Looking for a beater for <$4K

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Cobalt/Pursuit/G5. You will get the most car for your $$$ with these, and they are reliable as heck.


These are great cars, and the few quirks they have are very minor and can be fixed for little $$ and a few hours by anyone handy. (Neutral safety switch, electric power steering motor that is column mounted and cheap/easy to R&R)

 

[fdcg27]

If you don't need AWD, a Subie is needlessly complex and gives pretty bad fuel economy.
If you want to have some hauling space, what about a Focus wagon?
It would be very economical and lacks the cute for the first five minutes styling of the PT and the HHR.
There are also Saturn wagons out there, and either the smaller or the larger can be found quite cheap.
The twin cams in the smaller car seem to run a long time as long as you keep oil in the engine, and fuel economy is mad.

 

[javacontour]

Owning both a Vibe and a Protege5, the Vibe has more usable space. The P5 is simply more fun to drive.

I turned the Vibe over to my step son for college and drive the P5 daily. Both return low-mid 30's in urban mixed driving (sometimes spirited.) I can probably get into the low 40's if I just drove on the highway and at or below the legal limit.

 

[Y_K]

Matrix has great reputation here in cabby circles. Which means 400k in service. I also agree on the Panther recommendation and on the criticism it caused

 

[DrivinWest]

Thanks again for all the replies. I'm leaning heavily towards a Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix based on mpg, utility, and reliability.

 

[renegade_987]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Cobalt/Pursuit/G5. You will get the most car for your $$$ with these, and they are reliable as heck.

+1, this one's in your city with only 52K for $3988

2006 Cobalt LS - $3988

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: renegade_987
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Cobalt/Pursuit/G5. You will get the most car for your $$$ with these, and they are reliable as heck.

+1, this one's in your city with only 52K for $3988

2006 Cobalt LS - $3988



Wow! I wish I could find one that cheap around here...

 

[Cujet]

I drive a Jaguar X-Type. It's really a AWD Ford Contour/Mondeo. It's been very reliable, and fairly inexpensive to repair. It's also worth about $3500.

There is no other car, as stunningly nice, as capable, as comfortable, and as cheap as an older Jaguar X-type around here. It literally has no value. I guess the "Jaguar" stigma really fits.

A 2003/04 in perfect shape, with manual trans, well under 100K miles, can be purchased for under $4K all day long here in S. Florida.

Would a Camry be a better and more reliable car? Yes. But, a used Camry is $10K, same miles, same year.

 

[zyxelenator]

Suzuki Aerio hatch,from what I read--they are hidden gem. Cheap, pretty reliable,and not bad on gas.