I've been casually browsing ads for Fox Thunderbirds and Cougars for fun recently and I've discovered that the days of finding a nice, sub $2000 one are gone. I know you can point out sub $2000 ones all day long but they are not nice, clean cars. By nice clean cars mean:
The paint is shiny, has no rust, and very minimal scratches or dings, if at all.
The interior is free of rips, stains, or any major missing pieces.
The engine, transmission, and differential need no work.
The suspension, steering, and braking system are fine and need no attention.
Basically I'm talking about a car that has been kept up. Any "cheap" $2000 or less T-bird or Cougar I find needs one of these above items addressed. By the time you get done addressing them the cost of the car increases to close to double the purchase price. I've come to the conclusion that to get a nice one that needs nothing and I mean nothing, to the point where you can jump in it and drive it all you want it's going to cost you. Those $5000+ Fox T-birds/Cougars are reasonably priced, since all one has to do is drive them. Think about it. The newest of our cars is 23 years old. A sub $2000 one is bound to be a beat up pile.
Well, I can see your point..I've got a 450 dollar Sport that I've dropped close to 3 grand in parts and whatnot, and it's still a pile of shiznit.
But my pile of shiznit will out handle a LOT of other 23 year old piles of shiznits...LOL
all the local ones here want 10k for what you're mentioning :P
the fellow who bought mine in april jumped in it and drove over
900 miles home in 1 day and got 28 mpg.no probs.everything
incl cruise worked great. he put twice as many miles on it home
than i did in 3 1/2 years.no he didnt pay less than 2000.00.
says he has been driving and enjoying the heck out of it .
maybe i should have done the same--irv
I agree OP, all the cars in this range for $2,000 are all v6's and no one wants one because the motor is a time grenade.
I think your definition of "nice " is slightly flawed , around here for less than $2000 you aren't going to find ANYTHING of any year that meets those criteria .
Perhaps "nice" is the wrong term. Maybe "clean" is a better term?
I agree, and I think that the problem extends to all cars period. There's a guy here who had a 2 dr Tahoe '99 with 199K on it and he wanted like...6500. People want too much for their cars, period. But when they buy one, they don't want to pay anything for them.
Myself, if I could find a 4-eye V6 Bird or 87-88 Coug cheap I'd jump on it. No point in paying extra for a 150-horse 5.0 that would be tossed into the woods at my earliest convenience anyway...
To meet your requirements i would use "mint, flawless, cherry " any of those ... I agree it used to be they could be had for under $2000 , but now around here you will barely get a running car for that kind of money was my point .
I agree, I looked hard for what I wanted. I had been driving by the one I got for a year and never saw it. They moved a car that was parked in front of it and I stop the same day. The trans was bad but it ran good, had a good body, good interior and was a 5.0. He said he wanted $650 for it and I bought it on the spot. I din't even know it ran. lol. I built the aod, mild converter, put in 3.73s, mustang headers, x-pipe and turbos, used weld wheels that had very good tires on them. I have alot I want to do to it but VERY happy to be where I am with it. I only have $2500 in it now.
I need to get my terms straight. Mint to me means looks like it just rolled off the show room floor with all the factory paint marks.
Actually used car prices are crazy right now. I've seen 12 year old 150K+ cars go for close to $5,000. The economy is making people not want to buy new cars thus driving the prices of used cars waaay up. Hell when I traded my 95 T-bird in back in January I got $1500 for it....with 90K, rust, broken motor mounts, and a water pump that was starting to leak.
I agree. It seems any fox chassis'd car in presentable condition is outragously priced. I got my 87 cougar for $550, but it has sun spots on the hood and trunk, a filthy interior, as well as a faulty fuel pump.
I'm not seeing it with the hobby or lesser appealing (which includes ours) vehicles. People are asking more for our cars but I see those listings stick around for a long time until the prices come down to reality. People can ask whatever they want but I doubt most of them are getting it.
I see the mainstream used daily drivers going higher but not the hobby or less popular cars. I see people unloading their hobby cars because of the economy. People are scaling back and unloading some of the extras in their life. Unloading the hobby cars and passing the new car lot for the used fuel efficient and perceived reliability of the used fill-in-the-blank models that are widely appealing to the masses. Vehicles like the used Accords, Civics, Camrys, etc are becoming more attractive for reasons we are all aware of.
That's what I am seeing too. I went to a show and shine last saturday and litterally 30% of the hobby cars were for sale. Where as I see used Accord/Camry ,etc going for better than normal prices.
Just stumbled across this thread so hopped over to craigslist and found this.
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/2531735098.html not too bad.
I'm sure it is, but Looks like it has potential for a project