I would just basically keep a container of anti freeze in the back of the used car so that when ever I checked the level of coolant in the tank and I found it to be low then I could grab the container and simply add some to the tank. Generally I would need to add coolant about once a month.


There would always be a stain from the leaking engine coolant on the driveway where ever I would park the used car. Now this was actually a rather slow leak thank goodness so I was able to deal with it with no problem. I would simply keep a jug of engine coolant in the back of the car or in the trunk for when I needed to add some to replenish what had leaked out.

This was one of the cheap used cars under 500 dollars which I had bought many years ago and I was fully aware of the fact that the car had some slight mechanical issues when I bought it so it was all good. The particular leaking coolant situation was really no big deal at all because I would simply add some coolant about once a month.

Engine coolant would cost me around 6 dollars for a jug of it and this jug would last me for around two to three months. So for the cost of about two to three dollars a month this was a great deal in my opinion. I had no interest in taking this to a mechanic because it was not much more than a very minor inconvenience to have to pour a little coolant into the tank once a month. And at two dollars a month it was a heck of a lot cheaper as well.

When I would drive the used car, especially on slightly longer highway trips, I would always be conscious of the temperature gauge. I would just keep an eye on it to make sure there was no increase in the temperature which may be abnormal. Not once was there ever any issue here so that was a good thing.


Every driver of a car should be conscientious and keep an eye on the dashboard gauges in general. This is only a good car care habit allowing you to notice any signs of anything that may be an issue in the works. You are probably already used to keeping an eye on the fuel gauge to see when you are starting to run low on gasoline, so just try t remember to keep an eye on the other gauges as well and save yourself from possible breaking down along the side of the road due to an issue which you were unaware of. This is not fun when this happens as you may already know.

So some used cars under 500 dollars have slight issues that you may need to keep an eye on. This can just be considered a personality trait of the used car like I considered the slow leak of engine coolant to be. That car I had bought for under 500 dollars had supplied me for three years with highly dependable transpiration before I finally traded it off for another used car.