Advice on buying a cheap car for a couple months only

[TippyRacer]

It occurred to me that despite some of the "interesting" characters here that I bet some of you have some good advice regarding this-

Shortest possible backstory: My "real" car got into a wreck. Was the other guys fault 100%, he got the ticket, but his insurance (Geico) has been jacking me around for coming up on 3 weeks now, and have only just accepted full liability on behalf of their insured (I do not have Geico).
My car is a European import, not ultra high end or rare, but not common. The luxury body shop here in Orlando that does all the dealership work for Mercedes/BMW/Audi/Jag/Land Rover/Aston Martin/etc etc I do trust, but they have been sitting on the car for nearly 3 weeks unable to start because of the insurance shenanigans. And the shop rep has been straight with me that some parts are going to have to come from across the pond, and they lost so much time because of Geico, and Thanksgiving, and will lose so much more time because of Christmas/New Years, that realistically I should plan to not see my car back until mid January. Though I trust the shop I don't really trust that date being met, the way things are going.
I am blessed to have a second "toy" vehicle, an old classic truck. I've had to use it as a daily driver now, but it is old, drafty, has a single cab with bench seat, no heat & a/c, and generally not made to go anywhere fast, quietly, or in inclement weather. I take my kid to school and pick her up in it, but this is not a real December-January solution.
You say Geico owes me a rental car, right? Of course they do, but I am choosing to take the "Loss of Use" payout in the end. As they will owe me about $50 a day, over 60+ days, that's 3 large. I will also pursue "Diminished Value" as my now wrecked car is worth several thousand less due to their client's negligence, but realistically I will never get what the value of my loss is at future trade-in without a hell of a legal fight.

So now to the point, if you're still with me- I am considering buying a cheap car for cash, using it for a couple months, and then try to sell it for close to the same money, only hopefully losing tax/title/registration. In my head this initially seems like a good idea, losing $500 bucks over 3 months for something from the mid 2000's, that is fairly safe (kids remember) and air & water tight with working climate control seems ok to me.
I can drop, say, 4 grand cash for some econobox in decent shape, 10-15 years old, 100k miles. Maybe manual transmission, just for kicks, might as well make the short owenership fun, eh?

But I know there's a lot I'm probably not taking into account here. So help me out? What am I stupidly overlooking?

[NorincoKid]

So now to the point, if you're still with me- I am considering buying a cheap car for cash, using it for a couple months, and then try to sell it for close to the same money, only hopefully losing tax/title/registration. In my head this initially seems like a good idea, losing $500 bucks over 3 months for something from the mid 2000's, that is fairly safe (kids remember) and air & water tight with working climate control seems ok to me.
I can drop, say, 4 grand cash for some econobox in decent shape, 10-15 years old, 100k miles. Maybe manual transmission, just for kicks, might as well make the short owenership fun, eh?

But I know there's a lot I'm probably not taking into account here. So help me out? What am I stupidly overlooking?

Not manual trans, but a retired P71 might make for a fun short-term , family friendly vehicle. They can usually be had pretty cheap, and probably not hard to unload when your'e done with it for minimal loss.

[zeebaron]

So now to the point, if you're still with me- I am considering buying a cheap car for cash, using it for a couple months, and then try to sell it for close to the same money, only hopefully losing tax/title/registration. In my head this initially seems like a good idea, losing $500 bucks over 3 months for something from the mid 2000's, that is fairly safe (kids remember) and air & water tight with working climate control seems ok to me.
I can drop, say, 4 grand cash for some econobox in decent shape, 10-15 years old, 100k miles. Maybe manual transmission, just for kicks, might as well make the short owenership fun, eh?

But I know there's a lot I'm probably not taking into account here. So help me out? What am I stupidly overlooking?

Not manual trans, but a retired P71 might make for a fun short-term , family friendly vehicle. They can usually be had pretty cheap, and probably not hard to unload when your'e done with it for minimal loss.

Not if you don't want a "project car", as 95% of those retired Interceptors are. I've dealt with/maintained 3 of them, and would never do it again. A grandma owned Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car from that era would be nice, though....

[NorincoKid]

Not if you don't want a "project car", as 95% of those retired Interceptors are. I've dealt with/maintained 3 of them, and would never do it again. A grandma owned Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car from that era would be nice, though....

I had a buddy who got one back when I lived in NY with 140K on the clock, it finally ended up shitting the bed around 290K (IIRC) because of frame rot...engine and trans were still in good working order. Besides regular maintenance, no catastrophic failures. Was his DD for almost a decade.

Maybe he just got lucky? Or maybe you just got the fuzzy end of the lollipop...three times.

I've seen some down here as low as 80K mileage, I'd think thats a pretty safe bet?

[zeebaron]

Not if you don't want a "project car", as 95% of those retired Interceptors are. I've dealt with/maintained 3 of them, and would never do it again. A grandma owned Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car from that era would be nice, though....

I had a buddy who got one back when I lived in NY with 140K on the clock, it finally ended up shitting the bed around 290K (IIRC) because of frame rot...engine and trans were still in good working order. Besides regular maintenance, no catastrophic failures. Was his DD for almost a decade.

Maybe he just got lucky? Or maybe you just got the fuzzy end of the lollipop...three times.

I've seen some down here as low as 80K mileage, I'd think thats a pretty safe bet?

Wiring/lighting issues from all the equipment being ripped out of them with no care before they headed to auction, transmission problems due to cops being hard on them, no way to open the doors from inside in the back (without taking apart doors and ordering and reinstalling parts), holes in the roof and trunk from removed equipment, etc.

[TC6969]

A low mileage administrators car from a supervisor/desk jockey might be a safe bet.

[Lastrites]

Find an old toyota, you will be able to flip it easy.

[Clyde621]

I just bought a 2007 Volvo S40 for $1400. Clean machine and runs great. Found on Craigslist. Great cars and often overlooked.

[N4KVE]

A low mileage administrators car from a supervisor/desk jockey might be a safe bet.

This describes my last 2 cars. Detective, or supervisor car that never had a spotlamp, or roof lites. My current P7B [2010+ P71] has 82K miles, & is in mint shape. Those northern ones can be rust buckets, but mine looks mint under the car. And the A/C blows at 36F in August. They’re around, just look for a big shot’s car. GARY.

[Captain Steinbrenner]

I would lease something I like, sell the wrecked car as is and keep the insurance money.


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