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

[freebeard]

What do you think? I didn't want to cut the Canadian body, but the Super??

I'd route the exhaust ahead of the rear wheels and bob the bed, and extend the cab. The B-pillar is right at my shoulder. Those headlights, though? I had '40 Buick teardrops on my '57.



Here's a Type III install. Without all the ducting you can dispense with the sheet metal squirrel cage fan.



It could use a parachute behind the intake scroll, and side-draft fuel injection. Here's a South American body cut. They slant the back against the seats, and the concave roof-line is cutting edge aero, reducing the wake [like some supercar I can't remember }

[Christian]

Originally Posted by Nissandriver

That´s sad. What I could get for $1500 a few years ago everybody seems to want about $3000 for now. Manuals are getting rare. I recently read that less than 3% of vehicles sold in the US in 2021 had a manual transmission.

The manual transmission in North America is definitely dying out.
I agree the car market is not in the favor of buyers right now, but I believe it will all level out eventually. It's crazy, I'm browsing through ~6 year old 5spd Mirages and they're selling for $13,000+ CAD. THE BASE MODEL CAR HAD A MSRP of 14k CAD!

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Christian

The manual transmission in North America is definitely dying out.
I agree the car market is not in the favor of buyers right now, but I believe it will all level out eventually. It's crazy, I'm browsing through ~6 year old 5spd Mirages and they're selling for $13,000+ CAD. THE BASE MODEL CAR HAD A MSRP of 14k CAD!

Ya, I don't think I'd buy any used cars anytime soon. But I don't think I'd want to buy a new car either.

I have a couple of friends who bought used cars and they turned out to be lemons. One bought a 2017 Ford Escape with almost 100,000 miles on it about six months ago for some $17,000. Now the transmission is "severely damaged" and needs replacing.

A $17,000 vehicle that needs a replacement transmission that will probably cost them somewhere between $3,500 and $6,000...

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christian

The manual transmission in North America is definitely dying out.

I am slightly grateful that Canadian market cars still seem to offer sticks even after they are cancelled in the US. EG. the Mirage is now CVT only in the States. There are a bunch of other examples.

I'm browsing through ~6 year old 5spd Mirages and they're selling for $13,000+ CAD. THE BASE MODEL CAR HAD A MSRP of 14k CAD!

Coincidentally: the best deal I've seen on a beater Mirage in many months ...



https://www.kijiji.ca/v-autos-camion...age/1648519624


A rough-around-the-edges Mirage, essentially the same car that I got in 2021 for $2k.

Originally Posted by Ecky

This thread probably needs to be the "$3000 or less" thread now.

Yup. The situation is improving slowly, but the good old days of "almost roadworthy" $1500 beaters may be over.

[Christian]

That’s funny you send that, I actually noticed a few mirages for sale over the few weeks for <$5k, but they were all in Quebec. Not sure what is stopping people from selling them that cheap around me.

[Xist]

I know a lady who traded in her newer Camry for a 2021 Piece of Chevy, which is already out of warranty and has a bad engine.

I asked if she considered buying a reliable beater until she can get something better and she said she was considering it.

So, she could have an old car with tons of miles, and still have a big monthly payment!

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Christian

That’s funny you send that, I actually noticed a few mirages for sale over the few weeks for <$5k, but they were all in Quebec. Not sure what is stopping people from selling them that cheap around me.

Before Covid you would see mirages all day long for $5k or less, now people are wanting nearly $10k for a 2014-2016 Mirage with 100k-130k miles. And I now see people driving them everywhere when before they were a rare sight. It's wild out there.

[Christian]

91 PONTIAC FIREFLY 1.OL 5spd CONVERTIBLE, RUNS GREAT SHIFTS FINE. NEEDS WORK MUFFLER, LEFT MIRROR. CLEAN UP AND SOME FRONT END WORK (CLUNKS). SOME RUST ON SILLS NOT BAD NONE ON THE FLOOR. NEWER TIRES AND BATTERY.

THANKS FOR LOOKING.

$1,000 OBO

Please note: Price is in CAD, so roughly $750 USD.

After speaking with the owner, he claims that "it drives not bad", and that the noises seemed like sway bar bushings. Not too bad, especially since he wrote OBO... I was definitely tempted, but didn't want to deal with any suspension work, and I think if it was just sway bar bushings he would've just fixed it. (His FB marketplace account was solely used to flip cars)

[Piotrsko]

When flipping stuff, the less you do to resale, the more you make in profit. Figure a day with impact wrenches to replace all the bushings with urethane aftermarket.

[freebeard]

Five-speed = do it.

Is there a picture with the top up? What's in the back seat?