We all love a bargain, don’t we? I’ve had some excellent deals on cars before, but my 2006 BMW 325i is likely my all-time best deal because I essentially paid for a new clutch and flywheel and got an entire car for $650. Even crazier, that simplification is discounting all the other value adds that came with the car.
Alright, so I wasn’t the first person to drive on the clutch that’s in the car, but it was done recently before purchase, and clutch replacement on a modern car can cost solid money. A new LuK dual-mass flywheel for my 325i sticker on FCP Euro for $671.99. The corresponding clutch kit costs $301.99. Add 5.8 hours of specialist book labor at $110 an hour since I didn’t have to replace the clutch and flywheel myself, and you end up with a price tag of $1,612 or so, and that’s not including gearbox mounts, which were done. Total cost of the car at the time? Once converted from Canadian to American dollars, $2,265.28.
Oh, but there’s more. The oil filter housing gasket was recently done, as were the front dampers, as was the valve cover gasket, as were the spark plugs, the gearbox mounts, the water pump, and several control arm bushings. Sure, it may have proper mileage on it, but a decently maintained sports sedan for sensible money is something great. Of course, I took things a bit further — I essentially traded the value of a rusty but trusty Infiniti G35 for it.
On the other hand, maybe you got a crap deal on a car. Our own S. W. Gossin recently bought a Nissan Juke that blew up several miles down the road, which is a rotten bit of luck in the grand scheme of car purchases. Mercifully, he was able to sell the non-running Juke and break even, but not everyone has the Midas touch like that.
So, what’s the best or worst deal you ever got on a car? Whether you absolutely stole a deal or lost your shirt, we’ve love to hear your car-buying exploits in the comments section below.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal, Stephen Walter Gossin)
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I paid 17k cash (including tax) for a top trim 2008 Saturn Vue in 2010. With a depreciation cost of about $1,200 a year it’s an absolute steal of a deal. Tows boats, hauls lumber, and has heated seats. F’n A man.
Best deal: I got a Suburban for $1. The owner wanted it gone and for whatever reason couldn’t get a scrapyard to haul it away. Owner said I could have it for the change in my pocket if I could get it out of his garage. It needed a new battery and battery cables, but I got it running relatively easily. I drove it for about a year before one of the cylinder heads cracked. It wasn’t worth fixing (AC and heater didn’t work and it was rusty), but I sold it to a scrap yard for $300. I spent around $150 on the battery and cables, so in the end I got to drive a Suburban for a year for $-149. Although, it cost $150 to fill the tank, so maybe it still wasn’t a great deal.
Worst deal: Harley-Davidson Livewire. I paid full price for it when it was new ($27500, including a $2500 EV tax credit). Six months later the H-D Livewire was rebranded as the Livewire One and the price dropped to $22,500. Four years later see similar bikes for sale used for $10,000.
Do you like the Livewire? My understanding from a previous article somewhere was “good, but overpriced”?
Yes – I like the bike quite a lot. It is completely effortless to ride that bike fast. It is the most fun motorcycle I have ever ridden. It makes enough noise to be engaging, but not enough to get unwanted attention. One other huge plus is that it does not generate heat. I find that ICE bikes can be uncomfortable riding in hot weather at low speeds; I live in Florida so that is a big plus. My only complaint, aside from the price, is that fast charging can be difficult. That is not unique to the Livewire; fast charging any non-Tesla EV can be a very frustrating experience.
It does suck to think I could have saved $18,000 by waiting a few years, though. I see these bikes for sale for $10,000 to $12,000 and think they are an absolute steal at that price.
Makes sense. Thanks for your perspective!
Best deal – got my 2018 Clarity in 2019 with 7K discount from the dealer, plus the full tax credit. They just didn’t want a plug in on the lot in Houston.
Worst deal, overpaid for my E46 M3 convertible. 2021, had sold my old car for a significant profit and the profit was burning a hole in my pocket. Now that the crazy has subsided, I’m down significantly from what I paid, but hey, still have a manual M3.
I bought a 4×4 pickup in December 2019 for $7,000 off MSRP. I checked the private party value recently and the truck has not depreciated even after 50,0000 miles.
I bought my 2019 Charger Scat Pack and sold it 2 years later at the height of the pandemic for $12k more than I purchased it for.
After multiple road hazard incidents involving my low profile tires I decided I was sick of having a nice car in the city and I was getting a beater. The “beater” I found was a ’99 Escort wagon (this was in ’09 so it was 10 years old.) It had less than 80k on it, one owner, and basically every possible option including keyless entry. For $2100. I drove it for 2 years, repaired exactly nothing and got 30 mpg while doing it, and sold it for $2300. Sometimes I still miss that car.
Best was when I bought my trailerblazer for 10k MSRP without deal or trade. This is when gas hit 5 a gallon and this wanted to move the last of previous generate. I ended getting a new truck for under 20k.
Worst. Taurus SHO. I liked the car, this was a bad example. Driveshafts had to be rebuild (ABS option was rare in 1990), brakes failed, radiator exploded. The final nail was frame damage and new front clip from an unreported accident. Got rid it quickly. 3500 car that I spent neat 7 trying to keep running.
During the height of the carpocalypse, (2009 ish) I got bought a 2007.5 Duramax for 21K, it had like 30K miles on it! Sold it for 35K in 2014.
Best deal: trading my sister my barebones 2002 Chevy Cavalier coupe for her 1999 Ford Explorer XLT (she wanted better fuel efficiency, I wanted more room).
Second best: my great grandpa gave me his 1981 Chevy Citation after I helped him out with a lot of things (lawnmowing, mowing the field next door because he had become paranoid of fire, moving his tools from a shed to the other house on the property for the same reason, etc.).
Best non-family deal:
My 2002 Silverado z71. I purchased it from a gentleman who no longer fished from a boat, so he had downsized. $7000 a couple years ago, and he had not listed in the ad that the engine only had 40,000 miles (160,000 on the odometer). He also hadn’t listed the winter tires he threw in the back. Well equipped, with good meat on the tires. It also has a shell color-matched to the lower stripe, but that’s not a selling point for me.
My best deal was on a 1951 Ford F-5 bread van. I got it for free, but I had to pay $150 in towing to get it to my shop.
The new 2001 Toyota Highlander was in high demand. No dealer would budge from MSRP in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was early days of the Internet and a friend suggested searching throughout California. I found a 2WD green LTD version somewhere in a desert down south. Not a popular color and 4WD was in demand. I got it shipped up to me and saved about $4000. We are still driving it.
Had the keys, pink slip, and all documents for my new 1986 Toyota MR2 and was heading out. My friend asked me if we were done. I said yes, but that someone would be after me shortly because they never asked for the check. We stood around for a few minutes until the salesman came running out. So almost a car for $0. 😉
This fellow tried to DIY a starter replacement on his 1975 Volvo 245, but he reinstalled the wiring incorrectly. So incorrectly that every time you turned the key to ‘start’, the battery would start smoking. I paid him $45 for the car. I took it home and redid the wiring. Drove that car for 2 years and then sold it to an engine builder for $100.
So easy for me. The TDI after Dieselgate. $5k VW Rebate, $2k dealer discount, 0% APR loan. Just an absolute steal.
I don’t think I have a “worst deal”, but the best deal is definitely my current car.
2004 Buick LeSabre Limited with 104k, purchased in March 2017 for $3,150.
Since then it’s never failed to start or drive. I have replaced parts totalling about $1,500, like shocks, struts, wheel bearings, the oil pressure sending unit, several EGR valves, and those awful “coolant elbows”.
Today, the odo is pushing 276k. It’s been to the west coast twice and the east coast once- just last year. Beat that!
My friend was trying to help his broke sister buy basic transportation and I kept screaming “a big GM with a 3800” over and over but he wasn’t listening. I really think if you just need a car that functions, it’s hard as hell to beat a 3800 sedan.
Damn! And the transmission never gave out? My brother had a 2005 LeSabre Custom and he had to get the transmission replaced (or rebuilt, I forget which) at some point.
It gets clunky when it’s hot- like after spending a long time crawling through city traffic. Sometimes the downshifts make me wince. But so far, no breakdowns. (knock on fake plastic LeSabre dash wood)
I paid $1800 CAD for my Tiburon a few years ago. Original owners wife was driving it but not very often, quite a rare car here.
2004 Ford Expedition (loaded with everything) that was for sale for $1000 (no start condition).
Got it to start pretty easily, then a fucking tree fell on it (a tree on my property). Took it to the gambler and launched it off some dirt bike jumps, drifted it around the rest of the course with the air conditioned seats cranking away, got a million pounds of mud in the undercarriage from a mud hole it got stuck in.
Didn’t even wash it, and commuted in it daily (100mi round trip) for the better part of a year until it started having more issues than it was worth spending time on.
… still kind of miss it. Everyone should own a vehicle they can just beat the shit out of and not care.
So our dealership just switched our floorplan to Ally.
While the Ally reps were here, we were discussing the RIDICULOUS lease rates on vehicles. They tell us that the Hornet R/T’s are incredible for december, so they tell us what to punch in, and left us with a printout of how to structure the lease. It included the 7000 government EV tax rebate. I hadn’t seen the hornet come up on any lists for eligible vehicles, but we’re sitting here with a piece of paper from Ally that says they are honoring it, and two Ally reps telling us it’s good to go.
Fast forward a few, and I’m excitedly signing papers for a slut red 2024 Hornet R/T for $259 dollars a month.
within 2 days, we had sold the other 3 on the lot as well.
A few days after that, Ally informs us there has been a mistake, and they will not be honoring the 7000 rebate. So we’re currently fighting with ally over 28 THOUSAND dollars. I asked the boss if they wanted me to give the car back, and they told me that was a nice thought, but there’s nothing to be done.
So considering my 04 lifted Wrangler was burning about 6 gallons of fuel a day to drive, and my entire commute is now powered by electricity, I’m saving about 100 a month to drive a VERY fun little car.
Shame that my employer had to lose 7 grand for that to happen, but I gotta say, probably the best deal I’ve ever had.
Paid £25 for a Citroen Visa in the early 90s. Don’t remember which year exactly. IIRC it had at least 6 months road tax on it which was worth around £50 at the time.
And several years back I gifted a Grand Caravan to a family in need. I guess they got the best deal on that.
I got a free BMW 1150gs. Ive done a lot of riding on it the past two years, Im not sure if its the best or worst because I absolutely love it, but its also has over 100k miles. So it needs attention.
My best and worst deal were both the same car. A friend asked me if I wanted a Bronco for $250. I had always wanted a Bronco, so I gave an enthusiastic “Hell yeah”, knowing it had terminal engine problems and had it towed home. It was a bare bones 1987 Bronco, tan with a tan top. Probably the worst shade of tan you can imagine. It looked like it was painted to try and match bad human skin. The engine was a 5.0, paired to Ford’s usual AOD transmission.
I let inexperience get the best of me and sourced the first 5.0 I could find from an LTD wagon, which ended up costing me a lot more because none of the accessories could carry over. Still, I wasn’t in for too much swapping the engines, so I ended up with a running and driving Bronco for not too much money.
Until I found out the transmission was also borked. If I had known that before I did the engine there were a couple of people selling engine/transmission combos and I could have saved a lot. At this point I was already over it and ended up selling it (lost a few bucks but it didn’t kill me).
Had it been a more desirable Bronco I may have stuck with it, but this was barely a step up from a fleet car.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve always referred to that particular Ford hue as “ballsack beige.”
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking my water while reading that.
I special ordered a 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Diesel at supplier pricing, but by the time they actually built and delivered it we were fast approaching lockdown and the Jeep was concerned enough to offer $1000 or $1500 to take delivery by the end of March ’20. Squeaked in just under the wire…I think out the door was $48000 or so. Sold it to Carvana in June ’21 with 6000 miles on it for $54,000. Had it long enough to try out, enjoy, and move onto something else. By far the cheapest car I’ve ever owned in terms of $$$/mi. I liked it, but not enough to pass up that deal.
In 2018, I bought a 2003 Pontiac Vibe from the daughter-in-law of the original owner. The original owner was literally a little old lady who only drove to church, the grocery store, and her job as a kindergarten teacher. It had under 30k miles, was FILLED with safety gear (triangle reflector, jumper cables, etc), had a single dent, and the interior was IMMACULATE.
They were asking $2800. I offered $2500 and they took it. I practically ripped my pocket out pulling out the cash. It was the perfect first car for my 16 year old daughter.
Then 2 years later, she rear ended someone, and even after paying my deductible insurance gave me $500 MORE than I paid for it.
But now it’s 2020, and the pandemic is raging.
That was when I found ANOTHER car (2013 Chevy Sonic) with under 30k on it that had been driven by a little old lady who only drove it to church and her job as a nurse in a small town. It was loaded and in GREAT shape, except the clear coat on the rood and hood was faded. I offered a grand under trade-in, they countered at $750 under trade in, and again, I nearly ripped my pocket out getting the cash. My youngest is now driving it.
I won use of a 2010 Civic from an auto show contest, they were even happy to accommodate me when I asked if a manual was possible. I ended up turning it in a year early as I’d run through the mileage allowance, but still, a decent brand new car for a college student was a fantastic deal.
I also got a ’93 Ford Escort for $100, although my friend I bought it from got an even better deal (he’d bought it from a coworker for $100, swapped the CD player into his Escort, and sold the rest of the car he didn’t need to me).
Best deal: $200 for my 1988 Ford Crown Victoria S. It was my great-grandfather’s last car he ever bought, a custom ordered car that was shipped to his small town in Georgia by train from Detroit. It was white over navy blue vinyl interior with the landau top deleted. It had the 5.0 with fuel injection, A/C, power driver seat, no center console clock, AM/FM radio, and it was perfect.
It was ultimately owned by…five people in my family and then me again. It survived questionable shade tree mechanic fixes (plumbing pipe in the cooling system was quite a surprise at almost midnight on the highway in a rainstorm), the exhaust falling off, and me gunning it out of the Applebee’s parking lot each night after my bartending shifts. That thing is still alive and kicking with a friend of my sibling’s mom driving it. Only modification is the aftermarket dual exhaust kit I had installed about a decade ago. If I weren’t living in Boston I’d still probably have that big beautiful boat.
Your great-grandfather must have had good taste. Because he had enough sense to delete the stupid landau top. I will never understand why this was ever (or still is) a desirable feature.
Best deal ever was definitely on my 2018 Fiesta ST, purchased new. It stickered at over $23,000. My price was $17,400, $19,500 out the door including all the ridiculous California taxes and registration fees.