The used car market is so terrible where I live that I bought a 1999 Subaru Forester L with a completely trashed engine that could barely make it a block without overheating. I got it for around $200 in "scrap material" (Luckily the title wasn't a salvage yet).

So I completely took the engine apart myself and put in new head gaskets, pumps, belts, electronics and all that noise. I took it as a challenge to myself since my old cars' engine had completely stopped starting and absolutely nothing got it working again, and I had wanted to prove that I could fix a fucked up car. It took 2 months, but I saved so much money not buying an overpriced piece of trash that seems to saturate the used market right now. (Seriously? $6,000 for a beat up 30 year old sedan? Is everyone selling these cars insane?).

And the best part is that the total cost of this Subaru + all the parts needed was 1,700!

To put it in perspective I had found someone selling a 2002 Subaru Forester L for 3,000 on the side of the road. I could probably make a business out of this if I wasn't so slow...

Never did figure out what was wrong with the old car, we just ended up scrapping it because it was a complete lost cause. But if this were pre-pandemic I wouldn't have had to do that at all. I would've just slapped over 2,000 for a piece of garbage that needs some maintenance, and be on my way, no need for scrap diving, brain rotting and time wasting.