In search of a cheaper car?.

I'd be all over it personally. Don't rule out a 4 cyl either....nothing slouchy about those.

Both me and the wife had 1994 Honda Accords. We sold hers when it had over 300K on the odometer. Nothing major ever needed to be done other than the timing belt. Hers was automatic and mine was a manual trans. I sold mine with right at 300K on it. Swapped out the original clutch at 240K miles. While the transmission was out, I swapped the rear main seal, oil pan gasket, timing belt, water pump, and oil pump. I sold it for $2000 and the man thought it was a VERY good deal. It was still clicking off 34 mpg even at 300K on it.

 

I like the older hondas like that mainly because of the availability of parts, i can go to any junkyard or parts stores and find what i need for cheap. I agree, get him as close to 2k as you can, call it a done deal.

 

Stay away from anything with an interference engine in my opinion.

 

if they salt the roads there then the underbelly of that car is probably GONE...check carefully

 

That is another thing, strut towers and everything structural can be totally gone on some of the cheaper budget type cars. My daughters Dodge Stratus, which currently has a wasted perfectly fine engine from the timing belt breaking, has the entire drivers side rocker panel totally gone. I am seriously doubting I'm going to fix it at this point, I'd rather buy a Buick for her somehow and send another Chrystler heap to the crusher. I had a Buick Century, and I think it was an awesome, smooth driving and comfortable car. Cops never even gave it a second look either, lol. It did develop an issue with the injectors plugging up though at the end, then I got plowed by a semi so that took care of that.

 

I buy a lot of cars like this for people, mostly looking for their kids. They want something safe, cheap, reliable. I look at the forgotten cars. Everyone wants Toyota and Honda..and for 3K you get 100Kmiles at least. I look for :

Ford Taurus base model 3.0L V6 late 90's and newer. I see these all the time with 50K or less on them for 2-4K. My Daughter has one...I got a Blue 1996 very nicely equipped with 7,600 1-owner miles. Still had the plastic on the back seats. I paid $4200. 14 mos later we've done nothing beyond battery and basic maintenance.

Any mid-size Buick like a Century or even the bigger LeSabre. I see these regularly, 30-50K on them for $2500-$5K. Usually garage kept well-maintained by older people. Reliable, comfortable.

Saturn SL1 and SL2. 1996-2003. The twin-cam moves. Plastic body never rusts and doesn't dent. They were a bit noisy because of skimpy soundproofing. But they are reliable, and cheap for a small car. I got my son a 4-dr SL2 2002 with 33K on it for $2600 and it had a new battery and 4 new Goodyears on the alloys. He drove it for months while I rebuilt the front end of his Subaru Legacy. Sold it for $3400 to the 1st looker.

Earlier Hyundai's and Kia's and Suzuki's. The earlier cars didn't hold value well, but they are reliable and cheap, but a bit unrefined compared to the Toyata/Honda/Nissan equivalents. But half the price.
Older Boxy Volvos'. No real demand for them, but they are reliable and I see decent ones under $4k with 50k or fewer miles on them.

 

To the OP, you can go to this site ---> carsurvey.org and research all makes and models that are reviewed by actual people that have owned the vehicles. It's a pretty informative site. Good luck!

 

Right now I'm kind of looking at the grand prix with the 3.8. I'm trying to stay away from the supercharged ones because my daughter is turning 16 next year.