Fun Cheap Daily Driver?

The short of it, I'm looking for a cheap to buy and own daily driver. I would prefer to keep it around $2,000 less is better but I'm flexible. 

Key points: 

• Around $2000 initial purchase
• Cheap to insure
• Inexpensive to maintain myself
• Good mpgs [20ish or better]
• Preferably a stickshift that I can learn on

Now the full story. My name is Nick and my current daily driver is a 2004 Toyota Tacoma with a 2.7 4 cylinder. It's a great truck, I have no complaints, and a great prerunner. It averages 15 mpg as everyday Im in stop and go traffic either to school or work, both of which are maybe 20 miles each way. I'm in love with off roading and saved up enough to start buying and installing long travel parts. When it is complete I know it won't be the best daily driver, plus there will be multiple times during the build process where I won't be able to drive it. Thus I am planning in advance and I would like the community's opinion on a possible replacement daily. 

A few things about me. I'm 6 ft 1 and I would be purchasing in, or nearby, Orange County, California. I have always wanted to learn to drive stick, I work at a CarMax so so my experience with a stick is only going into 1st or reverse. Also I can get an employee discount on older vehicles, they offer to buy any vehicle a customer brings in so I have a variety to choose from daily that I keep an eye on. Maybe a car suggested will make its way in. Of course I'm not limiting myself to this, I'll buy off Craigslist and etc as well. Just a convienant possibility I have. I'm not looking for a cream puff car, dents, scratches, missing paint doesn't really bother me. As long as I can make the vehicle dependable and it puts a smile on my face I'll be plenty happy. Also something sporty that I can play with on corners and windy roads would be a major plus.... Although I consider my dad's 09 camry a bit sporty compared to my Taco haha. I hope for and await everyone's suggestions. 

I'll be scocked if I don't see Miata in the first few suggestions hahaha. Let er rip! 

Miata!

In reply to mw :

I'm open to them, being tall worries me though. I havent sat in a 1st gen yata but I was fairly squished in a 2nd gen, maybe there's a way around that?

This looks cool haha . Also I have a vision of a yata with a OD paint job, white star on the doors, and a military surplus camo net throne over a open top. Think that would be fun, and make for a funny looking tan 

Mazda 3

In reply to Nicklovin :

I'm 6' 3" and own a 1st-gen Miata. I think my seat might have a foamectomy done by a previous owner, but I have plenty of room and it's comfortable.

Miata. I'm 6' 185 and fit into all generations of miatae though, oddly, I find the NC the least comfortable. The door cards of NBs are a little tight along the legs, but nothing that I would describe as a deal breaker. If it becomes an issue you can always swap them out for versions from the NA.

2k should also get you an EK civic, 1st gen zetec Focus, and BJ Protege.  I've seen high mileage Mazda 3s for closer to 3-3.5k, but who knows what you might find with a little shopping. 

My pipe-dream self thinks that were I in your shoes living in SoCal, I'd see what kind of vintage Japanese tin I could find. 

If FUN is important... Miata.  And being in SoCal, you've got the perfect environment for it.

Best values are found in NBs right now, and they do make better drivers than NAs.

That said, some little fartknocker commuter car is probably the more sensible choice.  Good thing we're not all that sensible here... 

Mazda 3 

In reply to penultimeta :

J-tin ain't cheap. Especially in Cali!

For that budget, an ugly/high mileage e36 or e46 shouldn't be that hard to find. At the price point, whatever you buy will need some kind of effort put into it. 

I agree with the Mazda 3 suggestion.  Just stick to your guns on the 5 spd and keep an open mind to find something small-ish and nice-ish condition.  

It's going to pretty hard to find a Mazda 3 for 2k if my experience looking for one under 5k is any indication. But maybe it's different in Southern California (I'm in Northern). I suppose if you don't mind a salvaged title it might be possible. 

I think Miata, as usual, is the answer here. There are just SO many of them for sale when compared to a 3. 

Protege5?  I’m assuming they don’t rust as bad in California as everywhere else.  Fun, and able to haul parts to repair the Tacoma when it breaks off road.

If not Miata, I’ll suggest some of my favorites:

BG Protege/Escort GT/ZX2

5th gen Tercel

1st gen Neon

All should be easy to find with stick, all should be found at a quarter to half of or budget. Parts are cheap and they’re easy to work on. Neon would be the most difficult to find of the bunch, I’d guess.

The most fun cheap cars are the cars that were always cheap. 

A bunch of suggestions awesome. I'll make a few individual responses in a second here. 

Mazda 3, in regards to that one I've driven a few before although with automatics and they were a blast. Although around here for a decent one prices start at about $5k and go up from there. 

Also the bmw suggestion. I like the looks of those bmws but to be honest I would never consider a beamer for a cheap ride. I had a friend who got one his last year of high school, over a few years pretty much everything under the hood except the block was replaced. I really have no interest after watching that, I've been pampered by my low maintence yota haha. 

Liking all the rest of the suggestions so far, even got some new ideas. 

In reply to NickD :

Awesome glad to hear I stand a chance. By foamectomy I'm guessing some foam was removed from the bottom and/or back of the seat to give yourself some more room? Adding that to the list of things to look into, thanks 

In reply to penultimeta :

Now that I think back on it I think it was the door cards on the NB that was making me feel a bit tight. Like you said definately not a deal breaker but it's good to know there's opportunity to change it if I go down that route.

Civic I thought about, I really like them but every single one around here has been completely riced out. Not a fan of that crowd, fun little car though not ruling it out. Haven't looked into, let alone really heard of, a protege I'll look into it. 

There's quite a bit older jap options around here in various affordable price ranges. Especially MR2s, ae86s, celicas and datsuns. I'll happily live your pipe-dream in any of the toyotas they're all great. You know... minus the fact that the majority of them have some amount of surface rust whoops haha.  

In reply to Rodan :

Could you elaborate on better values being found in NBs? I don't really know much info on them other than they're newer than NAs, have better comfort, a little more room, and I assume a better engine.  You know there are a lot of boring commuter cars I could buy from work, especially camrys, for well under a grand. A lot of people keep telling me to do that, but who wants the boring sensible car. That's no fun! 

Speaking of non sensible ideas so I have a very sensible idea to get a old beetle, anything pre-super beetle, and slap a EJ22 in there. Spent a few weeks on and off looking into it. I could get a decent runner beetle for around $2k, make at least a few hundred selling the air cooled motor, and buy a donor subaru with a ej22 for around $1500. There's always some options on craigslist, sometimes ones in accidents, sometimes ones that can't pass california's strict emissions laws and the owners rather sell the car then spend the money to pass emissions. It wouldn't be too complicated of a project but it would take some time and I would learn some new things while having fun. Plus the final result would be a classic vehicle with a modern drivetrain that I could keep as a fun cruiser that gets 30+ mpgs (based off of multiple different builds that have done this and recorded their results). Granted I know this would exceed my $2,000 limit for this thread but I can afford it and a vehicle like that wouldn't lose that much of it's value on resale as long as I don't go crazy with it. I could spent hours talking about info related to this project but I don't want to bore you hahaha. 

Thanks for reminding me I should do something non sensible with a car, I need more suggestions like that. 

In reply to Carson :

Oh my gawd a tercel wagon with "4wd" hahahahahahah. I might have to buy one just for the shenanigans. Realistically I think a miata is probably my best bet, it always pops up whenever I look for cars that are fun and easy to learn stick on. Thanks for the tercel idea  

Didn't read the whole post but why not C5 Corvette?  Not expensive and should be fun with a stick.

edit:. You said $2000.  I read S2000.  My bad.  LOL

Nicklovin said:

In reply to NickD :

Awesome glad to hear I stand a chance. By foamectomy I'm guessing some foam was removed from the bottom and/or back of the seat to give yourself some more room? Adding that to the list of things to look into, thanks 

Yep, it's pretty well documented. Slice some out of the bottom to sit you down farther.

Miata or Civic.

Both have lots of parts availability, both are fun to drive, both are easy to maintain and reliable. The Civic gets a bit better gas mileage and is a bit more practical where as the Miata you can put the top back. 

Nicklovin said:

In reply to Rodan :

Could you elaborate on better values being found in NBs?

Values on NAs have been climbing over the last couple of years, as collectors are developing interest in them.  This has been dragging the bottom of the market up as well.  An NA that would have been $2500-3000 five years ago is now $5000.  The NB, on the other hand is right at the bottom of the depreciation curve, especially the NB1 (99-00).  They're also generally a decade +/- newer than NA, so time hasn't taken quite the toll yet.  At your price point, here in AZ at least, you should be able to find a good running 99-00 w/100k+ miles and some cosmetic challenges.  Unless you get lucky, and steal it from grandma down the street, a $2k NA isn't going to be nearly as nice.

NBs are a little heavier than the NA, but have much nicer interiors, better brakes, more power stock, and a stiffer chassis.

I always see Mazda 3 and Civic's on these lists, but for some reason Toyotas offerings are usually omitted...

Anything with the 2zz-ge:

• 1st Gen Matrix XRS/Vibe GT
• Celica GT-S
• Corolla XRS

The Corolla/matrix has somewhat mushy handling that can be vastly improved with a rear sway bar and Koni's.  

6spd, 8250 redline, and underappreciated enough to not demand any premium in price.

I am currently driving a '04 Acura TSX that fits that criteria. With the 6spd and 200 or so hp it is decently fun and economical.

Defining "fun" is hard. I find the little Rio we have "fun" because it handles like a slot car and you never use the brakes. The truck is "fun" because it does non-trucklike things and has proper V8 noises. My old Forte was "fun" because it was righteously quick for auto-x with a good driver (read:not me). My motorcycle is fun because it pulls wheelies while leaving black marks. 

So you need to define what "fun" you're looking for. Fast? Handles great? Tries to kill you?