What's the best deal you ever got on a car?

[Jackie]

The best deal we ever got was back in 1987 or 1988 when we bought an old Pinto (the exploding kind - don't remember the year) for $75. We bought it from an old guy in Winter Haven, Florida who used to use it to carry his canoe to the lake 2 blocks away.

We owned it for two years and did nothing more than change the oil when necessary. It ran like a top. But the brakes went out eventually, and we sold it to a neighbor for the same $75 we paid for it! Now THAT was a money-saver!!!

The guy who bought it from us cut the top off and used it to do work on his land. As far as I know, he never put brakes in it either since he was just coasting around his property!!!

[Mporter]

1988 Landcruiser for free..... :D

[mattzj98]

2009 BMW M6 free for me
2009 Mercedes Benz ML 320 CDI turbo diesel.. free :P

[mattzj98]

I know that Chris (Scrat) actually made money when buying the cherokee but he should probably talk about that one lol

[Funrover]

Best deal. 1980 Volvo Diesel Free. Drove for a few months and sold for $460! Another great deal was a 1990 Mercedes 300E 2.6 for $300. Drove it for a year (About 35,000 miles). Sold it for $450. Jess really liked the Benz, if it didn't need so much work we'd still have it.

[dannanw]

89 accord, free
87 caviler $500
92 Olds cenia $500
98 forester $500
93 rodeo $500
90 jeep $620 (still have)
87 subaru xt $450
89 k10 $1200 (made $1500 from selling)
89 f-250 $5000 first truck.
93 shadow free (still have)
All of these sold for same or more... All these and I am only 25

[gm4x4lover]

My best deal ever was when i lived at home. my parents gave me a car to drive, paid my gas, and my insurance. That was the best deal I had on a car.

[Jackie]

Wow! You guys have had some great deals!

[Brody]

I got an AMC Eagle for removing it from the driveway at a customer's house. Little tune up, air in the tires, some fluids and it ran fine for a year. Sold it for $700.

Second best deal was a 68 Chevy Impala that a guy sold me for $75 because it had an engine knock. He insisted that the bearings were gone and it was going to throw a rod, etc and just wanted it gone. It sounded to me like a collapsed lifter and it was. I replaced the lifters, and drove that car for over a year, same tires, etc. Sold it for $500.

Another vague recollection was an old postal delivery rig that I got for about $100 when I was 17-18. Drove that for a month or so and when it died, took the plates off and left it on the side of the road....

There have been a couple of other freebies or good deals, but you are talking almost 47 years of various vehicles and my memory isn't all that great...

[Rick]

1999 dodge ram 2500 (gift) Thanks Dad!!!!!!!

[skfnick]

We bought my old Cherokee for $1, we found about $1.76 in it during the ride home. Scrat sold it for $1,500...

[Jackie]

That is the deal of the century!!!

[Patrolman]

The "cheapest" deal would be a 1978 Subaru FE coupe. Bought it for $50 about 15 years ago in college. Needed a front hub, which I had in the garage. Put it on and sold it to a friend in desperate need of wheels. She drove it for a couple years before the clutch exploded.

Probably the "best" deal was a 95 Miata for $600. Towed it home as a parts car since it wouldn't start. Jump started it at home and ran like a champ. It was still in need of considerable work, but found out it was an "R" version which is rare. Had to get the right wheels for it, correct intake, correct steering wheel, etc. Cleaned it up a bit and traded straight across for a clean gold-colored 1985 Corvette Z51. My family called it the pimp-mobile. Fun, but it wasn't my kind of car.

[Rick]

That is the deal of the century!!!
and yet another one!!!!!Corvette

[Hypoid]

I paid $300 for my Ranger, put around $300 more in parts since I bought it. A few years ago it was rearended, totaled for $3200. Silly me, I gave the insurance company $400 to buy it back.

I'm still driving it.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee120/Hypoid/Ranger/ranger004.jpg

[Jackie]

That is pretty "pimpy"! Would be fun though!

[Rick]

$ 2200 bucks you made!!!! this keeps getting better.

[Rick]

gave the insurance company $400 to buy it back.

mis read your post still cant beat that!!!!!!

[Jackie]

After we sold our Explodable Pinto, we bought a brand new Chevy S10. We drove it for years and years. When it came time to sell it, we had a friend that needed some wheels for his son and we sold it to him for a whopping $500.

it was running great, had new brakes and new tires, so $500 was a deal. BUT - we did tell them that it had started leaking oil and that they needed to get that checked out ASAP!

Well - they apparently didn't pay much attention to our warning because the very next day the kid took it on a cross-counrty road trip and blew up the engine. Friend calls us up and asks for his money back...(really:confused::confused::confused:)

We agreed to give him back half the money - but we really shoudn't have. Hell, the tires alone were worth more than the $500 he paid. And we had topped off the oil before they left our driveway.

[Squshiee1]

My dad bought his first car (a 1972 vw super bettle) for 300$. the guys sold it because it was leaking oil quite badly and it wouldn't start. so my dad replaced the oil drain plug and the gasket and the starter, drove it for 11 years untill the motor just stopped. he sold it to someone for 1000$
My dad said that he only had to do oil changes and small stuff like spark plugs and a distributor. the car had 30,xxx on it and the odomiter stoped and 210,143 miles. but my dad drove it for 4 more years after the odometer stopped! it was a German model too!

[Popsgarage]

1976 AMC Gremlin $100 First car I paid for on my own. Drove it 'till the trans died.
1981 Ford F250 2WD $600 This was the wage my dad paid me for 5 years worth of work on the farm. Drove it 'till I killed it.
1985 Chevrolet Celebrity $1500 Just before I moved to Florida to work for the Mouse, I got this from my dad's cousin Delmar. Drove it 'till I had a head collision with a Volvo while driving to work on a super foggy morning in good 'ol Florida.
1978 Chevrolet Chevette $50 Bought it from my friends parents because the trans stuck in 2nd gear. Got a $25 dollar shifter linkage part and drove it for several years after the Celebrity. When I moved back to Nebraska from Florida, I used it to pull my 1968 VW Beetle home. And still got 26 MPG and both cars were completely full with everything I owned. And the poor thing had some crazy wrist pin clatter.
1968 VW Beetle $600 Was probably the most fun car I ever owned. Cut the front beam, installed adjusters and lowered it about 3" in front. Had Flat Fours That Fly build a set of big valve heads and installed twin Weber carbs and could pull the front wheels up about 2" for about 10'. Loved that car.
1964 $1400 Chevrolet Chevelle with a SB 400, TH400 and a 12 bolt posi. Thing was a blast to drive. Gave it to a friend in Longmont because he stored it for me for 3 years or so after it spun a rod bearing. He's currently rebuilding it for his mother-in-law.
1973 Chevy G30 Van $100 Bought it from a co-worker and used it to haul my tools to work forever.
1987 Chevrolet V20 Pick-up $500 Bought this from a co-worker who bought it from another co-worker for $2500. He DUI'd it into the rear of a parked semi trailer. Hit the trailer so hard on the passenger side he bent the A-pillar, the door and the rear cab pillar. It's currently yard art with a Dana 60 front axle, 14 bolt rear, and a bunch of other stuff. Just stopped at Off Road Design and met Stephan Watson and dropped off my 203 t-case to be drilled and tapped for the NV4500 I have sitting in the garage. Damn nice folks up there in Carbondale. Looking for a Cummins 4BT to swap into it.
1989 Chevrolet S-10 Pick-up Originally bought this for my daughter and it's currently my DD. Good little rig.
There have been others in between but aren't worth mentioning.

[Java]

The best I ever did was buying my old FJ60 when I first moved to CO... I didn't know what an FJ60 was, I thought it was a pickup truck when I went to look at it. I saw it down the block and thought "No Way, it looks like the vehicles from the old Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom shows". Turns out the seller was another NYer, even went to HS near me, we talked a bit and I paid $2000.00 for it, drove it for a couple of years and sold it for $2500.00. I'm sure I put atleast $1000.00 into it, but still. I know it's not a big $$$ deal, but it was the best car buying experience of my life so far.

[Brad]

1980 Plymouth horizon-free
1981 Honda accord- $100
1980 VW cabriolet- Free but had to pick it up from Santa Fe
1983 VW GTI-free but had to retrieve it from a field in Parker
1980 Audi 4000 E-free, had to replace the ignition switch $25
1987 VW Cabriolet-free (still have it)
1981 Audi 4000- free
1987 Audi 4000 Quattro- free with car purchase (1991 VW GTI)
One that got away
1970 Toyota fj40-free needed engine installed and I had no time to do it. Gave it to a friend. Regret that one.
And my favorite
1995 Land Rover Discovery $700 (love it and drive it)

[GaryG]

We bought a brand new 1999 Buick Century in 2005 for $5000. It had 2500 miles on it. Hail settlement in 2007 for $3200, rear ended and totalled in 2009, settled for $5200 with Insurance company. So we made $3400 and drove it for 40k miles.

[mattzj98]

RS 2-Door Coupe
so a race car.. jealous!

[Chris]

Hmm, too many to list but I used to buy 62/63 Valiants for $50 and drive them until the front end gave way (weak spot) and then sold them to a guy for $50 who raced them on dirt tracks. Of course that was before most of you were born.

[foxtrot]

well I'll bring this back alive...
1982 plymouth Arrow.. bought in 2010 for 300 bucks, had 30,000 miles on it, and was in great condition, except for the flat army green spray paint job. drove it for a while and sold it to my mom for the same price. they still drive it to this day and has never failed to start. for those of you that don't know what an Arrow is, it is a tiny 2wd pickup
my new vehicle I just bought I got a steal on... 2006 4runner, 70K miles, perfect condition and maitnence record, and Toyota certified for 16,800. sold to me at dealer cost because the salesman that I first dealt with told me a bunch of lies.
1997 plymouth breeze... free and drove for about one year before it caught fire haha
and I got several old 80's Nissan 300zx's for free from a forum I used to be on. people wanted to get them off their property so I would go pick them up. had 5 at one time for about a month before the neighbors started complaining lol

[Patrolman]

Ah, the 97 Plymouth Breeze. Maybe you had the one I made my wife sell about 7 years ago. What a POS. They were known for having head gasket issues. This seemed to be having something related to the head gasket. It would leak oil onto the exhaust manifold as it the engine was slightly tipped. It would then ignite. How genius! As soon as I found this common flaw on Google we got rid of the car.