Cars are a symbol of power. We’ve all seen the stories about moguls with multi-story garages and huge luxury car collections. But for some people cheap cars are the way to go. Cheap in price doesn’t have to mean cheap in quality. Less costly can still be exciting to drive.
One of the ways to obtain a quality car on the cheap is to purchase cheap used cars. Even luxury models are much less expensive when purchased second hand. A new term has emerged over the last decade, pre-owned – to denote used cars that are of high quality. These pre-owned vehicles have even managed to pull some long time new car buyers into the used car market. Consider this with luxury cars. A Mercedes or Lexus is so well built that even 10 year old cars can still be in excellent condition. In fact, many people have generations of car buyers in their family who always purchase higher end models that are used. Remember the chauffeur in “Driving Miss Daisy”? He always bought Miss Daisy’s second hand, luxury cars.
Some cheap new cars are quite nice, too. The Hyundai Elantra is a quality car under $12,000. A well engineered car like the Honda Civic is only around $15K. That car lasts a long time, and gets great gas mileage. Luxury cars that need premium fuel and parts are generally more expensive to maintain too.
Try the cheaper, not really cheap, luxury cars. Audi makes luxury cars that compete with Mercedes and Lexus, but generally at the lower end of the price spread for like models. These are the best engineered in the world, nobody beats them. The Audi TT can be just as much fun as a Porsche, but much less expensive.
Of course some people want cheap, cheaper, cheapest. They turn to the clunker, the hooptie, the ancient model car that was probably old when their parents first bought a car. Teens often buy this style of car. It’s a set of wheels, and it gives them practice for a life time of practical mechanical knowledge. But watch out, the age old adage “You get what you pay for” applies to cheap cars too. It may not seem like such a deal when it won’t start on a cold winter morning.
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