For anyone with bad credit or little cash, finding used cars for under $1000 may be the best bet. Buy here pay here car lots often tout that one of the advantages of buying a car from them is the low level of cash or credit needed to drive off with a car. That is true. However, it involves being tied to longer term ongoing payments, to the extent that the total final outlay for the car over time is high. If you can purchase a car outright for less than $1000 in cash, that’s probably something to seriously consider.
You can probably buy a used car for under $1000 through Buy Here Pay Here car lots. But before going that route, why not examine the alternatives that may be available to you. If you are able to purchase a car outright with cash this way, you can still get your transportation need fulfilled without risking the extra bad credit car loan.
Finding used cars online is a good approach that is easy to do and will allow shoppers to get to lots of options quickly. Here are some of the top options to consider:
Craigslist
Craigslist.com is a popular website that anyone can rely on to look for cheap used cars. It usually has more listings than newspaper and magazine car ads for used car sales. Craigslist is the major classified advertising website where a lot of people will list their used cars for sale online. The website is very popular due to its ease of use and the amount of stuff that you can find posted on their website. When searching for used cars for sale on their website, the first step is choosing the location (eg. Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles).
While looking at the list, the first page has a list of different types of listings, such as for jobs, housing or for sale. Choose from cars or trucks under the “for sale” category, then by dealer or owner. The next step is to narrow down the search in order to find that elusive sub-$1,000 car. The list will be composed of items that contain the word used during the search. Set your price range from 1 to 1,000 and a list of used cars within that price range will appear.
With Craigslist, the advantage is that you can deal locally with private parties selling directly, without going through a third party like a dealer. This can often result in good deals. Whether it is purchasing a car from the owners directly, or through a car lot, the bottom line is that you want to get to the best deal for your needs.
If you cannot find anything in the for sale by owners section, you can try the Dealers section. You will also see the ads are mostly Buy Here Pay Here dealers putting up listings.
Car Dealer Websites
If Craigslist is not an option or doesn’t show anything of interest, then feel free to look at other used car websites. Just go to Google and type used cars websites which will result in a list of websites that offer or post ads for used cars. The rule of thumb is that the higher a website ranks on that list, the better and more reliable that website is. Just pay attention to the brief descriptions that Google has on the results page and that should provide additional help.
Most of these sites are user-friendly, making them easy to browse. The search tools that one website offers to its visitors are different from one another. However, this is usually true for their layout. Features are usually the same between the different online car advertising websites. Some websites use categories like new or used, type, make, and so on. The most important feature to look for is the one that allows visitors to set their price range which makes it easy to look for the cheapest cars on their list.
eBay Motors
eBay is one of the most popular and trusted auction websites. It is a transnational consumer-to-consumer website owned and operated by the US-based corporation eBay Inc. Upon reaching their website, a visitor only needs to click all appropriate categories and search for the cars and vehicles category. Once there, visitors will be given the opportunity to use various search tools to narrow their search and make it easier for them.
To make things easy and simple for its visitors, eBay Motors makes it plain and simple for them to set the parameters of their search. An empty search bar is located right beside a category selection tab. Select the eBay motors category which will then proceed to redirect the visitor to eBay motors which lists used cars online. Beside the search button is the advanced setting where visitors can set the price range for their search for used cars online.
Examples We Found Of Used Cars Under $1,000 Online
1988 GMC C3500 Truck – $1000 – in driving condition
1989 Toyota Camry – $950 – in driving condition
1997 Mercury Villager GS listed for $1000 – needs repair work on knock sensor and 5 cylinder injector
1991 Saturn SC listed for $1000 – needs a knock sensor approx $40 and odometer doesn’t work
1995 Chrysler Sebring – $800 – in driving condition – may need some work on the exhaust
These are some of the listings we found for used cars under $1000 online. Some of them may need a little repair work to get going, so if you or a friend is well-versed with cars, it will work to your advantage. Otherwise, you may be able to find a reasonably priced mechanic who can help you. However, there are also others that are sold in driving condition as is. To find current listings, take a look at the websites mentioned above or additional websites you find online.
