What is the least you ever paid for a car?

[vonsmog]

Saw an ad on TV for a mattress for $8k! I was like, WOW I paid less for some Porsche's! So it got me to thinking of what was the least I have paid for a car that I could fix up and drive, not a parts car. For me it was a 65' Olds 442 convertible. Paid $20 for the car, and told the guy I would give him another $80 if he could find the paperwork for it. He never did, but found some info in the glove box from the previous owner, and he still had all the paper work for it. Seems the guy I got the car from, never paid for it in full. Guy said it your going to fix it up, come over and get the paperwork you have it! This was like 1982. Then I did pay only $600 for my first Unimog that I restored in 2005. There have been a lot of $100-$500 junkers in there, but nothing that stands out.

[Seahawk]

I paid $150.00 for a 1959 VW Bug in 1972.

First car, in good shape. The guy who sold it to me worked for my Dad and was transferred from Cali to DC.

I as happy to be on the road.

[herr_oberst]

I think 250, 300 for a couple of cars. Beetles were cheap in the '70's and I had a couple. Paid about 6-700 for a '65 VW bus DD in about 1978. 200-300(?) for a '63 Buick Skylark in about 1980

[FLYGEEZER]

$ 60.00 for a 1934 Ford sedan in 1958 when I was 16. Drove it home.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Paid about 6-700 for a '65 VW bus DD in about 1978.

I bought a 1968 VW Bus in 1974 for $400.00. Rebuilt the motor, spiffed up the interior and sold it for $850 six months later. High cotton.

As an aside, in flight school in Pensacola, I rented a house with two other guys for a total of $175.00 a month. I stroked a monthly rental check for $58 bucks a month in 1983.

[GH85Carrera]

My first car was a 60 VW bug I pain $600 for and drove it for two years and sold it for $650.

[Cajundaddy]

$300 for a 63 Chevy II bought in 1973. Sold it 1 year later for $400.

[Charles Freeborn]

$100 in 1974 or thereabouts for my first car - a '64 bug. Blown engine - fixed in H.S. auto shop. Sold it for $400....

[mreid]

I paid $40 for a 1964 Mercury Comet with a 260 V8 and auto in 1973. It was my first car. Ran great, but it was in primer.

[yetibone]

Neighbor gave me a '72 Superbeetle with a knocking engine. Dad found another Beetle that caught fire in front, but had a good engine in back for $250...

...so, $250, I guess is the least money I paid for a car.

[Danimal16]

$50 for a 1962 Rambler.

[DanielDudley]

I once paid 100 dollars for a Subaru GL wagon that supposedly needed a clutch. It had a stripped hub spline, and I had one lying about, so I threw it in. I drove that car for a few years, Even driving it from MA to AZ. It ran like a top, and the only repair I ever did to it was to take the starter apart and clean the carbon off of the starter solenoid contacts.

A friend of mine needed a car some time after that, and I loaned it to him, eventually selling it to him for 600 bucks. He eventually sold it for even more money.

FWIW, I told the guy who owned the car that it did not need a clutch, only a hub. He sold it to me anyway.

[jshape]

$250 in 1963 for a 1956 Chev 2 dr coupe. Had three speed on the column and a 265 ci V8 with a 4 bbl. Fun car that I sold a year later to a guy for $350 who then dropped in a 327 w/dual 4 bbl carbs, a 4 speed and lots of other goodies It went from being a fun car when I owned it to an awesome one - too bad it wasn't mine when that happened.

[fastfredracing]

I cut my neighbors grass for one summer in exchange for his plymouth colt with a bent a arm, and bad axle . My first car.
I had a customer give me a caravan for 50.00 . His last mechanic told him it needed head gaskets. I kept insisting that it only needed a water pump . Perfect timing as we had a baby on the way at that time, and I was flat friggen broke .
I think I bought a parts car camaro for 500 , that ended up doing winter beater status for a few years, and I also had a 150.00 VW Fox that I ran for a few years .
I almost enjoy beater cars as much as I like the nice ones.

[masraum]

Meh, you guys with your $200-400 cars back in the early 70s. In the early to mid 90s I was paying $350-500 for econoboxes. I couple of Dodge Omnis, Chevy Citation X-11, Oldsmobile Omega (fwd).

[thamlin000]

$650 for my first car in 1996. Was an 82 Prelude.

[M.D. Holloway]

My Son just bought this today for $350. A 96, 5 speed stick, V6 3.8L. Actually runs decent. He put in a new battery, some coolant and fuel. This is the start of his LeMons or Chump car. I would put a new radiator, brakes and exhaust for starters...

[Laneco]

In the mid 80's, I bought a Datsun 1200 coupe for $75 at a yard sale. They couldn't get it started. I put a fresh battery in it and GAS - fired right up.

Quite a few cars in the $300 to $600 range. A few years ago, I bought a Hyundai sedan with some very light front end damage for $60 and a Civic that was full of garbage literally up to the tops of the doors for $80. Both of these were at a "driving while suspended" car auction so I knew that they DID run. Drove both of them home.

If you aren't too proud and you're willing to throw a little work including usually ALOT of cleaning, there is plenty of cheap transportation out there for a couple of hundred bucks.

angela

[Scott Douglas]

$375 for a '58 Jeep CJ-5 back in 1970(?). Should have listened to my dad and passed on it but I really wanted a Jeep.
In '72 I bought a '68 BMW 1600 w/25k on it for $1600. Sold it 9 yrs and 110k additional miles later for $1500.

[yetibone]

I remember going through a couple of $50 motorcycles when I was a teenager.

A CB200, and XL250 were $50 each, Paid 200 bucks for an air cooled CR80, and $250 for a DT360 all before I turned 16. Cutting grass, and toting bales of pinestraw funded it all.

Traded the DT, and the XL (now with busted oil pump and ruined cam journals) straight across for a YZ125; first model with radiators and a power valve. kept that till I was finally driving age, then sold it to fund a $450 KTM 250MX

Traded the fragile KTM for a beast of a KDX450 that I kept for two weeks before I sold it and used part of the money to fund a $250 V30 Magna when I was a junior in HS. the rest of the cash bought strut cartridges, and a muffler for my free VW with the $250 engine.

The CB200 was the only one I didn't sell to fund another purchase. Ended up taking it apart after I fried the rectifier from starting it with a deep cycle battery, and running it without a battery at all for too many times.