The Urban Legend of the "Good $2,000 Car"

Perhaps the question I get asked the most when someone finds out that I buy cars direct from dealer only auto auctions is, "Can you find me a good $2,000 car?"

I'm not quite sure how or when the urban legend of the "good $2,000 car" got started but the details of this car seems to have crossed every race, ethnic, cultural, political and religious boundary in the land. The mythical $2,000 car has a few scrapes and dings and a touch of sun faded paint and perhaps even a little bit of rust. Amazingly everything works although it might squeak a little and the shocks might be a little spongy but not too squeaky or spongy. The rubber on the tires would be worn but still have a good 30,000 miles left on them. It would probably be a little dirty on the inside but nothing that a little Windex and elbow grease couldn't clean.

Can I find a good $2,000 car at the auction? The short answer is no. It's not that I haven't tried. I look every time I go to an auction and every time I pull a run list. It's not that there's a lack of cars with posted MMRs of less than $2,000 at the auction; quite the opposite is true there are plenty of cars for less than $2,000 at every auction. Unfortunately none come close to meeting the criteria of "a good $2,000 used car." The fact of the matter is that cars today cost more because the dollar isn't worth what it used be worth.

Back in the 70's and maybe even the 80's it was possible to find a good used $2,000 car. Back then cars came with few options so new car prices were cheaper which directly affected the value of used cars and they were simply less things that could go wrong. If you lived in the North it wasn't unrealistic to find new cars at dealerships that didn't come equipped with air conditioning. Today that's just unheard of and nobody would be willing to by a good used $2,000 car if it didn't come equipped with a working A/C unit. Especially those of us who live in Florida!

But you don't have to take my word for that, just trust your eyes and ears and the free market. If used car dealers could find a good used $2,000 car they would be selling them like hotcakes and retiring to their million dollar condo by the thousands. The fact that I get asked this question so often is proof enough to me that a very real and substantial market exist for the mythical good $2,000 car. In any free market economy supply will meet demand if that demand can be met. But you don't see good $2,000 cars on used car lots because they simply don't exist.

That's why when I get asked if I can find a good $2,000 car at the auction, I answer with a simple, "No."