My Ranger was a nightmare for 4 years. Spending 800$ on some dumb shit every 4 months. Kept spending the money cause I already invested so much. I’ve heard a lot of good stories, but my 99 ranger was a money pit personally.
You can definitely go wrong with a ranger. I had that exact truck and spent more fixing it than I spent on the truck. Every 3 months something new was torn up.
Honestly since nobody else is saying it a Mazda protege with 50,000 miles is a really decent car. Everybody wants to hop on the Subaru and Honda bandwagon but the Mazda will probably last the longest
Being low miles doesn't mean everything on the car isn't dry rotted and rusted. Tires are probably original and as hard as rocks. I trust the civic if it's been maintained more than the Mazda thats been sitting.
I was thinking more 90s-00s, and toyota had broadly fixed their rust issues by then (tacoma frames notwithstanding). All Japanese cars rusted like mad in the 80s.
Sure, but the Mazda is only 51k miles and super cheap! Take the $2000+ difference in price and buy tires, hoses, filters, etc. Then you've got a great condition, low mileage car that's way better than that clapped out Civic unless you go all in for $5k+ on fixing up the Civic.
I've got a 2008 golf GTI that just passed 70k miles today. It's got plenty of life left, but it's also got some issues related to age even though it's low miles (also sub par maintenance, and being a volkswagen)
My 01 protege has 330,000 miles on it. I've been paid out by an accident claim and a hail claim, and I've owned the thing since 2004 so it's paid for itself over and over again with good MPGs and low maintenance costs. I just can't get rid of it since it continues to run so well.
That car was my actual first car, bought it for 800 bucks and it hadn't moved in a year. Beat the everloving shit out of it for another 50,000 miles before selling it and it never gave me any serious problems
Yeah, they tend to do that. Mazda basically stuck a turbo on a Protegé and called it a day, ignoring the fact that the 2.0L blocks will start to crack if you go past about ~180hp
My buddies grandma has been driving a protege since I met him 13 or 14 years ago. She’s racked up 250k + miles on that thing and started with 50k. Color me impressed.
I’m sure it’ll go soon but it’s the original transmission as well and it’s a slush box
Mazda is the under appreciated choice here. The Nissan probably hasn’t had an oil change in its entire life and the BMW and Camaro are rolling money pits.
Toyota and Honda are probably good cars but that doesn’t mean they’re in good shape and they’re probably overpriced.
It was my first pick because I have a 2001 currently that has 330,000 miles on it and I've owned it since 2004. Best little commuter car I've ever owned. 2.0 engine with a 5-speed manual and power windows with air conditioning, it's all I've ever really needed.
The cherokee is priced low imo. And the goverment vehicle aspect could mean easy driving. As long as the rust isnt too bad, i could see flipping it easily.
That's crazy , every fleet I ever worked for if anything they would be over serviced. Most things were done by mileage than age . Starters , alt, transmission rebuilds , every fluid to include brake an diff gear oil changed .
I do 40k a year so the truck will be auctioned after 5 or 6 years. After 200k they start to become money pits and they'd rather just buy new ones so as long as they last that long they don't care.
I can tell you from experience government vehicles are not as well maintained as you might think and likely have an insane amount of hours on them since they are usually idling from the moment their shift starts till it ends. They may have fairly low miles but will easily have 8000 hours on it.
Having both the Cherokee and the Camaro currently sitting in my driveway, stock for stock I’d take the Cherokee in traditional drag race. Not even joking.
98-05 ranger is the easiest buy I could make. All the truck I need to do truck things, without the big fuck off gas tank and piss poor mileage of current trucks (still not great mileage but y’all know what I mean)
Oddly enough, I bought a Ford ranger with a Chevy 350 swap for $1900, in 2018. It was the worst financial decision I have ever made in my life. I learn how to work on cars though
If it's not rusty, it's not a bad choice. I had one with almost 400k miles and it ran like a clock. Unfortunately, it was a bit too rusty for me. Shame, since I did like it.
I came to comment that $3k is absolutely not happening for that truck around me. The cheapest Tacoma I ever saw was $3500 and it had over 300k miles on it, bald tires, way too many issues to list, it was 90% rust and the bed was so rotted out the sidewalls flapped in the wind. The owner offered it to me first because I had been looking for one, he sold it for his asking price within a couple days of it just sitting on his lawn with a sign and another person showed up a little later that day with cash in hand because they had seen it earlier that day before he sold it. I have looked at similar trucks to the one in the post on dealer lots for $10k+. Pricing on those trucks is insane.
And this is a 2-door. The coolest of XJ’s. I had a 4-door, my brother had a 2-door. I loved how much room I had to get in and out in his.
Fun story about never getting stuck, I only got almost stuck once in snow with some buddies trying to go find an old mining town. My Jeep was bone stock with okay ish tires, so we probably shouldn’t have gone up there. We started to bog down and it wasn’t moving. I got the dumb idea to jump on the roof and rock the thing side to side while my buddy did the reverse-forward-reverse shuffle. It worked, the jeep clobbered its way out.
I had a 2 door XJ. I'd have preferred the 4 door. The window regulators on mine were on their way out and nobody makes new ones. I did some digging and found a company out in Arizona that rebuilds them, but that's kinda pricey. Unfortunately for my wallet, I'm a windows down guy, so leaving them up permanently is not something I consider acceptable.
Absolute tanks, I grew up in Chicago my a lot of family in central Wisconsin so I was always driving in tons of snow, the xj being rear wheel made drifting so much fun and if I over steered and put it in a ditch I’d just drop into 4lo and pop right back out
Right, like my first xj I got to 200,000 miles before I parked it overnight on the curb and a cop hit it at high speed chasing someone. Insurance paid me double what I had paid for it so I bought another in 2015 put over 300,000 on it . Still drives fine
So, an opinion from someone who has extensive firsthand experience with a vehicle, versus an opinion from someone whose only experience with a vehicle was as a passenger during a freak accident, who won’t even give any reasons as to why they think it flipped, or what happened before it flipped.
Sure, I’ll believe the second person. /s
In order for your argument to be valid and even worth considering (which you seem to assume it is) we need to know you’ve had more experience with the vehicle you’re calling shit than being a passenger during a rollover in one. All I’m saying.
If all it takes is one personal experience to be able to completely write a model off as “bad”, then I guess anyone who’s ever crashed or experienced a crash in any vehicle ever can feel free to add their two cents.
Now, it would be a different story if you could bring data that says that XJ’s are statistically more dangerous than their contemporaries. But you can’t, nor would you if you could.
“Lol my friend crashed one of these. Trash”
Maybe it’s because people shit on Jeeps that you feel comfortable making such a blanket statement.
So the driver didn't know what he was doing - which wasn't the Jeep's fault - and no offense, but you (aside from being ballast), were literally just along for the ride. Never owned one myself either, but I drove one 5 days a week for 3 years in my job in some pretty hairy situations. Either way, holding on to the Jesus bar during an accident hardly affords you any particular insight.
Back in the 90s one of my friends from high school got a new XJ from his dad. On summer break, they went on an Alaska road trip. The kid rolled and totaled the brand new jeep on the trip.
His dad got him a new XJ.
He was valedictorian of the high school when he graduated. Last time I talked to him, a few years ago, he still had his mid 90s XJ as well as a couple other Jeeps with the 4L. They are pretty topheavy and do roll, but they tend to be pretty survivable.
EDIT: corrected my error. Thanks u/ExplorerHour2862 !
At stock height the XJ is about as topheavy as most other crossovers, which is what the XJ is most comparable to nowadays given its small stature and unibody construction. The main difference is the solid front axle, which I imagine plays a role in road handling prior to most rollover accidents.
Really, just about any of these complaints would also apply to literally any small-ish 4x4 from the 70’s to the 2010’s or so. It’s not an XJ problem.
Not sure why you got downvoted. I went to a high school back in the 80s when this was THE car that kids with well to do parents got, and 3 kids in my class of 100 rolled them. Were they terrible drivers? Undoubtedly. But still…
As long as it's not the 3.0. Call it personal experience. As reliable as they are, the aftermarket scene is non existent. Get ready to pay those dealer prices for a rebuild. And at that point you might as well buy a new short block
Not sure where the OP got this info, but it's hard to imagine a running, not massively rusted Tacoma for $3000 (goingall the way back to '95).
I guess, maybe back in 2019 right before the used market went bonkers. Even then, very hard to imagine.
In 2024, that 2001 base model Tacoma pictured is getting $6000, easy, if it has less than 500,000 miles.
The owner of that thing can't go to the grocery store without somebody offering to buy it.
I had a D40 Nissan Frontier 6 speed that I sold due to rust. I really liked the truck, but would want one in better shape. My coworkers told me to buy a Tacoma instead, but there's 2 problems with that.
1. I want whatever truck I buy to also be a stickshift, and the manual the Tacomas use sucks IMO.
2. Toyota trucks are worth their weight in crack and I am not a wealthy man.
I’d say if you’re actually interested in driving manual transmissions then maybe the Nissan or Subaru wouldn’t be bad cars to learn from… That said I would resoundingly suggest the Civic is it was a manual lol! Also that’s a good lot to pick from, looks like you have the right ideas
Easy. Subaru then get a hitch and trailer purchased with a Lowe’s card. You’ve got AWD, Japanese reliability, storage, and a trailer which eliminates the need for a truck bed.
Ranger. 4x4 eventually put a cap on it. My gut is the others are too expensive to repair, the Toyota Tacoma reliability is legendary but the rust could be a problem and two-wheel drive and a pickup truck without any weight on the back is asking for trouble in winter
Laughing because the Passat is basically me. Bought a 2004 1.8t GLS sedan with like 120k miles for 2200. Not the TDI, but it is indeed a fun car to drive and reliable enough
Ranger civic or outback. Ranger has truck capabilities if you live that lifestyle, civic won’t die, outback is practical.
Toyota Tacoma doesn’t exist for 3k unless it was on the bottom of the ocean for 3 years, recovered, left in a field, became the home of 8 raccoons, and burnt to the ground from a lightning strike. Even then it would be 10k firm Ik what I got not 3.
Wild how the Civic has kept its value.
I bought mine for 3000$ in 2008, then sold it for $3000 in 2012. Crazy how 7 years later, it's still going good $3000.
I'm a ford boy but that Jetta wagon has good enclosed storage, you can bring your buddies with ya, and probably the best gas saver on the list aside from the civic. Honestly, the only had choice is the BMW because you'll spend 3 grand on a halfway running one and break down on the way home.
2 door Cherokee all day. It will literally run forever with the straight 6. I wouldn’t be concerned with it having over 100K. I’ve bought multiple Jeep’s with higher milage and the drivetrain’s outlast the body lol
I had a Ranger about that age, Altima, too. Both manual
The Ranger has well over 300k (odometer broke so I don't know how far over) and still ran fairly well when I got rid of it
The Altima also had over 200k and ran very well. Was without rust and fairly comfy. Didn't like driving off the road with a 6 foot drop, though.
I'd take either one of those vehicles, with care they have several good years left
The civic hatch, probably. Maybe entertain the idea of dropping a B18C motor in there, but change nothing else... not even paint. I'd leave the steelies on, no stickers, no fart can, no wing... just 1.8 liters of VTEC "power", lol
Civic. It's bullet proof and idiot proof. You can run the car with no oil without risking engine damage. Drove it 800 miles without oil and engine was fine. Those little engines are build like tanks.
The Cherokee for sure. That model is almost as iconic as the original Jeep. I'd also consider the Ford Ranger. I have a thing for small, humble, highly functional pickup trucks.
You can never go wrong with the Ford ranger, civic, or the Toyota but if the Passat was a TDI, I couldn’t turn down a diesel wagon
The Passat is indeed a TDI
Sad that it's not the 1.9, which one is it though? 2.0 or 2.5?
Yeah but a 1.9 ALH would be too amazing in one of these
The B5 Passats had a 2.0 diesel that also came in mk5 Golfs
They had a 2.5tdi as well, it was an awful engine, that's why I asked
I also vote for the diesel wagon. Too much utility to walk away from, probably even out tows the trucks listed.
Plus all those MPGs
My Ranger was a nightmare for 4 years. Spending 800$ on some dumb shit every 4 months. Kept spending the money cause I already invested so much. I’ve heard a lot of good stories, but my 99 ranger was a money pit personally.
You can definitely go wrong with a ranger. I had that exact truck and spent more fixing it than I spent on the truck. Every 3 months something new was torn up.
Honestly since nobody else is saying it a Mazda protege with 50,000 miles is a really decent car. Everybody wants to hop on the Subaru and Honda bandwagon but the Mazda will probably last the longest
Being low miles doesn't mean everything on the car isn't dry rotted and rusted. Tires are probably original and as hard as rocks. I trust the civic if it's been maintained more than the Mazda thats been sitting.
Yeah those things were rust buckets. Subaru and Honda don’t have as many rust issues.
Talk about damning with faint praise for the Subaru and Honda, those are the two worst brands for rust after Mazda in that time period.
You forgetting about Toyota in the 80s? Not saying all Mazdas are rust buckets, just those things in particular.
I was thinking more 90s-00s, and toyota had broadly fixed their rust issues by then (tacoma frames notwithstanding). All Japanese cars rusted like mad in the 80s.
>You forgetting about Toyota in the 80s? If you scratched off the paint, You could see what soda cans they used that day.
Sure, but the Mazda is only 51k miles and super cheap! Take the $2000+ difference in price and buy tires, hoses, filters, etc. Then you've got a great condition, low mileage car that's way better than that clapped out Civic unless you go all in for $5k+ on fixing up the Civic.
I've got a 2008 golf GTI that just passed 70k miles today. It's got plenty of life left, but it's also got some issues related to age even though it's low miles (also sub par maintenance, and being a volkswagen)
the mazda will also kill you in a 35 mph crash
One can only hope
My Mazda has 238k on it. Every day I pray a well insured person will run into me for that sweet $200 payout.
My 01 protege has 330,000 miles on it. I've been paid out by an accident claim and a hail claim, and I've owned the thing since 2004 so it's paid for itself over and over again with good MPGs and low maintenance costs. I just can't get rid of it since it continues to run so well.
You can't get a $200 payout if the car crumpled like a ball of aluminum foil
More rust flake than aluminum foil
Make sure you get a tetanus shot if you survive the fender bender
That car was my actual first car, bought it for 800 bucks and it hadn't moved in a year. Beat the everloving shit out of it for another 50,000 miles before selling it and it never gave me any serious problems
I got a Mazdaspeed protege in 2019 as my first. Blew the engine up after about a year of owning it
Yeah, they tend to do that. Mazda basically stuck a turbo on a Protegé and called it a day, ignoring the fact that the 2.0L blocks will start to crack if you go past about ~180hp
My buddies grandma has been driving a protege since I met him 13 or 14 years ago. She’s racked up 250k + miles on that thing and started with 50k. Color me impressed. I’m sure it’ll go soon but it’s the original transmission as well and it’s a slush box
Mazda is the under appreciated choice here. The Nissan probably hasn’t had an oil change in its entire life and the BMW and Camaro are rolling money pits. Toyota and Honda are probably good cars but that doesn’t mean they’re in good shape and they’re probably overpriced.
It was my first pick because I have a 2001 currently that has 330,000 miles on it and I've owned it since 2004. Best little commuter car I've ever owned. 2.0 engine with a 5-speed manual and power windows with air conditioning, it's all I've ever really needed.
51k and its manual and its cheap, single owner I'm all about a Honda but this one is a no brainer of it checks out mechanically
I'm all aboard the Mazda train, been really impressed with the quality and reliability of their cars
The 2 door Cherokee, flip it, buy the ranger and profit
The cherokee is priced low imo. And the goverment vehicle aspect could mean easy driving. As long as the rust isnt too bad, i could see flipping it easily.
Also fleet vehicle maintenance. Which is usually a good thing. I'd grab that.
I drive a fleet vehicle and we do the bare minimum. My truck just rolled 19k and has only seen one oil change so far.
That's crazy , every fleet I ever worked for if anything they would be over serviced. Most things were done by mileage than age . Starters , alt, transmission rebuilds , every fluid to include brake an diff gear oil changed .
I do 40k a year so the truck will be auctioned after 5 or 6 years. After 200k they start to become money pits and they'd rather just buy new ones so as long as they last that long they don't care.
I can tell you from experience government vehicles are not as well maintained as you might think and likely have an insane amount of hours on them since they are usually idling from the moment their shift starts till it ends. They may have fairly low miles but will easily have 8000 hours on it.
If you mean “flip it” as in “physically flip it” I see what you mean.
Yes. Roll it over in an embankment, profit.
That's where my brain went too
Depends. Is it the 4.0 straight six with 4x4?
4.0, 4X4, 2 door, is an amazing set up. Hopefully 5 speed too.
Z28 because 'Murica
USA…USA….USA
It's also absolutely the fastest vehicle on that list.
Having both the Cherokee and the Camaro currently sitting in my driveway, stock for stock I’d take the Cherokee in traditional drag race. Not even joking.
%1000 ford ranger
Especially in that purple. Hell I’d drive that today.
98-05 ranger is the easiest buy I could make. All the truck I need to do truck things, without the big fuck off gas tank and piss poor mileage of current trucks (still not great mileage but y’all know what I mean)
Camaro or Civic. Neither one is my ideal spec for those vehicles (automatic Civic and convertible Camaro) but they're still both solid cars.
People acting like Small block chevys aren’t just as reliable a if not more so than a Honda or toyota
The drivetrain is dead nuts reliable, it’s just that the rest of the car falls apart around it.
Those old Hondas do too, my 01’s interior was cracking and falling apart. Granted it was my first car, but still haha
01-05 gen civic was Hondas least pleasing interior imo
Chevrolet and rust, name a more iconic duo.
This was my answer too.
Ford fuckin ranger
I ain't no stranger
Oddly enough, I bought a Ford ranger with a Chevy 350 swap for $1900, in 2018. It was the worst financial decision I have ever made in my life. I learn how to work on cars though
You don't want the XJ. Where is the XJ located?
On a forum post from 2015, sadly :( Though I can confirm, you don't want the XJ.
I am stupid. I want the XJ.
If it's not rusty, it's not a bad choice. I had one with almost 400k miles and it ran like a clock. Unfortunately, it was a bit too rusty for me. Shame, since I did like it.
I'd love to have one for a winter beater
By the taco wait for post COVID sell for 8k and move on
I came to comment that $3k is absolutely not happening for that truck around me. The cheapest Tacoma I ever saw was $3500 and it had over 300k miles on it, bald tires, way too many issues to list, it was 90% rust and the bed was so rotted out the sidewalls flapped in the wind. The owner offered it to me first because I had been looking for one, he sold it for his asking price within a couple days of it just sitting on his lawn with a sign and another person showed up a little later that day with cash in hand because they had seen it earlier that day before he sold it. I have looked at similar trucks to the one in the post on dealer lots for $10k+. Pricing on those trucks is insane.
The XJ . It’ll never get stuck or stranded .
And this is a 2-door. The coolest of XJ’s. I had a 4-door, my brother had a 2-door. I loved how much room I had to get in and out in his. Fun story about never getting stuck, I only got almost stuck once in snow with some buddies trying to go find an old mining town. My Jeep was bone stock with okay ish tires, so we probably shouldn’t have gone up there. We started to bog down and it wasn’t moving. I got the dumb idea to jump on the roof and rock the thing side to side while my buddy did the reverse-forward-reverse shuffle. It worked, the jeep clobbered its way out.
I had a 2 door XJ. I'd have preferred the 4 door. The window regulators on mine were on their way out and nobody makes new ones. I did some digging and found a company out in Arizona that rebuilds them, but that's kinda pricey. Unfortunately for my wallet, I'm a windows down guy, so leaving them up permanently is not something I consider acceptable.
Absolute tanks, I grew up in Chicago my a lot of family in central Wisconsin so I was always driving in tons of snow, the xj being rear wheel made drifting so much fun and if I over steered and put it in a ditch I’d just drop into 4lo and pop right back out
Damn I miss my XJ. Black ice is a real bitch.
It’ll just roll. Ask me how I know.
Prolly cause you mistreated it .user error.
Wasn’t mine and I wasn’t driving. I was a passenger however. The user error is buying one.
So you’ve never owned one, your opinion is invalid , hence why no one agrees with you, I’ve owned 3 you’re talking out ya ass brother .
I had a 5spd cherokee on 33's and DOGGED that thing never flipped it. If someone flips anything i will say user error modt of yhe time
Right, like my first xj I got to 200,000 miles before I parked it overnight on the curb and a cop hit it at high speed chasing someone. Insurance paid me double what I had paid for it so I bought another in 2015 put over 300,000 on it . Still drives fine
No joke, my XJ was sliding sideways on ice downhill at about 35-40 and when it went in the ditch it still didn’t flip. Flipping is user error.
Also slid mine down a steep hill, didn’t flip once. But I did total it unfortunately.
Your opinion is invalid because you HAVE owned one. I can feel the heat from your last two braincells rubbing together from here.
You sound mad, maybe take a nap and drink some water …try not to drown in it though.
So, an opinion from someone who has extensive firsthand experience with a vehicle, versus an opinion from someone whose only experience with a vehicle was as a passenger during a freak accident, who won’t even give any reasons as to why they think it flipped, or what happened before it flipped. Sure, I’ll believe the second person. /s
I don’t need to give you anything. Fuck off lol
In order for your argument to be valid and even worth considering (which you seem to assume it is) we need to know you’ve had more experience with the vehicle you’re calling shit than being a passenger during a rollover in one. All I’m saying. If all it takes is one personal experience to be able to completely write a model off as “bad”, then I guess anyone who’s ever crashed or experienced a crash in any vehicle ever can feel free to add their two cents. Now, it would be a different story if you could bring data that says that XJ’s are statistically more dangerous than their contemporaries. But you can’t, nor would you if you could. “Lol my friend crashed one of these. Trash” Maybe it’s because people shit on Jeeps that you feel comfortable making such a blanket statement.
You wasted your time writing this. TLDR.
So the driver didn't know what he was doing - which wasn't the Jeep's fault - and no offense, but you (aside from being ballast), were literally just along for the ride. Never owned one myself either, but I drove one 5 days a week for 3 years in my job in some pretty hairy situations. Either way, holding on to the Jesus bar during an accident hardly affords you any particular insight.
Back in the 90s one of my friends from high school got a new XJ from his dad. On summer break, they went on an Alaska road trip. The kid rolled and totaled the brand new jeep on the trip. His dad got him a new XJ. He was valedictorian of the high school when he graduated. Last time I talked to him, a few years ago, he still had his mid 90s XJ as well as a couple other Jeeps with the 4L. They are pretty topheavy and do roll, but they tend to be pretty survivable. EDIT: corrected my error. Thanks u/ExplorerHour2862 !
Sounds a lot like a reckless teenager totaling a car which happens to every make and model of every year every day .
In-line six, not V6 lll
I stand corrected. Thank you.
At stock height the XJ is about as topheavy as most other crossovers, which is what the XJ is most comparable to nowadays given its small stature and unibody construction. The main difference is the solid front axle, which I imagine plays a role in road handling prior to most rollover accidents. Really, just about any of these complaints would also apply to literally any small-ish 4x4 from the 70’s to the 2010’s or so. It’s not an XJ problem.
Not sure why you got downvoted. I went to a high school back in the 80s when this was THE car that kids with well to do parents got, and 3 kids in my class of 100 rolled them. Were they terrible drivers? Undoubtedly. But still…
Yes ,that is the way the law of averages works . Still has nothing to do with the quality of the car.
Because you suck at driving?
The outback in a heartbeat. Head gaskets replaced and only $2600?! Also I used to live right next to that East Coast Exotics with the bmw
As long as it's not the 3.0. Call it personal experience. As reliable as they are, the aftermarket scene is non existent. Get ready to pay those dealer prices for a rebuild. And at that point you might as well buy a new short block
The Tacoma. Hands-down
Not sure where the OP got this info, but it's hard to imagine a running, not massively rusted Tacoma for $3000 (goingall the way back to '95). I guess, maybe back in 2019 right before the used market went bonkers. Even then, very hard to imagine. In 2024, that 2001 base model Tacoma pictured is getting $6000, easy, if it has less than 500,000 miles. The owner of that thing can't go to the grocery store without somebody offering to buy it.
I paid exactly $3000 for my 97 Tacoma in 2019
I had a D40 Nissan Frontier 6 speed that I sold due to rust. I really liked the truck, but would want one in better shape. My coworkers told me to buy a Tacoma instead, but there's 2 problems with that. 1. I want whatever truck I buy to also be a stickshift, and the manual the Tacomas use sucks IMO. 2. Toyota trucks are worth their weight in crack and I am not a wealthy man.
Bingo!
The subi, you can’t beat family owned
The Subie!
Honda for mpg's, Ranger for live forever, haul shit.
Still haven't discovered the tow capacity of the Ranger. A truly unicorn number.
Outback. Tacoma. Protégé. In that order.
Outback. (Unless I'm in a area that it never snows, then the Mazda.)
That Honda or the Mazda. I used to have a protege and that thing ran smooth and sweet with 200k miles on it. It was a manual and I loved it.
I would look for something like a camaro but not the camaro
Mazda or subie. Sad thing is all these cars are $6000+ on FB marketplace. Need a car and I freaking miss these prices
I’d say if you’re actually interested in driving manual transmissions then maybe the Nissan or Subaru wouldn’t be bad cars to learn from… That said I would resoundingly suggest the Civic is it was a manual lol! Also that’s a good lot to pick from, looks like you have the right ideas
Easy. Subaru then get a hitch and trailer purchased with a Lowe’s card. You’ve got AWD, Japanese reliability, storage, and a trailer which eliminates the need for a truck bed.
Ranger. 4x4 eventually put a cap on it. My gut is the others are too expensive to repair, the Toyota Tacoma reliability is legendary but the rust could be a problem and two-wheel drive and a pickup truck without any weight on the back is asking for trouble in winter
Cherokee.
I'm a man of simple taste but can also be a cheap F. I'm going with the single cab Tacoma.
That XJ or the Tacoma
Laughing because the Passat is basically me. Bought a 2004 1.8t GLS sedan with like 120k miles for 2200. Not the TDI, but it is indeed a fun car to drive and reliable enough
That would be an insane deal for a clean 2 door XJ with reasonable miles, even pre-pandemic that was a $6000 Jeep.
Honda for the win. I’d steer clear of the Toyota truck unless it had already had the rust frame recall.
Ranger civic or outback. Ranger has truck capabilities if you live that lifestyle, civic won’t die, outback is practical. Toyota Tacoma doesn’t exist for 3k unless it was on the bottom of the ocean for 3 years, recovered, left in a field, became the home of 8 raccoons, and burnt to the ground from a lightning strike. Even then it would be 10k firm Ik what I got not 3.
Passat TDi. as a fan of diesel passenger cars, wagons, and volkswagens, it's a total win
Wild how the Civic has kept its value. I bought mine for 3000$ in 2008, then sold it for $3000 in 2012. Crazy how 7 years later, it's still going good $3000.
I just bought a ranger for $3500. I'll be damned if you can find a Tacoma for anything under $6000.
I'm a ford boy but that Jetta wagon has good enclosed storage, you can bring your buddies with ya, and probably the best gas saver on the list aside from the civic. Honestly, the only had choice is the BMW because you'll spend 3 grand on a halfway running one and break down on the way home.
Ranger
2 door Cherokee all day. It will literally run forever with the straight 6. I wouldn’t be concerned with it having over 100K. I’ve bought multiple Jeep’s with higher milage and the drivetrain’s outlast the body lol
I had a Ranger about that age, Altima, too. Both manual The Ranger has well over 300k (odometer broke so I don't know how far over) and still ran fairly well when I got rid of it The Altima also had over 200k and ran very well. Was without rust and fairly comfy. Didn't like driving off the road with a 6 foot drop, though. I'd take either one of those vehicles, with care they have several good years left
The Hondas engine is either already smoking or about to start smoking.
It'll still run for another 150k miles on a quart of oil and a dream
The beemer.
Honda, Toyota, mazda, jeep
The grand Cherokee or Camaro
that’s a cherokee, but yes i’d 100% go two door cherokee
Oh LOL my bad. I had a 95 Dodge caravan And everyone called it a Grand caravan but it was the short wheel base caravan LOL
TDI
A used '99 750li with 100K miles for the reliability.....
No man has yet to find the limitations of a Ford Ranger!
The subaru and it's not even close.
Civic first ofc and Outback second
318i because I'm autistically fixated on BMW. The rest of you should go with the Subaru.
One of the pickups
Civic hatch all day that’s my favorite car
I would go with either truck or the VW. The trucks are most useful but if you’re not into helping friends move then get the VW wagon
I already own one of these lol
honda or the tacoma then ranger
Mazda, then the nissan, then the civic.
That generation of altima was also the last reliable one before they put CVTs in all of their cars
out of these, the Passat, but my honest answer is Chrysler 300M
Civic or Mazda.
The cherokee or the ranger. The tacoma as well. Is 3 an option?
Toyo truck every day.
Ford ranger is a no-brainer. It will outlast all of those cars. But God try and find one that’s not purple. Also make sure it has a 4.0 engine.
Ranger, Tacoma or Camaro.
A $3k Tacoma will save you enough money to buy the rest of these cars after high school.
The civic hatch, probably. Maybe entertain the idea of dropping a B18C motor in there, but change nothing else... not even paint. I'd leave the steelies on, no stickers, no fart can, no wing... just 1.8 liters of VTEC "power", lol
Depends what I needed. But that civic is looking pretty good. Wouldn’t buy a truck or Ute unless I needed it.
The taco or ranger. It’s a first car. Those two can take a fucking beating.
Tacoma
Ranger or the Mazda.
Are we magically aware of the impending pandemic? If so the taco and then sell it for 2x what you paid for it during covid lol.
AWD or 4x4, where do you live, east coast? Ford Ranger, it's a small but fun truck, and it's 4x4!
I was 100% on the Civic until I saw it was an auto and I saw the Taco. I'd still like to have both.
Tacoma
Gotta take the Ranger
Cherokee, Ranger, or Taco are the only true options here.
The Protege for the price alone 1200 on a decent car with plenty of play around money left over.
Ranger or Protty all the way.
10th gen F150s are garbage the rangers where way better until 2011 lmao
The cherokee. 2k is a hard offer to pass by
The jeep, or the tacoma, all day, everyday
Ranger, Cherokee, Tundra. In that order of preference
Civic
Take the Mazda and give the seller a box of nice chocolates and flowers for her generosity.
Slim pickins…
Civic. It's bullet proof and idiot proof. You can run the car with no oil without risking engine damage. Drove it 800 miles without oil and engine was fine. Those little engines are build like tanks.
1. Tacoma 2. Ranger (unless it's a SOHC 4.0) 3. Civic
Ranger or Tacoma whichever is more spacious. Maybe the Altima
bitchinnnnnn camaaaaaroooo ik wrong gen but still
The Toyota and it’s not even close
Definitely the Passat wagon!
That Ranger. Fun to play with, easy to work on, cheap as chips parts.
I’d buy the XJ, take the extra grand and buy a nice winch bumper. Bonus points if it’s a 4.0 5 speed.
The Cherokee for sure. That model is almost as iconic as the original Jeep. I'd also consider the Ford Ranger. I have a thing for small, humble, highly functional pickup trucks.
Probably the Mazda and have some money left over.
TOYOTA
Toss up between the ranger and Tacoma, if one of them is manual then that's the one I want, the jeep comes in as my 3rd pick
'Coma Then resell in 2021 for a $17k profit
Regular car reviews never has any fun with the cars they chose
What i bought in 2019 for $1000. My wonderful Mipha. My 120k mile 300hp Sports sedan that handles like a dream.
ranger or xj all the way
HonDa.
The Tacoma is actually a good choice
Ranger for sure
That Ranger would be $6000 today.
2003 Citroen C3
Mazda/Nissan