000 vehicle without a $4,000 sound system; any station wagon; any mini-van; and in general, any vehicle you think is nice.
– As a rule, teens with pierced body parts, shaved heads and ill-fitting clothes don’t want to be seen in a vehicle that makes them look weird.
