L5wolvesf said:In the truck category – Ford Ranger (not the newer ones).
Fits the: $5k or less, manual, 2 kids in car seats (extended cab) and a stroller (in the bed), not a known maintenance hog/time bomb, criteria.
Plus, when you get the rest of the fleet running or gone or ?? older Rangers have decent resale value.
How in the hell are you fitting car seats in the back of a ranger? Even mounting them sideways?
Even without a car seat my 3 year old at the time couldn't fit in the jump seats.
In reply to Spearfishin :
None of these are manuals. I am known among family and friends as the guy that can find good cars cheap. Some of my go to way cheaper than they should be cars are Cadilac SRX, Hyundai Genesis, Toyota Solara, Saturn Vue. My way too expensive for what they should be are anything else Toyota/Honda. It still amazes me that a 10 year old Honda CRV or Toyota Rav 4 with 150K miles costs more than a 10 year old Cadilac SRX with 100k miles. If you want to spend a little more, the Lexus RX350 is a decent deal as well. Toyota quality with all the bells and whistles.
buzzboy said:My mom has a second gen Mazda 3 with the 2.5 and 6 speed. It's really fun(for what it is), really practical and has so far been very reliable(130k). Living in the south, no worries about rust.
We bought a 2010 Mazda 3 with the 2.5 and six speed new. My wife put about 115k on it before we gave it to my daughter. My daughter has flogged it mercilessly and treated it very poorly. At somewhere around 215k now, she's ready to replace it. It needed a clutch at 125k and otherwise has needed very little outside of routine maintenance (much of which has been overlooked). We are in northern MD where rust is present but not as bad as some of our friends to the north. So far the Mazda has remained rust free.
I too am shopping for a new daily/commuter-beater. I keep looking all around and keep coming back to the Mazda sitting in the driveway. It needs tires, brakes, shocks, windshield, and a really good detail, but I think it has some life left in it.
what about an E90 328 or E46 330?
A quick autotempest search revealed plenty of options for a bit more than your budget but with some sluthing and negotiations you can probably get into the $5k range. Stick to the NA 6 cyl motors and you'll probably have a pretty good car.
ClearWaterMS said:what about an E90 328 or E46 330?
A quick autotempest search revealed plenty of options for a bit more than your budget but with some sluthing and negotiations you can probably get into the $5k range. Stick to the NA 6 cyl motors and you'll probably have a pretty good car.
Caged E46 330 on the lift, overheated E46 330 beside the shop. I'm a fan, but around here seems they're either beat to death/ill-maintained, or they want $10k for a 2001.
Have pondered e9x and might look a little harder there.
Have seen a few 08-12 Foresters for cheap with a manual. My sister had one in the past and my mom has one currently...for a basic beat around car, seems they're reasonable, yeah?
RevRico said:L5wolvesf said:In the truck category – Ford Ranger (not the newer ones).
Fits the: $5k or less, manual, 2 kids in car seats (extended cab) and a stroller (in the bed), not a known maintenance hog/time bomb, criteria.
Plus, when you get the rest of the fleet running or gone or ?? older Rangers have decent resale value.
How in the hell are you fitting car seats in the back of a ranger? Even mounting them sideways?
Even without a car seat my 3 year old at the time couldn't fit in the jump seats.
I wondered about that. I was shopping for a small truck in 2001, thought that they had a sideways jump seat.
I bought a Tacoma, still didn't have room for a rear facing child seat, which is why I sold it.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:RevRico said:L5wolvesf said:In the truck category – Ford Ranger (not the newer ones).
Fits the: $5k or less, manual, 2 kids in car seats (extended cab) and a stroller (in the bed), not a known maintenance hog/time bomb, criteria.
Plus, when you get the rest of the fleet running or gone or ?? older Rangers have decent resale value.
How in the hell are you fitting car seats in the back of a ranger? Even mounting them sideways?
Even without a car seat my 3 year old at the time couldn't fit in the jump seats.
I wondered about that. I was shopping for a small truck in 2001, thought that they had a sideways jump seat.
I bought a Tacoma, still didn't have room for a rear facing child seat, which is why I sold it.
Between wife and I we've had 3 Rangers and a Tacoma of the 90's-early-00's vintage. None would hold a rear facing seat, to my recollection. As it stands in my "extended cab" F-150 company truck, rear facing (son) really only fits in the middle.
Manuals used to be cheaper than the equivalent automatic (sporty cars being the exception). Based on my recent searches, manuals seem to be fetching a premium, even in more pedestrian applications (i.e. Corolla, Accords, Camry). I 'd go with an auto appliance, Woody's Accord was actually my first thought.
Minor update: no one selling a $2500 car on Marketplace responds to simple questions.
And after wiping oil off of sparkplugs and putting battery charger on, my sick Impreza started and drove onto the trailer under its own power tonight. But it sounded positively sick/weak and I didn't shut it off, it died.
Morning edit, joining her broken boxer brothers/sisters:
Spearfishin said:ClearWaterMS said:what about an E90 328 or E46 330?
A quick autotempest search revealed plenty of options for a bit more than your budget but with some sluthing and negotiations you can probably get into the $5k range. Stick to the NA 6 cyl motors and you'll probably have a pretty good car.
Caged E46 330 on the lift, overheated E46 330 beside the shop. I'm a fan, but around here seems they're either beat to death/ill-maintained, or they want $10k for a 2001.
Have pondered e9x and might look a little harder there.
Have seen a few 08-12 Foresters for cheap with a manual. My sister had one in the past and my mom has one currently...for a basic beat around car, seems they're reasonable, yeah?
super rare in manual but 4 door infiniti G sedans did exist, at $5k you're squarely in the G35 but I had one a bunch of years ago and it was reliable and fun even with the automatic.
+1 for Mazda 3 or 6. I just saw an ad for an auto 2007 Mazda 3 for $4100 in the south. One owner, approx 100k miles. Very clean. With enough looking you can probably find a nice manual one. They don't seem to command the premium that Toyota and Hondas do.
SpearfishinHave seen a few 08-12 Foresters for cheap with a manual. My sister had one in the past and my mom has one currently...for a basic beat around car, seems they're reasonable, yeah?
Until it does Subaru things like (*checks notes*) exactly what happened to your current car
CyberEric said:+1 for Mazda 3 or 6. I just saw an ad for an auto 2007 Mazda 3 for $4100 in the south. One owner, approx 100k miles. Very clean. With enough looking you can probably find a nice manual one. They don't seem to command the premium that Toyota and Hondas do.
I bought the speed3 that was for sale on this forum and have thrown a ton of parts at it; if that interests you. It still isn't great though so you should look at something else lol
prodarwin said:SpearfishinHave seen a few 08-12 Foresters for cheap with a manual. My sister had one in the past and my mom has one currently...for a basic beat around car, seems they're reasonable, yeah?
Until it does Subaru things like (*checks notes*) exactly what happened to your current car
I mean, yeah...but also, I was pushing that poor Impreza around VIR. "Never say never", but I struggle to see me getting a Forester on track.
(Fun fact, I fat-fingered 'Forester' just then and my phone autocorrected it to 'foreskin'.)
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:
My buddy's mom had a similar vintage Accord and I share your opinion of the seats. I want to find one with one more pedal.
In reply to Spearfishin :
That's fair. You know where to find me if you change your mind!
4 door accord with a k series and 5 speed.
I really like the 6s in these but if your looking for a beater the last thing I would want is a deferred timing belt, I have to do immediately.
Quite far from you, but I need to sell my '04 TSX. 6 speed, good mechanical condition, some rust. Exterior is a Midwest 5/10. Rust on doors by the handles and door sills. Interior is a 6/10. Drivers seat has some tears, though not super obvious, back seat has some indentations from... a car seat. If one of the car seats is forward facing, you can do 2 seats.
It MIGHT need a catalytic converter. The lights on the dash are indicative of either a brake switch, that I have but haven't installed yet, or else the converter.
The passenger door lock is currently manual. I have the part, but again, haven't installed it.
$3,800 right now but I haven't cleaned it or installed the parts that I need to, which I would before selling for that price. $3,500 without the stuff installed.
EDIT: $4,500 delivered to RDU, IAD, or DCA; $4,800 delivered to ILM or RIC.
FWIW I am getting rid of a 2013 Kia Soul soon that technically meets your requirements, although it's pretty boring. I don't know what I'd recommend it to anyone though.
Swallow your pride about a manual and get a mini van. Get the best one 5k can get you. I don't know what model is the best in this price range. They are the Swiss Army knife of vehicles.
Minor update: the original beater that I hurt at VIR that inspired the search for a replacement (05 NA Impreza), had definitely jumped time and shop seems optimistic that re-timing it and putting it back together might give me a few more years of beater duty. Warned profusely against ever attempting any form of hard driving again.
No promises.
Spearfishin said:Minor update: the original beater that I hurt at VIR that inspired the search for a replacement (05 NA Impreza), had definitely jumped time and shop seems optimistic that re-timing it and putting it back together might give me a few more years of beater duty. Warned profusely against ever attempting any form of hard driving again.
No promises.
Closure for the moment: new timing belt/pulleys/water pump and it's purring like a kitten.
Said the exhaust is rusted to the point that a stiff bump might break a hanger in the not so distant future, so I guess I'll need to address that, but it runs and rides now for repair bill that was less than even the most beat up of beaters. So, officially calling off this particular quest. Thanks for good suggestions.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Are you in a hurry to get rid of the Honda?
I need it to send with my boys off to college with, so next summer.
In reply to akylekoz :
I decided to register the Honda last week and keep it around as a driver's ed car for the next kid, at least for the next few months. Not sure if I will still have it by next summer or not though.
You'll need to log in to post.
