What is the most reliable $5,000 car?

Corolla/Civic/Camry/Accord.

/thread....

2g Prius.  See John Welsh's excellent threads.

I don't want to sound like a broken record but yes, Gen2 Prius is what has worked for me.  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/today-i-bought-a-used-prius/123642/page1/

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/prius-people-help-me-look-before-i-leap/191269/page1/

If your budget is $5k then buy a $4k Prius holding back $1k to make it perfect.  

The answer is yes. 

I'd vote Corolla over Prius. I've taken multiple Corollas up to 200k with only minor oil consumption on one of them. The 3rd gen Prius I owned had the battery pack go out at 170k. 

I'll piggy back a bit and agree with Corolla. Said further, a Gen2 Prius is a great choice for a GRMer. There are some simple fixes that are a great DIY value. But, if you have to pay retail for the fix it's a horrible value. 

As an example, I once bought a $500 Prius. The owner had the car from 23k to 223k. Then the dashboard went dead. The dealer said $2k to fix. They didn't want to reinvest into the car. I fixed it with an education from a YouTube video and one 69 cent resistor that I soldered in with a $14 soldering kit.   I made some other small improvements and sold that car for $4k. 

GRMers here have fixed hybrid batteries for near $100 putting in a few hours of work.  Dealer is gonna want $2k for a refurbished unit. 

Lots of corner shops shy from the Prius as "too complex" and the dealership just bends ya over. 

For my 50 yr old sister who lives in an apartment hours away from me, I'd recommend a Corolla over a Prius. It can be fixed at any corner shops, less expensively. 

I mean, lets be honest. What car built in the last 10 years that isnt a subaru won't go 200k miles with just normal maintenance? Tons of Korean cars have passed through my possession with a ton of miles and no problems. 

I'd vote Corolla over Prius, simply because a $5k Prius is an imaginary creature.  I can find 18 Corollas for sale in my area, some at or near $5k.  Priuses for sale number 4, and none are as low as $5k. 

Don't just assume a Corolla will be reliable without checking the individual car thoroughly, though.

A dealer tried to sell DD#2's roommate a decent looking mid-Oughties Corolla with under 100k on the clock. Looked solid but the coolant overflow tank had a cup of mayonnaise in it.

Duke said:

Don't just assume a Corolla will be reliable without checking the individual car thoroughly, though.

A dealer tried to sell DD#2's roommate a decent looking mid-Oughties Corolla with under 100k on the clock. Looked solid but the coolant overflow tank had a cup of mayonnaise in it.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Just because it has your preferred brand badge doesn't mean its no junk. Las Toyota we had was an absolute pile of trash from day one.

IMO, when you get into the lower price ranges, which unfortunately $5k falls into these days, you should be buying more on condition than nameplate. I'd rather have a clean, well-maintained Chrysler than a clapped-out Toyota at that price.

Pontiac Vibe (so yeah a corolla but cheaper)

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

IMO, when you get into the lower price ranges, which unfortunately $5k falls into these days, you should be buying more on condition than nameplate. I'd rather have a clean, well-maintained Chrysler than a clapped-out Toyota at that price.

As the owner of a Toyota and a Chrysler I'm not sure I agree. 

In this price bracket buying the previous owner/condition is a better strategy than a certain type of car. 

I bought a $3950 Toyota Yaris and it has been an absolute champ. Cannonballing across state lines, driving in New York winters, even some racing, and it has yet to throw any major issues my way at 160,000+ miles

Both of my GMT400s (one Tahoe, one K1500) have been bulletproof and less than $4k buy in if you're looking for truck stuff. The only issues I've had that weren't self inflicted were a water pump and a fuel pump, but one of them has 280k miles now and the other is right at 200k. The fuel pump sucked, but they are simple vehicles and every part for them is $10 and will be in stock at autozone.

Yeah good luck finding a $5k Prius nowadays. 
 

I'm thinking Matrix (or better a Vibe due to Pontiac nameplate meaning lower price), Yaris, Corolla, Mazda3, maybe a Focus with the MZR/Duratec. I see one Fit in my area for around that price too.

Over the years I've had two cars that I would consider fairly high mileage, and I bought both under $5k: an IS300 that I sold at about 190k, and my Montero which has about 226k. Both have replacement engines, but the IS300's original engine was likely blown up with a badly tuned turbo kit, and the Montero is known for valve guides failing and therefore burning a lot of oil. On both vehicles, the chassis are still really solid, with bushing replacements needed here and there. I think the trick to a durable car is to keep it fairly simple: port fuel injection instead of DI, no active suspension systems, no turbos. Also, durable does not mean zero maintenance.

I also wouldn't overlook GM products with an iron block V6 in that price range.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

The only problem there will be the rest of the car it's attached to. Those are getting up there in age now and ... well the rest of the car didn't age as well as the drivetrain

thanks for all the replies on this.  For whatever reason I was having a bunch of trouble posting the other day when I originally tried to post this, so the first post isn't there.  

What I was originally asking, was that my sister in law has $5K to buy basic transportation that the only rule is it has to be an automatic.  

Generally, when something breaks, I end up working on it, and I don't want to work on it.  ha.  

I think the Corolla over the Prius just from simplicity of mechanicals, but it's surprising how little $5K buys these days, and wanted to see what else I was missing.  We had a good run with her '98 3.0 V-6 Ranger, which was a great simple thing to keep going, but it lost head gaskets (or heads) and at this point isn't worth the effort of fixing.  Frame is rusted, it's been sledgehammer repaired after a slideoff into a tree, and it's generally just rusty and beat.  

My input.

Grandma's beige buick with a 3.8L.  You'll want to die from driving a beige buick, but at least the torture will last for an arduous 250k without much going wrong.
Corolla/Camry/Civic/Accord.  Take your pick
6.2/6.5L GM/Detroit diesel.  Try to kill one.  I sold my 6.2L/TH475 with 300k and the new owner now has over 500k and he's thinking it's time for a re-ring and re-bearing.  Consumes a little oil and the oil pressure is lower than he'd like.
80s MB diesel.  Things will go wrong, but parts are cheap and they're pretty easy to work on.
Mostly anything with a 1NZ-FE.  Yaris, Echo, xB.  Ex wife had one for over 200k and it needed plugs at about 120k.  Never put a dime into the engine otherwise.  It finally died when she rear-ended someone.
Outlier... A2 Jetta.  I had one with 200k or more.  It just wouldn't die.  It burned through water pumps, but they were external on the side of the block and easy to swap.

MadScientistMatt said:

I also wouldn't overlook GM products with an iron block V6 in that price range.

I tend to agree.  Workhorse.  Plus, they usually came with a 4L60E, which will last forever behind the V6.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

4T60 but yeah. Drivetrains in those run forever. rest of the car not so much. Electronics, hvac etc tend to be a nightmare.