Need car for work, only have 3K, what to buy?

[gedcruise]

Let's say it's Thursday. You are on your way to work, and your ride suffers an unmistable terminal event. You call in Thurs and Fri. By Mon, you must get to work. You need a ride, and don't have much to spend. What to buy?
To answer myself, my heart says Honda, but my head says something with much higher depreciation, like a domestic. My personal choice would probably be an Aerostar, since they're cheap, available, and I own one, so I know how to play with them.
What say you?

 

[Ken E.]

Buick LeSabre, Park Ave or some such. Cheap and reliable. A Taurus if you can stand Fords.

 

[gedcruise]

If you could stand the electrical problems, you could buy an old BMW.

 

[mrsilv04]

Gotta agree on the Buick LeSabre. The 3800 engine used in everything since the mid-90's can easily be a quarter million mile engine, at 25-30mpg. A favorite of insurance salesmen everywhere.

One should be an easy find for $3000 or less.

 

[wander2039]

Well since you had a Aerostar a Taurus would be a good candidate. Almost the same engines if you had the 3.0L Vulcan.

 

[Earl Filter]

When you need a ride that bad, you gotta go with what's available. I'd suggest www.craigslist.com, and search for your price range. I just picked up a one-owner '97 Isuzu Trooper with 84k miles on it for $2900. As with any particular platform, you just need to know your demons (like the upper intake with the 3800 GM engines), and plan accordingly. If you want a 3800-powered GM ride, go for the Bonneville. They don't wallow around like a LeSabre! Best of luck in your search.

 

[01rangerxl]

What would be most practical would be to find a small, easy to maintain car with low insurance. A Protege, Escort, Sentra, Cavalier, etc... would be good choices. No sporty models either.

Now if it were me in that situation, I would go buy an older Explorer, Ranger, Cherokee, Blazer, or S-10, etc... I would try to come up with some excuse for buying a truck, but deep down inside I would know that I am only buying a truck because I want one. Small cars are not my cup of tea, and even though they would be the most practical choice, I'd be driving around in some beat up Explorer in a matter of hours I'm sure.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would look for an older but low milage Chevrolet/Geo Prism They are a rebadged Toyota Carolla and they can be found in large number almost any place cheap!

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Quote:

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I just picked up a one-owner '97 Isuzu Trooper with 84k miles on it for $2900.

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That's a good truck, I have the same engine in a '97 Rodeo with 165k carefree miles; never been opened up, doesn't use oil, same transmission. One of the best vehicles I've owned.

Sad that so few people realize these are GREAT vehicles if taken care of, welcome to the 'Zu club.

 

[Rat407]

I found that the older Saturns are not that bad and you can find a good one at a nice low price. Easy to work on and get great mileage.

 

[deven]

Quote:

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I would look for an older but low milage Chevrolet/Geo Prism They are a rebadged Toyota Carolla and they can be found in large number almost any place cheap!

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I agree. cheap and reliable!

 

[peterr]

As a default I would second the suggestion above for a Mazda Protege. The 1999 or so ought to be getting down to that price. Get the bigger engine if you can. Generally cheaper than the equivalent Toyota or Honda and more fun to drive. Better designed and built than the Cavalier or a Saturn or whatever, although on a pure "cheapest available" basis i would not ignore that stuff.

But to pin this down and refine some of the previous suggestions...

Do you actually like to drive? I mean does the thought of a Buick Park Avenue wallowing through corners make you cringe? Are you a 75 year old white guy or do you like to be mistaken for one? Is a couch on wheels your ideal vehicle?

Do you actually have space requirements (eg is the Aerostar reference indicative of a need to contain 7 people or a small boat?) If not I would worry about the prospect of a cheap Aerostar that consumes a ton more fuel than an alternative.

Are you afraid of insurance costs potentially associated with "sporty" cars. If not, I would look at the second generation Hyundai Tiburon.

I was in more or less the same situation a year ago, although it was driven by the need to find a winter car in the roughly $3000 range. My bias was that I wanted a small hatchback that handled well and ended up with a 1994 Mazda MX-3 V6 that after replacing the exhaust system and tires added up to about $3K Canadian. If you are really price sensitive I would suggest you pay very close attention to anything that might need replacing soon.

 

[Earl Filter]

Quote:

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...I mean does the thought of a Buick Park Avenue wallowing through corners make you cringe?

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That's why I told him to get the Bonneville.

I bought this '97 for $800 in non-running condition (see 3800 upper intake comment) with 102k on the clock. Another craigslist find. I had it up and running in mighty fine condition for about $1800 total, and that was with a bunch of tune-up stuff and getting everything else up to speed.

 

[Earl Filter]

Quote:

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I found that the older Saturns are not that bad and you can find a good one at a nice low price. Easy to work on and get great mileage.

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And you don't need a cherry picker to change long blocks.

 

[Auto-Union]

Volvo 8-Fiddy or Saab 9000

 

[Auto-Union]

Meant to say: Saab 900, whew!

 

[Brogy]

Corolla! Or prism as people said. Get a 7th gen for 2k or less, put a grand of work into it, and viola! You got a car that'll last forever. If you only have 3k in the first place i'd go with need over want. Plus the corolla has the best fuel economy/power ratio IMO. 27city/34highway with 115hp and 134lb-ft. Friends got a saturn SC that gets better fuel economy, but it lacks in power and has poor visibility/steering feel.

 

[Gene K]

Geo Prism (5-Speed)
Mazda Protege (5-Speed)
Taurus 3.0 OHV (Vulcan) - Check Trans thoroughly
GM Lesabre/Bonneville/Olds 3800
Mazda B2200

 

[oilmaven]

If you're just looking for transportation, the 1997-up Ford Escorts are a real sleeper. Dead reliable with reasonable performance and comfort. I wouldn't be afraid of a higher mileage model as long as it saw some reasonable maintenance. I may start looking for one in the spring...

 

[JTK]

What do you want/need for $3K, a car, truck or van? You suggested an aerostar and many cars were suggested. In addition to those, you could easily pick up a later model 4cyl, 5spd ford ranger for $3K. Cheap, reliable and easy to maintain.

Joel