Best car for $20k ? How about $2k !

old honda civic

 

$20k : New Civic
$2k : Used Civic

edit: great minds think alike

 

No BS?

Go buy a bone stock Honda Civic. May be hard to find in LA but I think it is the most bulletproof crap bucket out there. You're not going to get much for $2k but that is the best you can do.

Parts are plentiful and the car is easy to work on. Good luck.

70's American!?!? You might as well ball up your $2k and flush it down the toilet.

Edit: See! Two other civic votes while I was typing this.

 

I'd rather a bus pass than a Civic.

 

A guy at my work went through this - you don't need to go 70's American to pay $2k for a car. For $1k he got a 1996 Chrysler LHS with 120k miles. it needed brakes, a tie rod and 2 new tires which came to around $300 (parts are cheap on those year American cars). Car has full leather, AC, traction control, pretty peppy for it's size, rides like a caddy, very little road noise, big back seat (heh), huge trunk!

They have them on the lots around here for $1500-2200 with just around 100k miles.

You can also get something like a Ford Taurus, Ford Contour, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Cirrus, etc for around the same money in the same general (96-99) year range. Just find a guy asking $2900 or something and whip out $2k in cash.

If you want to go foreign, you will need to get something a bit older and with more miles because they have higher resale. I would recommend either a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla. My father had an 89 Corolla he bought new. That car was the first/only car that all 3 of his kids drove through high school, was taken to college by 2 of us and when they finally carted it away with 200k miles on it, the interior looked almost new, and it started fine and drove fine. He just wanted the tax writeoff. That car literally never needed a single thing other than tires, a muffler and brake pads. Never so much as had a fuse blow or a turn signal bulb burn out.

 

When it comes to reliability, you really can't go wrong with a civic.

 

I'd personally go for a early-to-mid '80s Nissan(Datsun) 280ZX.

 

toyota corolla

cant go wrong. I have one thats got 250k on the motor and it runs like a top.

 

Pontiac Bonneville with the 3.6 V6 that has had the intake update done (basically a new intake plenum installed). They are a nice comfy large 4 door, with LOTS of power and the engine will run for a LONG time when the forementioned update is done.

 

I had 2 BMW 6 series (both 1982 models). Right around $2k. Great cars! Handle like a RWD dream, yet still with about 2x the steel of a civic! The venerable M30 is a tank of an engine. The back seats are usable, and very comfortable to boot (though they lack head rests...at least in 82).

Parts are dirt cheap if you know where to look... I picked up a used alternator for $40 dollars on ebay.

If 6ers aren't your thing, a similar era 3 series or 5 series (80s; early 90s as well in the case of the 3) can be had for even less!

 

Whatever car you are looking for, look on Craigslist in your area. I have found very good cars dirt cheap on my local site.

 

Or you could cash 2k and finance 2k (not too bad)

 

How about a '97 Chrysler Sebring convertible, fully optioned with 88k miles for $3k?

 

find a 85 Toyota MR2 ....

 

If you can go a little over $2k, look for a late 70s - early 80s Mercedes 240D. I suggest a manual transmission.

 

+1

Nothing better than a Toyota or a Honda

 

Old Honda Del Sol.

 

Old Impala or crown vic.

 

1+

Same here.

 

Meh

With that money you could find a nice well used late model Fiero GT at 2k. Its a perfect car for anyone in their 20's if your looking for something diffrent.

Now I must say though working on them isn't exactly an easy task. It will take a weekend, group of buddys who know their suff about them and some beer.

If you go MR2 don't waste your money on the 80's model, get one thats the 91-95 models thats worth it.

 

they are double overhead cam, alloy block beauties that just beg to be worked on, so mechanics skills come in handy, but when running right..... smiles per gallon!!! available all the time in the 2K range.....rust is the only killer!