A $1,000 Car

$1000 car's life was through,
'bought 50,000 miles 'fore it got to you.
Oh why did I ever buy,
A $1000 car.

Sometimes I come across something that is so good, I just can’t stand it. I heard a song on the radio, titled “A Thousand Dollar Car” by the Bottle Rockets. It made me think of some the more extreme advice I have read in “get out of debt” financial discussions. Authors have suggested selling your current vehicle to get out from under car payments and buying a thousand dollar car. The principle is sound but where to draw the line.

A $1000 car ain't even gonna roll,
til you throw at least another thousand in the hole.
Sink your money in it, and there you are
the owner of a 2,000 dollar 1,000 dollar car.

In 1973 I bought a 1967 Chevrolet for $600. It had about 90,000 miles on the odometer. In those days a car was lucky to make it to 100,000 miles. It seemed to be in pretty good shape and the owner promised me he had prayed frequently for that car (really). I wrote out the check and bought a $600 car. The window frames rusted out, allowing water to leak into the car and the trunk. The inside door handle broke, so I had to open the door for my wife when we took that car. That was funny. Women would sigh and give me romantic looks, as I chivalrously opened the door for my wife.

$1000 car is gonna let you down,
More than it's ever gonna get you around.
Replace your gaskets and paint over your rust,
You'll still end up with something that you'll never trust.

I named that Chevrolet Betty Lou. She continued to run for about 7 years. It certainly wasn’t reliable by modern standards, but it never left me stranded. At one point, I had 3 cars, so I lent her to a friend who needed a second car for his wife. Once I received a call from a wrecker. One of wheels broke off that car and it had been abandoned on one of the main streets in Columbia, SC. Of course I discovered my friend was in the process of taking care of the problem. Over the course of the next year or so he put over $500 into that car. At that point I told him to keep it. He insisted that he give me something, so I sold him the car for $50 dollars. Later, he sold it to a man who wanted to turn it into a hot rod. The new owner went to prison. After that, I don’t know what became of Betty Lou.

Just for grins, I went to value of a dollar by year calculator. One 1973 dollar had the buying power of $5.08 2010 dollars. That sounds a little low. I would have guessed $6.00, but let’s go with the lower number. My $600 dollar car would cost $3,048 today. That sounds just about right. I have seen $3,000 cars that would be fine for someone trying to get out of debt, but I have to agree with song’s composer.

If you've only got a $1000.
You ought to just buy a good guitar.
Learn how to play it it'll take you farther,
than any old $1000 car.

Listen to the song at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZdC5ggYbwc