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Looking for an inexpensive commuter for my stepdad

jlee

jlee

Lifer
He's going to have an hour-plus commute in the next month or two, and his truck gets about 16mpg. Not much of a budget to work with here...$2k, maybe $3k tops. I had a Corolla years back - was a great car..two of my sisters have one now (well, one Corolla and one Prism).

He likes Civics, so I will probably be looking for a mid-late 90's 4 door Civic....but I've found a few 97-ish Maximas in that price range. I know nothing about Nissan, but I imagine they're good cars. Any input? Skoorb?

Can you think of anything else I should consider? He doesn't do any maintenance work himself, but I could probably take care of anything needed if he brings the car to my place.
 
my friend just got an '04 civic spd manual for 8k, so i'm sure you can get a semi-decent late 90s one for around that.
 
A Saturn S series will probably cost less and/or have fewer miles than a comparable import. Reliability and owner satisfaction are comparable to an import.
 
Another vote for a Saturn S-series. For $2-3k you should be able to find a 97-02 model with <100k miles. Search craigslist for SL, SL1, SL2, SC, SC1, SC2, SW, SW1, SW2.
 
I know nothing about Saturns...anything in particular to look for or to avoid? How are their autos, or should I be looking at 5sp only?
 
5sp preferable. The autos have problems with the valve bodies that show up usually 120-140k. Fortunately, it is a fairly easy fix, but I have read enough about them that I'm happy to drive a manual. The manual does have a problem where the bushing holding the shift cable to the shifter breaks, and eventually the shifter gets floppy and doesn't shift at all. It is an easy fix for $30, but quite a common problem. The other problem is with the SOHC heads, sometimes they get small cracks that let oil pass into the coolant. The intake manifolds of the '00+ DOHC engines were made of plastic and have a fairly common problem where one of the coolant lines breaks off -- there is a cost-effective repair available ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK9cXijBnRc ). Most Saturn 1.9s of this age will burn some oil due to a faulty piston ring design that does not allow the oil to drain correctly. Not unusual for 1qt oil per gas fill-up. However, 30+mpg in real-life city driving, and 40mpg in highway driving, make up for it IMO. Timing chain is good for 200k+ miles. It's not uncommon for a manual Saturn to go 250k with the original engine and tranny. My wife's 97 SL1 is at 254k right now. They are quite easy to work on, with a good amount of room under the hood. Having hardly any mechanical experience at all, I managed to replace the cylinder head on my '99 SL after I had the oil-in-the-coolant problem. Oh, another common problem is the radiator breaking. Parts of the radiator are made of plastic, and they break in a common place close to the upper radiator hose. Radiators are $100 new at Autozone.

Oh, the other big problem is the Engine Coolant Temp Sensor. It is on the cylinder head close to the upper radiator hose. They were made of plastic through '00 and are known to go bad. Once they go bad, they can cause all kinds of problems -- strange idle, dying for seemingly no reason, etc. A new, all-brass ECTS is like $12 and has been known to fix numerous mystery problems.
 
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^covers it pretty well. A SL 5 speed, without power steering and no AC may get 30 MPG around town and 40 MPG on the highway, a SL1 or SL2 (or SCx or SWx) will get more like high 20s around town and low 30's on the highway. They are economical but not that economical unless you've got one of the models built to be extra economical.

I'd look for a 5 speed, not because the auto is unreliable, but because we're talking about a car with a hundred and change in horse power. The auto tranny makes it feel like even less.

Oil consumption isn't too big an issue, usually if the previous owner hasn't kept an eye on the oil the car will be sent to the junk yard, otherwise they're fine.
 
Any input? Stageleft?
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I've only really put much mileage on one vehicle in this price range, it was an 8 year old sentra bought in 2001 with 142k and I put another 40k on it. Only repairs were a thermostat and it eventually started to leak oil from the rear main seal (I just would top up the oil, it still worked fine). At the time I paid $2300 and when I bought it the stereo was basically shot but everything else was fine except air only went to the third click (4th would shut it off). The car was great, I sold it for half what I paid for it and it still would get up to 110 mph on flat.
 
Mid 90s Camry 4-cyl models are a solid bet. You should be able to find one with ~120k miles in that range. They will not ever stop running.
 
Turns out he's pretty much convinced he wants a Civic - thanks for the input! I had no idea Saturns were so easily available for so little $$...found a ton of them for sale up here for cheap money. My brother may need a first car soon...definitely going to look into those.
 
jlee said:
I know nothing about Saturns...anything in particular to look for or to avoid? How are their autos, or should I be looking at 5sp only?
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The 02 SL series was rated their best. Watch for oil consumption on eariler years (all models) and worn out top motor mount.
 
Lol, I read the title and then read half-way through the OP and I was still asking myself "Why is he asking about a computer for his stepdad, and who the hell cares what kind of car he drives?"

I'll go sit in the corner now.
 
MJinZ said:
WTF? I read 20K for some reason.

How can you be a dad and only afford a $2k car?
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Because you don't need a license to reproduce...🙄

It's a car to get through a couple months of long commuting and then give to his other kid (JLee's little brother).
 
MJinZ said:
WTF? I read 20K for some reason.

How can you be a dad and only afford a $2k car?
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Obviously there is more to the story that may not be appropriate to share in a public forum. I know plenty of fathers who can't afford a $2k car, there are issues that arise, health problems, unemployment, divorce, etc. Life in general may affect what kind of vehicle someone may be able to afford. Perhaps the OP's dad has a job consulting in a really bad neighborhood and doesn't want to drive his Bentley to get the job done.
 
MJinZ said:
WTF? I read 20K for some reason.

How can you be a dad and only afford a $2k car?
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Because if he was going to spend $20k on a car, he might as well just pay to put gas in his truck (plus more details that you don't need to know).

You're clearly not very bright.
 
jlee said:
Because if he was going to spend $20k on a car, he might as well just pay to put gas in his truck (plus more details that you don't need to know).

You're clearly not very bright.
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You sir are correct, hes the biggest fucking idiot on the forums. Period end of story.
 
And yet, every time he opines he trolls at least 3-4 people. Simply amazing.

I used to work with a guy who swore by sub-1k junkers. He'd keep buying $300-500 cars every year or so then drive them until they no longer moved. If it cost > $20 in parts to fix something he simply wouldn't. I'd guess this person had a low six figure salary, but his priorities were not aligned with spending big money on cars.
 
v8envy said:
And yet, every time he opines he trolls at least 3-4 people. Simply amazing.

I used to work with a guy who swore by sub-1k junkers. He'd keep buying $300-500 cars every year or so then drive them until they no longer moved. If it cost > $20 in parts to fix something he simply wouldn't. I'd guess this person had a low six figure salary, but his priorities were not aligned with spending big money on cars.
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It's incredible because I have all these fuckers following me around wanting to suck dick. :awe:

What do you call trolls that actually ARE trolls that do nothing but post worthless stalkerish posts?

I should get a fan club started.
 
jlee said:
Because if he was going to spend $20k on a car, he might as well just pay to put gas in his truck (plus more details that you don't need to know).

You're clearly not very bright.
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Actually I was going to point out the very same thing. IF he's only driving for a month or two, then the $2K in mileage savings is probably a wash with the cost of owning the new car.

I have never heard of this proper chain of thought:

"I need to save money on gas so I need to buy a $2k-$3k car".

It doesn't make much sense.
 
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