Anybody else shopping for a used car right now? The market seems exceptionally brutal. High prices, high miles, high number of rebuilt titles. I'm also picky about avoiding models/years/features with known problems, so that cuts out a lot of the market. Where have the cheap corollas gone!?
Carfax lists 15,052 Corollas. Not sure how cheap you want. I have used Carfax to find older model low mileage vehicles out of the rust belt. If you’re willing to travel, you can get some decent deals.
This looks like a decent deal to me. 2004 Toyota Corolla LE for sale in Deerfield Beach, FL - CARFAX I had a Toyota Tacoma pickup shipped from Deerfield Beach two years ago for $1100. Living in a state with no sales tax on vehicles it was the best option to avoid paying FL sales tax which would have been required if I picked it up from the dealer and drove it home.
We bought a 2009 Lexus GX470 right before the pandemic free money printing programs started. It is now worth more than we paid for it with 235,000 miles on the clock. I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the country. Toyota/Lexus vehicles from 200o - 2010 are some of the best vehicles for the money right now, including Corollas of you can find one that has been well maintained. We have three Corollas that vintage in our family and they are all still reliable with one pushing 300,00o miles. If I was looking for an older small truck for running around, light work and recreational use I would also look for an old Ford Ranger. Besides old Tundras, I see more of those on the roads than any other brand on around here. I would carefully check the frame in the rust belt. I oil ours, so the undersides, panels and lines are better than most 10 year old vehicles around here.
I'm a toyota nerd, so I'm quite familiar. The list of vehicles I'm considering consists of toyotas and hondas, but even then, I'm being very specific to avoid certain model years. No 2azfe engines, no early years of 6 speed autos. No CVTs or DI in the hondas. My current daily has over 400k and is giving me hints that it's time to replace it.
