$2k Daily Driver Needed

[2000mc]

i figured saturns were going to be $1k ish by now, bought ours 7-8 yrs ago for $2800

[cfg83]

Zharkov -

Yes, you are right, Craigslist is the way to go.

CarloSW2

[ratherbehiking]

I 2nd the early 90's civic. My job situation just changed myself. went from a 12 miles round trip commute to 120 mile round trip. I just picked up a '91 civic hatch for $1450. which should save me 3000ish a year over what I was driving: at 99 suzuki grand vitara 4x4 v6. stay turned for civic build thread

[drmiller100]

I work a LOT on the old civics. three things they have issues with.
Timing belts. cheap and easy to do.
Fuel pumps. Somewhat prevented by changing the fuel filter, which is almost never done.
Distributor. somewhat prevented by new spark plug wires.

[Zharkov]

Originally Posted by ratherbehiking

I 2nd the early 90's civic. My job situation just changed myself. went from a 12 miles round trip commute to 120 mile round trip. I just picked up a '91 civic hatch for $1450. which should save me 3000ish a year over what I was driving: at 99 suzuki grand vitara 4x4 v6. stay turned for civic build thread

Let me know. I have no experience with working on vehicles, other than simple stuff like changing oil, tires, etc. I'd like to learn more, especially anything I can do to the car once I have it to increase fuel economy. I'm likely gonna end up with a Civic or Accord, early or mid '90s.

Updated Google spreadsheet

[renault_megane_dci]

Hello there,

I would definitely add the Cd and weight of each of the car you put in your spreadsheet, as well as EPA, it will help you find the best for your target : higher MPG.

As for automatic vs manual, will you keep your previous car and add your commute car on top ?
If so, I can't see it very available for your wife to use it ...
And the extra MPG potential of the manual is a nice bonus for the desagrement of having the car only for you to use ;-)

[Zharkov]

Well, I ended up getting a 1994 Honda Accord w/ just shy of 170k miles for $1,500. There weren't nearly as many Civics in the area and the 4 I looked at all had major issues of one sort or another. The Accord is in decent shape. It has some body damage, but very slight. The frame is still intact, so it's safe. Only big issues are the radio asking for a code (won't work until I input it) and the sun roof doesn't open; so I guess that makes it a moon roof, lol. I'll be looking here for ideas to increase fuel economy as well.

[drmiller100]

accords are good cars. if it is in decent shape, expect 300k plus miles out of it. They go a LONG time.

same issues I mentioned above. many are automatics. come to a complete stop when backing up before shifting to drive as rolling tears them up. change the engine oil every 10,000 miles or more often.

if your's has a sunroof, then it is an EX model, and has the higher horsepower engine and rear disk brakes. doesn't really matter honestly.