Car-savvy jellies: what's the optimal $ cutoff for buying a used car?

I have bought a number of used cars. I would never buy any car that I knew needed work. I always buy a Toyota or Honda. They run forever.

Not today . . . some used cars have increased by 40 or 50% since last year.

If you can find what you want to buy !

I agree with @Hawaii_Jake that Japanese cars are a good bet for good quality and dependability. I think Nissan and Mazda are just as good as Honda and Toyota myself. I would add the more luxury level of Infinity, Lexus, and Acura.

Also, @Tropical_Willie is right that cars are very expensive now; the used car market is very tight; supply is low and demand is high.

It’s impossible to give a dollar figure, because it depends upon what you want. Are you looking for the least expensive option? A used car can be $100,000.

I would say always assume you might have to put some money into a used car just to be ready for an unexpected expense. You can pay a mechanic to look at the car before you buy it, but I find even doing that, they miss stuff.

My last used car purchased in 2018 was a 2006 Toyota Camry in great shape with 83k miles. It was $4,500. That same car now in that condition would be $10k+. No, it’s not good advice to buy the cheapest you can and pay to fix it up. You need to find specific makes and models that can be made to be reliable at a low cost if they need work. That’s a short list too. Toyota is at the top though, particularly a fifth generation Camry (2002–2006) IMO they’re some of the best vehicles ever made in terms of being economical and reliable.

Edit: Every single time we have purchased a used car we have had to spend between $1500—$2000 in repairs within the first year or so. I’m sure that price has gone up since Covid. Now when we purchase a used car, we always plan to have to spend extra to repair it soon.

Used cars are getting harder and harder to find since Covid has started.

Thanks for your knowledgeable comments and advice.

I’m just finding out that the used-car market is very tight right now. That sure makes things tough for people who need one, especially in an area like mine that’s heavily automobile-dependent. And some people need one just for the solid, lockable shelter. The homeless camp I often drive past must have as many vehicles as tents.

I’m not shopping—I asked for someone else. I expect my Toyota to outlast me. But last week the dealer who sold it to me new phoned and asked if they could buy it back. That’s never happened before in the nine years since I bought it.
 

Now I’m thinking about the word knowledgeable. That’s an odd structure, the -able suffix, for a word that means “having” and not “able to [be].”

In the United States, I live below the poverty line. As a result, I will spend no more than $500 on a cash car. The vehicle must cost less than $2,000 to own. This includes tag, title, and license fees. There is nothing more exhilarating materially than owning the most important things in your life that are useful and are necessary.

I have purchased a few used cars over the years. All were for cash and many were from friends and family. Someone I knew was getting rid of an older car for one reason or another and one of my immediate family members needed one. I aimed for the Kelly Blue Book number with the price a dealer would pay. I offered cash and if the car and the seller were nice I’d give a little extra. In the long run that extra $100 was nothing but it left such a good feeling between both parties. .
The overall price range of the vehicle was based upon the likelihood of my son crashing it.
(The 8 year old Pontaic 6000 cost $2500 and didn’t last 6 months before he had an accident that bent the frame.)

used car prices now are very high. The chip shortage is slowing production of new cars. If you can sit tight for a little while prices will drop as manufacturers ramp up production again.

I sold my last 3 cars by pricing it as the average between the KBB used car dealer buy price and sell price. Seems fair to the seller (me) and the buyer.

I always buy a Toyota or Honda

In July 2021 I needed to replace my car. All I wanted was a used car with a decent (not dirty, torn, worn) interior, fewer than 80K miles, and likely low repair costs. I assumed I would find a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla for less than $10K.

Nope. Civics and Corollas with 100K miles were going for $15K and more. What????

I ended up with a little 7-year-old Ford Fiesta., smaller than I had been considering. It’s a hoot to drive (5-speed manual), gets 35 average mpg, has a nice stereo, and the interior has a nice quality feel. We’ll see about the repair costs.

^I’m glad it’s fun to drive. Those are cute cars. I bought my present car, a Honda Civic, from a dealer’s used car lot in 2015. It had one owner and was a 2007 model with 90k miles if I remember correctly. I’ve only put 20k miles on it. The only major repair was a new starter. It’s been a dream car. It cost $8000.