Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Ws6
The only vehicle Ford made of the $4k or less era that I'd trust is a Ranger with a 5 speed. Their 4.6 motors die after about 200-250k miles, and will eat several automatic transmissions during that time. Their v6s are worse.
The Ranger never came with the 4.6, and in the Fords that did, it's one of the best engines they built. Plenty of Crown Vic taxis and Town Car limos with 400K or even over 500K miles on the original engines.
I don't think Ws6 is saying they did, I think it may have been poorly worded on his part. The 4.6's were in F150's and the much fabled Crown Vic, but while some crank out the miles they aren't immune to issues either. They made about 8 billion of 'em so finding a few that go to crazy miles is not the same as saying they all can--plenty were junked long before high miles. Even if the engine is willing the transmission isn't, or wasn't in many cases--which might be fine if the OP knows that going in, but for many it's the kiss of death.
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I'm partial to Toyota's but as others have mentioned, they're rusty and old in this price bracket. Fly south and get rust free, I suspect any money lost on a ticket is well spent starting with something in better shape.
But keep an eye on CL. My '99 was from Arizona, I didn't even have to leave the state to pick it up (person moved and then got a new car). Sometimes there are gems out there for the finding (of any make).