The bottom-fishers of America's car market appreciate the tremendous freedom that comes with driving a junker. You buy the cheapest liability insurance and forget about scratches and nicks. Even locking the car is optional. That's when the neighbors, struggling with their car payments, finally get their chance to laugh. First, some numbers.
New cars depreciate more than that the moment they roll off the lot.
Still, junker owners, for all their investment wisdom, face dilemmas. You should never plow money into a junker with hopes of selling it. Simply think of the car in terms of transportation years. Of course, you don't want to junk the car two years from now with a gold-plated transmission. What you're looking for is something that will work for a couple of years and then, for all you care, fall apart with the rest of the car.