If you had $1,500 to spend on a manual commuter...

A one way plane ticket to do a fly-n-drive is a great way to avoid rust hassles. 

500-1500 buys a lot of car in Texas. We are swimming in cheap Honda’s around here. 

I would try to find a 90's Maxima with a manual or a B13 Sentra SE-R.

In reply to andy_b :

I thought I stole mine for $3k

Cousin_Eddie said:

I wouldn't discount a Civic because it has a timing belt. 60 dollars will buy you a top of the line timing belt/water pump kit. A couple of hours labor and you can forget about it for 80k miles. 

80k? Only if it’s a really expensive engine like a b18c5 or a K series. And that’s only because it’s expensive to replace or repair. Most D series engines go 150k on a genuine Honda belt. 

Another vote for the Festiva. 

I paid $1600 for my '91 with just 76k miles. 2 owner car. I'm very happy. It did need new tires after about 2 months, but otherwise has needed nothing and been rock solid. 

Turns 40mpg easily and is fun to drive in a way that a car with 63hp and 1700lbs can be. The B3 engine is actually pretty amazing in that it is nearly impossible to lug. It, surprisingly, has great low end torque and throttle response, so it is easier to drive in bad traffic than my Miata was. City parking is also great due to the short length. 

I have never seen a decent Civic or Matrix for anywhere NEAR $1500 around here. 

Sounds like you need something as reliable as possible (being a mandatory employee) that gets good MPG, but still fun to drive.  Regarding the "fun" factor, anything will be fun vs. a truck.  I drove a Tahoe for a number of years and would enjoy borrowing my wife's Nissan Rouge (not even close to being a fun car), because it was still more fun than the Tahoe.

At $1500, it's always a gamble, regardless of what you get, because chances are it has high miles and things are more likely to fail.  The Japanese cars are, usually, more reliable and chances are with a 5 speed on a Toyota, you're getting one that was somewhat taken care of because you had to work hard to find one with standard transmission.

I agree with the sentiment above to buy the nicest you can find in that range, but by nicest I mean lowest miles and in the best shape.  As a Texan, I have no idea what rust is (but we do know A/C), but assume that the cheaper you're looking at, the rustier it would get.  If you can swing a one way ticket flight in your price, finding something south might be better.  Plus, although it does get hot in the northeast, lack of A/C down here is a killer.  I could see you getting a good deal on a southern car that needs A/C work, but without the rust tax.

-Rob

Festiva

Hyundai Accent?

Here's one for $1400

mad_machine said:

Hyundai Accent?

 

Here's one for $1400

Perfect! Roll up windows and everything. A center e-brake for scaring the E36 M3 out of my wife too!

Hey look, I can have a pickup and a Festiva at the same time!

Too bad it blows my budget 

Anyone?

(99% automatics I’m guessing)

It will get surprisingly good mileage, but it will not have a manual! 

Trackmouse said:

Cousin_Eddie said:

I wouldn't discount a Civic because it has a timing belt. 60 dollars will buy you a top of the line timing belt/water pump kit. A couple of hours labor and you can forget about it for 80k miles. 

80k? Only if it’s a really expensive engine like a b18c5 or a K series. And that’s only because it’s expensive to replace or repair. Most D series engines go 150k on a genuine Honda belt. 

Yeah right,  The distributor will lock up way before 150k, and if you're lucky all it will do is break the timing belt.

On the 5 cylinder engine in the Vigor, it will break the camshaft when (not if) the distributor seizes.

(Meanwhile, everyone else in the world is like "Distributor?  WTF, just use coil packs already")

I had an automatic second gen Saturn SL2 as a cheap commuter, I liked it ok but it wasn't fun, might have been if it were manual. Sold it for an 88 Mazda MX-6 GT turbo manual, much more fun but I was switched to telecommuting so can't attest to how well it would commute, bought it because I was told it gets comparable mileage to the Saturn. Saw two running examples on the nearby craigslist for less than $800 recently. There's also a 626 GT same engine and trans in a hatchback body that's been for sale for $625 forever needing some TLC (owner says fuel pump, brakes and windshield plus the passenger side dents)

For 1500 I would try to find a 88ish gen civic sedan or wago. Or find a same era t1 doge sedan to adopt.  It was a magical time of manual goodness.

John Welsh said:

I would sort my local CL by "manual trans" and put a price cap of $2,200 and see what pops up. 

 

Checked out the local CL and found some interesting vehicles: 

2003 Subaru Baja 

1992 Saab 9000S

2003 Ford Focus ZX3

​​​​​​​2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe

Ridiculous 1986 Mazda B2000 Minitruck with 2JZ

1985 Pontiac Fiero

​​​​​​​All of them need various little things, but interesting vehicles can be had in that price range!

AngryCorvair said:

Cleanest focus hatch

I came to say this.

I just got a 2001 Sentra SE manual.  That's the SR20 engine with a LSD.  The paint is terrible but it has a nice interior and no rust.  I will be selling it for a reasonable price.

I assume this has been discussed already.

Duke said:

I assume this has been discussed already.

Ha.  I came here to post that.  It's what I would buy if I were looking for that kind of thing.