c/cars-for-cheap

Rust belt auction trap cost me $1,800 in frame work

Tbh I thought I scored a deal at a Penn Hills auction last month on a 2003 Civic. Got it home and the subframe mounts were basically powder, the seller had painted over everything with that black rubber goop. Ngl I was so busy checking the engine I forgot to look underneath with a flashlight. After paying $600 for the car and then $1,200 to a welder in McKeesport to patch it, I coulda bought a cleaner one for the same money. Anyone else get burned by the undercoating trick at these county auctions?

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reese_taylor69•10d ago

Rant: the 'new' brake caliper was actually a reman nightmare

So I grab a 'rebuilt' caliper for a 2004 Corolla at a place near Fresno, pay $85, slap it on. Brakes still drag after 2 hours of bleeding and messing with the proportioning valve. Turns out the piston was pitted under the boot, reman quality is trash now. Anyone else getting bad cores from these big chain stores or is it just my luck? I lost a whole Saturday on this.

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craig.grant•10d ago

Heads up about the salvage auction lot off I-44 in Springfield, that place is shady

Stopped by the public auction yard last Thursday to look at a 2011 Civic they listed at $1,800. Walked the lot for 20 minutes and every single car had the VIN plate scratched or painted over. Like all of them, not just one or two. I asked the guy at the gate about it and he just shrugged and said 'previous owners.' I noped out of there fast. If you're hunting parts or a flip under 5k, check the VIN tag before you even pop the hood. Has anyone else run into a whole lot with scrubbed VINs, or was this just a bad day?

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hill.barbara•12d ago

The Home Depot parking lot taught me to always bring a battery tester

Was meeting a dude off Craigslist in the lot off I-35 to look at a 2003 Civic he wanted 1800 for. Car started fine when we got there, but he admitted it sat for 2 months and I got suspicious about the alternator. No way to test it on the spot, so I lowballed him to 1400 and took the risk. Turns out the battery was shot and the alt was fine, but I still got a decent car. Now I keep a $25 load tester in my trunk and use it on every test drive before I hand over cash. Anyone else carry tools to meetups or do you just trust the seller?

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miawalker•14d ago

The $400 beater taught me fuel filters matter after 3 years

Picked up a 2002 Civic in Phoenix for $400, figured the rough idle was just old plugs or coils, swapped both and it still shuddered at every stoplight. Turned out the fuel filter was so clogged it felt like the car was running on 2 cylinders, my buddy watched me pour a can of Seafoam in and laughed, then pointed at the service manual I never opened. Anyone else put off basic maintenance on a cheap car and end up chasing a dumb fix for months?

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taylorm89•14d ago

Don't trust the odometer on a clean title. Check for rollback signs

Pulled a 2005 Civic last month in Phoenix. Seller showed clean title. Odometer said 118k. But brake pedal was worn at 160k level. Floor mats rubbed through. VIN check came back with a 2009 inspection at 143k. Someone rolled it back 25k. Easy $1500.00 mistake if I did not check. Ask for old emissions or oil change receipts. Any gap in records is a red flag. Those DMV printouts only show recent miles. Anyone else caught a rollback before?

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logan648•17d ago

Took 3 tries to bleed my brakes properly, thought it was a 20 minute job

Bought a 2002 Civic with spongy pedals for 900 bucks. Figured a quick bleed would fix it. First try, pedal still sank. Second try, replaced the master cylinder. Third try, finally found a seized rear caliper. Whole thing ate a full Saturday and a 30 pack. Anybody else burn a whole day on what should be a basic job?

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taylorm89•17d ago

Bleeding brakes on my $900 Celica took 3 weekends, not 3 hours

Everyone says gravity bleeding is foolproof but my rear cylinders kept sucking air past the threads even with new crush washers. Finally figured out the flare nut was cracked at the line, replaced it with a 50 cent fitting from the junkyard in Sacramento and it stopped. Anyone else fight a simple brake job for way longer than the forums admit?

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the_faith•17d ago

Thought I could swap a clutch in one Saturday, that was cute

Picked up a 2002 Civic for $1,800 in Denver with a slipping clutch, figured I'd knock it out in a day. Watched a couple videos, got the car on stands, and then the real fun started. The flywheel bolts were torqued to hell and I snapped one off clean, took me 3 hours just to drill and extract it. Then the transmission wouldn't budge off the dowel pins, I ended up prying and wiggling for another 2 hours. Total job ran me about 14 hours across two weekends, plus $90 in specialty tools I didn't budget for. My neighbor came over and said, 'should've just paid a shop,' but the quote I got was $950. Has anyone else had a simple job spiral like this, or am I just slow with a hammer? I'm curious what your worst 'quick fix' turned into.

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verac40•17d ago

TIL a $300 junkyard turbo blew up my $1200 beater in 40 miles

Found a Volvo 240 with a Garrett T3 still bolted on at Pull-A-Part in Phoenix. Spent 3 hours getting it out, looked fine but I skipped checking the shaft play. Put it on my 740 wagon Saturday, by Sunday afternoon it was smoking like a freight train and the oil line was clogged with metal chunks. Anyone else learn the hard way that junkyard turbos are a gamble even when they look clean?

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joseph529•18d ago

The $150 brake bleeder that made my 4 hour job take 20 minutes

Picked up a cheap vacuum bleeder kit off Amazon for my 98 Civic after fighting with a friend holding the pedal for way too long. First try on the rear caliper, fluid was flowing clean in under a minute with zero bubbles. Anyone else switch to a one-person bleeder and never look back?

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hannah240•22d ago

Blew a brake line on I-35 and swore off cheap lines forever

Had a $14 replacement line pop at 70 mph outside Waco last month, and it took a flatbed, a lecture from a parts guy, and 3 hours of roadside swearing to figure out the real issue was a rusted bracket I ignored. Now I spend the extra $20 on pre-bent lines and check every mounting point before I even think about bleeding the system. Anyone else ditch the cheap fix after a scary failure, or am I the only one who learned this the hard way?

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wells.reese•22d ago

That $30 Harbor Freight torque wrench beat my Snap-on on head bolts

Everyone on here says never trust the $30 Harbor Freight torque wrenches, so I bought one to compare against my Snap-on for head bolts on an old Civic. Did 20 clicks at 40 ft-lbs and the cheap one clicked within a few lbs on my beam gauge every time. The Snap-on was off by over 7 ft-lbs at the same setting, which blew my mind since it cost 8x more. Maybe the beam gauge is the real hero here, or I got a lucky one out of the bin. Has anyone else had a budget tool beat a name brand on actual measurements, or did I just get a unicorn?

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jamiew83•23d ago

Shoulda checked the frame before buying that $3200 Mazda

Picked up a 2004 Mazda 3 last month off a private seller, looked clean and ran fine. Took it to a shop for a pre-registration check and they found the rear subframe was rotten through, basically unsafe to drive. I got a partial refund, but only after threatening to report the guy, and I'm out $200 for the inspection and my time. Anyone else get burned by rust hiding under fresh undercoating, or was I just dumb for trusting a Craigslist car in Ohio?

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lane.joel•24d ago

Junkyard guy in Dayton argued with me about rebuilt titles, still not sure who was right

Pulled a 2002 Civic out of a Pull-A-Part in Dayton last spring, clean body but the title was branded from a front end hit. The guy running the yard swore rebuilt titles are fine for daily beaters, said he's flipped 40 of them and only one had frame issues. I've always avoided them for resale because buyers in my area get spooked, but he showed me his own Rust Belt wagon with a salvage sticker and it drove straight. So who's actually making money off these, and are you telling buyers up front or just letting them find out at the DMV?

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kelly61•24d ago

Bought a $400 rusty Subaru, the floor pan fell out on the highway

Last month I snagged a 1998 Subaru Outback for $400 because the body was rough but the engine sounded sweet. I drove it 60 miles home and about halfway the passenger floor pan just ripped open from rust, I could see the asphalt flying by. I patched it with a sheet of aluminum and some self-tapping screws from the hardware store, cost me $14 total. It held up for a week but now I'm wondering if I should just weld in some proper metal or junk the thing. Anyone else dealt with rust that bad on a flip, and is it worth saving or should I cut my losses?

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brian_coleman•26d ago

The difference in a 1999 Civic I saw go from 350K to 400K miles in like 8 months

There's this dude in my neighborhood who drives a beat up 99 Civic, and I swear every time I see him it's got more miles on it. Last time I changed his oil at my shop it was at 352k, and yesterday I saw him at the gas station and he rolled past 398k. No check engine light, no smoke, just that old single cam chugging along like it was brand new. Has anyone else seen a car that just refuses to die no matter how many miles you pile on?

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avery_carr57•26d ago

The day I figured out why my cheap Volvo kept overheating was a Tuesday afternoon in March

I had this 1998 Volvo V70 I bought for $900. It would run fine for 20 minutes then the temp gauge would climb. I replaced the thermostat, the water pump, even flushed the system twice. Nothing worked. Then a guy at the Pick-N-Pull told me to check the coolant cap. Turns out the stock cap lets coolant escape at 15 psi but a bad one opens too early and causes the system to lose pressure which makes it boil. I swapped it for a $8 cap at AutoZone and the problem went away. Has anyone else run into a simple fix like that where the obvious parts were not the real issue?

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grace_perry44•27d ago

Stop replacing your entire exhaust for a simple leak

I see posts all the time where someone blows $400 on a full cat-back because their muffler has a tiny hole. Just hit it with some JB Weld ExtremeHeat. I fixed a rust spot on my 98 Civic for 8 bucks and its been holding for 6 months now. Anyone actually test that stuff before shelling out for a whole system?

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tessa_hill86•28d ago

Went to pick up a free set of wheels from a guy on Facebook Marketplace and his garage had 4 identical Honda Civics all with blown head gaskets, what is that about?

I actually asked him why he kept buying the same car and he said they were all from different salvage auctions and he just likes the challenge of swapping motors, but then he tried to sell me a 1999 hatchback with a misfire for $1,200 so has anyone else run into these hoarder types who refuse to let go of a platform?

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grant.luna•28d ago

Picked up a 2002 Ford Focus for $500 and the trunk had a whole toolbox in it

I drove out to a guy's farm near Bakersfield last Saturday to look at this beat up Focus. He said it ran but had a weird hesitation, so I took it for a spin and felt it stutter at 45 mph. Popped the hood and saw the spark plug wires were almost melted, then I opened the trunk and found a full socket set, two jacks, and a fuel pump still in the box. Fixed it with the wire set for $20 and now it drives smooth, anyone else find hidden treasures in cheap cars they bought?

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blairm35•28d ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad junkyards are for finding cheap transmissions?

I hit up Pull-A-Part over in Memphis last Saturday looking for a 4L60E for my old Chevy van. Everyone always says junkyards are the holy grail for budget builds under $500. But man, I spent 3 hours crawling through mud and dodging broken glass just to find out half the cars were stripped clean already. The one transmission I found had the bellhousing cracked and some rat had been living inside it. I get that it's part of the game when you're trying to flip something for cheap, but I think people gloss over how much time you waste there. Has anyone else had better luck at specific yards or am I just hitting the wrong ones?

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kelly61•1mo ago

Wasted $400 on a 'rust-free' Honda Civic that turned out to be bondo and spray paint from a guy in Denver.

I drove 3 hours to pick it up, got it home, and after one good rain the whole quarter panel flaked off like a bad sunburn - has anyone else found a cheap way to actually check for hidden rust before buying?

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rowan593•1mo ago

Buddy at work told me I'm stupid for not checking brake fluid age before bleeding

He said old fluid absorbs moisture and can boil over on a long downhill, and I'd never even thought about that. My 2001 Camry has 180k on it and I've never changed the fluid, just topped it off. Anyone actually test their fluid or just swap it every couple years?

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rosebennett•1mo ago

Heard a guy at the scrapyard say never to trust a used timing belt that looks new

Tbh I was about to buy a 1999 Subaru Outback with 150k miles and the seller swore the timing belt was just replaced. But some old dude at the yard said those belts can look perfect and still snap if they're cheap parts or sat too long. He told me a story about a guy who lost a whole engine to a $40 belt that looked brand new. So now I'm wondering, is it worth pulling the cover to check the brand or just budget for a new belt right away?

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