by "Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
Published 05/03/2017 at 16:53
by "Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
Published 05/03/2017 at 16:53
Tags: oppositelock
; ottointhestates
; car buying
; thanks
; helplopnik
STARS: 0
How much will it cost me in total to daily an older car for 3 months?
As some of you might know, I’m coming to work in
Sunnyvale
Palo Alto this summer aaaaall the way from Croatia. The ideal-perfect-mindmeltingly-awesome scenario is that I get a CA. driver’s license and buy a car to get me to work, and then sell it after I’m done. I just gotta make a very round estimate of the costs to prepare.
Have a broad selection of what kinds of cars I’m gonna be looking for:
It’s gotta be something fun. In this case, fun to me means American, a land yacht, a convertible, a small truck, or even a big truck. It can be slow or fast, I have zero interest in performance. This is gonna be my first actual car, so any car is extremely exciting to me just by definition.
So like, a car.
I want the car to be one of those $200-$500 finds, it can be beat up and ugly and worn but it’s gotta be a mechanically reliable daily, as I won’t have tools there, or the time to work on it, and even if I did I have no fckin idea how to do most car stuff.
Jesus I’m so naive and childish this’ll never work. Sorry for wasting your time.
Goddammit. I’ve been watching too many Youtube and Top gear cheap car challenges.
Is this a pipe dream or is it doable?
"jasmits" (jasmits)
05/03/2017 at 16:57, STARS: 6
$200-$500 find is a pipe dream. There aren’t $500 Malaise-era barges sitting around everywhere out here like it might seem.
A few grand with some budget leftover for the inevitable failures? You’ve got yourself a decent older car.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/03/2017 at 16:59, STARS: 1
is that a 2 door lebaron? don’t buy that. they are much smaller than you think.. and yeah 200 to 500 is a dream. they don’t exist any more. those cars are now like 1200 to 2000...
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
05/03/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 2
Sorry to bring your dreams crashing down, but you will not find a sub $500 car that you can DD without having to work on it. They don’t exist. For $5000, sure, but not $500.
"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
05/03/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 0
Shit, that’s too much.
It really does seem like that from over here.
Foiled again. What about a terrible 80's or 90's econoboxes?
I’ll have to broaden my search for pretty much anything that runs.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
05/03/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 2
$500 is a gamble with any level of car. The chances of ending up with a parking lot ornament are pretty high.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
05/03/2017 at 17:04, STARS: 5
You can maybe find something for $500 that runs and drives but it will be an absolute pile of garbage. $1000 is the bare minimum to find something at all dependable and that would be pretty tough.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
05/03/2017 at 17:05, STARS: 2
Trust me lol if there were $500 malaise-era barges sitting around all over the place I would have one because why not
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
05/03/2017 at 17:11, STARS: 2
If it runs well enough to daily, you are probably looking at 1,000 min. and that will be tough. Set your budget closer to 2,000 - 2,500.
"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
05/03/2017 at 17:12, STARS: 0
In my area a running and driving car generally starts out around $1000. You can find cheaper if you try but it’ll be either more rust holes than car or so unreliable you’d be better off walking/biking.
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
05/03/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 1
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?hasPic=1&min_price=200&max_price=1000
Good luck
Nothing is cheap in Silicon Valley
"facw" (facw)
05/03/2017 at 17:14, STARS: 0
As others have said, to the extent there were working cars that cheap, Cash for Clunkers cleaned them out, and we haven’t dropped anywhere near that level. So the bad news is that you’ll need to come up with more money. The good news is you can sell for more money at the end of the summer, so if you can find a bit more cash up front, it probably won’t actually cost you that much more.
Best advice is to just look at Craigslist to see what is available near where you’ll be, and what pricing looks like.
"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
05/03/2017 at 17:16, STARS: 0
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/6115719889.html
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/6115499022.html
Just 2 examples of what I meant in my earlier comment
"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
05/03/2017 at 17:17, STARS: 3
I felt that on my own skin trying to find an apartment.
Jeeezus christ it’s so expensive.
It’s rare to find something under 1000 per month.
Meanwhile a couple of my friends are working the summer in Nebraska or some shit and can’t decide between the whole ranch for 50 bucks per week or a studio apartment in the center of town for 60 bucks.
I’ve made a huge mistake.
"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
05/03/2017 at 17:19, STARS: 0
Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess this could be a pain in the ass to daily as-is lol
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
05/03/2017 at 18:28, STARS: 0
You didn’t do the research in advance?
Best bet would be to back out of this as quickly as possible unless your employer can guarantee housing and a easy means to work. Any housing around $1000 is a bad neighborhood. Try Craigslist and see if you could rent a room or even house sit.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
05/03/2017 at 18:33, STARS: 0
I think a motorcycle is the solution you’re looking for :)
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
05/03/2017 at 20:40, STARS: 1
Anything in the $200-500 range is most likely not going to run. If it runs it will need a lot of work to keep running.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
05/03/2017 at 21:39, STARS: 1
Cheap, reliable, fun.... pick two.
"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
05/04/2017 at 03:06, STARS: 0
I did do it in advance, the research is still ongoing.
I’m looking for a place near public transport so I’ll be set in that regard, the car is more of a wish than it is a need.
"DutchieDC2R" (dutchiedc2r)
05/04/2017 at 05:12, STARS: 0
Im a Croatian living in Holland (Rotterdam) and Ive been following your articles regarding your trip. How the hell did you, as a Croatian, land a job in the US?
Imamo kucu u Rajicu, moji idu svaku godinu natrag. Ako te mozem nekako pomoci sa ovim, samo reci. :)
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
05/04/2017 at 08:08, STARS: 0
So near CalTrans stations, huh? Ouch. I’m pretty sure all of the cities along that corridor from Santa Clara to San Francisco are big bucks.
Anyway, I guess my biggest worry would be that financially your compensation would be net zero or worse [hint: I’m old!]. Good luck and I hope it works out for the best.
"Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW!" (theduckduck)
05/04/2017 at 15:41, STARS: 0
I am in Minnesota but found this
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6097099088.html
Also I’m going to be in Croatia July 6-16! Staying in Dubrovnik for 5 days then driving up to Plitvice. How is the car culture there? Any cool stuff to go see? Good luck with find a car!
"Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW!" (theduckduck)
05/04/2017 at 16:52, STARS: 0
Here’s more
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6104240506.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6108305707.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6096006478.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/cto/6113452212.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/6076189490.html
Once again good luck!