Idea's for commuter car

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Well, if you ever make the trip down into ATL, you're gonna need a ladder hopper.

I bought my 1994 Regal 3800 for $1500 w/ 97,000 miles. It has all options except leather. I sold a Plymouth Acclaim I had at the time for $1100 w/ 126,000 miles...just to give a couple refs.

The 3800 is easy to work on IMO, very common, super reliable (mid 90s series I), and can be found in plenty of cars. It will also get low 30s MPG on the highway.

I would steer clear of Neons. They will pop head gaskets no matter how good the fix. I did hear that they determined it had to do with a short head bolt hole in the block...not sure if that's true.

I read that the Escorts take the abuse pretty well, but have no personal experience with them.
 
quote:

Originally posted by 55:
As far as the mid 90's Escort, I think they're a solid little car. They used the powertrain from the Mazda 323/Protege, so you know they've got good reliability.

Most all of them used a Mazda transmission with a Ford engine. I know of a 91 with the Ford 1.9L (the 2.0L SOHC used on the 97-up Escorts is similar to the 1.9L) that went 170,000 miles and to the best of my knowledge it's still being driven somewhere.
Neither engine will self-destruct if the timing belt breaks. These engines use distributorless ignition.

Some of them used a Mazda 1.8L engine. These are not as common. This engine WILL self-destruct if the timing belt breaks. This engine has a distributor. The Mazda 1.8L engine was more or less replaced in the Escort starting in '97 with the 2.0L Zetec DOHC engine first used in the Contour/Mystique.
 
The 2005 Mazda Miata has a 1.8L DOHC in it. I don't know if it's the same. I'd guess that it probably has a distributorless ignition now.
 
Don't forget to factor in the price of the car and repair/maintenance. My best commuter was my 88 Grand Am. The car cost $450, I put about $200 into is in 1-1/2 years(including oil and tires) and it got 32mpg on my 70mph commute.

-T
 
just to add some more confusion, the 90 protege/323 had 2 engines: both 1.8L. One was SOHC, the other DOCH. The DOHC version was used in the concurrent Escort GT.

I had the DOHC in the 90 Protege LX, quite a little pocket rocket. Rated at 127HP, darn good in the day and about 50% more than the toyota and honda of the day.

However, we're talking a car that is now 15 years old, a highly sought after parts car and I doubt there are too many pristine ones still on the road. Mine was wrecked with 45k on it and the engine was sold before the scrap yard received it.

In the price range you are looking at, even a 4 cylinder 92 camry can come close. A manual xmission will be the hard part, mileage is good but not fabulous. If you drop back to 88-91 Camry, manuals with the i4 are a dime a dozen and just as solid. But a lot smaller. But more fun to drive, too....

But if I were to just go with a sure thing and a bit newer: Corolla. Can't beat it with a stick.
 
quote:

Originally posted by labman:
You said reliable. A number of the suggestions have timing belts. Oops!

A belt is quite reliable for it's normal service life. many 100's of 1000s of miles and never had one break.

Most cars run out of gas too......so does that make them not high mileage?
 
quote:

Originally posted by ToyotaNSaturn:
Brian, IIRC, the 1.8L DOHC Mazda motors from the early 90's had several parts in common with the 87-89 Mercury Tracer/Mazda 323 engines. Is that 1.8L still made or in a different form nowadays?

I have a 2000 Kia Sephia and its a good car. I learned its the same engine as the Mazda Miata and the manual tanny is the same as the Escort. You can find a Sephia that has 50k or less miles for less than 1500-2000 bucks. I drive 80 miles a day and i love that car. I get 33 mpg w/ FP.
 
Brian, IIRC, the 1.8L DOHC Mazda motors from the early 90's had several parts in common with the 87-89 Mercury Tracer/Mazda 323 engines. Is that 1.8L still made or in a different form nowadays?
 
I really like Cavaliers. Ours have been very reliable, easy to service, easy on gas, fun to drive and the fact that their book value drops like a rock is a plus if you're in the used market.
 
If you look to the American cars such as:

Ford Escort
Ford Focus
Chevy Cavalier
Chevy Corsica
Pontiac Grand Am (unreliable?)
et al

Most of them can be found in pretty good shape and with relatively low miles for rock bottom prices. Plus, they get good gas mileage, they've become more reliable in the past ten years, and they are easy and dirt cheap to fix. (A complete engine swap shouldn't cost more than $500 if you can find one in a junkyard and do the work yourself.)

You could probably pick one of them up no older than 10 years old with less than 100,000 miles for about $2,000 or less.

The Hondas and Toyotas are better overall, but they come with a premium price tag for what otherwise would be considered a beater car.
 
Oh, one more thing...

My personal choice for a commuter car is a 1996 Ford Crown Victoria. I picked it up in excellent shape for $2,000 and put a few hundred more into it for new tires and some maintenance items.

It had 146,000 miles on it when I bought it and it now has 159,000 miles with no troubles whatsoever. (I replaced the water pump recently because the bearing was starting to wobble. Total cost was about $75.)

Granted, it's a V8 and doesn't get the gas mileage of the smaller cars, but I still get about 20 MPG at 80MPH and above. Insurance is dirt cheap on it, too.

Plus, best of all, I have a big, comfy car for the long drives.
smile.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by AstroVic:
(A complete engine swap shouldn't cost more than $500 if you can find one in a junkyard and do the work yourself.)

Due to low residual values, these cars are more likely to be totalled in an accident and end up in a junkyard, so there's often no difficulty finding parts for them there.
 
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