Car Under 5k with Good Mpg
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Originally Posted By: kozanoglu
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
I paid $1400 for a 2000 Honda Insight. It gets me 60mpg and I've piled 20,000 miles on it so far while spending very little on it.
1400? And no battery issues during that 20k miles you have driven? Lucky,
The battery's thrown codes but I've reset them and kept plowing on through.
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
I paid $1400 for a 2000 Honda Insight. It gets me 60mpg and I've piled 20,000 miles on it so far while spending very little on it.
1400? And no battery issues during that 20k miles you have driven? Lucky,
The battery's thrown codes but I've reset them and kept plowing on through.
It's an evolution. Traded carbs for fuel injection and the distrubutor for a computer and coils. Even my 87 had modern fuel and spark delivery, yet it too managed to jump timing. Same mechanical issues. May be they sorted out timing by 1990. Still, after building so many small block v8 engines, one would have thought a timing set that didn't self destruct in 100k miles would be a no brainer.
Originally Posted By: FXjohn
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Yet they (or AMC) had built it. or it's many variants since 1962. One would think it might be sorted out by 1975 or 1987.
I think the 3800 simply traded one set of problems for another.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I broke TWO of them. One in a 75 Buick, and another in an 87 Buick
The 3800 wasn't in service till 1988. The engine before it was the 3.8 not the same.
you really think a 3800 from the mid 90's on is the same thing as an engine from 1975?? LOL
Originally Posted By: FXjohn
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Yet they (or AMC) had built it. or it's many variants since 1962. One would think it might be sorted out by 1975 or 1987.
I think the 3800 simply traded one set of problems for another.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I broke TWO of them. One in a 75 Buick, and another in an 87 Buick
The 3800 wasn't in service till 1988. The engine before it was the 3.8 not the same.
you really think a 3800 from the mid 90's on is the same thing as an engine from 1975?? LOL
Originally Posted By: Tzu
Agreed. The 3800 is a great engine with a so so transmission attached to it. I have both an Impala 3800 and a Camry and the Camry's transmission has been flawless for 302, 000 miles. The GM dealer quoted me $3300 for a new trans. when a shift kit helped my hard shifting max pressure code pop up (Thanks Trav!). Toyota Aisin 4 speed trans. are tough. I'd go Corolla all the way. After 300,000 miles, sell it to someone else.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Toyota Corolla. Go for the lower trim model it will be cheaper but still have A/C, automatic, P/W and stereo.
Good strong body, good engine and transmission, basically a good solid piece of transportation that easy and cheap to maintain.
The GM 3800 cars are great but they do have LIM issues and then there is the 4T65E transmission.
Its not known to be the most reliable especially when the car has an unknown history or is a little older. That's really the only issue i have with them.
When I got out of my 87 LeSabre, it was a 94 Geo Prizm that replaced it. Not as luxurious, and not really any better fuel economy. But dead reliable. Drove that used car for 7 years, ending up with over 250k on the odometer.
The 4A-FE was known for bad exhaust manifolds. When mine cracked, had it replaced. Probably could have driven it with the cracked manifold since it would seal up once warmed.
Had an issue with the AC clutch and or the harmonic balancer. Don'tknow which took out the other but ended up replacing both. Other than normal wear item's, I think that was it.
My advice is buy the car you like and keep it. The economy of owning a car is in avoiding frequent trades. Don't buy something you don't love even if it's cheaper today. You're tempted to trade out of it, more than negating any savings.
Agreed. The 3800 is a great engine with a so so transmission attached to it. I have both an Impala 3800 and a Camry and the Camry's transmission has been flawless for 302, 000 miles. The GM dealer quoted me $3300 for a new trans. when a shift kit helped my hard shifting max pressure code pop up (Thanks Trav!). Toyota Aisin 4 speed trans. are tough. I'd go Corolla all the way. After 300,000 miles, sell it to someone else.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Toyota Corolla. Go for the lower trim model it will be cheaper but still have A/C, automatic, P/W and stereo.
Good strong body, good engine and transmission, basically a good solid piece of transportation that easy and cheap to maintain.
The GM 3800 cars are great but they do have LIM issues and then there is the 4T65E transmission.
Its not known to be the most reliable especially when the car has an unknown history or is a little older. That's really the only issue i have with them.
When I got out of my 87 LeSabre, it was a 94 Geo Prizm that replaced it. Not as luxurious, and not really any better fuel economy. But dead reliable. Drove that used car for 7 years, ending up with over 250k on the odometer.
The 4A-FE was known for bad exhaust manifolds. When mine cracked, had it replaced. Probably could have driven it with the cracked manifold since it would seal up once warmed.
Had an issue with the AC clutch and or the harmonic balancer. Don'tknow which took out the other but ended up replacing both. Other than normal wear item's, I think that was it.
My advice is buy the car you like and keep it. The economy of owning a car is in avoiding frequent trades. Don't buy something you don't love even if it's cheaper today. You're tempted to trade out of it, more than negating any savings.
Elantra XD / XD2
WRX / impreza (non-STI)
Protege / Mazda 3
Focus ZX3/5
Saturn SC / SL1/2
older Integra
Last gen. Prelude ? (not sure about MPG)
Golf ? electrical probs though...
WRX / impreza (non-STI)
Protege / Mazda 3
Focus ZX3/5
Saturn SC / SL1/2
older Integra
Last gen. Prelude ? (not sure about MPG)
Golf ? electrical probs though...
I'd assume a Yaris must be one of the best $5k cars for basic transportation. I imagine there must be all sorts of 1 owner dealer serviced ones with a bit of mileage on them?
For under 5k you are looking on a case by case situation. I'd pick an unpopular / uncool car in your area that has good maintenance and reliability rating, something that has no major known issue that you cannot fix easily (i.e. no known transmission design problem, no known gasket problem, no known sludge problem, no known whatever problem that will suddenly make your car not worth fixing).
We also don't know how good are you with wrenching. If you change your own oil and can replace a few filters, plug wires, spark plugs, brake pads, etc, I'd say most low price domestic with no known problems would be good. If you go to a mechanic to do everything, well, I'd stick to a more reputable car and pay a bit more just to be safe. A reliable enough car for most of us that can change intake manifold gaskets or flush coolant is not a reliable enough car for people who can't.
Personally, I'd pick a Cavalier, Prizm, Vibe, etc, and stay with 4 cylinders instead of V6 of any kind (because they are harder to work with so it would be more expensive to maintain, and will never get as good of an mpg).
We also don't know how good are you with wrenching. If you change your own oil and can replace a few filters, plug wires, spark plugs, brake pads, etc, I'd say most low price domestic with no known problems would be good. If you go to a mechanic to do everything, well, I'd stick to a more reputable car and pay a bit more just to be safe. A reliable enough car for most of us that can change intake manifold gaskets or flush coolant is not a reliable enough car for people who can't.
Personally, I'd pick a Cavalier, Prizm, Vibe, etc, and stay with 4 cylinders instead of V6 of any kind (because they are harder to work with so it would be more expensive to maintain, and will never get as good of an mpg).
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