I've been shopping on craigslist for used cars, and I've basically stumbled upon two choices that I can afford: cheap, older cars (c. 1995ish), or more expensive, newer cars (c. 2002ish).
Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?
Here is what you do, buy a reliable older car(something like a Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Acura Integra, Toyota Camry), Spend at most 4-5K. Drive that for the summer, then at the end of the summer you can sell it for the same amount.
Hell, if you spend the time to find a deal, you can probably even make money on the transaction when you sell it. Since you'll be buying a reliable, popular car, you'll have no problem making a quick sale at the end of the summer, when everyone is buying cars for the start of the school year.
Perhaps it's changed. I would think it a legal minefield.
It's a moot point - the other contributions have given sufficiently convincing reasons for getting your own car rather than borrowing one.
Buy your own car and know that you don't owe anyone anything.
Someone mentioned the Toyota Corolla should not be included in the list, which I don't agree with (depending on the price and condition of the vehicle, of course). One option to look at it is a Chevy Prizm, which is a re-branded copy of the Corolla made in Fremont. They are usually cheaper used than the version with the Toyota emblem.
Try to get one for under 5,000 dollars, with less than 100,000 miles, from 2002 or newer. My preference is for manual transmission, believing that they have lower maintance over the long term, but that might not be yours.
Do not expect to sell the car at a profit at the end of the summer or any other time. The value will decline.
Depending on the nature of the car and friend you are dealing with now, consider simply buying that car. If you like the car, and your friend is going to be gone a while, ask them if you can just buy that car from them, and they can get a new car when they get back.
how? At least until about 9 months ago, used hyundais of the post 2005 vintage were steals.
hyundais post 2005 are extremely reliable, yet people still feel it has the reputation of a 'unreliable car'. reality is out of sync w/ perception.
most people try for a reliable older car w/ a solid reputation. these cars have more miles on them and are, well, marked up b/c many people do this
part of the cheapness of hyundai elantras comes from the fact that resale values are absolute garbage for older models. w/ improving brand perception and reliability of the products itself, resale values for post 2005 cars will be much higher than ppl expect.
lower popularity means less chance of being stolen compared to an older vintage honda or toyota. i have had my older honda1993 stolen and had the police officer who took down the report brag to me about how he could've stolen my car w/ one hand tied behind his back too.
Finally, if you look at the depreciation schedule of an average car (resale value over its lifetime) the steepest drops happen between years 1-3. then it flattens out to about year 10 or so. so best place to buy is year 3 or so, and sell it around year 10-12. (actually cheapest is to run it into the ground)
My suggestion:
buy a 2005 model hyundai elantra w/ low mileage (old drivers are awesome), with one previous owner only. You can find dealers on craigslist.
I bagged on w/ 30K miles on it, which means I still have 20k miles of warranty left on this sucker for a bit over 7k out the door (you can do better in this current economy. got mine over a year ago).
You're contradicting yourself here. The reason they are cheap is because they have poor resale value. Therefore, you will also get poor resale on the vehicle. Once a brand is tarnished with a 'bad resale' value tag, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and one that would take decades to change.
By all means purchase a Hyundai, but don't expect to have an easy time selling it. Brand reputations aren't fixed in 12 months. All the while Hyundai are priced low with long warranties, the resale value will be low, because it's more logical to go and purchase a new one.
Out of curiosity, why do people need to split lanes in New Hampshire? Is there traffic there? Just kidding, kind of. (from a former New England motorcyclist)
the fuel tank volume for small motorcycle is like 4 liter, the bigger ones is like 10 liter, so the tank ranges from 1 - 3 gallons
so for 60 miles roundtrip expect to fill the tank every day or two (about 5 mins wasted at gas station)
but still it's much cheaper unless your hourly rate is 100+ dollars
it might be safer (paradoxically, riding a bike makes you feel unsafe, just like driving small car which in turn increases safety)
i use it to train my perception (more feedbacks from wind, noise, smell, sights)
but yeah, once you ride motorcycles, you'll never look back
i agree, consider motorcycle, if you turn out not liking it the risk is very low (like < $500 USD)
also, maintenance is super easy and cheap. just unscrew, dump dirty oil to recycle bin, screw back and fill 1 quart of motor oil. no filter required! total maintenance (tire, oil, lamp, gaskets, etc) is like $30 USD per year
Personally, I have better things to do with cash than spend it on a flash car, so buy a robust older model of car with a reputation for reliability. Learn enough to do simple servicing yourself. Purchase breakdown cover.
You assume that older cars are cheap and newer ones aren't. Get something reliable (good engine, good transmission) that's ugly or damaged in some non-functional way. I've had friends that have driven $500 cars all their lives and had them work. The secret is finding something that nobody else wants for non-functional reasons.
During high school, a friend and I bought a car together to go to bike races with. The car was as old as we were (1975), and cost us 500$, plus several hundred dollars in needed repairs. It ran fine for the 2 years we used it.
The last time I was in the states, I borrowed my parents' '87 camry (which I had owned previously). Great car - it was pushing 200K miles a few years ago when my dad got into a minor accident that had the unfortunate side effect of ruining the seal on the trunk, making it useless for hauling his camera gear around in rainy Oregon. It was still running great after all those years and miles, though. You could probably pick up a car like that for less than $2000, no problem and drive it well beyond just one summer.
Now, with a family, I'd consider getting something nicer, but before having a kid, there's no way anyone would dissuade me from getting an older car that runs well.
What does "required to drive 30 miles" mean, though? The first thing to check, of course, is whether you could relocate closer (at least part of the time.) Do the math on the car cost, insurance, gas, other upkeep and see if it might be worth it to just shack up closer by instead.
The second thing, naturally, is mass transit: trains, buses? If the nearest station is a couple miles away, that is an easy bike ride (I think suggesting taking the bike 60mi/day would be a bit optimistic if you are not already cycling?)
That said, choosing between buying older and newer is a tradeoff between risk versus cost. The older a car, the more likely it will need repair sooner. But since you've ruled out the most recent model years, most of the cars you're looking at (ca. 2002) will have already gone through the biggest depreciation.
If you want your own car, I'd aim for a used newer car (ca. 2002, for instance). Another factor to consider: whether or not you plan to have this car long-term, or if this is just to get you by until you can afford a better one.
A higher mileage (~100,000) 2000ish Toyota, Honda, Acura that was well maintained is more than you need for 3 months and the sweet spot in my opinion. If it's nice enough you might even consider keeping it and putting another 100,000 miles on it before passing it along.