10 best used cars for less than.... $5K???? Whaddayakno????

[sportyaccordy]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=141346?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..3.*#26

[the Teuton]

What do you know, a 2.5 RS.

I'm not going to shut up about this one.

Take that, y'all!

[The Pirate]

Josh Jacquot used to be an editor for the now defunct Sport Compact Car.  I used to subscribe, and always liked him.  Glad to see he's found more work in the field.

[Vinsanity]

you know what to do, Sporty...

[NomisR]

you know what to do, Sporty...

Grow a mullet?  That look doesn't exactly go well in NYC though.

[L. ed foote]

Grow a mullet?  That look doesn't exactly go well in NYC though.

Depends on where you are...

[L. ed foote]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=141346?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..3.*#26

Nice list, but quite a few cars in that list are a bit difficult to find.  There are plenty of 4/6 cyl Mustangs & F-bodies.  Imprezas are near impossible to find.  MR2s are hard to find with a manual.  The rest I'm not interested in.

[SVT666]

I don't see how you could ever get a lot of those cars for under $5000 unless they had 300,000 miles on them.

[Tave]

I think most of those are probably going for around 5K no matter what their mileage. The hardest part would be finding clean examples.

If someone tried to charge me more than 5 grand for a 94 GS-R, I would laugh in his face.

[the Teuton]

The Imprezas are much easier to find on RS25.com or NASIOC, but owners are attached to their cars and inflate the hell out of the prices.

[TBR]

I don't see how you could ever get a lot of those cars for under $5000 unless they had 300,000 miles on them.

Five grand for a decent '97+ Prelude is definitely a stretch. Hell, the only reason I got my '95 for under $400 was because it had 300,000 miles on it.

[ChrisV]

Well, it will also depend on location quite a bit. Same with searching for cars under $1-2k. There are great cars available in that price range on the west coast that don't even exist anymore on the east coast due to rust.

[Vinsanity]

Depends on where you are...

Staten Island!

and definitely New Jersey. From what I hear, IROC-Z's (and the mullets that accompanied them) used to be as common there as Camry's are in the rest of the country

[NomisR]

Staten Island!

and definitely New Jersey. From what I hear, IROC-Z's (and the mullets that accompanied them) used to be as common there as Camry's are in the rest of the country

That's a disturbing thought.

[Raza]

What do you know, a 2.5 RS.

I'm not going to shut up about this one.

Take that, y'all!

I haven't found any 2.5RSs in that range.  And at the range I do see them (8-11K), they are not worth the money.  I know.  I shopped for them when I was looking for a car over the summer. 

I also haven't found ANY C4 Corvettes (with a stick, anyway) under 8-9 grand.  Mustangs 1986-2004?  They're all under 5 grand?  Even the 2004s?  And there are no differences between the 1986 and 2004?  Try finding a decent V8 car from the last generation at five grand.  Even V6s can be tough to find.  Shit, I've seen early-to-mid 80s Mustangs go for 3-5K (granted, most of them were SVOs).

Nissan 240SX?  Did I imagine the inflated prices on those things as "dorifto" became more popular in the US?  Best of luck getting an S14.

A lot of these under $5,000 examples seem to exist in fairy land.  The MX-5, sure.  But what about the Neon?  Standard model Focus?  Early Civics? 

I do love those last generation Preludes.  But I haven't seen any for sale in stock condition under 15. 

[TBR]

I haven't found any 2.5RSs in that range.  And at the range I do see them (8-11K), they are not worth the money.  I know.  I shopped for them when I was looking for a car over the summer. 

I also haven't found ANY C4 Corvettes (with a stick, anyway) under 8-9 grand.  Mustangs 1986-2004?  They're all under 5 grand?  Even the 2004s?  And there are no differences between the 1986 and 2004?  Try finding a decent V8 car from the last generation at five grand.  Even V6s can be tough to find.  Shit, I've seen early-to-mid 80s Mustangs go for 3-5K (granted, most of them were SVOs).

Nissan 240SX?  Did I imagine the inflated prices on those things as "dorifto" became more popular in the US?  Best of luck getting an S14.

A lot of these under $5,000 examples seem to exist in fairy land.  The MX-5, sure.  But what about the Neon?  Standard model Focus?  Early Civics? 

I do love those last generation Preludes.  But I haven't seen any for sale in stock condition under 15. 

Is that supposed to be 5?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records=25&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&search_type=both&distance=0&address=27109&marketZipError=false&style_flag=1&make=HONDA&model=PRE&make2=&start_year=1997&end_year=2010&min_price=&max_price=&seller_type=b&transmission=Manual&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=&color=&keywordsrep=115104&keywordsfyc=__c2g%2C__&keywords_display=sh&sort_type=priceDESC&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=y&highlightFirstMakeModel=&showZipError=n&default_sort=priceDESC&awsp=false&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&systime=&rdm=1233859031030

[L. ed foote]

Well, it will also depend on location quite a bit. Same with searching for cars under $1-2k. There are great cars available in that price range on the west coast that don't even exist anymore on the east coast due to rust.

FWIW, I used yahoo autos for my search.

[L. ed foote]

Mustangs 1986-2004?  They're all under 5 grand?  Even the 2004s?  And there are no differences between the 1986 and 2004? 

I came across a few in my search, but they were 4/6 cyl.  There were quite a few convertibles as well.

[the Teuton]

I haven't found any 2.5RSs in that range.  And at the range I do see them (8-11K), they are not worth the money.  I know.  I shopped for them when I was looking for a car over the summer. 

You're right, but really it all depends on a lot of factors, especially since a lot of them are either wrecked, rebuilt, WRX-ified, or just really high-mileage.

A normal car with normal wear and normal miles in good used condition without some kind of nutcase owner should yield something close to $5,000, though.

http://www.rs25.com/forums/vbclassified.php?do=category&categoryid=2

There's a long list of all of them.

[sportyaccordy]

I have seen all the cars I would get (MR-2, 240SX... with a legit SR20 swap, GS-R & Prelude) for under 5K. Rust is a killer though

[Soup DeVille]

I have seen all the cars I would get (MR-2, 240SX... with a legit SR20 swap, GS-R & Prelude) for under 5K. Rust is a killer though

Arizona, New mexico, west Texas...

Long drives, but sometimes worth it.

[TBR]

Arizona, New mexico, west Texas...

Long drives, but sometimes worth it.

Cars also seem to be drastically more expensive in drier climes.

[Soup DeVille]

Cars also seem to be drastically more expensive in drier climes.

Not that I've seen at least. maybe recent used cars are.

[Tave]

I haven't noticed that either. You would think it may even be the other way around, has the drier climate would tend to keep supply high (assuming the populations are buying new cars at relatively the same rate).

[TBR]

Maybe it is just in Texas, but cars are much more expensive back home than they are here.

[The Pirate]

Maybe it is just in Texas, but cars are much more expensive back home than they are here.

I've noticed the same thing.  My dad bought his truck (Mazda B4000 4x4) from a family member in Colorado.  Using the sites that calculate resale value, the truck was worth about $900 more in the CO zip code.  Not that huge a difference when you look at the raw number, but that's about a 12% difference.

[Onslaught]

I don't see how you could ever get a lot of those cars for under $5000 unless they had 300,000 miles on them.

I could get as many MX-5's for that price around here as I want. Probably many of the others too.

[the Teuton]

Miata prices are seasonal more than anything.  I have seen awesome prices and prices I wouldn't touch if I had the money.

They are really hit or miss with being a good value.  Some people still think a 1990 base car with no AC and 140k miles can still command close to $5,000.  They're out of their minds.

[Raza]

Is that supposed to be 5?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records=25&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&search_type=both&distance=0&address=27109&marketZipError=false&style_flag=1&make=HONDA&model=PRE&make2=&start_year=1997&end_year=2010&min_price=&max_price=&seller_type=b&transmission=Manual&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=&color=&keywordsrep=115104&keywordsfyc=__c2g%2C__&keywords_display=sh&sort_type=priceDESC&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=y&highlightFirstMakeModel=&showZipError=n&default_sort=priceDESC&awsp=false&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&systime=&rdm=1233859031030

Cars must be cheaper down there. 

I was shopping for a purchase, so I did limit my scope (research is done nationally) to the PA, NY, NJ, et al area. 

[TurboDan]

Grow a mullet?  That look doesn't exactly go well in NYC though.

In Bensonhurst or Howard Beach, it'd be right at home.