I was doing some remodel work on the house/yard and picked up a non running 1988 Mazda B2200 in good shape (no rust holes) with under 80,000 miles on it from a relative. They just wanted it out of their back yard. It cost $300 in parts, junkyard pieces and spray paint to get it running right and $200/year in insurance and licensing fees. I spent about $500-600/year in gas but some of that I go paid mileage for work purposes. So I had a car for 3 years that I could use to haul construction supplies and drive to work. The total cost of ownership came out pretty low after I sold it to a kid.

I doesn't cost a lot of money to find a reliable older car that you can self insure (but keep liablity/injury coverage) and have available if needed. I think this one averaged about $0.08/mile or around $1/day. I sold this one and bought a trailer because I don't have to pay seperate insurance on it.

I think of it as a form of recycling rather than buying something new.