How to Find Used Cars Around $500 Dollars

If you're working with a budget of 500 dollars you may find the pool of available vehicles is less reliable than you may have hoped. When purchasing a car for 500 dollars you have to take into account that you're buying an older vehicle that is subject to wear and tear. The vehicle likely has high miles and may be in need of some repairs. So before you purchase a lemon that you're going to have to sink even more money into than you wanted to spend in the first place here are just a few things to consider when buying a used vehicle.

Interior

Inspect the interior for tears, burn or stains. If you're buying a car under $500 dollarsit's not going to look great inside, but you can get an idea about the way it was treated by the condition of the interior.

Braking

When you're stopping how do the brakes respond? Is there any grinding or squeaking? A severe grinding noise may be caused by shot rotors. If you end up buying a car with rotors that are too far gone that they can't be turned they will have to be replaced. These are not cheap and could end up costing you a couple hundred bucks for replacements.

If the brakes are squeaking that could be due to a wear indicator which means it's time to replace the pads. This is a fairly cheap repair that you may even be able to do yourself. If this is the case you may be able to use this as a bit of a bargaining chip to lower the price of the vehicle.

Tires

What is the over all condition of the tires? Can you see metal belts showing or are the treads completely worn down? If you have a budget of 500 dollars this could be greatly reduced if you have to immediately replace the tires on your new purchase. If you're on a tight budget this may be a deal breaker when looking at a used vehicle.

Overall Appearance

How does the car look physically? Are there any glaring downfalls? Is there a lot of rust? How does the underbody look? How does the body look? Is the muffler hanging? How does it sound once started?

Unfortunately it can be a gamble when buying cars for $500. Even if the used car looks ok there could have been some series damage done in the vehicle's past that will affect it once you drive away. Use your best judgment. Ask why the seller is looking to get rid of the vehicle? If he's motivated he may be willing to accept less just to get it off his lawn. If you can step away with only having to make some minor repairs you might be able to drop the price down a little bit more.