used cars

By the way does anyone have a cheap used reliable vehicle for sale?

Here's my take on it...others may disagree.

In that price range, then YES, expect to overpay for the car. It's still cheap and you can dump it at the other end easily for about the same or just a little less. We have, over the years owned 2 real "beaters" that we sold for about the same we paid after a couple of years of each. We also had a nice car that we sold after 5 years for just a couple thousand less than we paid. We then had a really nice car that we sold for $4,000 under blue book.

I see it as a sliding scale. The lesser value of the car, the more you pay. The higher value of the car, the better deal you can get.

I hope that makes sense. The bottom line is if you can get a car under $2000, take good care of it, etc....you'll get your money back.

As always, of course, buyer beware!

Juanita sums it up perfectly. This is NOT the states, and most financial expectations for life there just don't apply here.

I get it but what really amazes me is the condition compared to price and the fact that you can actually get that here. I looked at a 1997 Suzuki Esteem yesterday which was described as very clean and well maintained. When I went to see the car it was a rolling piece of junk with body and interior damage everywhere. Price $2200. This would be a $500 car stateside but hey if you have a glut of crack smokers and not enough crack you can charge whatever you want. Will continue my search but will have to raise my price for the higher grade crack to get what I want : )

I've heard low-end car pricing here summed up this way.

If it runs, it's worth $1,000.

If it runs and has working 4WD, add another thousand.

Then add on from there for new tires, new brakes, whole vehicle can be locked, etc.

In this price range, you will not find good body condition, interior or exterior, as you may in the states. Because, this is not the states!

In general, since cars cost approximately $1,500 to ship here from the States, the Value of those cars are about $1,500 more than in the States....so, your $2,000 car here is basically what you'd expect for $500 in the States...

Is the amount of miles a car has driven less of a factor in the VI than on the mainland?

I hope to bring a car from Washington DC, but in my price range I am going to be looking at a very clean 5-10 year old car with 70 - 120k Miles on it (depending what car I get). Would I be able to get the same asking price on a 2002 Jeep Wrangler with 95,000 Mainland miles on it as I would for a 2002 - 2004 Jeep Wrangler with only 20-30k island miles on it? This is assuming the body and mechanics of the car I bring are in good shape. Ive seem some really new low mileage cars going for super cheap and I have also seen some older cars with many miles go for fairly high prices. The prices seem to be all over the place and have me confused.

I would equate a car with 90,000 stateside highway miles to one with 30,000 STX miles, or 25,000 STT miles. The roads here can be atrocious at times. At the moment we are wondering when the shelling will end so they can fix the holes. Seriously, East End road, and the road near Questa Verde, look like they were used for bombing practice. It's reported that the tourists are now stopping to take photos of themselves standing the potholes - no kidding!
Along with the condition of the roads you need to take into account that 90% of the driving is low-speed, in-town. Even worse on STT with the hills. This increases the wear and tear. Add in a few small fender benders, as there seems to be more dented vehicles here than most places.

So unless it's a tough truck/suv/jeep, regular on-island cars with low mileage will be in worse condition in comparison to a higher mileage stateside vehicle. But the pricing still comes back to supply and demand, and jeeps are more likely to hold their value.

One related consideration. Your personal standards related to vehicular status are likely to change once you settle into island life. Here it's far less about 'what you drive' and much more about 'who you are'. Many people drive 'island cars' down here, without the same degree of social judgment that would be assigned to this up on the mainland. 😎