Buying an Affordable, Reliable Car in 2024: Our Experience Helping a Young Adult

One of our free nonprofit services is helping young adults obtain affordable, reliable vehicles. This blog shares our recent experience: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

BUYER'S BACKGROUND PROFILE

Sofia is an assistant manager at a supermarket in her 30s, earning $52,000 a year, which places her in the lower middle class for New York. She works nights and has a 60-mile round-trip commute, totaling 20,000 miles annually. Renting a car costs her $300 a week or $1,290 a month, which is unsustainable. Public transportation is an unreliable 4 hour daily commute given her work hours. Catching a lift with friends and coworkers was also not dependable.

Sofia needed her own car, and had a $10,000 maximum budget. She didn't want to be trapped in 5-6 years of car payments.

THE RESEARCH

New cars were not an option for Sofia as the cheapest, 2024 Nissan Versa, costs over $21,000 with tax and has poor reliability and owner satisfaction ratings according to Consumer Reports.

Used cars proved challenging. We identified Toyota and Honda models from 2012-2020 with mileage under 120,000 as preferable. Any used vehicle needed to be inspected twice before purchase: once by Sofia (with our guidance) and once by a professional mechanic.

Some vehicles advertised on Facebook, Craigslist, and eBay were risky. Many sellers wouldn’t allow pre-purchase inspections. One seller tried to scam us by demanding a $500 down payment before allowing a local mechanic inspection, claiming it showed we were serious. We discovered he didn't live locally, was hiding in Las Vegas, and had scammed 14 people in a month. We reported him to Facebook for removal from their platform.

We then reviewed mainstream online auto traders and found most advertised vehicles were sold by dealerships, even when searching for private sellers. Dealerships often lowballed the advertised price, with the final cost typically $3,000 more than initially displayed.

By speaking with family, friends, local networks, and checking local ads, we finally found true private sellers. It took diligence, but we found a car that met our criteria.

VETTING THE VEHICLE

We found a 2013 Subaru Impreza with only 57,000 miles from one owner. While it wasn’t the desired Toyota or Honda brand, it met Sofia’s needs and had good fuel efficiency (27/36 mpg city/highway). According to Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com), the car’s value from a private seller was $8,167.

The owner agreed to let us inspect the car before purchase. Sofia did an initial inspection using our checklists and noted issues like rust, a minor windshield crack, rotted wiper blades, battery corrosion, and squeaking sounds during low-speed turns. The car was good enough for a next step professional inspection.

The first inspection was by a local Subaru dealership. They charged $159 for the inspection, but offered it for ‘free’ with a $100 oil change. They found the shocks needed replacing ($1,500), claimed the head gasket needed replacing ($2,200), and stated oil and transmission fluids were leaking. We sought a second opinion.

The second inspection was by a highly rated local auto shop. For $59, they did a chemical analysis and found no head gasket issues or mixing of oil and coolant, proving the Subaru dealership misled us. They confirmed the battery needed replacement and the drive belt was worn, causing the squeaking sounds.

The third inspection was free at a local Mavis Discount Tire shop. They confirmed the struts and shocks needed replacement and noted the rear stabilizer bar was missing. They found no oil or transmission leaks, proving the Subaru dealership misled us on this as well.

Based on these inspections, we determined $2,200 of actual repairs were needed to make the car reliable.

MAKING THE OFFER

Sofia contacted the owner, shared the repair list and costs, and the fair private seller price from KBB ($8,167). She offered $6,000 to take the car as-is and do the necessary $2,200 of repairs. The owner agreed. With DMV fees (tax, title, registration, plates), Sofia's total vehicle purchase price added up to ~$8,900 -- well within her $10,000 budget.

REFLECTION

By doing the extra legwork, Sofia obtained a reliable, affordable car without going into debt. Furthermore, she avoided being taken advantage of by dealerships and scammers.

If you need assistance in learning how to buy a vehicle, please feel free to contact us.