What is the cheapest car to own for a low income person?

Asking theoretically. Total cost of ownership.

If you have no tools, no garage, etc. what would you recommend from someone just getting started to minimize their transportation costs from A to B (i.e. not a GRM minded person)?

let's assume "normal" usage of at least 10K miles/year and that they need to continue to transport themselves for at least 5 years and reliably get to work/school/etc. Let's leave out arguments about public transportation, and just assume said person CAN afford a car... they just want to do it as cheaply as possible.

Is a cheap entry the best route? aka a $1200 beater? worth spending more? i.e. a $5K car the best route? This will buy something less than 10 years old with less than 100K miles. Theoretically room to go 50K miles and 5 years with no major maintenance? A $2500 car... say a '98 Corolla with 150K on the clock. Knowing it would have to see a shop for every item. etc.

I'm thinking 4-banger, stick, steel (small) wheels. Easily repairable by local shops. Ranger perhaps?

May or may not consider ending value into the equation.

Generally speaking a car that they made millions of and was reliable. The Corolla is a great example.

Corolla, Civic, Sentra are probably going to be your best bets.

Prius? Never have to do brakes, high mpg, bulletproof drivetrain.. Etc.

The Chevy Prizm is the twin of the Corolla, and usually runs a few hundred bucks cheaper. I've been beating mine mercilessly for the past few years.

Total non-consumable repairs have been: $12 for a valve cover gasket, which wasn't leaking that much anyway.

Prius' are definitely getting cheaper, but a corolla is cheaper still, and you don't have to worry about when the battery packs will E36 M3 the bed

don't forget the Hyundai's. After 2000 they are just as reliable as anything from Japan.. if not more so

Consider than BGkast started with a $50 Saab and I started with a $600 Accord and we both ended up right near $1400. I think we might be defining a floor for a daily, but you'd need more data points.

Another vote for the Prius. I would say a Hybrid Civic or Insight, but they have too many battery failures that I just don't see in the Toyotas.

My 1997 Celica also cost me next to nill in operating costs.

My step-son has a '96 Corolla we got for him about 4 years ago. It had 225k on it then, pretty sure it's over 250k now. Other than an occasional oil change every year or so, and topping it off occasionally in between, it's only needed shocks and brakes. It's a pretty comfortable car to drive too.

My wife works at a supermarket. She can't have a nice car or it just gets destroyed. Just under 3 years ago I picked up a 2001 Ford Taurus for less than $1000. Plan was just to keep it thru the winter and buy a new Mazda 6 diesel, but we all know how that worked out. I can't believe how cheap this thing is to own. There have been a few things I've needed to replace, but they were so cheap it was almost unbelievable. Its that silver gold color, and now that we have it, I see those things everywhere. Hard to believe how many 15 year old 200,000 mile versions are still out there running strong. When was the last time you saw a 15 year old Chrysler automobile?

tr8todd wrote: My wife works at a supermarket. She can't have a nice car or it just gets destroyed. Just under 3 years ago I picked up a 2001 Ford Taurus for less than $1000. Plan was just to keep it thru the winter and buy a new Mazda 6 diesel, but we all know how that worked out. I can't believe how cheap this thing is to own. There have been a few things I've needed to replace, but they were so cheap it was almost unbelievable. Its that silver gold color, and now that we have it, I see those things everywhere. Hard to believe how many 15 year old 200,000 mile versions are still out there running strong. When was the last time you saw a 5 year old Chrysler automobile?

Fixed that for you

Whatever new car you can lease for $79/month.

I'd look for a good example of an 04-05 Civic. They're safer (crash test ratings) and harder to steal (passive anti-theft) than the '90s penalty boxes.

92dxman wrote: Corolla, Civic, Sentra are probably going to be your best bets.

Second the Sentra. I had a 1995 GXE for my first car. I replaced:

+Alternator (coincidentally the very thing that got me started working on cars)
+Clutch which was shot when I bought it
+O2 sensor
+Fan Resistor
+Muffler after I accidentally tore it off being a stupid 16 year old kid
+Headliner after it started to sag badly
+Tires
+oil changes

I drove the poor flood damaged (when I bought it used) thing for 6 years and put nearly 100k miles on it. Tires were something like 60 dollars a piece and it got 35 mpg no matter how I drove it. Got rear ended on Clyde Morris Blvd and Nova in Daytona which is what ultimately what killed it. I think I had less than $6k into it by the time the insurance company refunded me $4k for it. Parts were easy to get at the pick and pull, cheap and everything except the oil filter was easily accessible.

I kind of miss having a commutabeater.

Knurled wrote: Whatever new car you can lease for $79/month.

I was gonna say Mitsubishi Mirage lease.

Agree with the above points about a millions made 4-cyl front wheel drive econo sedan. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, heck, even later model Kia's aren't bad (and had a 100k factory warranty). Buy cheapish, but look at the condition. For a long time, I felt that the early Korean cars (like Hyundai), probably weren't horrible cars, but the entry point was so cheap, you often had people who normally bought beaters buying them. They treated them like said beaters and drove them into the ground.

I'd say if it looks like it was taken care of (worn, but clean, matching tires, no major damage), then it would probably continue to last a long time.

I'll bring up a question, though. If looking for low cost of entry, do you go with a stick or an automatic? Modern automatics are pretty good, but it seems like a standard would still be much more reliable. Other than a clutch, not much to really "go bad". Automatics either work or are dead. You can nurse a lot in a standard (bad syncros, for example).

-Rob

Very generically, the best appliance they can afford.

The previously mentioned lease may not be a bad idea either, if they can keep it clean and pretty.

Tanks aren't very reliable. So a "No" vote for the tank.

I bring up the lease option only because of a conversation we had with our uniform guy. He thought it was nuts that people would spend $1000-2000-plus to repair a car. His attitude was, he leases a car for $200/month, it's under warranty, usually comes with a maintenance package anymore, and when the lease is up, he just leases another one. So he always has a fairly new car and his running expenses are known and fixed.

I'm looking at it not from a DIYer perspective, which is a whole different ball of wax.

There are so many variables on this question. Having low income often means you can't take the cheapest route because of a higher required initial outlay.

Also, at this point, a lot of people in this thread have already put forth a lot of valid responses, like whatever you can lease for $79 a month, though insurance on a lease can be high - the one surprise with my lease was that I failed to account for the much higher insurance limit requirements when planning it out. Or, whatever cheap Sentrollavlier you find for $2000.

Honda Civic Hybrid was at the top of some list a several of years ago for lowest cost of ownership. They're pretty cheap now, but someone elsewhere in the thread mentioned battery failures. I chose my CR-Z in part because of cost of ownership. I get pretty good mileage and I don't spend much on maintenance and renewables.

Here's the oddball.

I fear I bring this car up too often in what car threads. I do this because it has a lot of unique qualities, and it's forgotten.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

Wait, hear me out.

See that car up there? That's an actual car for sale on Autotrader right now. That car is a 2012 model with about 12,000 miles on the odometer. It's almost new. You should be able to get reasonable used car financing, since it's only a 2012. It uses tiny, skinny, cheap tires. It gets something like 119MPGe. YMMV, but I can refill it completely for something like a buck twenty. The first scheduled maintenance is at 240 months, when you change the transmission fluid. 240 months is twenty years. There are no oil changes. You can't really fail to maintain it, because it doesn't really require maintenance.

How much is the asking price for that car right there?

$6,500.

Now, hold up. You might be tempted to tell me that you drive a hundred miles a day. You tow a trailer. Yeah, this car isn't for you. It's not for everyone. If you're renting in the city, you might not be able to plug in at home. If you're renting, you might have to charge at 110v, and your daily mileage needs might not be met by the overnight charging time available. You might live in an extremely cold climate, where your range is too significantly curtailed. If you have to drive really far, haul big things, or do any of the things this car can't do, it's a terrible choice.

But if you don't? If you're living in a trailer two miles outside of town? If you have two incomes and two cars, and one of them doesn't have to do long trips? If you're a retiree on a fixed income who runs errands around town?

I recognize the i-MiEV is only acceptable in a narrow set of circumstances, but in those circumstances, it should represent a solid choice.

Gotta factor in insurance. $100 difference/year is currently ~40 gallons of gas.

To non GRMers, known and fixed costs can be very good for people who do not budget.

Was looking at parts costs for a 1st gen Miata today and was very surprised. I always figured the last of the Chevy Metro's would be a good bet as well.

Where the cheap car train goes off the tracks is when you realize that the previous owner gave up on maintenance a long time ago.

So, figure tires, brakes, wires, plugs,belts and fluids to get up to speed and you have doubled the cost of your cheap car even if you do the work yourself.

In reply to NOHOME:

Very true. For the $250 Civic we got last fall, the total to get on the road was 950ish by the time we got a distributor (reason for the car being stationary for ~2 years) set of tires, timing belt/water pump, front rotors/pads, and a complete set of fluids, tuneup stuff and misc other things.

However, since then, I've put 9k miles on it with only gas, oil, ATF, and a new disposable ebay stereo. According to aCar, total cost of ownership (apart from insurance) is 1881 since Feb 1 of this year.