Cheap (3k or less) "reliable" and good on gas vehicle

[2011GT]

I'm trying to get out of debt ASAP. I owe about 4k on my car less then I owe. I'm looking to sell it outright and buy a cash car. What would be a decent car for that price? It really only needs to be drivin twice a month as I will be driving my wife's car except when we both have to work. We wanted to be a single car household but I think it would be to much of a hassle.

[crapstang]

Ford Focus.
I have one. Buy it.

[krazy kris]

Late 90's accord or civic

[crapstang]

Late 90's accord or civic

This is the best route possible.
Try to find a one owner car, of course. Those interiors can take a beating too!

[2165 Turbo Rail]

I got an '02 TDI beetle for 2500. With 230k miles. I get between 40 and 42mpg depending how I drive

[Unicorn Jeff]

I got an '02 TDI beetle for 2500. With 230k miles. I get between 40 and 42mpg depending how I drive

You still have that fucking thing?

[JC316]

I'm trying to get out of debt ASAP. I owe about 4k on my car less then I owe. I'm looking to sell it outright and buy a cash car. What would be a decent car for that price? It really only needs to be drivin twice a month as I will be driving my wife's car except when we both have to work. We wanted to be a single car household but I think it would be to much of a hassle.

DOHC Zetec engined Focus, Civic, mid 2000's 2.2L Grand Am,, mid 2000's Corolla, Saturn S series, Nissan Altima, Cavalier, etc.

Late 90's accord or civic

Hell no on the late 90's accord, unless you like changing transmissions. 97 was about the last "safe" year for auto tranny accords. Civic, sure.

[asphaltjunkie]

Ford Focus.
I have one. Buy it.

Pm sent

Sent from my LGL45C using Tapatalk 2

[2165 Turbo Rail]

You still have that fucking thing?

Yup. Avalanche. Beetle. And GTO. Plus Stacy's FX35

[UserX]

Late 90's accord or civic

Only with a manual transmission. They'll run like a clock.

[shumpertdavid]

I've got a customer with a 2001 focus wagon if anyone is interested. @100k miles, 2.0 ztec, auto, a/c works. $3500

[LaserSVT]

I owe about 4k on my car less then I owe.

Wut?

Late 90's accord or civic

Don't get a V6 Accord. And beware of transmissions for the 98+ cars.
Good reliable ones with good options are the 94-97 era Accord EX. that way you get all the power amenities and moonroof plus you get the mileage and reliability of a Honda for $3000 or less. Also avoid a leather car as the Honda leather is crap. The cloth interiors hold up much better.


Other fairly reliable and cheap to run/own cars are pretty much any non-supercharged 3800 series engine GM FWD cars that have had proper coolant maintenance and intake gasket upgrades. They get great mileage and parts are cheap. That being said they handle like crap, ride harsh and the interiors are garbage.

Late 90's-2001 Lincoln Continentals are also great cars. You get a DOHC 32 4.6 V8 and 28 mpg on the highway. Very nice interior and parts are not insane. They do love to kill rear air springs but coil conversion is $100. Leather in them is quite sturdy and they drive nice.
One with a maintained cooling system is also important on them.

93-95 Taurus SHOs can be had for 3k in excellent condition as well with the 100k maintenance already done. Very solid cars, fun to drive and pretty decent mileage.

Stay away from Kia. Yes there are lots out there for cheap but Kia parts are insane. I feel bad when I get a Kia in my shop because I know the owner is broke (thus driving a Kia) and I have to tell them that the AC compressor is almost $500 by itself.

[2011GT]

What I ment to say is I'm 4k in the green on my car. According to kbb for private sales...

[JC316]

Other fairly reliable and cheap to run/own cars are pretty much any non-supercharged 3800 series engine GM FWD cars that have had proper coolant maintenance and intake gasket upgrades. They get great mileage and parts are cheap. That being said they handle like crap, ride harsh and the interiors are garbage.

Stay away from Kia. Yes there are lots out there for cheap but Kia parts are insane. I feel bad when I get a Kia in my shop because I know the owner is broke (thus driving a Kia) and I have to tell them that the AC compressor is almost $500 by itself.

The 3.8L series II is a good highway cruiser for mpg, but it tends to suck at city. I had a 98 Lesabre that would crank out 32MPG highway all day long, but city was around 17 or 18. I averaged 26.5 with it.

+1 on Kia. The only cheap one is the spectra. Hyundai is in there with them. I lost $700 gambling on an 04 accent at auction.

[white88]

I had a TDI Jetta with 300K that I bought for $2,000 that got 50MPG and was extremely reliable.