I'm in the humorous situation where I'm shopping for a beater/backup car, when we have ten vehicles at the house, plus I have a company truck. But between the fleet of ten, only three are currently roadworthy: wife's Golf, our "trash truck" (single cab 1500 Chevy with a failing trans) and our stake-body dump F550 (also single cab). So when wife's TDI recently deposited some oil on the garage floor, we quickly realized that she had nothing reasonable to drive to work/drop the kids if VW went in the shop for any length of time.
As part of the collection of other vehicles there are at least three vehicles that need some degree of what I'll call "major to moderate maintenance" on the order of at least a full weekend's worth of work, each and some $$$. With an 8 mo old and a 3 year old, and a track car occupying the lift, that's not happening anytime soon (the rest of the fleet needs my kids to be in college)... Thus, I need car 11.
Loose criteria: $5k or less, manual, has to fit 2 kids in carseats and a stroller, ideally not totally boring, can't be a known maintenance hog/time bomb, and I absolutely hate wrenching on rusty cars.
Thoughts on where to focus the search? Car (or truck) will see very little mileage, and I'm fine with body damage as long as it's safe/roadworthy.
Civic, Corolla, Accord, Camry. Might be more difficult finding Toyota products with manuals. Maybe Matrix, RAV4.
My first car was a manual Civic, wife's was a manual Camry, so we've got history there.
I'm hoping to come up with something less vanilla... But I don't know what that is, or if it even exists within my constraints.
Under $5k and reliable limits it a lot. Maybe a civic si could be an option. Also check the Lexus and Acura variants of the cars feedyurhead suggested.
Everything is more expensive these days especially if it's interesting, and it sounds like you're in this predicament because you don't have something boring and stone reliable to depend on. I second the Civic/Corolla/Accord/Camry recommendation. Sometimes vanilla is just the right flavor for the occasion.
pointofdeparture said:
Everything is more expensive these days especially if it's interesting, and it sounds like you're in this predicament because you don't have something boring and stone reliable to depend on. I second the Civic/Corolla/Accord/Camry recommendation. Sometimes vanilla is just the right flavor for the occasion.
We had 2006 Impreza (non-turbo) that filled this slot. It was perfect. Wagon, manual, AWD. And then I popped the curtain airbags on my CTS the week before a track weekend, so I hastily gave the Impreza sticky rubber, Carbotech pads and all the camber I could manage from the tired factory suspension and flogged it at VIR. It made it 2 or 3 sessions before it went down on power and then declined to start. It's been sitting where I shoved it off the trailer ever since. I can ruin vanilla, too!
Spearfishin said:
pointofdeparture said:
Everything is more expensive these days especially if it's interesting, and it sounds like you're in this predicament because you don't have something boring and stone reliable to depend on. I second the Civic/Corolla/Accord/Camry recommendation. Sometimes vanilla is just the right flavor for the occasion.
We had 2006 Impreza (non-turbo) that filled this slot. It was perfect. Wagon, manual, AWD. And then I popped the curtain airbags on my CTS the week before a track weekend, so I hastily gave the Impreza sticky rubber, Carbotech pads and all the camber I could manage from the tired factory suspension and flogged it at VIR. It made it 2 or 3 sessions before it went down on power and then declined to start. It's been sitting where I shoved it off the trailer ever since. I can ruin vanilla, too!
Subaru powertrains are well known to be unreliable in any form of motorsports. The Honda/Toyota recommendation is still valid.
That said, have you considered just paying a shop to do the major maintenance to make one of your other vehicles reliable?
prodarwin said:
Spearfishin said:
pointofdeparture said:
Everything is more expensive these days especially if it's interesting, and it sounds like you're in this predicament because you don't have something boring and stone reliable to depend on. I second the Civic/Corolla/Accord/Camry recommendation. Sometimes vanilla is just the right flavor for the occasion.
We had 2006 Impreza (non-turbo) that filled this slot. It was perfect. Wagon, manual, AWD. And then I popped the curtain airbags on my CTS the week before a track weekend, so I hastily gave the Impreza sticky rubber, Carbotech pads and all the camber I could manage from the tired factory suspension and flogged it at VIR. It made it 2 or 3 sessions before it went down on power and then declined to start. It's been sitting where I shoved it off the trailer ever since. I can ruin vanilla, too!
Subaru powertrains are well known to be unreliable in any form of motorsports. The Honda/Toyota recommendation is still valid.
That said, have you considered just paying a shop to do the major maintenance to make one of your other vehicles reliable?
Dropping Impreza at local Subaru guy this week to at least get a diagnosis (another action spurred by this tiny oil deposit from the TDI), but I'm assuming it's terminal, and I can't see replacement engine being worth the money. But I could be wrong.
Don't underestimate the non-SI Civic.
Spearfishin said:
Dropping Impreza at local Subaru guy this week to at least get a diagnosis (another action spurred by this tiny oil deposit from the TDI), but I'm assuming it's terminal, and I can't see replacement engine being worth the money. But I could be wrong.
oh yeah, that thing is scrap.
I meant fix one of the other 9 vehicles.
In reply to prodarwin :
Agreed, seems like getting a known quantity back into operation with that $5k would make more sense than rolling the dice on something new, especially in today's inflated used vehicle market.
Would 271hp and amazing leather seats help you to consider an automatic transmission?
Two years ago I bought the twin of this:
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/s-Used-Manual-Mercedes-Benz-C-Class-d66_spt396#listing=342949611/NONE/DEFAULT
I have put about 20K miles on it so far and it has been rock solid.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:
Would 271hp and amazing leather seats help you to consider an automatic transmission?
It probably should...but...
As to the very logical suggestions to just get something else I own on the road: not wrong. There's a lack of reliable local mechanics, a lack of my own mental bandwidth to find someone, get car to them and then trust them, but ultimately, yes... probably the correct answer.
I find my comfort in the dull reliability of a Gen2 Prius ('04-'09)
+1 fix something you own.
VW sportwagen with the 2.5 and 5spd?
Jeep XJ
190hp and 5spd makes them more fun than you'd expect and it might last longer than any of your other cars.
Gen 2 (or 3 but unlikely for $5k) Honda Fit.
Frugal, reliable, versatile, not boring w/ a manual trans and good rubber.
I'm looking for a car to do the same mission and I'm shopping Mazda 3/6 with a manual. There's not many for $5k but in my area they do exist.
Up market slightly is a Focus or Fiesta. There's various Hyundai/Kia products in this arena too but I don't know much about them.
Matrix XRS if you can find one.
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.
In reply to spandak :
As someone from Wisconsin the big problem with the Mazdas is that they rust like you absolutely would not believe. They are great cars mechanically but I would never buy one in a salt state, and OP mentions rust as a concern.
In reply to pointofdeparture :
Fair enough. I believe this was mostly cured with the Gen 2s but can't say for sure
rust is such a bummer
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.
In reply to spandak :
Friend of mine in Chicago has a gen 2 and it is just about as crusty at this point sadly. The 6s were even worse though, the front subframes just rusted right out of the bottom of the car.
Why not look for a manual trans Mazda5? They aren't common and are oddly neat, dependable, and would be super handy with small kids.
