I like the Car Wizard, even though he is prejudiced against 5.4L 3 valve Ford engines. (I got my 2005 Expedition to 205k miles until my daughter wrecked it last year).
I lucked into a similar experience last spring when I had to find a vehicle for my daughter when she wrecked my old Expedition.
Found a listing for a 2010 VW Tiguan on FB for $2500 with 190k miles. Clean title, but owner said that it had overheated on his wife and he was tired of putting money into it. In the last 12 months he had put in new turbo, new tires, new brakes. He said the first person with $1500 and a trailer could come get it. I towed it home (in my leased Tacoma). It was low on coolant, but no sign of head gasket leaking. So I put stop leak in coolant and it stopped leaking coolant for a few months. Taught my daughter to check it and add water every couple of weeks. Round 2 with the stop leak didnāt last as long so I planned to replace water pump over Christmas holiday. (Water pump failures are primary cause of coolant leak on this engine. ). Was quoted ~$1500 for independent shops to replace pump.
Being the cheap person I am and having a bunch of time off around Christmas, I bought a metal water pump (OEM was plastic) and spent a few hours per day over 3 days removing intake (which was a pain), old water pump and installing new one. A plastic piece had broken in original pump which caused the seal to stretch out of place which caused the leak. As bad as the seal was stretched, Iām surprised the stop leak helped anything. I got it all reassembled and working. No more coolant leaks in the 2.5 months since I fixed it. Total cost of repair was about $200 for pump, coolant and a couple of extraneous tools.
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There are a lot of cars that can be bought for $10K, unfortunately the problem is the TCO (total cost of ownership):
- Early EVs with poor range, imported luxury cars with reliability concerns, etc: these will keep depreciating rapidly. 50% value loss is $5,000. That wonāt happen on a Land Cruiser unless you add another 100k miles to it. And 50% depreciation on a 3.8L Buick priced at $3,000 is $1,500. Even that is unlikely because theyāve already hit their floor or very close or it.
TLDR donāt buy used cars that are still rapidly depreciating.
- Reliability and maintenance: the trifecta here is cars that are reliable generally, are easy to work on (i.e., lower labor charges ā¦ which can add up quick at $100-160 per hour!) and have ubiquitous parts.
What you donāt want is a niche used car with rapidly dwindling parts availability (or heaven forbid, waiting for something to ship from Europe or Asia). And a challenge to find someone knowledgeable to work on them.
Is a Buick 3800 or Ford Crown Vic the most reliable car ever? No, but they meet the trifecta test. Cheap parts and cheap labor go a long way towards keeping a car on the road economically.
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Insurance: rates are partially a function of parts prices and repair costs. Just like point 2 above, something mass produced is just going to be easier and cheaper to repair. Iād go further and say thereās no point in carrying comp/collision on a $3,000 car, just liability.
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Fuel: the only point in favor of a used EV. But it doesnāt outweigh the other costs.
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IDK if I would call it prejudice. The crowd-sourced mechanics database that he cited had like 750+ instances of Ford 5.4L 3v engine failure, IIRC, and the only remedy was an engine swap at $6-7,000
Your Tiguan story is a good inspiration to find something that nobody else wants (with a manageable problem) and fix it yourself.
About 3 week ago, I saw a E60 BMW 530i 6-speed manual with <25k miles with an undiagnosed electrical problem for $10,000. It had been posted that day. I emailed the guy. He replied the next day saying it was gone in hours.
There are other sub $3,000 cars that Iāve seen where, if the ad was honest/accurate, then the main problem with the car was paint or clearcoat. It might not be the worst thing to buy those and spend $300 on a paint gun and just respray the thing yourself.
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Yeah, Iād look at a Gen 1 Volt, preferably 2013-2015 from a private party. Theyāve been relatively reliable and not having to fuel up is a perk, if you drive less than 35 miles per day. Might still have CARB warranty left (I think 10/150K on certain parts).
I also have a soft spot for old Volvo S40 and V50s, which despite being 15+ years old, still look pretty modern. Like this one.
An early-2000s Lexus GS or IS is probably reliable without being incredibly numb and boring like an ES.
@jeisensc whatās the reliability like on a C-Max (example)? Those can be sub-$10K without being as boring or overpriced as a used Prius.
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Funny you ask @michael , Iāve been looking at used ones (Iām very picky). Theyāve only been built since 2013 (in 2016 they updated the infotainment hardware to support Sync3, thatās about it). Personally Iād want a 2016 or later because Iām a slave to CarPlay. I had a 2013 and a 2016, if you donāt care about Sync3 (slightly more responsive but Sync2 was fine), youād never know the difference. I think the base SE drops the touch screen for the smaller screen that youāve undoubtedly seen in any Ford rental car.
Anecdotally the Hybrid/non-PHEV seems to be a bit more reliable while still getting 40+ MPG. Unlike say contemporary Leafs (which are obviously an EV), unless there is some kind of defect, I havenāt heard or read about a need for battery replacement. I was looking at batteries also, and the OEM ones aftermarket are under $1000 (because theyāre small). While youāve average Ford shade-tree mechanic can work on anything but the HV battery, more and more third parties who seem to do that. It does have a CVT (which I never minded even though I usually notice and dislike them), I havenāt seen reports theyāre problematic (maybe Iām not looking in the right place, maybe Ford owners donāt complain on the Internet). I see a surprising number for sale with 150k-200k miles.
My XC60 lease is up in August, and my current psychosis goes like:
- XC60 T8 / must be the updated battery pack / even a custom order with only options I want has MSRP of $61k / not leasing well /
- A used CMax? Iād want a 2016-2018 SEL/Titanium with a pano roof in a short list of colors: $16-$20k (but possibly a CPO at that price)
- New Escape PHEV? $40k but tax credit / CCFR / CVRP (if eligible) gets it down to low $30k. Has to be ordered.
Something like this is IMO a great value
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/61167402-c3ee-45cc-8476-76a2498d56a3?aff=share_other
Iād avoid the tri-coat white (my 2013 had defective paint, the normal white is fine). Itās not attractive, but it sits higher than a sedan/lower than an SUV (the contemporary Escape 2wd is slightly higher, Escape 4wd sits like 4ā higher), has tons of headroom. The Hybrid has tons of cargo space, the PHEV loses a good amount of trunk to the battery.
If this had the Pano roof (identical to my 2016 that was wrecked), it would be on a truck to California right now
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/17271ace-1d64-4902-a752-a9fc0cd31b52?aff=share_other
The CMax was effectively a Fusion wagon, so same applies for the Fusion hybrid/phev, which started production earlier and ended in 2021 MY. The Volt is also a great suggestion, as previously mentioned.
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impala looks very clean inside
Sure does! I would seriously entertain buying that. Talk the buyer down some, drive it awhile and I bet worst case break even on the sale.
at that price point, if it lasted a year and then blew up Iād still be happy
Ehh, Iād rather lease a WT Frontier for 18 months than dump $3K on a car that junks out after a year. 
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Even the outside looks nicer than any Accord or Camry you could buy for $2,950 OBO which would have 3x or 4x the miles.
A cockroach that should last forever with minimal maintenance.
https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/bayonne-1996-geo-prizm/7445478571.html
I know this is about reliable cars but couldnāt resist putting a C30 manual with a Polestar tune and a rare Rebel Blue color.
No idea where it ends up in terms of pricing though.
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Nothing on Cars and Bids is going to end up cheap. I could sell the turd I laid in the toilet this morning for 5 figures on there.
Most of the cars I see on there are from flippers/resellers taking advantage of the frantic user base.
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No one has mentioned this yetā¦ what about a 201x Nissan Xterra. Seemed to be reliable, still have a very cool off-road look, very capable in stock form and large enough to haul the family around in a pinch.
Fun to drive, but as some Volvo dealers called the C30, the 
package (which applies to the vehicle and the driver). For similar utility Iād probably seek out a CRX.
Nobody has mentioned because everyone I know who owned/leased one complained about the abysmal gas mileage and dumped it. If you have one of those mid-air refueling planes to follow it, solid choice.
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Gas mileage sucks, I agreeā¦ā¦but you would get most of your money back after using it. So essentially you would just pay for gas, insurance and some minor maintenance.
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Yeah, I do agree. See a couple of examples for around 18k from regular dealers so hopefully the bids donāt end up being nuts.
ride quality is also 
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