Beater Cars

[leper]

Originally Posted by RobFMJ

Find a early 90's Japanese 4 cyl car and go nuts... Theyll run forever if you do a halfway decent job of taking care of them.

So true.
90-93 Honda Accord. It is normal for me to see those with 250K+ on the odo. 88-91 civic is good too, just not as nice a car as the Accord. It will be a little more than a grand, but if you can find a Early 90s Acura legend, those are so sweet. Especially in a 2 dr. The same vintage Lexus Es300 is fantastic. We bought one of those for my daughter and it had 320K on the clock and never had a problem. Side note on the Lexus....hydraulic powered cooling fan. Kinda neat.

[billbrasky]

Originally Posted by RobFMJ

Find a early 90's Japanese 4 cyl car and go nuts... Theyll run forever if you do a halfway decent job of taking care of them.

the glow of honda quality, toyota quality, and lesser extent nissan quality has unfairly spread to all "japanese cars". Go ahead buy any honda any toyota, no total heaps out there. Plenty of turd japanese models outside of honda and toyota and nissan. Many many many other japanese makes and models are no better than many many american or european cars. If you look at the problems per 100 units toyota honda and distant thrid nissan are head and shoulders above the rest. Mazdas, mistus, suzuki, diahatsu, isuzu, suburu are nothing special for the most part if quality is your goal.

[frogger42]

I had a '78 Datsun 280Z for around that. It was a lot of fun.

[Kenney]

1973 Datsun 240 = free
1974 Datsun 260 = free
1982 Toyota Corolla-Tercel = free
1974 Datsun 510 = $50
1989 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro = $200
1973 VW Beetle = $1200

There are a lot of cars out there. That "old" car smell is where it's at for me. Oddly, the 'least' expensive car cost the most. However, I love it the most, and had it the longest.

[akmjolnir]

Originally Posted by akmjolnir

Not really, just gotta know where to look.



all c900 (1979-1993) has a longitudaly (sp?) mounted inline 4-pot. There is lots of room to work.

I'm not busting balls or anything.

Found the proof.




Best beater by far.

[Brickboy240]

Yes, there ARE a few Japanese brands that I would NEVER own. Mazda and Mitsibushi come to mind. Their quality standards are NOT up to those of Honda, or Toyota.

Nissans are also semi-questionable. Their paint and interiors really don't hold up very well. Ever seen a daily driver Nissan that was 10-15 years old that did NOT have faded paint and a cracked dash? Me neither.

- Brickboy240

[jshu0949]

Quick update. After browsing CL for weeks, I ran across a 1990 VW Jetta Wolfsburg Ed.for $800 obo. Drove an hour to check it out, liked it, and left with it for $600. High miles on the body, but the engine is only around 140,000. Very good shape for the price. I'l post pics tomorrow.

[leper]

Sweet deal. I just picked up a Civic with 181K for 952.00 out the door. I put a timing belt on it and I would drive it anywhere. I can't wait to see the mileage the end of the first tank of gas. Hoping for 35mpg.

[Brickboy240]

Good buy!

The earlier VWs were still built in Germany and decent cars. I had an 89 Jetta GLI biult in the Wolfsburg factory and it was a solid car.

The newer VWs? Forget it....they're mainly made in Mexico and the engines are made there or in Brazil. The build quality is less than stellar compared to the earlier German built VWs. Yes, VWs are cool looking, but check their customer satisfaction on the 97 and newer cars...its awful. You can buy a nicely used CPO Volvo for what you'd pay for a VW Jetta or Passat and they're nicer and less trouble in the long run.

One thing that bugged me about VW - the cost of parts. I swear, I payed higher prices for things like brake rotors and fuel filters as I did on our two 3 series Bimmers. BMW parts prices...but what is considered an economy car....not good. Fortunately, the pre-97 VWs were pretty solid cars and don't need alot of work if you take care if them.

That 1.8 liter 4 banger was a very reliable engine and easy to work on for a sideways FWD car.

Enjoy it!

- brickboy240

[RobFMJ]

Originally Posted by oldfart

Best beater I ever owned......too bad it didn't come with a trailer for the boat but WTF, just improvise. I used to put that sucker on and off by myself.

Other than the 55, I had a 68 that would clear 3 lanes when you hit the on ramp - no one wanted to be near it. (too much smoke but it was only $300 and it only smoked if you got your foot in it) As for the new stuff, I am an old fart, I don't have a clue these days!

That looks familiar...



Loved that car...

Originally Posted by billbrasky

the glow of honda quality, toyota quality, and lesser extent nissan quality has unfairly spread to all "japanese cars".

Forgive me, when I refer to "japanese cars" I am simply being too lazy to name names. I'm fully aware that not all drivable products of Japan are up to par with Honda/Toyota/Nissan.