It's been a while since I've considered buying a little car just to go from point A to point B but I find myself needing one. I have a few requirements.

1. It must be capable of at least 80 on the highway without being right at redline.

2. It must get at least 30 MPG on the highway.

3. It must have enough room for 4 people or 2 people and 2 big dogs.

4. It must be competent in bad weather and snow.

5. It must be cheap because I plan to pile miles on it and replace it in a couple years.

6. I'd preffer sometheing newer to keep maintenance costs down.

Any suggestions?

Honduh Civic 4-door.

I was afaid that might be the answer.

Any other ideas?

AMC Gremlin

It may not fit your needs, but damn is it stylish... :leaving:

I'd hate to see the inside of your house if you think a Gremlin is stylish. I'm picturing orange deep shag carpet and various shades of purple and pink walls and furniture.

Mike,

This might be a little thinking outside the box, what about an LT-1 Caprice station wagon? The only reason I bring it up is one of the newbies here at my office has one that he made his into an Impala SS wagon and it actually looks kinda' cool. It would meet all of your requirements except for the 30mpg part.

Other than that, a generic GM Oldsmontiac 4 door sedan with the 3800 V-6 like an Impala, Grand Prix, Regal, etc. Cheap to buy, reliable, gets around 30 on the highway, front wheel drive for the snow.

I've got a '99 Civic and it's a great daily driver - cheap to feed and keep. In 65k I've put one set of brakes and tires, regular oil changes, and two sets of plugs into it - and that's about it.....

You might consider a Hyundai Elantra - the 100k powertrain warranty is a strong arguement for a car that you're gonna run the piss out of in a short timeframe.

If that's not your cup of tea, look at a 4 cyl Accord or Camry. It should be darn close to 30mpg, and do everything else well to boot.

The 3800 V6 cars wouldn't be bad, but I can't find one without huge miles or way over priced. The LT-1 caprice is interesting, but hard to find in servicable condition. I did find a Park Ave ultra and Lincoln LS for under 10K, but I was shooting for a bit lower price.

The little civics are actually pretty pricey around here for anything that looks like it might be in good shape.

Do a little research with Kelly or Edmund's on the 3800 cars, especially the Buicks, their resale typically isn't that high. I can't imagine a private party having one of those has people beating down their door offering to buy it. Offer them what's fair and they'd probably take it.

Our neighbor just bought an 02 Regal for the almost the same reasons you're looking for a beater. He bought it with 40,000 miles for like $6,500, of course it took him like 3 weeks of haggling back and forth with the previous owner. Just be careful or you'll get the rude surprise my neighbor did and found it was a former Avis rental car. And we all know how people treat rental cars....

I picked up a nice little 1985 Nissan Maxima SE a few years back. Meets just about all your needs, but I can only eek out 26 or so mpg. Car was $1500 to buy and didn't need a ton of work.

My point is not to say go out and find a 1985 Maxima, I doubt you'll find any good ones. Put the word out to all your gearhead buddies that you need a beater, you'd be surprised what comes out of the woodwork. That's how I found mine. Low-mile older japanese cars and recent, but unloved domestics (trying not to offend Cavalier and grand-am owners here) will probably be your best bet. Olds Aleros are good/cheap, too.

You can drive it and do the head bob to Queen! :drive:

Sentra, or an s10 blazer 4dr

Did a search 10g, 75t miles, manual, and i got all kinds of 03 20 to 50t mile's.

A Dodge Sundance, Omni, Daytona, etc, with the non-turbo 2.2, or 2.5 liter four banger. They're cheap as dirt, and seem to be pretty tough. I bought my sister's for my oldest drive to college. When he bought a new car, I gave it to my nephew. It now has 320,00 miles on it. I did have to replace the head gasket, and decided to re-ring it in the frame. It has no cross-member to interfere with dropping the oil pan, so it's easy, and parts are cheap and plentiful. His got a little better than 30mpg, and I've seen 80 in it. It won't do much for your social standing, but they make great beaters. Just my .02 worth.

Old VW bug with dune buggy kit and 35" swampers. Big swampers never wear out, but your fillings in your teeth will.

I'f you want a fun yet reliable beater check out a '90-'93 Acura Integra RS Hatchback...RS because it's the lightest Integra that was made (~2500lbs).
Bought one for $1300 with 115k on it (motor and transmission are in excellent condition!) and put another $1500 into it to correct known issues with the particular vehicle (replacement of CV shafts, new pan seals/valve cover gaskets, and new Main Relay) plus upgrade its performance with items from my previous Integra GS (Tokico Illumina dampers, Eibach Prokit Springs, Neuspeed front tie bar, Axxis Ultimate brake pads, and my old worn looking 15x7 American racing Spyder wheels mounted with 205/50-15 Hankook R-S2 Z212 tires.) All the interior except for the dash was removed because interior and carpeting were in bad shape. Not only does that Integra RS get 35mpg cruising and around 27 average, but at its first autocross event last month the times I got with it would have been neck and neck with my SM Camaro based on past SM class results... And its handling is nearly instantaneous with nearly no understeer at all, yet was not nervous - rock stable.

The second generation Integra has to be one of the best Honda's ever made... And it's much easier to work on than the dang 4th Gen Camaro! Oh and you know what is sad... the V6 Camaro's top speed is limited around 15mph below the Integra's... LOL

LT1 B-Bodies are great deals if you can handle the fuel milage. On the highway I might pull down 25-26 if I ease up on the pedal. The cars are cavernous, you can cram all kinds of stuff in them. I've bought two ex-sherriff service units (9C1) and both have held up great (sold one to a friend) with very little and no outlay to get them up to snuff. Buick Road Masters and Caddy Fleetwoods are at the top of the list w/ caprices cheapest to buy. I saw a fleetwood advertised for $2K locally last week.

oh, for the ex service vehicles.... the donut jokes never get old

Awwwww yeah!!!!

Mike I hate to say this. How about a late model Taurus. Auction prices around here have 04/05 with 25,000 aprox 8,000. Still have factory warranty. I just wonder what the repair bills will be after a few miles. Later John

Ive been happy with my Mazda Protege 4 door. Excellent fuel economy, decent handling (for what it is). This car has seen 190K km's of stop and go city driving, 3 drag days and even 5 lapping days and Ive gone through front rotors only once, and am still on the original clutch - no slipping or chattering!

I was thinking about suggesting the taurus, too. Unfortunately I bet 80% of the used ones you'll find are ex-rental cars. :leaving:

I guess the same can be said of the Alero, Cavalier, Grand Am, but not that high a percentage.

Phil,

I have an '89 Wrangler with 36" swampers so I know exactly how they ride. It's a great Jeep, but not much fun over about 65 mph. It also gets about 14 mpg, regardless of where or how I drive it. I'll be keeping it for the real snow days.

There are lots of good ideas in here and I appreciate that. I had thought of some of these vehicles, but I really had no idea how they have held up over time. I guess I just need to keep digging. I may look at some that are a bit older than I had originally thought. It looks like even some of the early '90's stuff is still worth considering. I was limiting my searches to about '97 or newer.

I am watching this thread with great interest since I may be moving and will be increasing my daily drive to work from 10 miles to about 40 miles...

Then again, I am getting high twenties on the highway out of the 1995 525i that I am driving... ...and it's paid for. Maybe I'll just keep until it dies.

I've got a '96 Beretta with 135k miles that makes a great beater. You should be able to get them for under $1500 all day long and some even cheaper then that depending on the looks.

There are a few downsides to these cars [Beretta, Corsica, Century, etc] though: crappy brakes that warp front rotors within 1000 miles from new, some have leak problems so you get a soggy interior (primarily solved with a few 1/4" holes in the floorboard courtesy of Mr. Dewalt), and strange mileage. I get 22-24 MPG whether I'm beating the crap out of it stoplight to stoplight or doing 75 on the highway.

That said, I put 23k miles on it last year and it's been fine for the most part other then putting brakes and tires on it because they were worn out. Hopefully, I'll get at least another year out of it.

You could probably just do some math to figure out if it's worth it to keep what you have. Just figure at what gas cost does it make sense to get another vehicle and whether you are willing to drive the 525 into the ground. I would think it would be cheaper to keep the 525 and drive it until it dies.

I'll echo what Brian said. I figured it out for my 17 mile commute each way, gas has to rise to almost $5 a gallon for me to break even on getting an eco beater. Paying insurance is what kills the idea. When insurance is about $50 a month for the extra car you have to at least save that much in gas. I figured in oil changes and tires into my calculation as well.

I'll put about 1400 miles a month on a car even if I ONLY use it for to and from work. At 30 mpg thats 46.6 gallons of gas and at $2.50/gal for regular (and climbing) thats $116.66 a month in gas.

At 14 mpg in the Jeep thats 100 gallons of fuel or $250/mo. for a savings of $133.34/mo. That will pay for a lot of insurance, tires and oil. Particularly when the little car tires are much cheaper than the Jeep tires and oil is cheaper as well since the Jeep holds 6 qts. and most small cars only hold 4.

$285.73 per 3000 miles
minus $20 for oil change
minus $32.50 in tires (based 40K tires at $250 per set)
thats a savings of $233.23 every 3000 miles or $1306.09/yr.

Since the Jeep won't need fuel, tires or oil if I don't drive it, that is pure savings.

If I can buy a $3000 car, drive it for 2 years and sell it $1500, I'm actually ahead over $1100. Of course this assumes equal repair costs regardless of which vehicle I drive.

And this does not factor in the fact that the Jeep needs premium fuel or that it's tires are far more expensive, or that it burns a little oil, or that Jeep stands for "Just Empty Every Pocket" when it comes to maintenance.

Insurance is actually nearly free if I change the Jeep to an occational use vehicle and put high deductables on the small car.

Had an 84 civic 4 door, drove it for two years and when I got it there was 180,000 miles on it, I had to replace the battery and clutch. Burned just a little bit of oil, 89 Accord too, drove it for a year, replaced ball joints and timing belt in it, had 130,000 when I started driving it. The imports are good buys and they run forever. Not pretty or fast, but they last

I just increased my commute from 12 miles to 45. Bought an '88 Accord 5spd, 130k miles. Gets 38mpg. That's a significant savings over driving the Trans Am as a daily driver!

Only costs me $200 more per year to insure the Honda after parking the Trans Am and reducing coverage on it to a minimum.

It ain't pretty, but it does the job and does it well. Saves wear and tear on the Autox car and money at the pump. I'd recommed finding an import 4cyl manual and run it until it stops.

That's why it makes sence for you because you are driving double the milage I am. That's a lot of miles to drive just to work.

BTW, I was totally kinding on the VW bug; I should have used a smiley.

I knew you wer kidding, just like the guy that suggested the Gremlin (I hope ). I just thought it was interesting that your joke wasn't far off (tire wise) of what I actually have been using as a daily driver.

I drive 35 miles each way and it takes about 40-50 minutes depending on traffic. I only hit traffic near work so it's actually a pretty nice drive. But if you can't go 80 on the interstate, your going backwards. That's why I'm looking for something that will cruise well at speed.

I bought a beater last night. It's a '99 Malibu. 3.1 V6, cruise, tilt, auto, it's pretty basic car. Gets about 28-30 mpg on the highway and only cost $3k. It's in very good shape and it's actually not too bad to dive.

Congrat's. Beaters rock!

That's why I bought my Malibu... it's not a bad car to drive and is really comfortable. It can use some more power, but isn't painfully slow. Mine is a '00 but doesn't get 28 to 30 mpg. Typically it will go 240 miles of mixed highway and city driving and use 10 to 11 gallons.

Good luck with it.

Agreed, the 28-30 mpg is strictly highway. My commute is 80% highway, so I hope to average 25 or more. We'll see. So far this first tank has 150 miles on it and I still show over 1/2 tank. But I have no idea how accurate the gauge is. When I bought it, it was showing almost empty and the fuel light was on. I filled it will 11 gallons.

I just thought I'd chime in even though I'm a little late. I usually just read the site, don't post (since I'm still learning). I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned a Saturn. My sister has a 97 SL2 (I think, whatever the 4 door version is) that she bought used several years ago. It's got plenty of space, 150k miles on it, and hasn't really had any major issues since she's owned it. I think she gets upper 20's mpg and it's been very reliable. Not the best interior, but certainly good enough for a beater.

Be VERY careful in buying a used Saturn as a "beater". It has been my personal experience (and the experience of several of my equally maintenance focused friends) that, Saturns regardless of meticulous maintenance are prone to a variety of oil loss/consumption and costly mechanical failures. My Saturn began using 1 qt. of oil per 1000 miles at 100k despite strict 3000 mile oil/filter changes from purchase. This condition worsened progressively until I got rid of the car at 121k. Additionally, the HVAC selector mechanisms are plastic and prone to seizing and failures. Dealer costs of repair/replacement was above $1200 in 1998. My dealer asked me NOT to have them do the job due to its complex and time consuming nature. He privately suggested that I sell the car while the system was semi-operable. He said that dealerships would put the car out at auction rather than repair it if it was traded in. Needless to say, I neither traded the car nor bought another Saturn. Your results may vary- but I wouldn't bet on it.

Wow. Guess my sister's been lucky.

Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva or Geo Metro will yield one of the highest MPG ratings that can be had.

Thanks for the additional suggestions ad warnings. So far I'm very happy with my purchase. I've gone through 3 tanks so far and have gotten 26, 27 and 28 mpg. My mother in law was in town for the 3 day weekend and we used this car to go everywhere. We put over 300 miles on it in 3 days. It ran like a champ and the AC works very well. She was very happy to see that we finally had a car with a real back seat and one that she didn't need a ladder to get into (Jeep). Unless something changes my mind about it's apparent reliability, I'll be using it this fall for a 2000 mile road trip to go pheasant hunting in South Dakata as well.