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

[MetroMPG]

Spotted a B2000 like this yesterday in the boneyard of the local Toyota dealership (pic is not the actual truck). Base, base truck with a short box, not the fancy long box shown. And manual trans! Man, I love these old little Toyota/Nissan/Mazda trucks, but they all rusted away long ago. It's been at least 5 years since I've seen another one on the road around here.

I'm tempted to call about it -- I have ZERO need for such a vehicle, but I'm sure it's under $1.5k. Thought it might be worth picking up to tidy up and re-sell.

Oh but probably not rated 35 highway, eh?

[Natalya]

Check out this piece of trash:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Honda-...4:pf:0&vxp=mtr

[Xist]

We do not have emissions testing out here, but it would cost $869 to ship it here. A dollar per pound?

[Xist]

I randomly checked for HXes and found this: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/c...757514579.html

-same owner past 5 years...driven cross country 2 times...excellent point a to point b vehicle but not pretty to look at
-well maintained and service up to date
-HX is the factory fuel efficient model with vtec-e
-extremely fuel efficient 4 cylinder . I usually get 37 mpg and have seen as high as 44 mpg
-good heat, ice cold a/c , power mirrors, door locks, windows, tilt wheel
-current emissions , and clean clear title
-adult owned, pretty much stock except for radio
-has typical Arizona sun faded and peeling paint, many dents and dings, carpet, headliner, and door panels rough

I know that people like to talk about the long trips they took in the car and that suggests highway miles, but it also reminds you of how many miles are on the car, although in this case 144,000 on a 1996?! 6,500 miles per year?!

Okay, it had a bad paint job, but why is the interior trashed?




I think this is the ugliest car of which I have ever seen this many pictures. I actually drive down tomorrow. I was planning on cleaning out my Accord before my date, although I should make an honest list. I could drive a rental, check out this car, and drive her back if she looks good, but we do not have room for three Hondas!

I can fix up Chorizo, but then transfer the good parts to this one?

If everything checks out (by me an an actual mechanic), should I offer $1,500 (and transfer the QuickValve?)

[samwichse]

Hm, maybe you can get 35mpg on the highway with this?

https://hiltonhead.craigslist.org/ct...762641057.html



That would be a 2007 Dodge Charger. With the whole front end of a Chrysler 300 on it.

And a carbureted Mazda B2200 2.2L 4-cylinder and a 5-speed transmission.

Only $1000. Non running. LOL

[Daox]

What the heck??? lol

[Xist]

That Civic was posted twelve days ago! I contacted the seller and he said he already accepted a deposit. I know that many people on here say that appearance does not matter, but that car looks atrocious!

[mpg_numbers_guy]

There's actually two decent looking silver manual HXes for sale in Michigan, both with under 200K miles. One for $1400 and the other for $1500.

https://flint.craigslist.org/cto/d/1...766489281.html

https://swmi.craigslist.org/cto/d/19...744809497.html

[mpg_numbers_guy]

$1400 for a blue 2001 Insight 5spd w/ 192K miles. IMA light on plus other minor issues.

For sale on Insight Central: https://www.insightcentral.net/forum...t-5-speed.html

Seller actually messaged me a few days after I bought my Insight about selling his to me, since he isn't that far away from my college. If I hadn't bought and gotten such a great deal on my Insight just two days prior I would've definitely considered his offer.

Seems a shame to talk about an Insight in the "beaters" for sale thread, but it is under $1500. Worth checking out. 19bonestock88, I thought of you when I saw this.

[Xist]

Under $1,500? Yes! By how much? I don't know! Thirty-five MPG (highway)?

Uh. No.

How close?

I don't know!

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/c...763642011.html

$750 OBO

2000 Toyota Corolla for sale. 214k Miles on it. Upgraded radio. Window tint.
Last year at around 188k miles on it the motor went out. Had motor and Tranny replaced with a used one. The one that was put in there supposedly had around 100k on it. Seen vehicle it came out of. There is an check engine light on, reason is Catalayic converter needs to be replaced. Tags are good till June 2019 I believe.
Asking $1100 obo

They originally asked $1,100, but dropped it to $750 without removing the original price? Is the bad cat a dealbreaker for any of you? Spending a hundred or two on a CC would seem fine if that was all that she needed. It only shows the outside. There is a dent in the driver's door and the front passenger turn signal is taped in place, but the rest looks great, but why don't they show the interior?

The other thing is this could be a 29 MPG three-speed, not the 34 MPG four-speed.

I just looked for cars between $100 and $1,500, but of course Craigslist always has false positives.

It looks like all of these cheap Corollas have significant problems. I would absolutely spend $200 on a cat to sell a car. I only found one Corolla with a manual and she is not great:

2001 corolla over 200,000 miles. 5 speed. Burns over 1 qt of oil every 100 miles or so. Also smokes out of exhaust constantly due to the oil burning. Will more than likely need an engine overhaul. Runs and drives. Check engine light on.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/c...763472132.html

2001 with 220,000 miles for $720.