Tell me your favorite fun, practical, reliable car

The Ion Redline was probably my best car by far, and I did everything with it. Good in the snow, great DD, took beatings like a fan of bdsm and kept asking for more, survived teaching multiple people how to drive a manual, and was a rocket in G-stock. I podiumed twice in a drag/autox/show event locally with it nearly stock(along with another IRL)

Only issues, the electric power steering assist(before gm added the saturns to the recall, but I was eventually reimbursed), and a failed catalyst at 78k that was warrantied. Otherwise 50k uneventful miles of hoonage, abuse, and glory. Extremely capable when stock, good handling, great brakes, and an all around good car. They are rare so the price range is all over the place. I sold mine with 100k on it for $5k 2 years ago now.

Edit: Damn, I missed the $2k budget......good luck with that.

bg suspension goodies between Pierce's suspension bits, bpt swaps being cheap and easy it does make it tough to go against the bg.

Claff wrote: My current small practical reliable car is my '88 CRX Si. But I'm on the lookout for something more practical, and bouncing between Mazda Protege5 and EP3 Civic. Si hatchback.

I had a '85 CRX Si and should have never sold it! The guy who bought it won't sell it back! I don't like the looks of the Gen II as well but I hear it's faster. When you're ready to sell it, let me know.

As to the 200SX discussion. I had one of them (hatchback)and found it an excellent daily driver with ore room inside than expected and a lot of fun too. The only caveat is the 5 speed has the offset low gear with reverse above it. Great for dropping 5th to 4th for passing on the 2 lanes, but a bitch for autocross. 2nd is a long reach to the middle and up. Of course on a course where the start line was away from the clock line, I'd just shift to 2nd early. Most courses are 2nd and 3rd for the 200SX anyway.

I'm on my 3rd BG Chassis. First was ZX2, second was Escort Wagon, 3rd (current) is another ZX2.

All purchased for $1000 or less, all sold for $1000 or more.

The trick is to find the car on Craigslist with no pictures and a brief discription. The only thing you need to know is "ever been wrecked, running?" because everything else is easy.

When you sell it, load up tons of pictures on craigslist, make sure it's inspected and that it runs well. You won't lose money.

PHeller wrote: All purchased for $1000 or less, all sold for $1000 or more. The trick is to find the car on Craigslist with no pictures and a brief discription. The only thing you need to know is "ever been wrecked, running?" because everything else is easy. When you sell it, load up tons of pictures on craigslist, make sure it's inspected and that it runs well. You won't lose money.

that and shifter bushings. They're almost always worn, go with a the "it feels like it could be the linakage assembly going bad" after your test drive for a few hundred off the price, then $35 of bronze oil bushings later, you're in shifter paradise. I'm eyeing another (2nd) bg 323 that i'm hoping to snag for less then $400, this example has it's issues but i have spares for everything it needs.

sethmeister4 wrote: In reply to Powar: That looks really good. If I found one (and I think I will try to find an LX), I think some lowering springs w/ new struts and some wheels & tires is all I would do. I want something that I can drive for years, have some fun in, but still be practical. A quick little econobox would fit the bill nicely I think, that way I can get good MPG's, have fun autocrossing, and have a backseat to put my son in if needed. Do you have any pic of your MX3 seats and Miata wheels?

This photo shows the '99 Miata wheels in all their glory:

Sadly, I can't find any 'after' pics of the interior. If you want some, I can take them.

+1 for a BG car, though at this point, i think it's worth it to hold out for a Mazda variant. The interiors are FAR better.

$2000 should buy you a pretty nice 91-94 Protege LX, and the plan of nice shocks/springs/wheels/tires is a good one.

I'd love to run across the deal of a lifetime on one at this point. They're like cockroaches, look pretty decent, and are a riot to fling around. I've been carrying around a "DD Street" build for a BG chassis in my head for a couple years now.

That said... i still think the 1g MX6 GT might meet some of the requirements better, depending on your flavor of fun. I think they're just as reliable, they're built better. It's the practical thing that i have an issue with. It's practical in that there's more room, they get similar (or better) MPG, they're just as cheap to maintain, i think they're easier to work on, etc...

But on the flip side, is it really practical to drive an MX6 like i do? No. It's not. And i'm not sure if i got another one if i'd be able to resist doing it again.

SO, in this case, if i was limited to pretty much suspension modifications, i'd pick the Protege.

I'm still surprised Swank hasn't traveled to Wisconsin

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4165537368.html

captdownshift wrote: I'm still surprised Swank hasn't traveled to Wisconsin http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4165537368.html

He's working on that.

[Mr. Burns voice] exxxceeeelleent [/Mr. Burns voice]

In reply to Swank Force One:

I would definitely hold out for a Mazda. I don't personally love the way the Escort GT or the ZX2 look, plus I just don't think I could bring myself to buy something with the Ford emblem on the grill. I know they have Mazda motors, but I just really like the way the Proteges look.

That being said, this has caught my attention of late (the one I e-mailed you about). My brother and I were going to go look at it for him, but he ended up buying an AW11 MR2. I've texted back and forth with the guy, he told me his low price was $900. Might be worth the drive. The guy said it needs a fuel pump & slave cylinder. http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/cto/4187829549.html
There aren't any Proteges in my area at the moment...but then again I need to sell my project car first anyway, so no biggy.

crx, svx, celica gts, aw11 mr2 fixer upper. Or... buy a car you can flip after a little while and Make money on it, or at least drive it for free. Berk $2k cars if you can afford to drive something $10-15k and make $2K at the end.

94+ integras and 90-02 accords with a stick.

http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/4225309292.html

I bought an '05 Honda Civic coupe for $2k for DD and occasional autox. Not the best suspension but I won H-stock with it at our last autocross. Just put on my old Bridgestones and off we went. This one has 160k miles on it and all I've done is an oil change and timing belt. Good luck with your search. See my garage for pics of the Civ.

If you really need to go dumpster diving in the sub 2k hood, then the last generation Mazda Protege is a good car. Bulleproof, easy to work on and way undervalued by the market.

Myself, I also happen to like the looks of em. Drove one for ten years like I stole it from the Ex and it never complained.

Cherokee XJ. Bullet proof, lot's of room for the size, I really like mine. Oh, cheap, too. Got my nice '99 with 140K miles for 2500.00.

PHeller wrote: I'm on my 3rd BG Chassis. First was ZX2, second was Escort Wagon, 3rd (current) is another ZX2. All purchased for $1000 or less, all sold for $1000 or more. The trick is to find the car on Craigslist with no pictures and a brief discription. The only thing you need to know is "ever been wrecked, running?" because everything else is easy. When you sell it, load up tons of pictures on craigslist, make sure it's inspected and that it runs well. You won't lose money.

This encouraged me to pull the trigger on a car I was looking at. 2001 ZX2, automatic, 113k miles, broken timing belt. Absolutely loaded car: sunroof, security system, cruise control, and holy crap full leather upholstery. I didn't know that full leather ever available on these cars.

Price: $600. Just got home from picking it up. A few blemishes on the body, but I'm hoping to fix it up, give it a good looking over, wash and wax it. Hope to sell for more than $2k. If it was stickshift, I'd be keeping it.

Someone scooped up the sub 500 bg 323 in nova today out from under me that I'd been eyeing

I bought a 92 Protege LX for $500 in 2001, and it didn't die until 2007 when my sister in law drove it about 20 miles with a blown radiator hose. Up until that point it was going strong with 240k on it. I had the old ZX2 Tokico strut package and some ebay coilovers on it. I loved it so much that it's still in my basement 5 years later waiting on me to fix it.

In reply to sethmeister4:

At $900, you need need need to go get that.

sethmeister4 wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: I would definitely hold out for a Mazda. I don't personally love the way the Escort GT or the ZX2 look, plus I just don't think I could bring myself to buy something with the Ford emblem on the grill. I know they have Mazda motors, but I just really like the way the Proteges look.

I endorse Escorts because they're super abundant. Proteges have always been rarer. The 1.9 and 2.0 engines are both Ford. The SOHC (spi/cvh) engines are not super powerful for the displacement and they're all coarse compared to the Mazda BP, but they're durable as tractors.

The Protege only looks good if you like the boring, semi boxy style that looks like every other Japanese econobox from the era.

03 Focus ZX3 - Great gas mileage, as utilitarian as a 3/5 scale Suburban, back road bash-ability of a Miata and fits a 6'4" driver like an ice cube in a high ball glass.

1988 Mercury Tracer & Mazda twin. Predecessor in spirit to the focus, makes the most of 88 HP. Drives more like a go-kart than a car.

I have to say those two cars always made me smile more than anything else I have ever driven.

http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4250977787.html it is an LX with the BP motor and manual trans (the seller has another post from a week ago listing it at $995, I'm sure they'd take $500 for it in a heartbeat (if not less)

captdownshift wrote: http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4250977787.html it is an LX with the BP motor and manual trans (the seller has another post from a week ago listing it at $995, I'm sure they'd take $500 for it in a heartbeat (if not less)

That is a steal.