2004-06 Scion XA's are animals. The 1.5L goes FOREVER.
Currently at 171k miles with one.
Currently at 171k miles with one.
Most reliable $2000-2500 beaters
- Thread starter Darknight
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DX = stripped. As of 2000, that means roll up windows, no cruise, manual trans, manual mirrors.
EX = fully loaded. Power everything, cruise, likely a sunroof, etc.
Crown Vic/Grand Marquis
NA Miata
NA Miata
02-04 SVT Focus! Keep it SVT! I get mpg in the high 20's with mine. Awesome daily/fun car to auto cross/road course with
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This is a great fun commuter for the money. I had the same dilemma a few years ago and bought a low mile svt contour. It got 28mpg and was a blast to drive as well!
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I had a 2003 Elantra with the 2.0L and 5 speed and it was ROCK solid. Literally tried in every conceivable way to blow it up and it just kept going. You can find them all day for under $3000 with mileage under 100k. The automatics were a little more stubborn but the manual is rock solid.
Great thing about them is its cheap to replace just about anything on them. I upgraded the whole suspension to Tiburon parts for under $300 total which made it handle like it was on rails.
Id buy another one in a heartbeat. It would be a 2003 Silver GT sedan with the 2.0L/5 speed. Id throw the Eibach springs on it with KYB struts and a Tiburon 18mm rear sway bar. Car would be perfect just like that.
Great thing about them is its cheap to replace just about anything on them. I upgraded the whole suspension to Tiburon parts for under $300 total which made it handle like it was on rails.
Id buy another one in a heartbeat. It would be a 2003 Silver GT sedan with the 2.0L/5 speed. Id throw the Eibach springs on it with KYB struts and a Tiburon 18mm rear sway bar. Car would be perfect just like that.
I'd love to find a low mile svt contour as well. Hard to find without over 100k miles. Not a big deal though as long as it was well maintained. The called it the budget Porsche beater when it came out. My SVT Focus has 143k and runs real well, needed a little work when I bought it but I may be into the car for 3,000 total with the cost of the car included.
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only 2 logical answers at that price point, reliability and mpg are mid 2000s honda civic and toyota corolla.
as far as the cheapest most reliable car on the market right now nothing beats the crown vics. They are literally body on frame pickup trucks with sedan bodys grafted on them. Ive heard of city cabs with a million miles on them on the original motor. These things are tanks..
It saddens my heart they is no easy way to swap a coyote into a panther. Ford not having a large v8 rwd sedan anymore is just criminal
as far as the cheapest most reliable car on the market right now nothing beats the crown vics. They are literally body on frame pickup trucks with sedan bodys grafted on them. Ive heard of city cabs with a million miles on them on the original motor. These things are tanks..
It saddens my heart they is no easy way to swap a coyote into a panther. Ford not having a large v8 rwd sedan anymore is just criminal
Where are these Clean SVT Focus for $2k? I only ever saw beat down examples in that price range.
Got lucky I guess...they are out there though. But they will need a little work though which is what I wanted. Get it cheap enough and fix it yourself
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Another one that is part of the Corolla family is the 2003+ is the Matrix and Pontiac Vibe twins I get about 350+ miles out of 13 gallon tank hiway. With my 2010 Pontiac GT which has the 2.4L I4 that the Corolla S and Matrix XR twins have.
On the plus side they have almost as much room as the CRV and Rav 4's have on the inside. a lot of the first gens can be had in your price range 2002 to 2008. The second gen 2009+ most got for about $4000+ in decent shape and miles.
On the plus side they have almost as much room as the CRV and Rav 4's have on the inside. a lot of the first gens can be had in your price range 2002 to 2008. The second gen 2009+ most got for about $4000+ in decent shape and miles.
I can confidently say that the 4cyl 94-97 accord is perhaps the best cheap commuter car ever built. It's one thing to have a reliable drive-train, but it's rare for everything to just keep working for hundreds of thousands of miles. Looking for a 5 speed, you can dip into the next gen, but don't buy an automatic.
And no where newer 30mpg.
I highway commuted one for years at 22 mpg.
Realistically the 98+ accord won't do 30+, but it'll be close. And it was quiet enough to warrant the added cost over a civic. I've dd'd two of them.
But, stay away from the autos.
The older accords have a few little issues, like the egr but are also good cars. My buddies is closing in on 300k
Ever see what the engine block is made of on some of those Saturns? It's just pot metal.
Had a friend that ran one low on oil, and put a hole in the block the size of a softball.
1990-1993 Accords. They overbuilt the hell out of that car and you can find them all day in decent shape for $1500-$2k and they never stop running.
I had a neighbor that had well over 350k miles on his little 4 door Saturn. Never skipped a beat. Even had the original transmission in it. Thing just wouldnt die.
FWIW the 2.2 and 2.0L Saturn engines were shared with Saab and are used in the Cobalt SS. 2.2 was non-turbo and 2.0L was the turbo motor.
doesn't matter lol. If properly maintained they can go 300k miles.
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