the cheapest running car you have bought?

[Butler]

my 86 325e
$800
Local to me
it was a random CL find. The guy was a college professor and had owned it since 1991.
Nothing was wrong with it mechanically. It needed some things here and there but a solid car from the get go. the hood was miss-aligned and made it look kinda funky, but I got that sorted out for the most part.

When I brought it home:




Now:

[Raxe]

1990 Honda Civic Si

$500

Work

Co-worker

I needed a winter car asap, he was talking about selling his beloved little Honda a few weeks prior so I made him an offer and he took me up on it. The car sat exactly where he had parked it that day for 3 weeks, I drove it once around the parking lot to see what it was like and decided I didn't much like the FWD feel. He was complaining one day about how he misses his Honda and I could tell he didn't like the fact that I hadn't even really gone near the thing since buying it, so I offered to sell it back to him. Made him really happy and I found an Audi the next day which I still have.

[Eta power]

45 bucks (YES FORTY FIVE bucks)

Darn dude, you got me by five bucks. I got my 528e for $50 from one of my dad's coworkers. So far it's gotten a headgasket, front subframe, and brakes all around.

[ill4noreason]

1996 gmc sonoma 5spd ran fine drove great purple stinky smashed down interior ( the guy was fat) bought from a crackhead for 150 sold it a month later for 800 back in 2002...

[SoEm0]

lets see.

1972 datsun 720 p/u
$200
purchased from a lien
visalia, ca
ran great, straight body, faded pain.

1997 Ford Taurus
$200
from a friend of a friend
visalia
just needed some new sensor plugs. sold it a month later for 2k

I have no pics, they were lost with a hd crash a few years back.

[BrettsE30]

I just got a 1988 Camry for $300. Originaly was $100 but the guy wanted a finders fee. Bought it off his old lady. Its red on red 4cyl auto, with 80,000 miles on it. It needed a battery and the passenger window wont go down. Paint is perfect and theres only one small tear on the drivers seat. It has a good inspection too. I havent even put gas in it yet. It was that good a deal.

[Brezzi]

$300- 1987 325i 5 speed
bought it from some guy who needed it off his land to avoid taxes or something. Technically it was running but we trailered it back b.c of a crap clutch.




its the silver one in the background with the m logo painted on it. Me and a friend bought it as a field car when we where 15 and tore up a whole bunch of farm land in central jersey. Pretty good first experience driving an e30.

[Turf1600]

$152
1973 BMW 2002
I bought this thing off of ebay. It was in dallas and had no photos and a crap description. It said it was wrecked but it was really just the grills that were damaged.

$300
1987 325e
Craigslist car - had good sport seats and a kamei kit

~$350 (don't remember)
1971 BMW 1600
Have a chance to buy it back now...

[mr2peak]

At least E30 swap cars are still worth money..

[Dustn525]

make/model? 1981 Mazda RX7
price? $500
location? Seattle, WA
from who? Some old guy with a bunch of cars in his yard
description of the car? Flawless condition sky blue RX7, 5 speed. Perfect black interior, all original and unmodified. Even had the 2+2 option and tinted glass sunroof. It just needed a new clutch, even the apex seals were good at 85k original miles :)

Spent $300 on a new clutch, drove it for awhile, then sold it for $2200 and bought my old E34 525i with the money. I love it when sellers have no idea what they are selling.

[Knoepfler]

1987 325is
$500
Bellevue, WA
some noob
great running with like 170k

drove it home then destroyed it in my driveway with saws n shit

[urbancynic]

$300
85 VW Jetta Coupe Diesel
About 20-30 miles from me in Mesa.
Guy had it up for sale for a month or two for 1200. I looked at it, it was a hard start, but ran. 5th gear didn't work. Offered him 300 for it. He said sure. Put some diesel in it, drove it home, replaced glow plugs and the battery (I had both already for spares). Never had an issue with it.
Sold it for 650 a few months later when I decided I didn't need it.

[2002maniac]

'91 Ford Festiva

$100

It had 325k miles on it, didn't have a straight panel, and used/leaked a quart of oil every other day.

Most fun car ever!

[MikeDE]

1979 Chevy Malibu 4dr 200cu.in A/T-79k orig miles(1995)
$350
From my Neighbor, orig owner.

The car had faded to a matte bably blue over the years. Ran very nicely except that it used a bit of oil. I had absolutely NO IDEA what that meant when I was 17. So I drove and drove and drove, then about 6 mos after I bought it, I was on the hwy and heard a knock. It got way louder when I nailed it. So I brought it to the family mechanic and he said I had 1qt in it. He added the rest, but the knocking didn't go away. Oops, off to the junkyard.

I would have to scan pics, I'll see if I can find them.

[tbone714]

Bought a 1975 chevy shortbed for 200$ from this pothhead/gearhead like 5 years ago. Got it home and popped the engine, and it edlebrock everything! From the oil pan the aircleaner. When I found out it wasn't smog legal cuz of the year, state, and parts I Parted it for over 1500 over the course of a couple months, then sold it to the junkyard for 350.