Hello Oil Connoisseurs,
Soon I'll be in the market for a beater SUV or truck to spell my daily driver Mustang. I would find great utility in being able to haul larger items, but mainly I'd like to spare my '17 Mustang from seeing a third winter. In addition, it would be nice to park a beater in Chicago and not worry about damage!
My requirements are simple:
$5K and less
AWD (winter)
Proven reliability
I've been looking at early 2000's Ford Rangers, Honda CRVs, and even Acura MDXs. - are there other SUVs / trucks that I should be considering? The list is very preliminary.
I'm comfortable enough being a shade tree or YouTube mechanic, but would prefer something that has stood the test of time. Start with a reliable powertrain, perhaps the 4 banger on the CRV... I would hate to have to do substantial work on any kind of suspension, bearing in mind how crusty most of these cars will be coming from the rust belt.
With my requirements, it seems I'm looking at a bunch of cars with at least 125K mi on the clock - I guess this is mostly a dice roll if the car lasts without substantial repairs.
This '02 MDX, for example, has 228K mi, for ~1,500.
MDX Craigslist
An '02 CRV, with 160K mi, is around $3,000.
CRV Craigslist
'99 Ranger with 134K mi for ~$2,000
Ranger Craigslist
And just to be clear I'm not considering purchasing any of the above cars just yet, but just an example of what's out there.
Soon I'll be in the market for a beater SUV or truck to spell my daily driver Mustang. I would find great utility in being able to haul larger items, but mainly I'd like to spare my '17 Mustang from seeing a third winter. In addition, it would be nice to park a beater in Chicago and not worry about damage!
My requirements are simple:
$5K and less
AWD (winter)
Proven reliability
I've been looking at early 2000's Ford Rangers, Honda CRVs, and even Acura MDXs. - are there other SUVs / trucks that I should be considering? The list is very preliminary.
I'm comfortable enough being a shade tree or YouTube mechanic, but would prefer something that has stood the test of time. Start with a reliable powertrain, perhaps the 4 banger on the CRV... I would hate to have to do substantial work on any kind of suspension, bearing in mind how crusty most of these cars will be coming from the rust belt.
With my requirements, it seems I'm looking at a bunch of cars with at least 125K mi on the clock - I guess this is mostly a dice roll if the car lasts without substantial repairs.
This '02 MDX, for example, has 228K mi, for ~1,500.
MDX Craigslist
An '02 CRV, with 160K mi, is around $3,000.
CRV Craigslist
'99 Ranger with 134K mi for ~$2,000
Ranger Craigslist
And just to be clear I'm not considering purchasing any of the above cars just yet, but just an example of what's out there.
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