Efficient, cheap beaters! Used car ads: 35 mpg highway or more for $1500 or less

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Xist

HXes have supersized VX rims.

Did the HX have an optional sunroof like that one appears to?



I distinctly remember Honda put the VX on a strict diet compared to the gas-guzzling Civics: NO SUNROOF FOR YOU! Not even an option.

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, definitely go for a Saturn with lower miles.


Here's a '96 SL2 5-speed for sale with 3800 miles on it.






No price mentioned, though.


https://jalopnik.com/this-3-800-mile...car-1845864331

[Xist]

How many miles can I expect for $1,500 or less?

You figure that the cheapest tires would cost at least $300. I went to look up seat covers and when I put in "2001 saturn sl2" Google suggested "Problems," which concerns me a bit.

I am going to read those, including The Sad Story of the Saturn S-Series later. I have a client in half an hour and a new one immediately afterward!

I keep trying to work on activities and then I get interrupted. My brother asked for lunch, Mom said that he was still hungry, so I asked him to find something in the chest freezer in the garage. He came back empty-handed, so I went in, but all of the meals were buried, so I filled up a big cooler with desserts and vegetables.

We go through desserts at least 10 times as fast as vegetables!

Well, that is annoying. I searched for custom seat covers and everything on Amazon is universal fit.

I am finding ones for $20 and ones for hundreds of dollars--per row, if not seat. Parts Geek seems to charge $60 per each bucket seat and $100 for the bench, but it doesn't give any details or reviews.

As durable as leather is supposed to be, it seems like cloth seats last vastly better.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I distinctly remember Honda put the VX on a strict diet compared to the gas-guzzling Civics: NO SUNROOF FOR YOU! Not even an option.

Anything that adds a few pounds...

[Xist]

Sorry guys, somehow I missed these messages!

Originally Posted by JSH

The Saturn 1.9L is known to burn oil about at a rate of a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. That is "normal" some will burn more - some less.

The piston rings build up carbon and stick. I've read you can fix it by removing the spark plugs and soaking the pistons and rings with sea foam fuel additive.

Some friends had one. It ran for over 200K miles but was leaving a trail of blue smoke by the time they got rid of it.

Thanks! I quickly searched for symptoms of stuck piston rings and didn't get anywhere. Is that unrelated to blue smoke?

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Did the HX have an optional sunroof like that one appears to?

I distinctly remember Honda put the VX on a strict diet compared to the gas-guzzling Civics: NO SUNROOF FOR YOU! Not even an option.

Yes! That is a sunroof! No! That is not an HX! I searched for the image and found that picture with dozens others here, where it was sold as an EX. This guy wrote: "No. The HX was made to be lightweight and as fuel saving as possible. Sun roof assemblies are heavy." He was banned, but the commenter directly above him shares the sixth-generation Civic wikipedia page, which only shows sunroofs being available for the EX and Si.

Edit! The Saturn sold, as well as the $1,100 $900 Civic hatchback.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

Sorry guys, somehow I missed these messages!Thanks! I quickly searched for symptoms of stuck piston rings and didn't get anywhere. Is that unrelated to blue smoke?

Blue smoke is caused by burning oil. Saturn 1.9L engine burn oil because the piston rings built up carbon, stick in the piston grooves, and let oil into the combustion chamber. A vehicle with stuck piston rings will also usually have lower compression.


Here is a good article on how piston rings work:
What does the 2nd Piston Ring Do? Purpose and Function Explained!

Edit: This UK forum has some good content on oil burning too:
https://z22se.co.uk/threads/the-reas...olution.29284/


Blue Smoke - burning oil
Black Smoke - air / fuel ratio too rich
White smoke - burning coolant.

[Xist]

This 2003 Focus posted yesterday with almost 240,000 miles. That is over 10,000 fewer than the 2003 Dad sold me in 2007 or something. It is in a town that I usually try to avoid an hour east. It is full of strange people!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...09410855902744

Here is a 1996 Escort Wagon with 175,000 miles. Reverse and neutral don't work. They are asking $450: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...98511973594262

[MetroMPG]

Broken autotragic = doubly autotragic.

[freebeard]

I got in my $1K XFI and turned on the key and let out the clutch and.... nada.

I turned it off and back on again. It turns out the defroster fan is louder than the engine.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Broken autotragic = redundancy.

Fixed.