Auction Day : Pullin' A 1080

Steven Lang
by Steven Lang

Auto enthusiasts often dream of taking an exotic car through some of the nicest stretches of winding roads the world can offer.

Hairpin turns… beautiful smooth roads…. nice scenery… and all the power and finesse one can summon in a car made for the perfection of that very moment.

Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, the list of great cars serving this unique purpose of vehicular bliss is as long as the opportunity is unique. Even the most frugal of gearheads want to experience this thrill sometime between now and their eventual nirvana.

But then again, I may be completely wrong on all of this. Actions speak louder than words in the enthusiast community, and what I find inside a lot of gearhead garages looks a bit like…

This 1999 Solara vs. a 2002 BMW 525i Wagon. Same price at a car lot and same mileage. Guess which one sells quicker?

This…

Let’s face it. How often do car people proclaim their automotive passions, and wind up buying an old boring car?

Does the performance car represent the best of what enthusiasts want these days? Or is there something else?

My wager, after 15 years of buying and selling cars at the auctions, is something else. In fact, my hunch is that many enthusiasts are more enamored with the deal of buying a good cheap car, rather than the performance potential of their daily ride.

This shift has little do with our actual tastes. In a world where there is far greater traffic enforcement, higher insurance rates, and fewer opportunities to enjoy a long and winding drive without getting tagged by the revenuing activities of various government entities, the opportunity to cloak our rides seems like the best option.

Also, we are now in that unique point of automotive history where even plain-jane Camrys and Chrysler minivans can offer as much power as the Acura NSX. It’s hard to get as excited about horsepower and performance when Mom’s Accord can now go 0 to 60 in 6 seconds.

We want the deal… and often times we consider real world performance to come standard. Even though our opportunities to use it are often hindered by the local environment.

The core of automotive enthusiasm these days seems to come from getting the unsellable car at a steal of a price, and transforming it into a sleeping beauty that will endure far beyond the exotics and their commercialized fantasies.

So with that in mind, let’s look at one of the cars coming up to bid this week. A car that even in the most extreme of situations, won’t ever find itself making that long trip from my car lot to your own driveway.

A 2002 Hyundai Accent: Is this a hermit’s heaven? Or is this a transformer stuck in partial ‘transform!’ mode?

Well, let’s say you want a cheap-to-own vehicle with low mileage, minimal depreciation costs, that will serve as a rolling theft deterrent system in your daily travels?

If that is you, then it looks like I’ve found your next ride. A 2002 Hyundai Accent L, 5-speed, with 25,769 miles. It may have looked like it got into a fight and lost– however, if you want to have reliable transportation that will allow you to avoid transporting family and friends, this may indeed be the ultimate beater ride.

This car embodies what I call the “1080” — a car that can be bought at 10% of the new price and still easily has about 80% of its life left.

In the case of this dead bone, basic and broke Accent, it’ll still probably sell for about $2000 plus the auction fee at the sale tomorrow. So maybe we’re looking at a 2085. Or a 1590.Or maybe, this car will go for a far higher price than a lot of folks would assume.

The reason is unless these pictures deceive me, all those body panels can be replaced either at a junkyard or a catalog. Frame damage can be hard on panel gaps if a car is hit the wrong way.This car looks like it needs two bumpers, a hatch, and some miscellaneous clips and brackets along with a $260 paint job and some minor body work. With about $1300 in reconditioning costs and extremely low mileage, this car could be financed for $500 down and $50 a week for as long as the customer can’t do the math.

36 months? 48 months? 60 months? The sad fact is that our society seems to relish and promote a long-term debtful existence. If an Aston Martin can be financed by some poor soul for 144 months, then surely a cheap used Hyundai built with better quality control techniques can last at least 5 years.Gas sippers are a very hard niche to buy on the cheap. Stickshifts do help lower the demand, but it’s often not enough to attain a true 1080. For that you need something in the lines of an unpopular trifecta… plus one.An orphan brand. V8. Wrong wheel drive, and an association with owners who care as much about what’s popular these days as you or I do.In a word, retirees.

On the other side of automotive apathy comes this Y2K MGM GS.

Why not say what it is in long form? Because when you drive one of these things, it doesn’t really matter now does it?

Colors are a blah, common as a cold, silver exterior, accompanied by an 80’s surplus, yawn-inducing, Metamucil inspired gray interior. This one can seat five adults and an ungrateful brat, and has 33,532 miles.

A “Shoneys Frequent Dining” sticker comes standard in the glovebox, along with empty blood pressure medicine bottles, and a “marching band music never gets old damn it!” cassette collection.AAA decals along with AARP credentials must be shown in plain sight at all times. Only the 1st button on the radio is indexed to a talk radio station, while the cutting edge cassette to CD adapter will be sold separately.

It’ll probably sell tomorrow for $4000 and the auction fee. The Stevie Lang out the door price for non-state residents will be around $4500.One other kicker. If you only drive a car sparingly and have a boat or jetskis you tow on the weekends, it’s not a bad deal.

Do you drive less than 7500 miles a year? The gas premium will likely be swallowed up by the insurance discount. Plus with the right aftermarket parts these cars are surprisingly fun to drive.You may still have that plastic intake manifold issue and those seats may require a leather upgrade. But once you’re over those humps, the only thing stopping this car from lasting another a decade is the potential redoubling of gas prices.So… what about your world? Have you been able to merge these two divergent forces that are excitement and affordability into one great car? Or has the ultimate fun-to-drive, affordable car, been as rare for you as an Italian tractor.Note: You can always reach Steve Lang directly at steve.lang@thetruthaboutcars.com or at his Facebook page.

Steven Lang
Steven Lang

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  • Radimus Radimus on Apr 02, 2014

    "How often do car people proclaim their automotive passions, and wind up buying an old boring car?" What? People talk smack on the internet? Say it isn't so! But seriously, for those not talking smack it's usually a question of space, resources, and the approval or lack thereof from some significant other. Yet for those stuck in the soul-crushing mid-sized sedan there is yet hope. For most of those cars upgrading the wheels, tires, struts, springs, sway bars, and the installation of a strut brace or two can go a long way towards turning such an automotive appliance into a good corner carver.

  • Wstarvingteacher Wstarvingteacher on Jan 23, 2015

    I have always viewed the strident opinions of enthusiasts concerning others needs/wants with varying degrees of amusement and disgust. I wound up buying a Toyota 4runner because it would do the job I needed and I liked it. I wanted to buy an SUV because of a need for indoor storage space and work capability (towing). I also considered certain other vehicles because they fit some those needs. Overriding was a need for a second seat (dogs and grandchildren) and the capability to tow over a ton (whether it was rated for that or not). I also wanted the capability to pass at least a few gas stations. The CVT in our Nissan cube meant that our primary car just couldn’t cut it on a hobby farm. It's fun to drive and most of the people who badmouth them probably haven't driven them. I was looking for certain SUVs or four door pickups but there were three cars that my research said would do the job. They were the panther, a camry V6, or a prius. I would have sprung for any of them if the opportunity had presented first. The V6 camry appears to have the same or more towing capability compared to the panther. I couldn’t find a capacity for the prius but know the power train is very rugged. Had I bought the camry or prius I probably couldn’t have told about it on TTAC without facing ridicule. I probably wouldn’t have cared. I put a blower on a 66 beetle when I was much younger and had a batch of fun surprising enthusiasts in their V8s. Something tells me that the Panther or the Camry could have been just as much fun. It probably would never have happened though because of the bike sitting on my porch. I probably wouldn’t spring for this Hyundai either for purely pragmatic reasons. If I lived in town I think the 2080 advice is excellent. If you don’t have a garage get an indy mechanic and you are good to go. Thanks

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