In the market for a $5,000 (or under eco ride)

[igo]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Saw a Scion XB today on local craigslist for $2200. Odometer reading 320k miles. Just keep what you have unless there is a big problem of which I am not aware.

2005 scion xb

regards
mech

Yeah I am on the fence about fixing it up vs. getting something else. It needs a new cat back exhaust. Has a check engine light. Rust hole in the back wheel wheel. Other rust bits are popping up. And it does have 212,000 (which is about 50,000 more than any other car I have owned).

[elhigh]

You'll search long and hard before you find the magical combination of fuel economy and interior space in your xBox.

For what you would pay for a new-to-you car, you could do a LOT of refurb work on your Box.

Another guy on this site, Sentra SE-R who appears to have gone dark since about mid-2014, racked up thousands and thousands of miles with an '06 xB, and his lifetime average is nearly 49.5mpg. That's really, really good and possibly not matchable with current offerings.

[pete c]

You might add foci to your list, preferably a wagon if you'd like the extra space. Very fun car to drive. I have an 05 ZX3 5 speed. bought for 2500 bucks, no rust, 82K miles, can crack 40 mpg with a little hypermiling.

[Xist]

I am not sure how I managed to post in the wrong thread (twice!). I deleted the duplicate.

Did you decide on a car?

[redpoint5]

Add me to the list of Aveo dislikers. The Aveo was a minor reason why I broke up with a beautiful girl once. She had a 2 year old Aveo that she had purchased new before I met her, and then one day the stealership convinced her to trade it in for another new one because she liked the color better.

It's the most basic and unappealing vehicle you can buy in the US. Granted, I didn't date her long enough to have an opinion about how the car was mechanically. I do remember thinking it should get better MPG for it's size. My Subaru Legacy (with me driving) did better than her car (with her driving).

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Though the Aveo is not officially available in my country (there are worse offers from Chevy here), in the summer I see many with Argentinian and Uruguayan plates. It doesn't seem to be so much bad at all, but it might be a regional strategy to not make it so attractive to the American buyer in order to make it easier to justify the upgrade ($$$$) for a Cruze...

[Fat Charlie]

The Aveo was such a great car that they called the second gen the Sonic. Stay away from a name-killing car.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

The Aveo was such a great car that they called the second gen the Sonic. Stay away from a name-killing car.

Both the old Aveo and the Sonic are still available in some markets such as Argentina and Uruguay. And the earliest version of the Aveo was still available in Ecuador a few time ago.

[igo]

Update! My car failed WV inspection due to rust. The mechanic quited $1500 but a iffy weld fix. I decided it's time for a new car.

At the moment I have 2 candidates

2014 Mirage. Stick. 42,000mi ~$6,500 after trade in
!!! 100% FINANCE SUCCESS RATE !!! 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage

2006 Scion XB. Stick. 145,000, ~$3,400 after trade

But seem nice. The trade off is more storage in the xb / better build quality but, More MPG and way lower miles in the Mirage.

[Daox]

That price is too high for a Mirage IMO. I almost bought a 2014 ES with 50k miles outright for $6500 a few weeks ago. Not sure how much they're giving you for the trade in. You're almost always better off selling it yourself though.

Its also too high on the xB IMO.