CHEAP economy cars

In reply to KATYB:

Okay, I'll qualify my statement: The first gens rusted out in Wisconsin 10 years ago. Its a rare day to spot one in the wild here in the land of salty roads and longs winters.

tell him to buy a mid 80s K-car and stand back and laugh at the comedic hilarity that ensues.

Good idear. Even a stock motor on stock boost is good for laughs. http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie_0002.mp4

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-3.mp4

On the other hand i dont think anyone i know has gotten past 42mpg in a k-car so they're not any better on gas than Saturns. If you can settle for 35 though..

For the record i think Saturn is the best answer here.

I drove a Toyota Tercel for a few years. It wasn't exciting, but it sure was cheap to run and dead nuts reliable. Can't think they would cost anything to buy.

In reply to RossD:

ok fair enough when i bought my first one it was up in massachusetts got it for 100 dollars and drove it to cali that day... however i will say it had no floor boards.... as in any at all... that one was a piece. it didnt last 3 days once i got to cali but it got me there.

massachusetts got it for 100 dollars and drove it to cali that day..

Mass to Cali in one day? WOW!

93EXCivic wrote: Saturn.

I have what I call the NSFW group.

Neon

Saturn

Focus

Wagon (that is any of these in Wagon form)

I would select Saturn first, but only because I owned one and I haven't owned the other two.

Me likey the old school escort in taht pic! My first car was an '89 Escort GT back in '98.

I could put $5 of gas in that thing and go for days on it. Or course gas .97 a gallon then?

I don't know how they get on economy, but for reliability, its realllly hard to beat a buick centry, olds cutlass ciera, etc etc. I think the 3.3 V6 won't get great mileage, but that 2.5 iron duke has to be better. They're as sophisticated as a cannonball and, around here atleast, are common as DIRT!

Not quite as fuel effiecient as the Plastic Planet, but very cheap and uber reliable.

Bench Racer (BowtieBandit) wrote: I don't know how they get on economy, but for reliability, its realllly hard to beat a buick centry, olds cutlass ciera, etc etc. I think the 3.3 V6 won't get great mileage, but that 2.5 iron duke has to be better. They're as sophisticated as a cannonball and, around here atleast, are common as DIRT! Not quite as fuel effiecient as the Plastic Planet, but very cheap and uber reliable.

2.5 Iron Duke Buick Century = worst car ever produced by the hand of man. I would take an oxcart that was on fire before one of those.

But you can't kill the damn things.

mndsm wrote: But you can't kill the damn things.

Yes. This. Seemingly especially true of GM cars of this era. They will knock, miss, be pouring oil out of valve covers and steaming out of head gaskets, and run happily that way for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Vigo wrote:

massachusetts got it for 100 dollars and drove it to cali that day..

Mass to Cali in one day? WOW!

lmao ok so it took 4 days but you know what i meant.

Bench Racer (BowtieBandit) wrote: I don't know how they get on economy, but for reliability, its realllly hard to beat a buick centry, olds cutlass ciera, etc etc. I think the 3.3 V6 won't get great mileage, but that 2.5 iron duke has to be better. They're as sophisticated as a cannonball and, around here atleast, are common as DIRT! Not quite as fuel effiecient as the Plastic Planet, but very cheap and uber reliable.

Guy I work with drives a big(ger) Buick with the 3.8 and gets 32-35 mpg. He bought it used for $1200 and about 135K miles. It's now worth about a grand, but has 225K. And still just a-perkin' along. He says he has no plans to get rid of it when it's running so well...

Another vote for the Saturn. Every S series car was built in Spring Hill, TN. If that isn't American enough for him, nothing is. They're also the most reliable of the Saturn/Escort/Neon trio, I think. The manual transmissions are all fine, but the Escort's auto is made of glass, and the Neon's 3-speed auto is never in the powerband, ever. For a slushbox, the Saturn's pretty good. Go for a SOHC model (model ending in 1) and it'll get high 30s or above all day. The peppier twin cams can still get over 30 if they're in decent tune.

Guy I work with drives a big(ger) Buick with the 3.8 and gets 32-35 mpg. He bought it used for $1200 and about 135K miles. It's now worth about a grand, but has 225K. And still just a-perkin' along. He says he has no plans to get rid of it when it's running so well...

Yeh, i honestly feel a lot better about late 80s fwd GMs than any 90s fwd GMs, heh.

Late 80s fuel injected 3.8 fwds are really.. unexpected.. They have a lot of power, get decent mileage, are super cheap, and dont break down constantly. Very under the radar.

i love the old saturns too

integraguy wrote: I agree with most here, unless you don't feel patriotic driving a 10-15 year old "foreign branded" but not necessarily foreign built car, there really isn't a point to buying American. That said, my father refuses to drive/own a foreign BRAND of car.

My ex-in laws were like that. My ex-FIL used to say (about the wife's Ohio-built Honda) that those cars weren't "built" in the US, they were merely "assembled" here from "foreign" parts. Don't know if that's true or not, I never cared enough about that claim to research it. I was actually initially disappointed to discover the woman's Honda was made in Ohio. But hey, it ran like a Honda, and lasted like one too!

Sez the guy who still owns a Mexican VW..

EDIT: With over 200K mi.

pinchvalve wrote: 2.5 Iron Duke Buick Century = worst car ever produced by the hand of man. I would take an oxcart that was on fire before one of those.

Quoted for awesomeness.