You can order cars from China that use the same platform as your grandmother’s electric scooters and are technically legal... but are they worth it?
It is possible to order a car legally on the road from China, even easier than buying a regular car. It can be delivered directly to your door, and everything on the list is electric and does not require gasoline! Of course, the batteries are the same as those used to power World War II submarines, most of which also sell Jazzy scooters, but who cares when the brand new price of a car is as low as $1,500? You can lift it up by yourself, use the car battery to power it, and drive it as you like. You just can't get a good photo, so please forgive those photos with watermarks and poor Photoshop quality, because this is just the essence of the cheapest car market.
Look, this is not about highway cars like Chevrolet Spark or Nissan Versa. These are four-wheel machines that we cannot name. They have only a plastic film window from the golf cart, but they do simulate cars at extremely cheap suggested retail prices. Many-a-Youtuber has purchased one or another of these crates "just to see", and if your expectations are low enough, they are actually...a bit impressive! Of course, you can buy a used Civic at the same price, but when you can buy donated parts from Barbie Jeep and RC cars, who cares?
After writing this article, we pray that the world will give us a culture. They are purely Alibaba auto modifiers. They install power tool batteries to increase power, and install cart wheels to go off-road... Someday we just want to watch Go to a group of adult men on a decorated rickshaw to Buffalo Wild Wings!
This is a pickup truck based on a golf cart, which may actually make a very young child think that it is no different from a real pickup truck! Although "solar" is in the title of the list, it doesn't seem to be a real choice, but it does have a pneumatic lift hard bed cover, which is usually not a free option on your Silverados. Luxury options include generators that charge lead-acid batteries, and even AC options, although this is usually just a fan system installed in a covered slot in the ceiling.
Inside Hongsheng, you will see a working LCD screen and multimedia player. The fake leather looks so realistic, they even took a page from Ford's book with a volume knob as a shifter. The batter actually has a warranty of more than 60,000 miles. good! This means that you must fully deplete the battery 980 times after being fully charged, which is impossible at 27 mph. But let's face it, at the price of a beautiful golf cart, you get a lot in one package.
"Changli" is the only one on this list we have heard of. It is considered the cheapest brand, in fact they got the cheapest cars on this list, so many Youtubers and influential people have bought them for amusement and giggles. The giggle became a contemplative "um..." because they realized that these cars might actually be a good deal! In this case, the Mini looks like a real Mini Cooper, even though it is almost two feet shorter.
Again, as far as we know, solar energy is not a real thing, not even an option, but don't discount cars now! It has two fairly large functional screens, one of which is a 9-inch touch screen. It has a "manual" air conditioner, which is a fan on the roof, which actually uses a lithium battery. The backup camera is a yes, and it is reported that Bluetooth has a microphone somewhere, which can be used to make calls if the translation is credible. Frankly speaking, as we rank in the list, this is the last potentially "luxury" car you can escape.
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A cheaper than Mini is the Changli pickup, which is owned by Mikey on Youtube. After watching him drive it around, we found that yes, this is a very cheap car with single-layer metal plates and poor-quality paint work, but it is fully enclosed and has a hydraulic bed lift! The cheapest native American alternative we can find is the John Deere Gator, priced at $12,000, with an electronic dump device and a $1,000 cabin closure accessory.
Changli PK-002 is equipped with a touch screen infotainment system and working stereo system, working air-conditioning, leather seats, off-road lights and full power windows. If we were to buy any car on this list-we might just be-it would be the most valuable car we have ever seen without paying too much attention to reliability. The other included options are roof baskets and bed frames, so the deal is really done. If it is not rear-wheel drive, we might even use it for off-road use. Although all-wheel drive exists, it does cost more. In fact, it seems that a considerable number of followers have formed around these trucks to show that they have a nickname: Pak Yaks.
Related: Here is the cheapest truck on the market in 2021 (1 Avoid at all costs)
This one has changed many times since we checked it, but its basis is that you will most likely get an "SUV" that looks like a Ford F-150. That, or something that looks like a Ford focus, has a spare tire compartment large enough to fit all four tires. Either way, you are looking at a four-seater with four doors and windows that can roll down! It even has a motivation to start.
For your $1,990 trip, the top seems to contain a beautiful metal luggage rack, and you can get a 48-volt or 60-volt "water motor" (poor translation). This thing has independent suspension, rear brakes, and "warm air" for standard configuration, possibly a working heater. A video of a boldly hypothetical "Jeep" in disguise shows it coming down a set of stairs, so we can be sure that it almost beats the Ford Raptor.
Ah, Lao Changli oh-oh-three! This is almost indistinguishable from the cheapest car on this list, except you can tell from the completely real photos of it playing in the snow...it is all-wheel drive! Therefore, the nose has two grille slots less than the Jeep. The many options you can stack here are... handlebars or steering wheels. Oddly, it doesn't have cool roof racks or off-road lights like many of its peers.
AWD (if you may call it that) comes at a price. Thanks to the power distribution of a single 1200W motor, this amazing top speed of 27 mph is now only 21 mph with no headwinds. The interior is clean and modern, and frankly speaking, it seems very comfortable to drive in winter. It might even be a good snowplow! After all, if you have a heater and some pipes, it does have vents, you can poke them out!
These are the cheapest four-wheel drive sports cars on the second-hand market
This pickup is not electric! This is a true diesel-powered single-cylinder 25-horsepower lift lawn mower. Somehow, it is equipped with 4WD and hydraulic truck bed. There are enclosed cabins and possibly more dual settings. Of course, this does push the limits of what we call a car, but the fact is that it has two mirrors (as options) and can be closed. In fact, it says that these trucks are automatic, despite the obvious shift lever in the video.
Frankly speaking, it is really impressive to see that the cost of a 4WD fossil fuel powered machine is less than one month's salary of California's minimum wage! At this point, we really have to ask whether these are just the prices listed for bait buyers, or whether anyone can actually pick up the goods from the shipping port in Los Angeles for the advertised $1,859 plus some shipping costs. Although there seem to be no videos or users in the United States, we can only assume that this is possible.
This is a one that might make people laugh at first, then stop and say if...? For only 18% of the Ford exterior cost, you can carry four people on a flat road, each person can drive up to 21 miles, if you upgrade from a lead-acid battery to a DeWalt power tool battery, the speed is even faster! For the same $1,800, you can get an ordinary-looking interior with a good interior, with four doors, handles, power windows, adjustable front seats, ceiling fans, and ordinary rearview mirrors.
Unless you take out the rear seats, the storage space of the barn door is negligible, but the rear barn door exists, and a fake spare tire compartment is actually opened, and it may be possible to fit all four tires in . All four wheels have disc brakes and you can see the red calipers. If you are considering a tool to get along well with your family, then do it! We have already watched the video of the S3 carrying three passengers and driving like a powerful enclosed golf cart!
Related: Harley-Davidson Golf Cart: A Rare and Little-known History
Regarding the listing of Qiao Hu, what we can say is that it is very suitable for taking pictures, just like you walked out of it! We are not so sure about driving...it does have a touch screen infotainment system that your current car may not have, and if it does, it may not be stuck in Chinese. That screen is a backup camera, and there is nothing to write about except for a ceiling fan.
Now that our price range is getting lower and lower, we are starting to see fewer and fewer other options, and now reported speeds are up to 24 mph. However, you can choose some smoother colors (pictured). Interestingly, they allow you to choose the logo and decals you want to put on the car so you can pimp them in advance.
Welcome to the cheapest and cheapest! Except for Changli Nemica, which was said to have been only US$975, this is your "cheapest" option today. S1-PRO includes "air conditioning" (manual), technically there are three seats, the driver sits in the front, with handlebar steering. Seeing this thing in the video looks so cute! It is the smallest on the list, only 5 feet and a half long, and still insists on providing decent human necessities, not just a plexiglass and plastic box.
Power windows, far/low beam LED lights, disc brakes and lithium-ion battery options are all available. The speed report provided by the digital dashboard display is "below 21 mph", but it can climb to a 30° angle due to torque and lead-acid power.
"Or $975" means that they were below the $1,000 mark for a while, but probably because a large number of Youtubers and their observers jumped onto the "cheapest car in the world" trend, which pushed up the demand. Nevertheless, it still retains its title, and thanks to the report, we have learned more about Changli.
First of all, as Jason Torchinsky proved, it can still be driven after frequent use a year later. In fact, only cheap mirrors and plastic bodies have really begun to show their true colors. Waterproof and rainproof performance has been confirmed, and the cost savings actually boil down to manual sliding windows, insufficient power and three-seater design. Since then, the sticker design has received a facelift and three solid color options. If you put your weight into it while accelerating, you can travel 60 miles on a single charge without using a Bluetooth stereo at work. If you want your own car, you only need to negotiate the transportation method on Alibaba, and then pick up your brand new car from ports such as Los Angeles!
It is not difficult to buy a cheap car from the 1990s in today's second-hand market. However, knowing whether it will run is another issue.
Wyatt is from Utah and enjoys cycling, skiing and driving too fast. He has written articles about motorcycles and cars for many years, and he especially likes Japanese cars and off-road vehicles. He has appeared in DriveTribe more than once, and some of his content has been viewed more than 6.5 million times. He likes Formula 1, Formula Drift, Baja 1000 and World Rally Cross!