$8000 budget, looking for something fast/reliable

[kawana]

hey, ok so i have a budget of roughly $8000, and with that id like something fast/reliable and relatively cheap on parts. Im not worried about gas mileage, id like something that can fit 4 people, but im not set on that. Id like something fairly quick, or atleast with the ability to be made fast without dropping tons of money into it. Id prefer rwd over fwd. Id sacrifice power for reliability if it came down to it. Nice quality interior, no cheap plastic. etc...id like manual over automatic. The thing im set on is reliability though.

[Shpuker]

late 90's Camaro

[wafrederick]

Add a grand to that due to what Cash for Clunkers did, rise the price of an used car.Any import is very expensive to fix and the parts are too.I did see a list of clunkers on yahoo a while back,Honda Accord and Toyota Camry,a couple more imports are on the list because they are very expensive to repair and the parts are very expensive when they break.Most people say imports do not break down and are reliable,WRONG!I know an owner of a yard in my area that gets tons of calls for Toyota Corrolla engines and he wished he had a lot of them selling them for $1,500.00 each.Plus he has a whole bunch of Japanese cars with no engines in them,probally blown up and look good on the outside.

[Shpuker]

Ohh dear, well I'll play nice.

CAsh for clunkers is over, the prices of used cars are normal once again, the prices of 5k+ used cars, were never even affected. Certain imports are very reliable, some aren't..... some American cars are reliable, some aren't.......

[wafrederick]

Prices of used cars are up a grand even after Cash For Clunkers.Prices of used car in dealer only auctions are going nuts for prices of them.Go ask an used car on this and will say this is true even $5,000.00 and up.Most $5,000.00 cars and truck were traded in for Cash For Clunkers.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by wafrederick

Add a grand to that due to what Cash for Clunkers did, rise the price of an used car.

: Um, no, not entirely correct. Going off topic for a second to clear this issue up ( hopefully once and for all.) The CFC program had very little effect on the prices of used cars that are fairly newer and costlier. You are correct when you say the price of used cars is higher, but are placing the blame in the wrong place. The blame can mainly be placed with the faltering economy. People tend not to buy new cars during times that are lean, rather choosing used vehicles where the depreciation hit has already been taken by previous owners and prices are more attractive than their counterparts that are new. Sales of used cars has increased over the last couple of years as consumers are spending their money wisely looking for deals which many used cars afford them. That has in turn, decreased the available amount of used cars available on the market , thus raising prices. Add to that a decrease in production/sales of new cars and many people turn to used cars as an alternative. This can be expected to continue for awhile as the economy tries to recover and production/demand for new vehicles increases once again.
The segment of the market in which the CFC program possibly has had an effect is on the lower end of the used car market,( those vehicles that are over 8 years old and under $5000.) Most of the vehicles turned in to the CFC program were older, "lower valued" vehicles that mainly would be found in private ads and places like smaller used car dealers and "on the side of the road" type sales. The used SUV market for older vehicles also may be affected for a short period of time as those vehicles, including pick up trucks were turned over in large numbers as well. Many of these trucks may have never been traded in or sold , rather been driven into the ground by their current owners , but the program incentives were too great to ignore for many to go out and replace them. So those numbers may have a nil effect as they never would have been in the used vehicle market.
Besides, give it a year or two and even those prices for the lower end trades should start coming down as the next set of vehicles get traded in , especially if the economy continues to improve and the pent up demand from consumers for new vehicles gets unleashed. After every recession, auto sales improve and the result is there is an influx of used vehicles available on the market.

Back to the topic at hand...

[wafrederick]

It did too and most used car dealers will say this.Any Mustang with a 4.6 is to stay away from.The GTs run low 14s even with mods done and it been seen on Pass time.The earlier 4.6s are not to modify,will not hold up.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by wafrederick

It did too and most used car dealers will say this.Any Mustang with a 4.6 is to stay away from.The GTs run low 14s even with mods done and it been seen on Pass time.The earlier 4.6s are not to modify,will not hold up.

Why, when presented with an opposing view to your own do you attempt to take the discussion off on a tangent? ( Using the excuse of the Mustang to change the conversation.)
You make it sound that the only reason why used car prices are higher is because of the CFC program, when in reality it's only a small factor. I stated other reasons that are causing a rise, (i.e. the worsening economy, and the fact that car companies have also reduced their sales to rental companies which results in less cars being traded in from their fleets and entering the used car market.)
The CFC program will have a more lasting effect on repair shops which may see a decrease in business due to the number of older vehicles being taken off the road from the program. Used parts for certain vehicles which were high on the list that were traded in will see an increase in price as their supply is down. And lower income, single moms, college students, etc, will have a harder time finding a vehicle they can afford because the bulk of vehicles traded in were in the category they could easily afford most of the time without financing.
A little over 690,000 vehicles were traded in during the period of CFC. Breaking that down, that figure covers an era going back to 1984 for eligibility. That's a little over 20 years worth of vehicles, and when you figure vehicle manufacturers have regularly put out over 10 million vehicles on average, annually, you will see that the 690,000 figure is rather small.
As time goes on and people continue the cycle of trading in their vehicles along with fleets, rentals and other businesses, you will see used car prices decrease. It may take a little longer for those prices to decrease at the lower end of the spectrum (<$5,000) as that is where the supply took the biggest hit, but eventually you will see those prices drop to lower levels like before CFC.
Prices in my area have already started to decline for used cars, and eventually I'm sure that trend will reach to other areas of the country,(probably more urban areas first, then the rural areas.)

[wafrederick]

CFC also failed for this,waste of time for the yards.Most have a computerized system list of parts and they had to remove them off the list which the parts off these CFC vehicles came off them throwing them back in the car or truck after 180 days.After 180 days,vehicles have to be crushed or the yard pays a $15,000.00 fine for each car not crushed after 180 days.Yards can sell the parts off them including engine parts,not the engines.I know of two yards that backed out,Weller Auto Parts in Grand Rapids,Mi and Economy Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi because of the fines imposed which have a computerized system.Ken's Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi is doing this and screwing themselves.Plus most of the wrong vehicles were on the list which were in great shape and ran very well.Another dealer I know saw a very nice suburban go in the crusher.It is true that prices of used cars went up after Cash For Clunkers ended and will not go down,in my area it is this way: UP.

[Shpuker]

Originally Posted by wafrederick

CFC also failed for this,waste of time for the yards.Most have a computerized system list of parts and they had to remove them off the list which the parts off these CFC vehicles came off them throwing them back in the car or truck after 180 days.After 180 days,vehicles have to be crushed or the yard pays a $15,000.00 fine for each car not crushed after 180 days.Yards can sell the parts off them including engine parts,not the engines.I know of two yards that backed out,Weller Auto Parts in Grand Rapids,Mi and Economy Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi because of the fines imposed which have a computerized system.Ken's Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi is doing this and screwing themselves.Plus most of the wrong vehicles were on the list which were in great shape and ran very well.Another dealer I know saw a very nice suburban go in the crusher.It is true that prices of used cars went up after Cash For Clunkers ended and will not go down,in my area it is this way: UP.

just quit while your behind

[wafrederick]

Shut up,Shuker and what I am saying is true

[Shpuker]

I'm not saying Cash for clunkers did anything good, in fact it was horrible for the economy and all that. But sometimes your argument just doesn't work. CFC didn't raise the price of used cars, the increased demand did.

['97ventureowner]

wafrederick--><--shpuker

Originally Posted by wafrederick

CFC also failed for this,waste of time for the yards.

Oh really ??? To most yards, the CFC program was a boon, causing more people to be employed adding to the payroll, adding to their inventories which results in increased sales. Increased sales = increased profits.

Most have a computerized system list of parts and they had to remove them off the list which the parts off these CFC vehicles came off them throwing them back in the car or truck after 180 days.After 180 days,vehicles have to be crushed or the yard pays a $15,000.00 fine for each car not crushed after 180 days.

Say what?? I think you are misinformed here. Once the parts are removed from he vehicle, the yard can do whatever they want with them. They do not have to be returned to the vehicle before the 180 day time period is up. :

I know of two yards that backed out,Weller Auto Parts in Grand Rapids,Mi and Economy Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi because of the fines imposed which have a computerized system.Ken's Auto Parts in Muskegon,Mi is doing this and screwing themselves.

I'm sure there is going to be some salvage yards who may not be large enough, or organized enough to handle the influx of vehicles from the program. Some may bite off more than they can chew and need to back out. It happens.

Another dealer I know saw a very nice suburban go in the crusher.

Yeah, and you think that was the only nice or expensive vehicle like that to go into the program? There were some nicer vehicles to go to the crusher, including a Bentley.It was up to the individual vehicle's owner to decide whether or not to be involved in the program.

It is true that prices of used cars went up after Cash For Clunkers ended and will not go down,in my area it is this way: UP.

They will go down, eventually. It is a matter of supply and demand. Right now the demand is higher, while the supply is lower. This is only temporary however, and within a short period of time, the inventories will start to go back up and prices will go back down.Simple economics.
Here's a couple of articles pertaining to how well some dealers are doing with vehicles from the CFC program. It kind of deflates all of the misinformation you've been posting. First article and second article.

Side note to kawana: Sorry, this discussion has gone so far off base. Hopefully we can get this discussion back to it's original intent, if a certain member will realize their comments aren't helping the thread.

[wafrederick]

A rep from Weller Auto parts even said this,every part that came off that certain vehicle has go back in after 180 days

[wafrederick]

I know the owner of Economy Auto Parts,Jimmy and he decided back out of it.Weller Auto parts which backed out thought it was a waste of time taking it out of their computers on file after putting it in the list on the computer.They said it was a huge waste of time.Plus it hurt my father's used car sales and it will not get better.Who ever thought of CFC should pay every used car dealer and car auction out of THEIR pocket for this pain and suffering what they did.