Episode 64

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Published on:

10th Aug 2023

Serendipity and Craiglist Can Help You Find A Perfect Used Car - Part II

00:00 - OPEN: Serendipity And Craiglist Can Help You Find A Perfect Used Car - Part II

It’s time to take another look at some of the fun, interesting used vehicles you can find when you let Serendipity and a quick local Craigslist search be your guide. 

00:55 - INTRO - Serendipity Search Explained

This Serendipity search idea is really simple, and it goes like this.  Open up your local Craigslist, go to "Cars and Trucks", click on for sale by owner, leave the rest of the search parameters blank, hit enter and then scroll down and see which cars have been posted most recently.

Following these steps is important because you’re just trying to view what’s been posted to Craigslist in the last few hours up to 24-hours.  In my experience, the really interesting used cars with amazingly low prices will be sold in less than 24-hours. 

The following are some of the interesting cars, trucks and SUVs I found near me in a recent Serendipity + Craigslist search:

05:30 - Interesting Sports Cars

  • 1974 Fiat X1/9
  • 1993 Pontiac Trans Am
  • 1997 Mazda Miata

09:00 - Sporty and Fun And Practical, but Mostly Sporty Cars

  • 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S
  • 1998 Acura Integra GS-R Sedan
  • 2015 Ford Fiesta ST

11:50 - SUVs, Crossovers and Trucks

  • 2007 Honda Element
  • 2000 Nissan Frontier Pick-up
  • 2002 Isuzu Trooper

14:55 - Older, Funkier 4x4s

  • 1984 Ford Bronco
  • 1987 Suzuki Samurai
  • 1992 Isuzu Trooper RS 2-Door

19:05 - Which One(s) Would I Buy If I had $15K To Spend?

Maybe the Fiat X1/9 because it was cool (to me) or maybe the Fiesta ST (it's newer, fun to drive and would make a great daily), but in the end I chose three: the 1987 Celica, the 1998 Integra GS-R Sedan and the Trooper RS 2-door. All three of these vehicles together added up to $15,300.

20:30 - Close - Time To Try This Method Yourself

Give this search method a try next time you think you can't find something fun in your price range. Great cars and trucks at an affordable price can appear out of nowhere, but they won't last long, so act quickly if you find something you like.

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About the Podcast

Better Than New
Find a cool used car, truck or SUV at a price you'll love
The average new car sales price in the US is nearly $50,000, and the average used vehicle sales price is close to $30,000... I think that's insane! Well if you're like me and you don’t want to pay these crazy inflated car prices, I believe you should still be able to drive something fun. That’s the idea behind Better Than New – a podcast to help you find a cool used car, truck or SUV at a price you’ll love.

I’m Gary Crenshaw, host of Better Than New and a long time automotive enthusiast, and I want to inspire car buyers on a budget to think differently about what they can actually afford to drive. My goal is to introduce listeners to the broad array of interesting, fun-to-drive, enthusiast-friendly used cars, trucks and SUVs available at prices just about anyone can afford… vehicles from the 80s, 90s, 2000s and beyond that offer buyers a wide range of interesting choices. Each week we’ll explore a specific vehicle or vehicle category, tell you what to look for and what to avoid, and give you practical tips to help you find your next cool used car, truck or SUV and keep it on the road for years to come.

With a little work, the joy of owning a cool used car at price you’ll love is within reach and this podcast is here to help you find it.

So hop in, buckle up and let's go for a drive!

About your host

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Gary Crenshaw

A lifelong lover of all things mechanical, Gary has spent the majority of his existence driving, dreaming about or wrenching on cars, motorcycles and even the occasional airplane.

It started with mini-bikes and go-karts as a kid, progressed to 2-stroke dirt bikes, followed by his first car… a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. Then came the Yamaha era with several RD400s, RZ350s and a Canadian RD350LC (should have kept that!). A pilot’s license was next with some memorable hours flying a 1946 Aeronca Champ low and slow around the Pacific Northwest. While in college, his brother-in-law who sold high-end cars hired him to deliver BMW, Mercedes and Porsche vehicles to customers.

Those early experiences led to a lifetime of owning an eclectic mix of interesting used cars, including a ‘65 Mustang GT, a ’72 Datsun 510, a Porsche 914, a Celica Alltrac Turbo, a Mini Cooper S, a couple of Miata’s, two Audi S4 Avants, a Galant VR4, a Fiat 850 Spider, a 1983 Subaru 4x4 GL wagon and a first gen RX-7, along with dozens of daily driver cars and SUVs from Acura, Honda, Toyota and Mazda. And his favorite? Depends on when you ask, but that distinction likely goes to the Mazda RX-4 station wagon he learned to drive in. That fun-to-drive car combined Gary's passion for wagons, rotary engines and manual transmissions all in one.

So what about you? Which used car, truck or SUV would you love to own? Let’s find it together!