Options for fuel efficient 4-door beater?

I think I am either going to find a Grand Am or Saturn with a 5-spd. My wife and I were talking about it tonight and something like that would be a great commuter car that we can keep until the wheels literally fall off, and when I graduate I can buy my truck and keep driving my cheap ass beater car so I don't have to drive my truck everywhere.

Works for me.
 
Grand Am and saturn and 1k is going to be a pile that you throw more money at than the car is worth.....IMO

The whole "American" car only thing is going to make it a hard search for mpg and reliable within the price range!

Check into local auctions for ex police crown vics..Try and find one that a higher up drove and didnt get beat on. There huge room wise..Good mpg if drove right and reliable...also parts are dirt cheap. With the right set of wheel and etc they can look decent and blend in..
 
I have a 99 Monte Carlo that was my wife's DD and has been handed down to me now that she got a new car. Has over 170k miles and has been a pretty good car for us, been in the family since it had about 15k miles on it. Has the 3.1 V6 and it gets 20-22mpg in town and 26-28mpg on the highway. Intake gaskets are common to leak but they aren't that difficult to replace and can be done in the driveway on a Saturday.

Also had a 97 Cadillac DeVille w/ the 32v Northstar V8. Bought it for $700 with 150k miles on it because the a/c compressor clutch locked up on it. Swapped on a new a/c clutch and put 10k miles on it in about a year with zero issues. Got 30mpg on the highway and rode like a Cadillac LOL. I'd love to have another Caddy but the Northstar V8's are just too hit/miss on having headgaskets blow.
 
chromerunner said:
Check into local auctions for ex police crown vics.. With the right set of wheel and etc they can look decent and blend in..
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And nobody... I mean, NOBODY will pass you on the interstate at night.

They'll come up fast on the left, two-foot the brake, and hang out for a while off your back corner saying "is it? I can't... not sure... is that a light in the back glass?" :lol:
 
Used to drive an ex cop car, never do it again, when I was in a rush, the highway became a parking lot of people scared to move.

Although once I went through Chick Fila and ordered, was told "Please pull around officer" They gave me my food for free, I paid for the drink. Pretty cool, even though the kid at the window realized his mistake, he didn't say anything.
 
chromerunner said:
Grand Am and saturn and 1k is going to be a pile that you throw more money at than the car is worth.....IMO
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??? We're talking about a $1500 car.
No matter what the car is that starts at that cost, you're never going to see that $$ again.

FWIW we owned our Saturn for 9.5 years and 120k miles. in that time, very few problems with it. Of course you're buying it already well-broken in, lol.
IMO the 95+ Saturns are great cars for the $$. You're not getting anything fancy and won't be scoring chicks with it.
And, when your kid is careless and runs into it with his bike, it'll just bounce off :lol:
 
Blaze said:
:lol: No joke. One of my best friends bought an ex-hp car. He tinted the windows and put a bull-bar on the front, it was hilarious the way people reacted.
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a few weeks ago i was headed up I20 from my gfs house and totally pulled into the right lane for a black charger with blues and when he passed i was so pissed because he had civilian plates and i watched him do the same thing to ppl for miles.
 
At 6'4", you will NEED the sunroof. Just take out the glass and look over the hole in the roof.... :)
 
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