My 1995 Cavalier just died. I bought it from my sister for $600 and have put over $1,500 worth of repairs into it. On my way home tonight, I lost power steering, anti-lock brakes and suffered a head gasket blowing out resulting in critical overheating.

I could probably fix it if I had a few weeks of spare time, which I don't, and if the car was back home, which it isn't. Without even diagnosing the car closely I can't imagine it being less than several thousand to have professionally repaired.

So, I'd like suggestions on cars that are cheap to buy used. I don't care about luxury or performance, I just need something reliable. I'm particularly interested in Asian imports, since they seem to be cheap and not made of complete trash. After working on several GM cars I am very cautious to even think about buying another American car without a really good reason.

I don't want to spend more than $6,000 - $8,000. Since it'll probably be a bit higher mileage at that price, if anyone has any insight into what models and years would be a good deal (known for reliability etc), I would appreciate hearing about them.

Can't really go wrong with a 1994-2002 Toyota Corolla. Honda Civic wouldn't be bad, though anything after 2001 with over 150,000 miles on it is going to start bleeding money.

Also, even though ignorant people are vocal about them, Ford Focus isn't a bad car.

If you can afford it, a 2002 Subaru Outback Sport will give you tremendous bang for your buck. Good engine, good chassis, nice car at a reasonable price.

I agree about the Focus, actually. I have an inclination to trust Ford over GM or Chrysler. I think that a company being able to not be so drastically amazingly economically ****ing STUPID is a good sign it's run by someone who knows at least something.

But yeah, price definitely has to be as low as possible, but I don't want anything with a lot of mileage because, as stated it'll just bleed money. Unfortunately I can't go for anything like a Subaru at the moment because I'm at best getting this money from my parents and at worse from student loans.

2003+ Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis. Trust me. Go ahead and get your laughs out now then read on.

One of the most misunderstood cars in history. I get old man comments all the time but every single person digs the car and wants one after riding in it. They want one even more when they learn how much bang for your buck they provide. The mileage isn't as great as smaller cars (17 city, 26 highway) but these cars are amazingly reliable and dirt cheap to buy and insure. You can find a 2003 - 2008 (don't go older than 2003) in your price range with 10k - 50k miles that could be your daily driver for the next 2 decades. I (22 yr old male) pay 40 bucks a month for full coverage on mine. It's also like the safest passenger car on the road. I encourage you to check out craigslist and autotrader, find some that are nearby, and go for a joyride or two.

CarFax is useful for these cars because most were former rentals (NOT a bad thing, in fact its rather good because they get quality repairs and regularly scheduled fleet style maintenance and are sold to private parties after 1 year/~25k miles) and any incident that happened to it is sure to be reported on the carfax. Do NOT get an ex-cop car. These are usually $$2000 - $4000 and are beat to ****.

I'm a pretty experienced mechanic and every time I look under the hood or at the under body of mine i'm impressed with the organized engineering and simplicity as well as how robust it is. These things are tanks and are damn near bulletproof, I drive mine like i'm driving a truck. V8, RWD, Solid rear axle, and body-on-frame design. There is simply no other car on the market anymore that will give you such PROVEN features seeing as auto engineering has become all about squeezing every last pound out of the structural components for that extra 0.001 mpg. You won't get some of the fancy gadgets you get with newer cars, but a Grand Marquis LS will be pretty well equipped and what it has is pretty much perfected because the Panther body has been around since the early 80s and has been continuously updated ever since.

I could go on. I love mine to death. I just drove it to Vegas and back without a hitch. It's a 2003 and I paid $7000 from a dealer just 3 months ago. It had 62,000 miles and I could have done better but I wanted to pull the trigger and not once have I regretted it.

PS - I'm both a GM guy and a Ford guy, but having worked on/owned both I can say that Ford blows GM out of the water with sensible engineering and interior quality/reliability. My neighbor has a cherry 2006 Cadillac that she bought brand new and while it's a damn pleasure to drive and ride in (and look at) that damn thing is in the shop every 6 months getting a warranty repair, as well as phantom intermittent electrical problems.

Actually, not quite. We had my grandfather's 1991 Grand Marquis for years, that had a ridiculous number of miles on it. I've ridden in my friend's '03 and I rather liked it. It's surprisingly fast with the stupidly large engine it has, too.

Haha, it's actually only a 4.6 Does have modern features like overhead cams though, and a pretty slick thing that will shut off fuel to half the cylinders if it overheats, using the air pumping through the deactivated cylinders to cool the engine. According to my owners manual you can limp like 40 miles with no coolant without damaging the engine. Try that with a 4 cyl :-p

Ford Focus is a good car.

Although speaking purely from personal experience, I'd agree with steven up above in the toyota corrola / Honda civic recommendation (i'd throw in the honda accord as well). Also, while more expensive for sure, Subaru's are always nice, especially since most of their cars have AWD (good for snowy weather!). I have a 95 Subaru Impreza and I love the thing to death. It's my favorite car I've ever driven.

I know lots of people with Corrola's and they just work. It seems (again, purely personal experience) that hardly anything major happens to those cars.

My friend has had a Ford Focus station wagon for a while now... and I must admit, I'm surprised at how good of a car it turned out to be. Never breaks, handles very well in the snow, etc.

If I could justify the cost of an Impreza I'd be all over it like a yeast infection on an Essex bird.

martyn, is that a common expression in england because quite frankly it sounds horrifying.

It was off the cuff if I'm honest, but the phenomenon of the Essex Girl is well documented and understood.

For instance, a joke might go:

"So I was talking to this girl from Essex the other day, and we got to talking about ... you know ... protection."

"Oh, what did she use?"

"She tends to use bus shelters."

/end derail

My brother has a ford focus and it has done very well for him. The consumer reports have looked really good for it too.

BMW!

>.>
(Ok but srsly, you could probably find a 3 series, or maybe a 5 series in your price range that'd be in good shape, so it might be worth looking into.)

But if not, definitely a Toyota Corolla. Ford Focus maybe... but do you really want a car that's that homosexual?

No. You could find a BMW in that price range, but you'll end up paying up the whazoo to fix it. So no, it's not worth looking into. Toyota Corolla would be a good choice, those are reliable.


And Ford Focus is homosexual? Please shut up. That is a brilliant car.

If you get a BMW you'll be spending $1,000 a year on maintenance, if you're lucky.

The Focus is a great car, the hatchback and stationwagon versions are fantastic, dirt cheap and easy to fix.

posted on your fb but i figured i'd do it here too

"power steering, cooling, and battery light? sounds like the serpentine belt snapped. ps pump, alternator, and fan are all on that belt."

However, that doesn't have anything to do with the blown head gasket.

if you think it overheated because of a headgasket, but it was actually the fan not running, then yes it does.

$8k is going to be easy. What type of car do you want? 2 door, 4 door, 4cyl, 6cyl, auto, manual, FWD, RWD, AWD?

You could do a compression check on yours- if it checks out okay, check the serpentine belt ($30ish) and you might be ok.

Worst idea in the history of the world. Scratch anything made in Europe right off your list right now.

But Dash, Sarn drives a 5 series. that makes him Joe Cool!

Right right, that's almost certainly it. Nevertheless I'm sick of this thing bleeding money. If I can get some kind of loan (even from my parents) I'll probably get something else.

The head gasket is still leaking. It's been replaced once before. With my luck the head will be warped and a new gasket won't help.

what is it doing to make you think it's the head gasket? white smoke from the exhaust? coolant in the oil?

It is visibility leaking coolant from between the halves of the engine.

well ****

Scion tC

Anything Nissan. You can beat those cars to **** and they will still start-up, lift a middle-finger to you and laugh in your face for doubting it. I had a 1999 Nissan Sentra that was thoroughly abused. Not a single tune-up for 60K miles. Not. Once. It lasted a good three years before it then started to give way and this was 2006. I was noticing lost power, slow acceleration, stalls. I probably could have poured $$ into it to bring it back up to par. Would have been a fun project car now that I think about it.

I paid $350 for a 1984 Nissan-Datsun (+250,000 miles) in 1995 or 1996 that worked fine for 3 years. Both of my parents drive 1995 Nissan Altima's & they love it. I still have a 1993 Mazda Protege (+200,000 miles) that I paid $3500 cash for in 2000 & it has been kind to me.

The worst problem my Toyota Corolla had in 240,000 miles was spark plugs wires and a new fuel pump. It was older than many of you (1990) and was great. It didn't win any awards in the looks or picking up girls categories, but it got me through high school and college and then some (100,000+ miles) with no problems. I bought it for $1,000 in 2001. You could probably find something similar.

Insurance was $34/mo.

:suicide:[But yeah don't buy a BMW unless you want to be branded a wankshaft. :P]

+1 to the whole Focus thing, but I fail to see what's homosexual about them or if theres anything surprising that they're good cars. Fords are well known for being good cars, and they're about the only American car manufacturer that isn't ****ing horrid.

I took a closer look today, the exhaust is clear and the oil is clear, so it appears to only be leaking outward.

Also I replaced the belt and it's running fine ("fine"). I'm going to try to take it home in the next few weeks to replace the gasket. I'm worried the head will need resurfacing.

Still looking at buying something, this is just getting ridiculous.

I'm confused, does the car still have a belt on it or not?

i got my '95 Impreza for $300USD on Craigslist

you can find some seriously cheap ones there that only need minor repairs

No, you cannot find a BMW 5 series for under 8K that is in "good shape." Do you really think your 180,000 mile M5 is going to last? Buying a car that old is a really stupid idea.


I know you're joking, but still, get the **** out.

Yes, sorry. I meant that I had replaced the belt then ran it for a bit, double checked the exhaust and oil for signs of coolant and found none.

What are your thoughts on Alumiseal? From what I've read it's a bad idea if coolant is leaking into the engine, but it seems to be an outward leak.

Seriously? I think deployment is frying your brains.

I think the Focus is the car that's getting the new SYNC 2.0 this year, isn't it? That was drool-worthy at CES.

So the belt was broken? Or you just replaced it?

Either the belt was broken and completely missing, or it wasn't the problem...

So it just has a coolant leak? What kind of leak are we talking, like it drips? Or is pours out whenever its running? If it's not too bad just keep a jug of water around with you and pour it in the radiator as needed. i wouldn't waste my money on any coolant additive crap, but if you've got nothing to loose......

Pssh. quit hating on bmws. Yes, they do have a high maintenance cost because parts ore expensive (example, bmw's need special synthetic transmission fluid that costs almost $20 a pint), and you'll need to find a mechanic that is familiar with them, but they are incredibly fun to drive, they have all kinds of convenient and badass extras (for example, [url=http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/active_seat_ventilation.html\Active Seat technology]Active Seat technology[/url], heated and cooled seats and cupholders, driver memory (for the seat, mirrors, and steering wheel positions), etc (i could go on all day long)) and they are very, very good looking cars. And yes, if you're looking to get girls, you WILL get more attention in a bmw (not why I bought it, obviously, but I can confirm that even in southern california where bmw's are a dime a dozen, I catch girls checking me out while I'm driving much more frequently).

That said, I know BMWs are not economy cars. They're not gonna get you the best gas mileage (my V8 5 Series gets about 20 mpg average, and is the size of a Corolla), and they are gonna be expensive to maintain. But the extra class that you're paying for may be worth it to you. It is to me.

Note also that I said a Toyota Corolla would be a good choice if you want a more economic solution. If I hadn't bought a BMW, I would have bought a Corolla. I've had one in the past and it was an awesome car in terms of economy. Very good fuel effeciency, and very low maintenance cost, even though it had pretty high mileage (a bit more than my BMW has now).

As for the Ford Focus, I'm sorry, but yes, something about it just screams with a homosexual vibe. It's like driving around a VW Jetta or something.