It never rains but it pours.

Oooph. That's a rough situation. I'm really sorry. your mom is probably right though: if it's thrown a rod, and it's really old, it's ALMOST NEVER worth fixing.

If you were in the Northeast, I could get my dad on the case (he's a master auto tech, and works for a pretty large car dealership--more to the point, his dealership is full of Decent Souls who have been known to quietly set a nice little used car aside that would go to auction and let it go for a very reasonable price for people who really need it, and my Dad has been known to go through said cars and help cherry pick the best).

That not being an option, I've got a few suggestions that may or may not be useful, but I'll toss anything that might be useful out there. This is what I've learned as a mechanic's daughter and from five years working at a car dealership in college.

Someone else mentioned auto auctions. This is where a lot of trade-ins end up if the dealership doesn't want to sell them themselves. They will usually (but not always) pick the best to sell on site, and send the rest to auction. Sometimes they'll send away very nice cars, though, if there isn't room on the lot or if they don't have a lot of luck selling that particular make or model. If there is one in the area that allows the public, this can be a good option. They're What You See, What You Get, No Warranty, but you can find some nice cars there. I had a nice one at one point my dad pulled from the auction line. I got six good years out of it and it was a very reasonable price.

If you have a good relationship with a mechanic, it's totally worth asking if they will go through a car you want to buy before you commit to buying it and tell you what they think. My dad will do this for free for people he likes, but a lot of mechanics will do it for a very nominal sum for a good customer. Even private purchasers will often allow you to take a car for a small time to your mechanic. At least ask if you can, even if you can't (bluff if need be). If they balk and make excuses, I'd be VERY worried. If they assure you that will be fine, then you can rest a bit easier they're not trying to hide something serious.

Police cars tend to be sold very cheaply when they hit a certain mileage. This is a GREAT OPTION if you can find it. It's VERY HARD TO DO SO. Mechanics like to buy them. :) (at a certain point in my life I was convinced all mechanics had two cars: a decommissioned police interceptor and a Camero). If you happen to find some available (often at auction) don't ever go for the detective's cars, they tend to be beat to pieces. Go for the interceptors; they're rarely idled and almost always have most of their mileage on the highway. You want that: sitting in stop and go traffic is Death to Cars.

Old rental cars tend to be sold off the same way. This is more of a mixed bag. You see these at auto auctions.

Avoid late 1990s model Chevy Malibus. They tend to start developing break line leaks and they chew break pads like bubble gum. Not worth it. Malibus before that period and after that period are better bets,. I had a 1999, and it was Serious Trouble when it hit about 100,000 miles. the only reason it is still on the road (my brothers drive it now) is because my father is a master mechanic and he does a lot of work on it.

I have a Nissan Centra now and we really like it, for the record, and I have a friend who's got one that's from the late nineties and still runs well.

Look at the carfax (if you can) of where ANY car has been driven. Cars from areas which don't require heavy salting are to be preferred, all other things being equal. Salt is hell on cars. That's why you see more old cars in the south than you do in the northern states that get a lot of snow and ice.

In all seriousness if you have any specific questions, I will be glad to send them along to my Dad, and he will be glad to answer them. He's a ASE master-technician. He works for a Chevy dealership, so most of what he sees are American cars, but he does see and work with other vehicles, especially since he often preps and fixes cars at the dealership for resale and decides what will or will not go to auction.

I'm going to fire my personal e-mail address at you through your web site contact. Feel free to ask, in all seriousness--I know how rough this particular situation can be.

Oh, the reason I mention the salt thing? Car dealerships and used car lots will move cars around. So just because you're in the bay area, where it doesn't tend to be a high-salt-need area (if you need it at all there?) doesn't mean you won't get a car from, say, Chicago or even the Boston area that could've doubled as a salt lick each November-through-March of its prior life.

They're sneaky that way. :)

One last thought: if your mom ends up looking at used car lots, try to look at ones that are at least affiliated with a full dealership. A *big* trend right now in dealerships is to run used car lots themselves--not just the few used cars they like to keep on site, but entire lots dedicated to nothing else. With the economy in the can, more people are interested in such cars, and therefore a lot of dealerships are surviving by getting into that market even if the shunned it in better car-sale times. The dealership my Dad works for finds this is now their most profitable sales division outside of commercial sales.

They are often a better bet than one that is not dealership affiliated because they are putting their name on the line, and to a dealership, Reputation Is Everything. So they might be selling cars there they wouldn't sell on THEIR main lot, but they will still be of decent quality.

I was afraid of that, but going for "here's just about everything that might possibly be helpful."

Cars are too damn expensive, and I say that as someone who really enjoys cars. Best of luck.

It's sort of an info-dump but maybe something there will help a bit.

The only other thing I can think of is if you happen see an 1990-1995 year Ford Escort, they are very nice little cars and they did come in a wagon. They were made in partnership with Toyota (they're the same car, functionally, as that era's Carolla if memory serves) and they were very well made, with few inherent issues. I had a 1993 Ford Escort wagon. I miss it--I lost it to a freak timing-belt issue in the mid-2000's (read: a belt thingie in the engine broke and joyfully wrecked the engine as it flailed about in its death throes. While I happened to be driving to a final exam. That was a good day.)

You still see them on the road, and from a private seller and at this age, they would certainly not be expensive should you encounter one. They're probably only worth, blue book, six or seven hundred dollars at this point. Very nice cars if you happen to see one, and I still do see them now and then even this far north.

Ah good someone else brought up the Escorts! The mid 90's should be in a doable price range for you and they certainly hold up pretty well. The only thing that will put one out of commission is a bent frame (happened to my first Escort pony. I slammed it sideways into a tree. My sister did it as well to her's a couple years later with a concrete divider), or completely killing the transmission.

My dad collects them and Izuzu troopers as his spare cars of choice.

Frame will get ya every time. Modern cars: designed to crumble so you don't die.

I almost totalled my Malibu losing control of it on a switchback corner covered in black ice. I skidded into the guard rail at the blazing speed of five miles an hour but I hit it juuuuust riiiight.

Didn't total it, thankfully--I'd only had it for two days!--and my insurance company didn't fault me for it.

Oh, yes! I am so glad they are built that way. Especially the little ones, since they never feel or look as sturdy as the SUV's.

I drove a Malibu for awhile, they aren't bad little cars.

I second the "have your mechanic look at it" thing, they saved me thousands in the short term.

Cheapest car to run, ever, was my Geo Metro. But not that big for hauling stuff.

Most available way I know of to haul around a lot of stuff=Minivan. Used minivans are plentiful. They drive like cars, but so. much. cargo. space.

I had an old, old Honda Civic once (1979? I think? It was old when I had it in the mid '90's.)

It got stolen.

My brother in law owns one. It got stolen. I will never own another one.

Look at the carfax (if you can) of where ANY car has been driven. Cars from areas which don't require heavy salting are to be preferred, all other things being equal.

Except for here in Alabama and then over in Mississippi.
It's my understanding that the car laws in Alabama are arranged in such a way that an unethical dealer can manage to not mention on the title that this vehicle has been flooded, this vehicle has been declared totalled, this vehicle has been salvaged and is not really ever going to be safe or road-legal again.
Meanwhile, Mississippi allows some cars with salvage titles to be driven on their roads, provided certain repairs are accomplished.

So the nefarious type gets a vehicle like my poor lost RAV4, which died on the road saving me from a stoned car thief. He straightens the bend as best he can, replaces all the painted parts with less bent painted parts and probably repaints them, probably patches half the windows in the process, replaces the transmission (because you have to be able to get out of Neutral and into motion) and the radiator (because otherwise the first thing the vehicle does when you turn it on is cook itself and then catch fire). Nefarious Type then puts newer tires on it, cleans the inside, and transports it to Mississippi, where he convinces a tired government official that it drives FINE (at least for a few minutes) ... and then he takes it to a faraway state, like California, and gets it onto an auction.

Alabama and Mississippi: be extra-curious if either or both of these states appear in the vehicle's history!

I've heard about this. Pretty aggravating. I'm not against salvaged cars in principle, actually, but you want to know what you're getting. The electronics in a flooded car often never quite work right after that.