Daily driver/ beater/ "first" car?!

[WayFast84]

Well Ive officially started looking into a beater for my daily use. I have 2 months till I get my license but I think that the 2 months I have might help me pick the most reliable and fuel efficient car Possible.

I need some help though. What cars should I be looking into? I need at least 30 MPG in the city and something cheap to insure(even though it wont be cheap :( ) and some thing that can get hit by the morons at my school. Ive done some research and I have come up with a few cars.

1. Ford Festiva
2. Saturn sl
3. geo metro

What kind of cars should I be looking into? What should I look out for when searching for a "beater" they have to be cheap for some reason, but how can I find out if the car will be reliable. What are some things I should notice and immediately walk away from?

Please help me!!!!!!!!


-Matt

[V]

lmao @ a festiva, seriously...dont go there

[slasherbarb]

i had a 96 chevy beretta and i loved that car...3100 v6 in it it was a pretty quick little thing..

[Tsar]

http://www.uh.edu/engines/bicycle.gif
no gas or insurance.

[GP99GT]

out of those 3...i'd go with the saturn. just check the oil once in a while and itll last. and its made of plastic

[DaSkinnyGuy]

choose one of these

http://www.carlofet.com/images/mopeds.jpg

[sweetbmxrider]

i'd get a small sedan or coupe obviously. a little honda or toyota. early mid 90's. last quite awhile, easy to maintain, safe, good gas consumption, all that good stuff. on ur list though, the saturn is the only thing i would trust.

[edpontiac91]

I bought a 2001 Dodge Neon for my daughter back in 2004 with 31,000. It now has 81,000 and still runs great, The gas mileage is 32 highway, and it has never let me down. If you get the LX or the upgraded model, they come with cassette and CD radios, full instrument dash, power windows and mirrors plus dual air bags. Some even came with aluminum wheels and a rear spoiler. Just get the 2000 or newer model as a lot of improvements were made with the new design. :nod:

[Frosty]

out of those 3...i'd go with the saturn. just check the oil once in a while and itll last. and its made of plastic

:werd:

[Firebird]

FIERO!! like me

[r0nin89]

FIERO!! like me

Not a bad idea.

May want to think about the fact that sacrificing a few MPG's for a little bit of a bigger car will give you a little insurance of not getting completely mauled if you ever get into an accident.

Any late 80's to mid 90's 4cyl/5speed nissan or toyota easily fits the bill for MPG's though.

[Squirrel]

mk2 dub...just sayin

[Knipps]

out of those 3...i'd go with the saturn. just check the oil once in a while and itll last. and its made of plastic

:werd:

:nod: the neon is also a good idea

[maroman88]

get a 96+ cavy Z24 5speed! i always wanted one for a beater, if i had to commute somewhere

[ar0ck]

Chevy S10, gets good mileage, and can haul all the crap for your other car!

[bubba428]

out of those 3...i'd go with the saturn. just check the oil once in a while and itll last. and its made of plastic

no no....plastic isn't good, he'd find a way to light it on fire...


get a geo....that way when you blow it up nobody will care, and theres already 4,000 of them in every junk yard so parts can be cheap. and 3cyl sip gas

[JL8Jeff]

One thing to think about when getting a cheap beater with higher miles is the maintenance required. I know the older Toyota pickups and 4Runners are great vehicles but the 4cyl engines need to have the timing chain and timing chain guides replaced every so often.

[Untamed]

Add these to your research list. Look at the older cars of the mid 90's that are still in decent condition, which you can pick up for a small amount of cash. They should last until the end of your Freshman year of college, then pick up a part time job and get something a little newer, or start driving your Trans Am as a DD.

Chevy Cavalier
Pontiac Grand Am
Ford Taurus

[Mike]

matt,
i would drive the ta for your senior year of high school, it wont get that many miles put on it, and it will allow you time to save more money. if you decide to go to a school that you will be in a dorm, you wont be able to have a car freshman year anyway and that will give you another year to save. then you can spend a little more money on somthing even more reliable......

the last thing you want is to buy some 500 dollar pos and get stranded on the side of the road

[Untamed]

matt,
i would drive the ta for your senior year of high school, it wont get that many miles put on it, and it will allow you time to save more money. if you decide to go to a school that you will be in a dorm, you wont be able to have a car freshman year anyway and that will give you another year to save. then you can spend a little more money on somthing even more reliable......

the last thing you want is to buy some 500 dollar pos and get stranded on the side of the road

Good point Mike. But when I went to school I was in a different state, so the Freshman thing didn't apply - I was allowed to have a car, and did buy one. Also joined the Army Reserves my Freshman year so needed transportation anyway. My junior and senior year of High School I worked weeknights and weekends, so again, needed to drive myself.

So Matt, if you work during your senior year of school, and go away to college / tech school, you may need transportation. MPGs trump BHP in this economy.

[WildBillyT]

4cyl Toyota Camry.

[BigAls87Z28]

3cyl XFi Metro's are going for a million dollars now, thanks to someone that foundo ut that they get 53mpg city. 42hp will do that.

Id agree with a bike...kill two birds with one stone on that one.

Ford Taurus with the Vulcan V6 3.0 in it. Make sure it has had it struts replaced, check the brakes, but cheap to run, good gas milage, and cheap to repair.
also, check transmission. You can run into a problem there.

[WildBillyT]

3cyl XFi Metro's are going for a million dollars now, thanks to someone that foundo ut that they get 53mpg city. 42hp will do that.

Id agree with a bike...kill two birds with one stone on that one.

Ford Taurus with the Vulcan V6 3.0 in it. Make sure it has had it struts replaced, check the brakes, but cheap to run, good gas milage, and cheap to repair.
also, check transmission. You can run into a problem there.

Isn't the 3.0 Taurus the one with all the head gasket problems?

[bandit88]

i also vote for the saturn.... they are cheap cars and great on gas
my best beater choice would be a chevy cavalier..... but i am biased ;)

[BigAls87Z28]

Isn't the 3.0 Taurus the one with all the head gasket problems?


166k miles driven, 2 transmissions, blown struts, shot brakes, bald tires, bad speedo, body damage to 3 sides, the engine didnt get its first tune up till 145k...the engine is the best part of that car.
The Ford 3.8 had the head gasket problems, especially the supercharged 3.8's in the Tbird/Cougar

[WildBillyT]

The Ford 3.8 had the head gasket problems, especially the supercharged 3.8's in the Tbird/Cougar

That's the one. I knew it was one of the Ford 6's.

[ryanfx]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1993-GEO-METRO-4-DOOR-3-CYLINDER-CLEAN-GAS-SAVER_W0QQitemZ160248203351QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20Truc ksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160248203351&

1993 3 cylinder geo with nearly half a million miles going for 1.5K LOLOLOL

[WayFast84]

The bird is not going to be driven often at all. It does not have Heat, a radio or power steering. I do not want to risk one of the ******** in my school, or town hitting my car and messing it up. Its a nice day car, and will see much more use when I'm done with high school and can afford things like a 12 bolt and the money for all the gas it will suck up.

I basically need a car for rainy days, and the winter, every other day I will be riding my haro to school or bum rides off people depending on what time I get out of school or not.

I might not even need another car if I have to wait till 2:30 to get out. But I cant be riding and walking to and from school 4 times a day. Thats 8 miles a day with practices for all 3 sports seasons Im playing in.

[ryanfx]

The bird is not going to be driven often at all. It does not have Heat, a radio or power steering. I do not want to risk one of the ******** in my school, or town hitting my car and messing it up. Its a nice day car, and will see much more use when I'm done with high school and can afford things like a 12 bolt and the money for all the gas it will suck up.

I basically need a car for rainy days, and the winter, every other day I will be riding my haro to school or bum rides off people depending on what time I get out of school or not.

I might not even need another car if I have to wait till 2:30 to get out. But I cant be riding and walking to and from school 4 times a day. Thats 8 miles a day with practices for all 3 sports seasons Im playing in.

8 miles a day would be good for you

[maroman88]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1993-GEO-METRO-4-DOOR-3-CYLINDER-CLEAN-GAS-SAVER_W0QQitemZ160248203351QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20Truc ksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160248203351&

1993 3 cylinder geo with nearly half a million miles going for 1.5K LOLOLOL

the odometer says 46k

[WayFast84]

8 miles a day would be good for you

It would be, but it would be way too much with practices tacked on, I could do 4, with practices but then i would have to stay at school for like 4 extra hours that I could just leave and come back...

[Firebird]

the odometer says 46k

might have rolled over 4 times

[maroman88]

might have rolled over 4 times

its got the 100k's column

[Firebird]

its got the 100k's column

oh .

[Tru2Chevy]

the odometer says 46k

Yea, I noticed that right away too....

- Justin

[Jersyboyy]

My brother bought a 94 toyota camry with 130,000 miles for 600 bucks and it now has 190,000 and drives like a champ.
I had a convertable pontiac sunfire 4 cyl i got for 700 dollars with 165,000 miles and drove it to 200,000 before I had to give it back to my dad.
Seen civics with 200-250,000 miles proper maintance require of coarse.
Geo would be good if you change the timing chain and give it a full tune up and didnt BEAT on it.
90's ford escort sedans last a LONG TIME too.
Neons crap out after 100,000.

[Tru2Chevy]

Wayfast - you should buy Liz's Galant. That was my wife's first car. It ain't perfect, but it never left her stranded and got decent mileage.

- Justin

[qwikz28]

Wayfast - you should buy Liz's Galant. That was my wife's first car. It ain't perfect, but it never left her stranded and got decent mileage.

- Justin

+1 and you won't look like a retard if you buy a geo metro ;)

[straight6]

WayFast84- i've thought about a 30+mpg commuter as well, and looked into old festivas - they have a pretty solid rep as a durable lil car. no reason to knock it off your list unless you actually draw parallels between your ride and your manhood hehe. and driving a car that handles like a go-kart has its advantages.

besides the festiva, theres the geo metro, storm, and prizms to consider (and toyo corollas for that matter)...a slick find would be a 90-92 prizm gsi, which had the toyo 4age motor, 4 wheel discs, and was a pretty decent lil performer, for what it is. saturns are pretty common on craigslist too, lots of manuals which is nice. what else......

suzuki samurai?
suzuki swift, mitsu colt, civics of course, toyo tercels, hyuandai or kias if youre brave or its not making any funny sounds......

go classic - old chevette or vega....dunno if those will pull 30 tho, but probably close. my uncle had an iron duke 3rd gen maro that hit 27mpg on a long trip (once. haha)

or save some coins and swap an ecotec turbo 4 into your bird........

[trashman01]

My brother bought a 94 toyota camry with 130,000 miles for 600 bucks and it now has 190,000 and drives like a champ.
I had a convertable pontiac sunfire 4 cyl i got for 700 dollars with 165,000 miles and drove it to 200,000 before I had to give it back to my dad.
Seen civics with 200-250,000 miles proper maintance require of coarse.
Geo would be good if you change the timing chain and give it a full tune up and didnt BEAT on it.
90's ford escort sedans last a LONG TIME too.
Neons crap out after 100,000.

+1 on the early to mids 90s escort. just watch out the rear suspension tends to rust out, and if that happens u basically have to replace the entire assembly but grab one with a 5spd, alot better. kno some1 with a 93 wagon with a 5spd gets 38mpg loaded with swap meet stuff at 70mph