<prompt> Human: Hey guys, I thought about posting this in rcars maybe, but it seems like they are car lovers and might not be able to offer me the best advice.My situation is that we are building a house, due to close on 9 March. My husband and I shared a car between the 2 of us still on a 12k loan and it worked for us for 10 months because we worked in the same building! Husband got a new job, and I am stranded at my job until late at night when he can swing by to get me. This is NOT going to work. I dont want to open any new loans before we close on our house, and we cant afford to spend much cash because we are trying to make our down payment as big as possible.Bottom Line: I need to get a beater to get me through the winter. Would like to keep it around 1500. What are some things I should look for in the car and some negotiating tactics? Thanks for your help and advice.Edit: Cant believe I didnt mention this: I live in the MidWest, so Ill need good tires and heat.UPDATE 4 days later: I want to thank you all for taking time out of your day to give me some amazing advice and teach me things to look for in a prospective car that I would have never considered. I GOT A CAR!! 1500 all of you haters who thought it couldnt be done for that amount can K my A! haha. It is a one-owner 2004 Nissan Accent with 156k, mechanically perfect, 14k on tires 80k tires, and only one tiny spot of rust on the wheel well. Interior is spotless. I do have to admit I got really lucky with this deal, as this car blue-booked about a grand higher but I went to HS with the owner so they cut me a break. Anyway, just wanted to share how this all turned out! Thanks again Reddit! I never would have considered a Hyundai before you guys came into my life ;Assistant: I have bought a bunch of beater cars so I have some advice.You have three basic options Toyota, Honda, Saturn. Those cars tend to last way past 150k miles. Toyota and Honda last to 300k and Saturn is a 250k. Here is what you are looking for: You want a car, not a truck or SUV both of those tend to be used harder. Take any car your interested in to a mechanic. Anyone selling should let you do that and and full service shop will look a car over for 50 - 90. Some might do it for free. If you cant afford that then take a car your interested in to any auto parts store and have them check the computer in the car for codes. Also tell them you are thinking of buying it and they might let you know about some red flags. You want as low miles as you can get, keeping in mind that you are going to end up with a car close to 200,000 miles for 2k. Pay attention to the body of the car, a car with more rust is probably going to have other problems. You want an automatic car. Not a manual. Clutches in old cars end up needing to be replaced more often than not 400 - 600. Check tire tread, thats 400 more for tires all around and you might be able to drive the price down for new tires. Drive it and make sure the alignment is close to good no stiff pulling one way or another. An alignment that is way off is 100 to fix and may also be a sign of failing joints etc Depending on which joint 200-400 alignment Thanks to uezSpankOven for noting previous price was incorrect.. Use the overdrive see my edit on the car go up a steep hill or see how fast you can get to 70 mph. If the transmission shifts really hard that could be a red flag for either engine mounts going bad thats not the worst thing in the world and is still drivable or a bad transmission. You will need a mechanic to confirm which Bad tranny is 1500, engine mounts are around 200 if I remember right but a car is still drivable with bad engine mounts. A big one is find out when the timing beltchain was replaced. If they dont know then google if the car has a belt or chain. A chain can last the entire life of the car, a belt is a 60k to 90k replacement needed and not knowing is bad. I dont know how much a timing belt cost to replace as I dont buy cars with belts. Check the oil, if it is low or dark then you might have a oil leak or it burns oil. If it burns out that nbd as most old cars do but make sure you check the oil on a regular basis if you buy the car. I carry oil around with me cause mine burns oil about 1 qt every 2 months Check the age of the battery if you dont know how google it, its really easy. If it is older than 3 years then keep in mind you will need a new one soon 80 - 130. I tend to buy 4 cylinder cars. I find they are great on the gas mileage and people sell them cheap. People also I think, I have no proof of this drive them more carefully. Any car you get you need to drive like it is about to break. That means not running at high rpms to much, taking more time to get from 0-70, and overall just driving softly. Your interior is going to be worn, accept that is the case. Take a deep wiff when you get in the car, anything is smells like now will stay smoke or mustiness If they have the records for the car ask for them before you buy so you can see the maintenance.Some people wont like this advice but here it is. It you are an attractive women you might get be able to get a lower price on the car if you dont tell your story and just say you have X dollars for a car assuming the person selling the car is a guy. If you dont think that will work then bring your husband for the sale. A good cop bad cop can bring the price down 100 - 200 dollars. Of course you dont need to do that at all if the price is fair. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. Every car I have bough has been under 3k and most last me 2 or 3 years. EDIT: So after reading some comments I realized I was mis-using terminology. I refer to a car downshifting to a lower gear as overdrive. This is of course wrong. So when I say dont run it in overdrive I really meant dont run it at high rpms for a long period of time. Human: This is awesome. Thank you for this priceless advice. Assistant: Your welcome. I forgot one thing well more than one but I remembered this just now. Turn on the heat and air condition full blast. No AC is not a problem roll down the windows but no heat is a big deal. Also, it will tell you if there are any hidden smells. If you hear a squeal belts or something when you do then the piece the belt goes around different belt, not the one I was referring to before for the air conditioner is bad and will need to be replaced. Not sure the price as I did it myself the time it happened to me but parts are 50. Speaking of which, pop the hood, take a look at the serpentine belt if you dont know what that is, google it, its really easy to spot. If it is cracked on the top or worn smooth on the bottom it will need to be replaced which is about 100- 150. Look up what a good belt vs a bad belt looks like so you know what I mean. If it is not replaced it will break at some point or never which will make your car not go but will not destroy your car meaning a towing and then the belt change..Human: Thank you. Spot on with the heat--I need it here! And the hidden smells thing, too.Ill check the belts too.  <response>: Word of warning, if you turn on the heater and smell maple syrup once the engine gets warm youve got a coolant leak somewhere.Rotting eggs H2S usually means the catalytic converter is broken or theres something wrong with your exhaust.Other weird smells can also mean weird things.In your situation as long as it can reliably get you from A to B then its good. The Accord CB7 is IMO a very solid option for something cheap. In my area a 93 accord will go for around 1500. Plus theres a very large cult following and you can probably get a lot of support to fix any issues that crop up if youre willing to put the work into it.Another option would be something like a Cavalier. An early 2000s Cavalier should go for around 1500. Sunfires, Neons, etc. will fit the bill too. Basically the typical 1000 student special.I recommend naval jelly if you see rusting to inhibit it theres also other products out there that do the same thing. Theres no real point in undercoating it or putting money into it. Just live with it until you can get some more cashflow.Also I highly recommend an engine block heater put on a timer to start about 30 mins before you leave for work, if left on all night they suck a LOT of power. Helps your car start in the morning, helps the engine warm up faster, and is easier on the engine.BTW: The rusty panel thing is cool now 2 3 4 so if you do have a rusted panel might as well take off all the paint on the rest of the panel, and artificially rust it. 