Daily Driver Sedan Options and Questions

What is my best option for a good efficient and reliable car?

  • Total voters
    17
Hyperlite

Hyperlite

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Location
merica
So I have $3500 burning a hole in my pocket and need to get a daily driver before the the 4Runner's fuel cell sucks the $$$ out of my pocket. What do you guys recommend for a good daily driver? I need a 4 door car with good to awesome mpg and it has to be reliable. I have worked on many cars so general maint. is easy for me to do (timing, water pump, head gaskets, CVs, etc) I do not want to have to worry about head gaskets and tranmission issues just want to get in the car and go.
I have found in my price range ($3500) and under 200k miles:
Toyota/Lexus
97 Lexus ES 300
99 Camry
00 Corolla
Mazda
01 626
99 Protege
Mitsubishi
03 Galant
04 Lancer OZ 2.0
Honda
96-99 Accord Sedan
96-99 Civic Sedan
Nissan
99 Maxima
99 Altima
What do you guys think? I like the ES 300 but the milage is low 19/26 mpg. (b4 adjustment 21/34 mpg <---not sure what this means?) Its nice @170k plus I hade 1 b4 and I like toyota.
Any experiences with the other cars? Anything to avoid? Any insight on models would help i.e. DX, LX, EX, GXE,LE etc..
Thanks in advance
 
I vote accords, anything from 90-97 with a 5 speed. I have a 90 with 360thousand miles, i drive it everyday, 29mpg still. Still has factory balljoints wheelbearings, and a lot of other parts that on most cars are well worn by now. I have swapped the engine and trans, but they are cheap for these cars and they are easy to work on. The first engine the timing belt broke, and i bought a highmileage pos for the 2nd, it came out of a kids car so it had a hard life, the engine in it now came from beavers honda in kannapolis about 6 or 7 years ago, and its still running strong. I think i paid 350 for the engine.

The trans i busted acting up doing ebrake burnouts in it.....so i got what i deserved. All in all, i have drove this car for ten years, 180 thousand put on it and still have less than 4k in it. When and if it ever dies, i will buy another one.
 
If the Mazda has an auto stay away from it, Nissan's parts prices are comparable and in some cases more expensive than BMW's. I'm personally partial to Toyota's though the parts can get expensive. You just don't need them too often.
 
Honda, followed by toyota. I would go for the car with the lowest mileage & best maintenance record
 
I was an Audi mechanic anything with foor rings or VW is going to be expensive to work on in just parts. Yes the 1.8t is a beast of an engine.

I would go with the corolla i had an 05 that i ran the snot out of had the 5 speed and it got 32-34 with my dogging it.
 
none of the above. My choice of vehicle isn't on YOUR list.
 
I've owned a bunch of maximas and they have been very good.

95-96 and 97-99 are all the same generation with an update on fascias.

190hp & 210tq with a 0-60 of 6.6 in the manual. and you get 20mpg city and I have gotten up to 30 on highway.

Plus they are super cheap nowadays.
 
don't buy a mazda with an automatic (cd4e's suck)
hondas are your best bet (with what you have listed)
i would never buy a car that starts with a "v" (sorry warren), i hate volkswagen or a volvo, they can be diagnostic nightmares because their computers don't always like to play well with scanners.

i would take whatever you buy to a shop and have them look everything over. i know you said you do your own repairs, it's much easier to have someone put it on a lift and look it over for you.
 
transman731 said:
don't buy a mazda with an automatic (cd4e's suck)
hondas are your best bet (with what you have listed)
i would never buy a car that starts with a "v" (sorry warren), i hate volkswagen or a volvo, they can be diagnostic nightmares because their computers don't always like to play well with scanners.
i would take whatever you buy to a shop and have them look everything over. i know you said you do your own repairs, it's much easier to have someone put it on a lift and look it over for you.
Click to expand...
No problem man I have a scan tool that reads volvo and VW . plus I usually fix all my own stuff
 

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I would say Honda.I have beat the ever living mess out of more than one of those in my life.Just out of High school I worked for a place that delivered Blue Prints to Job sites.They had a fleet of Civics and 10 kids 18-22 thrashing them in the worst ways possible every single day.I have never had one leave me stranded or get bad mileage.Good Cars.
 
My vote is Nissan I've had a bunch of the 87 maxima put a Z31Turbo swap in it stupid easy 250 whp 26 city 33 high way had a 01 maxima se manual fast handled great 22 around town 27-29 highway currently have a 95 altima 23 around town 28 highway every one of them was dead reliable got beat on daily they saw redline every day LOL. I Have a 98 jetta and I hate it yeah it handles good gets good mileage but it has a random no start problem that I've been trying to isolate for almost a year.
 
Accord FTW. I'm on my second accord (2009). My first one (2000) I traded in after putting on over 200k and it had literally never had a problem despite being abused. You can't beat a Honda engine
 
Why '99 Protege?
If you look around you could get an 02-03 Protege or Protege5 for that $$. A bit of a stretch, but possible.
The key is to get a 5spd, the Mazda a/ts suck... but the 5spd lasts forever.

I've had a P5 for years and loved it, average 30 mpg and maintenance is easy.
 
VW Jetta tdi

50mpgs done deal, but a little out of your price range especially for the 5 speed.

and i agree with the mazda 5 speeds being tough. My buddy beat the snot out of his, never did any maintaince and it still ran like a champ.
 
Another plug for the Maxima. Just sold my wife's '96 that we had in the family straight off the lot. Great car, good power, comfort, space, and legit mpg. Other than basic maintainence (brakes and rotors, struts, battery...) this car had zero issues for over 200K miles. My parents still have their '97 at 225K with the same reliability. Only sold it because we had to buy a baby hauler.
 
I'd say just go onto craigslist and look for stuff within your price range.

90's Hondas and toyotas with manual trans will do you well.

I say bypass Lexus and MOST DEF Mazdas. Both will be expensive.

Get small, cheap and throwaway.
 
I'd drive most stuff from the late 90's Honda line-up if you're looking for peak mpg's. If it were me though, I'd look more towards Cadillac (Deville or STS), Lincoln (TC of Mark VIII), Buick (Le Sabre) and even Ford (CV's, Taurus) 4 door sedans. If you look in the late 90's early 2000's with those rides, you should be able to get a good car for $3500, with some luxury and style...while getting mid to high 20's on the highway.
 
I got a 5th gen 4 door Honda Accord. It was in good shape but the exhaust is a little loud. Thanks for all the input guys.
 
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