Looking for the "best" vehicle for $5K
 

I know everyone will have an opinion on the "best", but I am open minded! I am looking for a vehicle that gets 35 mpg's or more that I can buy for $5K or less. It needs to be reliable as well since I drive 25-30K per year all over Colorado. Can't afford to have it break down regularly. I am fairly mechanically inclined so if it needs a few mods, tune-up etc, I could probably do it. Kinda partial to Honda and Toyota, but also see Metro's, etc getting great mpg! Anything will work, 4 door, 2 door, hatchback, etc. Thoughts?

Any smaller Toyota or Honda will give you 35 mpg and even their slighly larger vehicles (Camry / Accord) will get around that if you don't get the V6 model. The limitation will be your $5k mainly. For that price your looking at a late 90s vehicle most likely. Another alternative would be a 2000+ Neon, or a Saturn S series (SC1 / SL1). They seem to be descent cars that hold together and get reasonable mileage.

Ideally, I'd look for a lean burn Honda. That means a Civic HX (manual preferred). That'll easily get you over 40 mpg without even trying. I'd really try to stay above 40 too. You can go with a normal engined vehicle, but its much more work to get the real high numbers with them.

Lets throw some numbers at it for comparison.


25000 miles a year
35 mpg
714 gallons of gas
@ $4 per gallon that is $2857 (over half the price of the vehicle!)

25000 miles a year
40 mpg
625 gallons
@ $4 per gallon that is $2500
-saves you $350 per year over 35 mpg car


25000 miles a year
45 mpg
556 gallons
@ $4 per gallon that is $2222
-saves you $635 per year over 35 mpg car

25000 miles a year
50 mpg
@ $4 per gallon that is $2000
-saves you $850 per year over 35 mpg car


These estimates are incredibly conservative @ $4.00 per gallon. The word is gas will be $5.00 per gallon by next year. At that price these costs grow by 25%.

I was thinking a 90's Honda Civic HX or CX maybe. The Geo Metro's look like they get great mpg's. Are they reliable?

I bought my 100K mile '94 escort wagon 5-speed for $1,000. It needed a tune-up, but now it runs perfectly. I've driven it a little over 1000 miles since I got it, about 60/40 city/highway, and I'm averaging almost 40 mpg. Important: it has the Ford SOHC 1.9 liter engine, not the Mazda 16-valve. Only 90 hp, but great torque, and surprisingly good fuel economy. Take the extra $4,000 and buy index funds. The market has to be coming up any day now! You'll be ahead bigtime!

Metro's are highly decent cars, mechanically.

Check the underside of any Metro-Swift-Firefly for rust, especially the front A arms. And be careful a 3 cylinder's engine is in good shape: there is a known problem that can occur from neglect.

It depends on your definition of "reliable". How many years you are planning to operate? For 3 years running, you may add about 75K to 90K miles more to the miles it has already run. You have a lot of choices. Most car can run 150K without major problems. Honda and Toyota gives you more miles to run.

For 5 years running, you will run 125K to 150K miles. Then, your choices is limited to Honda and Toyota and few exceptional reliable models.

Ford Escort manual is cheap and saving gas, not automatic. As I know, its automatic transmission has design flaws. It had been recalled few times for leaking transmission oil and causes failure.

By the way, manual is always better for used small car for more reliable, better mpg, faster pickup and cheaper to repair.

I like saturns. Any car comes with its own set of foibles though. A sohc S car will net you 40mpg easy. Problems, so far none at 100k. But the ECTS sensor, oil burning, quill bearing in the trans. All are somewhat common problems. $5k will buy you a dandy SL, SC, or SW.

I'm partial to the Metro, the FE is great, the build quality and reliability are not bad at all. You would be hard pressed to pay more than $5k for a low mileage '99.

Having said that, I spent one week per month on business in the Boulder area for a couple years. IMO the normally aspirated 4 cylinder cars are already somewhat anemic in the relatively thin 5000ft. elv. air, a 3 cylinder might be akin to moped performance. I wouldn't buy a Metro if I lived in Mile-high Denver or needed to go up into and over the Rockies with any regularity, unless I strapped a turbo on it, but even a homebrewed system will break your budget and reduce your reliability.

If it were me, I'd look at buying an early 5-speed 90's Honda Civic, maybe an accord. I put over 120k miles on an older one, just sold my '88 with 240k mi on the clock that was still going strong. In my mind, cheap vehicles are all over the place, the trick is to get a base model of basic transportation so the repairs don't kill you. Low mileage "grandma cars" like Cressida can also be a good value, but most are FE killing automatics.

What you'll find (with gas prices recently going up) is you aren't alone in your quest, competition for a clean Honda that hasn't been 'tuned on' is tough. When I was shopping for my 'in high demand' metro, I carried a pocket full of cash and was on standby to leave work to go look at a car, if the right candidate showed up on Craig's List. I even started carrying a tow bar

Have you ever considered diesel. the 1.6l Jetta/Golf diesel gets in the high 40's low 50's without even trying.With a little hypermiling magic you could get even better. And they're very reliable for constant long distance driving.And very easy to repair. (no computer to go bad). A little hard to start in the cold without a block heater, but great cars. You can usually get one for less than 3000, and they'll last 500,000 miles if you take care of it. Just my two cents I own two and love them both

You can get a brand new Kia Rio for $8999 without A/C. I bet you could get an '05 or '06 model for 5k.

Perhaps a Chevy Prizm? It's a Corolla with cheaper seats and worse resale value. It's a win-win situation for someone after a cheap car that will run forever. At this point, if you paid $5k for one, you paid an awful lot.

Compared, say, to an otherwise identical Corolla or comparable Civic, the Prizm is an amazing deal.

I'll have to checkout some Neons, Saturns, Prizms, etc. I was worried the 3 cylinder Metro may struggle in the Rockies! I spend at least 500-750 miles there per month.

I bought my '99 Cavalier for $3000. EPA estimates are not so good, but I have hypermiled it up over 35 mpg and my goal is to get 40 mpg or bust.

mercedes 190D 2.2 liter diesel with a 5 speed... easily gets mid 40's and will run on anything except gasoline!

you can usually find them for sub 4k and wouldnt spend less than 2500 on a good one with a strong engine and transmission.

Great reliability, great engineering, very safe, very german.

If you are looking for economy I'd buy a 1.0L late model metro, They are easy to work on, mpg is great, parts aren't that hard to find and they are cheap to fix..

i like ford escorts, there cheap and last a long time. this is my second one, my dad has had 5 of them, he drives a lot for work, everyone has gone to 275000, without a major repair needed. get a manual trans, better mileage and last a lot longer. you can pick up a late model one for a good price and still have cash in your pocket. i have averaged 38 to 41 in mine with just a scangauge

Honda vx or hx, cost less than $5000 and get an easy 50+ mpg with the right driver. And economy based parts are dirty cheap because so many kids want "performance". For instance, I just picked up a complete running vx engine swap for $150 and have a crx shell that I paid $200 for and will have a 65+ mpg capable car for under $500.

Plus they look good

If you are unfamiliar with the Metro, get something like a Honda. Don't get me wrong, I love my Metro, but if you don't know what you are looking for, you may be stuck with a rusted out car running on 2 cylinders. Most Metro owners I know have a strange passion for these cars and fix them themselves since they are simple to work on.

If you really want a Metro, find a rust-free southern/western car regardless of running condition, remove the engine and trans and have the entire engine compartment and body repainted. Rebuild the engine with quality upgrades like the economy cam and gear offered through 3 Tech Performance and put it all back together. This will give you the power you need and make the 3 cylinder perform better. Then with proper love and maintenance, you will have a great ride.

I am currently saving up for a 3Tech economy grind cam and 8 degree cam gear for mine since I spent a few hours reading the reviews on those items.

Rust free car running or not would cost anywhere between $300 - $7000 depending on condition. If you find one for under a grand, then you got way more then enough money to fix it up like a new car.

Granted, my Metro has some rust issues, but if you read my Metro page (see sig) you will see that I have less than $1000 in my car including purchase price. I would not sell it for $5000 since it saves me that much in fuel per year.

I have to go with the 95-99 Jetta TDI. It can do 60 mpg at 60 mph. The reliability is good on this model. There is an awesome and knowledgeable online community for TDIs. I just love mine. My car is 9 years old and in the last year all I did was an oil change (drove only 16k miles though)

I would love a TDI, but I've been watching high mile 90's vintage go for $10k!

As far as Metro's go, is there a best year, a year to watch out for, major problem areas, etc? I am really interested in them all the sudden!

There is no "best year" Metro because they are all cool in their own way.

The earlier Metro from like 1989-1994 were very light and did not have much for safety features, but they basically have the same engine/trans setup. The XFi was offered in those years also, but you can make a regular Metro have the similar fuel mileage as an XFi with a cam swap and some tweaks basically.

The 1995-2001 Metro was slightly wider and weighs more, but were built slightly stronger and airbags and better side protection standard. These Metro models are the more modern looking of them all. In 2001 you could only get a 4 door sedan with a 4 cylinder. You can also swap in an economy camshaft in these year 3 cylinder cars also!

In my opinion, a 1995-2000 hatchback with a 1.0L 3 cylinder and a 5 speed would be the best pick. Just make damn sure you make sure it's rust free. I am not talking about the body, but the undercarriage. The lower control arm mounts is the prone area to rot out and make the car non-driveable when it breaks. This includes all year Metro/Swift. If you find one with a great, rust-free chassis, buy it regardless of engine/trans problems. For $5000 you could have one hell of a nice car, but I doubt you will need to dump that much into a non-running car to make it right.

Good luck! If you decide to get a Metro instead of another car, remember that you may turn into a freak like the rest of us Metro/Swift fans ;)

I'm with Johnny, He said it well. Two weeks ago Sunday my neighbor came over and asked me what the mpg was on my metro. I told him my average. Then he asked what to look for if he were to buy one, I basicly said the same as what Johnny's been saying....Anyway....He called me monday afternoon (the day after we talked)....He bought a 97 2door, 83k, 3cyl, 5 spd, w/extra wheels/tires for 4 grand. A clone to Johnny's. He called today and he's still driving on the gas that was in the car when he bought it :) Good luck on your purchase!

There are quite a lot available around here for $3k or less.

I guess I'll have to look harder! Are diesels more or less reliable than gasoline? Never had one.

Diesels can be more reliable depending on the make. The old GM 5.7L for example was a rolling hand grenade. Most smaller diesel engines are very reliable, but require fuel filter and air filter replacements more often and most diesel engines prefer 15W40 motor oil. Some people just hate the noise they make.

If maintenance is kept up, how many miles can you expect out of a Metro? Is it a Honda/Toyota like 300k?

The Metro was made by Suzuki, so I would say they are comparable to the Honda/Toyota as far a lasting a long time. The other great thing is that the Metro's flaws are well known and documented, so there is a wealth of info on them. Beware though, you might become a Metro freak.

You can get 300K from a Metro engine if it's taken care of easily. I know several TeamSwift members who have well over 200,000 miles on theirs.

I'm in the same boat - I only spent $500 on mine, but it's got 150k on the engine and tranny. Something I'd look for in a cheap economy car is a non-interference engine (like the ford 1.9) - I know the timing belt in there is probably pretty old, but I don't have to replace it until it breaks - if I did that with an interference engine, I'd be getting a new car.
***I would recommend changing the timing belt before it breaks on any engine, however, because then you don't have added hassle of checking the timing of the camshaft, but it's not that hard..***

[QUOTE=Johnny Mullet;47948][...]Most smaller diesel engines are very reliable, but require fuel filter and air filter replacements more often and most diesel engines prefer 15W40 motor oil.[...]

Just a couple precisions specific to the TDI engine, if you are interested in such things.

TDI engines do 10k miles OCI with synthetic oil. Dino oil shouldn't be used in those engines anyway.

The air filter replacement schedule is 40k miles. Some folks install a filter minder and only change it when required this way. Interesting to note is that TDI filters have one time compressible seals, so once that airbox is open you must change the filter.

While others just love it :)