recommend me a reliable <$1000 car

[dpopiz]

make, model and year please

anything that frequently sells for <$1000 and is pretty reliable/repairs won't be a fortune

 

[StageLeft]

Nobody here can do it without lying.

 

[Ryan]

Honda CRX

 

[Supertastic Fool]

jeep comanche truck... 150k miles same engine 1 new clutch. thats all

 

[NutBucket]

1990-93 Acura Integra
1988-1991 (or so) Honda Civic Hatch (as long as it isn't carb'd)
90's Toyota Tercel
80's-90's Toyota Pickup (again, not carb'd)

 

[Xionide]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Honda CRX

Eh where can you get 1 for that cheap. everyplace I look is like 1500+

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Xionide

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Honda CRX

Eh where can you get 1 for that cheap. everyplace I look is like 1500+

I did a quick search on recycler.com (not sure if that's available in your area) and found like 3 within 20 miles of me that are in decent shape for under $1k. Plus, I live in SoCal. Can't tell me nobody wants them

 

[thedarkwolf]

2.2l/2.5l Chrysler/dodge/plymouth of some kind
They made around a 10 billion or so of them and other then a few turbo models none are worth jack squat. You can find late 80s early 90s ones with less then 100k miles for under $1k sometimes well under $1k. They are fairly reliable and I would gladly take one with 100k miles over a toyota with 200k + miles for the same price. When something does break parts are dirt cheap and junkyards are full of them. They are also pretty easy to work on.

As for which one thats up to you. They put that engine in everything from tiny omnis up to minivans. I am on my third one which is an 89 turbo caravan that is loaded and had 120k miles on it when I bought it for $800 2 years ago.

 

[SherEPunjab]

1 + 2 = 3.

 

[StageLeft]

Honestly at that price range I'd just load up autotrader and look for the best car in the price range. See who's just trying to offload their car, and forget about brand name, since it's a crapshoot at this stage anyway.

 

[CrackRabbit]

1986-1995 Dodge Aires, 600, Spirit, Shadow / Plymouth Reliant, Sundance, Acclaim, Caravelle / Chrysler New Yorker
All very similar drivetrains, fairly reliable, easy to work on/ soup up and dirt cheap

1991-1996 Ford Escort
Good, Cheap, just try to find one with an Manual Tranny and a 1.8ltr engine

Any AMC vehicle with a inline six and 3 speed auto tranny
one word, bulletproof.

CrackRabbit

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Honestly at that price range I'd just load up autotrader and look for the best car in the price range. See who's just trying to offload their car, and forget about brand name, since it's a crapshoot at this stage anyway.

Not really. My friend bought a '89 Nissan Pulsar for $390. All it needed was a new timing chain (which he replaced himself) and it ran great. His little brother got a hold of it, painted it, slapped on wheels, shocks and springs and its a neat little car.

 

[Thegonagle]

At that price point, the year, make, and model are the one of the last things to worry about. Shoot, don't even worry about the number of miles. The only thing to consider is the overall condition, especially the major mechanicals. If you don't know cars pretty well, and don't know how to recognise things like bad ball joints, CV joints, and other expensive problems on a short test drive, you need to bring someone along who can.

 

[SherEPunjab]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Honestly at that price range I'd just load up autotrader and look for the best car in the price range. See who's just trying to offload their car, and forget about brand name, since it's a crapshoot at this stage anyway.

Not really. My friend bought a '89 Nissan Pulsar for $390. All it needed was a new timing chain (which he replaced himself) and it ran great. His little brother got a hold of it, painted it, slapped on wheels, shocks and springs and its a RICER

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Honestly at that price range I'd just load up autotrader and look for the best car in the price range. See who's just trying to offload their car, and forget about brand name, since it's a crapshoot at this stage anyway.

Not really. My friend bought a '89 Nissan Pulsar for $390. All it needed was a new timing chain (which he replaced himself) and it ran great. His little brother got a hold of it, painted it, slapped on wheels, shocks and springs and its a RICER

Right. Because its got completely stock body work, has upgraded brakes and handles like its on rails........I swear you people think any improvement automatically makes for rice.

 

[NutBucket]

DP

 

[SherEPunjab]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Honestly at that price range I'd just load up autotrader and look for the best car in the price range. See who's just trying to offload their car, and forget about brand name, since it's a crapshoot at this stage anyway.

Not really. My friend bought a '89 Nissan Pulsar for $390. All it needed was a new timing chain (which he replaced himself) and it ran great. His little brother got a hold of it, painted it, slapped on wheels, shocks and springs and its a RICER

Right. Because its got completely stock body work, has upgraded brakes and handles like its on rails........I swear you people think any improvement automatically makes for rice.

the slapped on wheels, shocks and springs does make me think RICE. i guess i could be wrong though.

btw, so the pulsar handles like its on rails? man, good springs alone cost more than the total cost of the car.

 

[EXman]

nothing with that shake and bake 2.2l dodge engine whoa bad!

tercel yes HIGH milage

accord hatchback ugly no one wants those (I had one) they didn't sell even when they were new. saw one that had 350k ran great. mine had 200k ran great.

85-93 ford escort. CHEAP parts and lots in junkyards.

old taurus and sables are not to bad for something bigger. their value blows you can get cheap NEVER buy a new taurus

 

[NutBucket]

Yes, believe it or not that car handles really well. Shocks are KYB AGXs. Actually, I'm not sure if he put on springs yet; he was planning on getting GC coil-over sleeves. For wheels its got Borbet 16" 5 spokes with Yokohama rubber.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: EXman
old taurus and sables are not to bad for something bigger. their value blows you can get cheap NEVER buy a new taurus

There's LOTS of these in the junkyard as well.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: EXman
nothing with that shake and bake 2.2l dodge engine whoa bad!

Its not a very refined engine if thats what your trying to imply but they do hold up pretty well. Just try to avoid the 86 and older carbed versions and you will be fine. In 88 they switched over to a rollar cam and that smoothed them out a bit.

 

[AntMan530]

maybe an early supra? or a mr2 mk1---

 

[Thegonagle]

For something bigger, almost nothing beats an 88+ Buick/Olds that has the 3800 series engine. Way better bet than a Taurus/Sable, IMO. (Needless to say, it must be in good shape, and I'd obviously not rule out a decent Taurus I came accross while in search of the perfect LeSabre/Delta 88 that may or may not exist in the marketplace at the time I'm looking. The point is, you can't narrow your search to a specific few models and expect to find what you're looking for.)

 

[slycat]

its called a bicycle.

ok...motorcycle.

 

[Falloutboy]

mo ped?