[Focused]

My focus transmission/clutch plate went out after me driving around 17K miles. :-(

Looking for a new car, it would be nice if it can haul a light trailer. (Up to 1500lb, but most likely 800lb real world) A few times a year. Maybe 1000miles a year. With 10K-15K miles of non trailer use a year.

My Budget is around $5500 for the car itself. I might be okay with a Hy-bread that needs battery's replaced for extra if I can get a couple years out of it before I need to replace them. But I think Hybreads are out of my budget for a reliable car.

I prefer a manual transmission.

It needs to be reliable, it should not have transmission/any issues at 117K miles!!!! I can do small things such as oil change, brakes, alternator, maybe a starter if a lift is not needed. But it should not need to have major work in 200K miles! I do not want to be left on the side of the road AGAIN. NO FORD. Found On Road Dead. Had my 1997 Ford Taurus Auto go out, rebuilt it. 45K miles later the transmission cooler lines rotted out and ruined my 1800 rebuild job. I said, next time I am getting a manual. It goes out after 17K miles when it had a brand new clutch. Not happy with FORD~!

It would be nice if I can mod an EV system into the back of it easy. I am hoping RAV4 works in 2WD mode as front wheel drive only. I want to be able to have an easy mount point for the rear axle EV motor. Most 4WD systems have a stupid RWD only mode that turns on the front wheels and only at low speeds. I think I want a car with FWD but has a rear drive shaft. I want to remove the drive shaft and put a electric motor in front of the rear axial. Maybe there is a car that has both AWD and FWD versions where I can just swap out the rear axle for one from the AWD version of the same car. I know nothing about car models so I am out in the dark, any help is appreciated.

I was thinking about putting a custom hitch on a gen1 insight, but it seems hard to get a good gen1 with a manual for a decent price. It seems every one of them are overpriced, and they are getting to the age that reliability is a concern. I hear the transmission in them is weak too.


2014 Mitsubishi Mirage? Fits the bill for efficiency but might not be very good for hauling things occasionally. I also do not know if it is reliable.

2010 Honda Fit? (Hard to EV mod the rear.)
CR-V?
RAV4?
VW GOLF TDI?

Is there a reliable and efficient hatchback that I could swap in a AWD/RWD rear axle with just some wrenching?


My mind is open to out of the box ideas.