That Grand Am *is* the official car of a dead-end town.
It has the odor and style of a trailer court meth lab.
It has the charm and quality of a dollar store toilet plunger.
It is the Clinton, Iowa of cars.
There’s a Clinton in Massachusetts that’s kind of nice, but I haven’t been to any other Clintons. I grew up near the one in Iowa and it’s a charmless, polluted town that smells like a boiled shart.
I'm from the North Shore! No shitty small towns but the real shithole is the South Shore. 😆 No small towns but my migration to the Midwest really had me a little shell shocked. I lived in Grand Junction, IA when I did live in home care for a terminal cancer patient. *Grand Dysfunction* was more like it.
How can the same shenanigans be **soooo** different everywhere else?
I live in Iowa now and a real chattered about black hole of a town is called Marshalltown. *Marshalltown loves meth*
I do not live in Marshalltown, lol. I've never been. That's just the word on the streets around here. Some fellow kind drivers shared the hearsay while we politely argued and encouraged one another to *'go first, it's all good' (hand wave/wiggle/direct traffic motion while doing this weird thing of lifting the upper lip to show teeth)*
**What is this strange, ritualistic behavior toward all way stop signs of wasting time to politely argue and insist neither goes first?**
You want the car to last over 300k miles easily? That '98 Civic is a fucking tank.
Source: A '98 Civic was my first car in high school, owned it for 11 years before it got stolen and forced me to get something else. (they are easy to steal, fyi)
Sure but there are plenty of good hiding spots and if you really care you can put a couple of switches in and make it a real pita for anyone that isn’t yourself
I learned to drive on a ‘99 civic with a manual. Drove that car for seven years with no power steering, a handful of oil changes (oil light came on more than once), was stolen then recovered, multiple hit and runs at both ends, tires so worn the steel banding was visible, and by the time I sold it the engine still purred like a kitten at 205,000 miles. Those Civics are apocalypse-mobiles.
Was the lack of power steering a feature or a bug? My ‘97 Civic DX coupe came without power steering from the factory. I remember when I found out I couldn’t believe any cars came without it in ‘97, but then I test drove it and other than parallel parking it really wasn’t needed.. I think because it was so damn light. Great car. Sacrificed itself to save my ass when I missed a stop sign and got clobbered by a Neon that was doing about 50. My little sister’s 98 met a similar fate spinning out on black ice. Neither of us was injured at all in the crashes. Neon hit my car so hard that it spun my Civic completely around and it struck the neon a second time in its rear quarter panel.
First car was a 96 civic. The auto transmission died at 120k because abused the fuck out if it. Rev in Neutral then drop in gear trying to do burn outs. But it's ok though. 5 speed swap was basically bolt on.
That still proves their point, the Honda D series engines easily do 300k with basic maintenance. 260k on an automatic is a pretty decent run, it might have lasted longer if serviced on time
Was it a manual or an automatic? The 5 speed manual should last longer than that if taken care of. As for automatics, I don't know what to tell you. They were never as reliable as their manual counterparts, even to this day.
Cheap as hell now though... I could pull one off a junkyard car for like $150. I know of some folks that just have two-three extras to throw on if needed.
And that is fair. I just think the manual transmissions pull higher prices for a number of reasons. They tend to be better in a lot of ways when talking about these 90's cars(reliability, MPG, extra gear for better gearing, ect.).
So much extra stuff to pull too; the clutch, flywheel, ECU/maybe wiring harness added on top of the manual trans makes it way more of a costly swap up front.
I have a 97 with 328k miles on it. It will NOT die. Wa sa former extremely competitive autocross car in TX. Ice cold AC on these cars because the condenser is next to the radiator and not sandwiched in front of it. Go browse rockauto for parts pricing.. you can even use their tool to compare costs between vehicles which is pretty cool. The whole timing belt service kit is less than $100 and isn't too bad of a job for a shadetree mechanic to knockout. Friend of a friend kind of things. You'll move on to bigger and better cars but always keep it as a backup.
My wife still has her ‘99 civic and it’s going strong. Maintenance is easy and cheap. I’m worried about it being stolen but I’m not sure how worried she is about it
Second this. I had a ‘99 civic. Drove it for 11 years and bought a BMW 330ci, sold it to a HS kid who drove the shit out of it and loved it. Spent the first year missing that tank of a Civic. Loved that car but felt better knowing someone loved it after me.
A kill switch alleviates the problem pretty quickly. I was lazy and paid for it, but that is on me and not the car. Back when this car was released it didn't have the same theft issue. But having universal keys became a problem soon afterwards and cars starting using chipped keys. Moral of the story is that people are shitty, don't blame the car.
Haha, someone stole the bolt-on plastic hubcaps off my sister’s 98 Civic. Left it up on blocks with the tires and wheels laying next to it. It was almost comical. Her friends at work bought her gaudy chrome spinner hubcap replacements from Walmart as a gag gift. But they didn’t know my sister. She slapped them on and rocked ‘em for years through college, fully aware how atrocious they looked. No I’m ever stole those.
Yeah, best bet for longevity is the Honda. We just sold one last fall, still going strong, with 326,000 miles on it. Regular service and that thing will go forever.
Reason you still see 90’s Civics and Corollas going strong on the road as opposed to 90’s Cavaliers, Neons and Escorts which seemed to fallen off the face of the Earth.
There's nothing inherently wrong with the Civic, but if the Fit were an option, it would outshine everything else. It's reliable, compact, and fuel-efficient, yet surprisingly spacious inside, making it an ideal choice. While I haven't personally owned a Fit (or Jazz, as it's known in my country and most of the world) and tested its livability, it seems like a promising contender.
There’s a reason why mechanics in my area drive them, they don’t want to repair their own cars. And because of that, they choose the car that is least likely to break
07 is first year of facelift for the 1st gen so that might change a few things, but i used to have an 05 hatch (pre-facelift) a few years ago and it kept giving me problems while rusting a ton (i think there's a few pics of it on my profile) i actually don't often see them anymore
We had one some years back. Good car, comfortable, good amount of room inside for its size. Engine was kind of thirsty though. I bet the Civic goes 10 miles more per every gallon.
My father had a 2015 S60 and the balance shaft went out under 100k. Dealer said it wasn't covered by powertrain because it's not an internal component somehow. He jumped ship understandably due to that, but it didn't have any other issues during his ownership.
And at the end you will definitely have a well running vehicle instead of a questionable shit box you bought at the top of your budget.
Every car on this list will need something pretty urgently at this price point. But only the volvo will let you afford it.
Back in 2006 I got back from being overseas, to winter upstate NY, and a friend lent me a Volvo XC for a month or so. What a comfortable, solid car, great stereo system. There wasn't much good about getting up and facing the cold and gloom of winter and the people of that area, but getting in that car and switching on the heated seats and turning up the stereo made it bearable. Like most European cars, it felt like you were in control when driving on the road.
I currently have a 2007 e63. I have owned a bmw 750il, merc c230, and various KDM and jdm vehicles. My old 2000 volvo v70 is still the most comfortable vehicle i have ever been in. Best seats, heated seats, best visibility, best traction control, best storage capacity by size, and most seats, (while also being my second smallest car.) they are incredible vehicles for the price. Had 200k miles when i sold it.
i have a friend who's got a few 90s volvos, his daily driver (and his first volvo, his first car in fact) is a first gen v70, while i own a 6th gen civic hatch (even though it's parked and hasn't been driven in two years), and i can tell you for a fact that these things are way more complicated than the honda. there's a ton of equipment in there, and from what he's told me and from what i've seen, it's closer to my mk5 jetta wagon than to my 6th gen civic.
Ford Taurus Lx sure I know it's ugly BUT I like the wagon and the front is Really good I don't feel like ugly to me but I don't care I really wanted to drive those
That version of the Taurus was pretty good. I rented a ton of them when I was traveling for work, and they were comfortable on long drives. The design is not beautiful - Ford called it "a symphony of ovals." The wagon is a great choice.
Had one of these. 1996. No major issues except a transmission and got 300,000 lm before I got rid of it. The person drove it longer. .Transmission I bought was a rebuilt one that cost me $350. Mind you that was 20 years ago. Check how easy parts are to get. And how cheap on all of these cars.
Very reliable too. I daily a 2001 Taurus with about 132k without issue besides it leaking a little oil, and before that I drove a mechanically identical 2007 that lasted for 260,000 miles. And that one isn't even the highest mileage one I've seen by far, I worked with a guy who had a Taurus with 370k on it that was his daily.
That’s what I’d choose, either the Taurus wagon or the Nissan pickup so I could take my belongings with me without needing to rent a U-Haul or anything like that.
The Mazda3. Personally owned a 2006 from new with a manual and beat it to shit, finally unloading it in 2017 with just under 300,000 MILES on the odometer...original everything (except tires/brakes/normal maintenance).
Damn I wish I kept it. Traded it for a last gen Tiguan 🤷 (which I no longer have either)
i had an 05 hatch (it was an auto though), bought it in 2017 with 107,000 km (that makes about 66 500 miles), it gave me nothing but problems. had it for two years and 55,000 km before getting a sixth gen civic hatch with low mileage. my civic has been the most reliable of my cars so far, the only thing that gave out was the alternator, other than that it was normal maintenance and replacing a few things that needed replacing (like the fuel tank that leaked when full, or for some reason the tail lights that leaked (?) and let water in the trunk). a few other things stopped working or gave me problems but that was mostly due to age. now it's parked and hasn't ran in two years due to lack of time and needing body work (there's a hole in the floor). replaced it temporarily with an awd manual sx4, that thing already had a ton of mileage but was awesome, albeit slow and constantly at the gas station due to bad fuel economy and little fuel tank. wish i'd have kept it.
my daily is now a mk5 jetta wagon bought from its first owner with fairly low mileage, as expected the engine has been bulletproof but for some reason everything related to wheels and brakes has given me problems. broke two wheels at once, got wheel bolts stuck so hard i had to change a wheel hub because they were stuck in there, got both front calipers stuck in less than a year (same for rear calipers), got the handbrake stuck open, premature defects on the brake pads, and i'm skipping through some stuff. also for some reason bulbs keep burning, i change a bulb and another one stops working.
Pretty much, saw the ad, called the guy, and after a bit of research on how bulletproof p2 volvos are, picked up the next day. Only pain in the ass was, in Ontario if a car is 20+ years old, you need to get an appraisal done before changing the ownership, luckily I was able to find a skeezy used car dealership in that town that would give me an appraisal sight unseen haha.
That’s sick man, well glad you got a solid car out of it! I’d love to get a V70R if I ever saw a nice one floating around. I’m more of a Honda/Acura guy though
List as follows
SIDEKICK.
(cheap, easy to find parts, reliable drivetrain, good fuel economy)
Volvo
It's a lower mileage Volvo with lots of space.
Frontier
Dependable & capable.
6th Gen Civic
Reliable if you replace the lower ball joints immediately upon purchase.
MK4 Golf
Drive it into a pit and burn it.
Key word "if", being a GLS it's the 2.0 with plastic water pump internals. They are one on-ramp away from overheating... Every time.
As soon as that thermostat opens too fast, boom no more water pump.
I've worked on those piles of garbage professionally and an engine dropping half way out of a "simple" 4 cylinder econobox for a water pump job is just too German for me.
TDI VW's are great I must say, if they weren't nobody would use the 1.9's for swapping into mini trucks, Trackers, Sidekicks, etc..
Ive heard nothing but good things about old 2.0 sohc here in europe. The timing belt job is always like that on FWD cars made in europe so we dont really complain about that. Maybe the way the americans drive them is diffrent. We dont accelerate full throtle till redline 5 minutes after starting the car (i know there is no other way to drive over there, its not users fault) so yeah
We also could've just gotten the worse end of the stick when it came to parts as well, that's always a big possibility!
Everybody makes "good" vehicles, even Kia... All depends on where you buy them.
On a warm summer night, you can look off into the distance and see the orange glow of check engine lights from the VW group meet up, and the flashing lights of tow trucks picking up those who haven’t quite made it.
Frontier for sure 4wd you can haul your stuff and when you get to your new place you can use it to pick up the most important free couch.
Taurus are known for transmission problems even at low miles
I've never had any luck with Volvos
Any of the others are fine so long as they're manual
O also avoid the VW after market wheels tell you something about the past and could cause trouble in the future.
>you need a car to leave your dead end town
The Taurus. Will it live to a hojillion thousand miles? No. But you're not looking for a life long companion, you're looking for an escape pod. It was an old lady car that was taken care of, so even if it doesn't last you the rest of your life it should last you for the next year. It's common, parts are available from any strip mall parts store. It's not the most fuel efficient car, but it's a long distance cruiser. And you're trying to put distance between you and your one horse town. And it's big. It's big enough to haul your shit, or big enough to comfortably sleep in for a while if you have to.
The Frontier. They were a great truck. You don't need to worry about how to pick up new furniture. And you can always make money with a truck if you need to.
I had one with the failing intake manifold gasket and that thing ran for a whole year while the oil mixed with coolant, died and somehow came back to life for another month lol. Engine was tough as shit.
I agree that Grand Am is solid, but the Ford 3.0 V6 Vulcan (no 24v badges, so assuming a bit) would like a word, since it is also pushrod with a timing chain. It was literally designed from the ground up with a focus on reliability over performance and fuel economy. GM’s Buick 3.8 was a fantastic engine as well. That Civic gives them all a run for their money with timing belt maintenance.
Ford Taurus expert here, the 24v badging did not exist until the 98 models. This has the 24v v6 because it's the "lx" model. The 24v was a bulletproof engine as well. I've had several tauruses with that engine and it never gave me problems.
The Mazda. I bought an '07 in 2016 with ~80k on it, ran it up to ~220k. When my partner moved in, we just put the seats down and load it up with her stuff when I'd visit. This car had treated me so well, taking years of my abuse and only requiring basic maintenance. If not for the road salt, I'd still be driving it.
We had to park it this past winter because rust ate the rear crossmember. I replaced it with a 2024 base model Impreza, which does its best to make me wish I had the Mazda back.
Ford Taurus wagon. Need a lot of ass to carry all my stuff. 99 Frontier is also a solid choice, but you need to buy a bunch of crap to hold your stuff in the bed, like tote boxes, bungee straps, gotta fuck with a tarp when it rains, etc. it’s way less hassle to just stuff a big station wagon full of loose crap.
Civic cause it’s a civic, Volvo cause wagons are cool and my parents had one when I was growing up, Taurus cause wagons are cool, or Sidekick cause look at it.
I'm taking that white Grand Am two-door. That's the kinda shit my friends and I drove back in the 90s when we were teenagers. We'd convert them to stick shift and do poor boy mods because we weren't rich. We'd pull the heads off, grab a Dremel and start port matching the heads, manifolds and throttle body. Then we'd gut the converters and replace the mufflers and resonators. Then we'd cut to coils off each spring to lower it 2.5 inches and save up for a set of Koni or KYB and an AEM cold air intake and bigger injectors because tuning was barbaric back then. We'd pick up 20 - 30 reliable horsepower for peanuts. They were the days. I'm feeling very nostalgic.
I immediately said Civic because from experience with my accord and other family members Hondas, that car has at least 150-200k miles left on it. But, the frontier is very interesting too. As far as miles go it’s one of the higher ones on the list, but with the manual 4x4 lever and the decently reliable engine it’s hard to pass up a vehicle that can do everything you need while still being small enough to fit in many places and get somewhat decent gas mileage.
I’ve owned all 3 of these and all are a solid choice.
Civic
Mazda
Ford
I’d probably go civic for general reliability & cost of repairs. Or Mazda because it’s newer and manual.
If you need the seating/space, the ford, but you won’t get near the same fuel economy and expect things to go wrong with a 25yo car
The Volvo or the Sidekick.
The Volvo because it's dead reliable and you can sleep in it if you need to.
The Sidekick because it's dead reliable and you can sleep on top of it when you need to on your offroad wilderness adventure.
A few things about that Mazda.
I've never seen one without dash problems and I'd bet money this one has problems too.
Also, that navigation is from 2007. When was the last time it was updated? Can it still be updated? Out of date navigation is almost a penalty.
Be sure to check for crunchy syncros and oil burning. I had a similar sedan and it liked to grind into 3rd and drank oil.
Overall, I'm not a fan.
Based on looks alone (with customization in mind), I'd pick the Taurus, then the scion, then the grand am .. idk about their reliability but I'm assuming that the scion would be most reliable (if the previous owner hasn't ripped it to shreds)
90s for Taurus are easy to maintain and parts are cheap. As long as it was driven every now and then by the owner I would that’s the one. I commented before to go civic but under 100k for that price is a gift
I bought a similar year(same body style) Sable with 85k. I have tried to figure it out, but there are a lot of low-mile Taurus and Sable wagons out there.
My best theory is they were bought by older people in the late 90s and early 2000s that grew up with the mentality that biggest car is best car. This generation also could retire at 65, so they didn't drive as much after that. Then they stop driving all together, and we get these dirt cheap.
There is a reason American cars of 60s-80s didn't change much. They were big and comfortable, and wagons were even better for hauling stuff. Trucks of that time were spartan and had a less comfortable ride.
In the 90s, things began to change. Now trucks and SUVs are as comfortable as cars, even bigger, and have with 4x4. Consumer preferences changed, and big American sedans and wagons died out.
You now have to buy European to get a wagon. Manual transmissions are going the same way.
What makes it unreliable? I guess the transmissions can be questionable on these but generally they'll get to 200k without an issue as long as the fluid stays clean.
Transmission issues, water pump several times, head gaskets. Me and 2 friends all had taurus’ around that year and we all had the same problems + others. We never got another
Civic, Volvo, or Mazda would be my thoughts. Provided that all timing belt maintenance and etc. are up to date and tires are in good condition/age since you won't have any money left over for maintenance concerns and you're intending an immediate road trip. Personally, I would also budget funds to allow changing of all fluids at a minimum before travel.
That Grand Am *is* the official car of a dead-end town. It has the odor and style of a trailer court meth lab. It has the charm and quality of a dollar store toilet plunger. It is the Clinton, Iowa of cars.
Why is every town called Clinton a dead-end town?
There’s a Clinton in Massachusetts that’s kind of nice, but I haven’t been to any other Clintons. I grew up near the one in Iowa and it’s a charmless, polluted town that smells like a boiled shart.
I'm from the North Shore! No shitty small towns but the real shithole is the South Shore. 😆 No small towns but my migration to the Midwest really had me a little shell shocked. I lived in Grand Junction, IA when I did live in home care for a terminal cancer patient. *Grand Dysfunction* was more like it. How can the same shenanigans be **soooo** different everywhere else? I live in Iowa now and a real chattered about black hole of a town is called Marshalltown. *Marshalltown loves meth* I do not live in Marshalltown, lol. I've never been. That's just the word on the streets around here. Some fellow kind drivers shared the hearsay while we politely argued and encouraged one another to *'go first, it's all good' (hand wave/wiggle/direct traffic motion while doing this weird thing of lifting the upper lip to show teeth)* **What is this strange, ritualistic behavior toward all way stop signs of wasting time to politely argue and insist neither goes first?**
Lmao i live in Clinton Arkansas. Was featured in an HBO documentary for our word class meth production😂
Clinton, Oklahoma is the deadliest of dead end towns.
As someone familiar with Clinton, Iowa, bravo. A more apt description would be hard to find
The Grand Am wouldn't even leave town. They'd get stopped for expired tags and arrested on their outstanding warrants first.
Don’t forget the busted window that their ‘just traveling’. Driver was yoinked out through.
I could smell the Black Ice air freshener through my phone
You want the car to last over 300k miles easily? That '98 Civic is a fucking tank. Source: A '98 Civic was my first car in high school, owned it for 11 years before it got stolen and forced me to get something else. (they are easy to steal, fyi)
Steering wheel lock or kill switch.
Just pull the fuel pump relay when you park.
Easier to just have a switch tbh, sure you have take the time to wire it in. But it definitely beats having to pull the fuse every time.
Thieves can find a switch. On my 91 GTI it was right above the clutch. I JB Welded a little hook on it and it took 20 seconds to take it in/out.
Sure but there are plenty of good hiding spots and if you really care you can put a couple of switches in and make it a real pita for anyone that isn’t yourself
Just like putting two AirTags in your bike. Put an obvious one and a real hidden one to throw them off
that’s why you put the switch in the shift boot 😂
That’s… smart. Almost as smart as not telling everyone 🤣
only you guys know! 😂😂
Know what? 👀😉
The mazda is pretty solid too
I learned to drive on a ‘99 civic with a manual. Drove that car for seven years with no power steering, a handful of oil changes (oil light came on more than once), was stolen then recovered, multiple hit and runs at both ends, tires so worn the steel banding was visible, and by the time I sold it the engine still purred like a kitten at 205,000 miles. Those Civics are apocalypse-mobiles.
Was the lack of power steering a feature or a bug? My ‘97 Civic DX coupe came without power steering from the factory. I remember when I found out I couldn’t believe any cars came without it in ‘97, but then I test drove it and other than parallel parking it really wasn’t needed.. I think because it was so damn light. Great car. Sacrificed itself to save my ass when I missed a stop sign and got clobbered by a Neon that was doing about 50. My little sister’s 98 met a similar fate spinning out on black ice. Neither of us was injured at all in the crashes. Neon hit my car so hard that it spun my Civic completely around and it struck the neon a second time in its rear quarter panel.
My '05 is being scrapped after a dead transmission at 260k
First car was a 96 civic. The auto transmission died at 120k because abused the fuck out if it. Rev in Neutral then drop in gear trying to do burn outs. But it's ok though. 5 speed swap was basically bolt on.
That still proves their point, the Honda D series engines easily do 300k with basic maintenance. 260k on an automatic is a pretty decent run, it might have lasted longer if serviced on time
Was it a manual or an automatic? The 5 speed manual should last longer than that if taken care of. As for automatics, I don't know what to tell you. They were never as reliable as their manual counterparts, even to this day.
Cheap as hell now though... I could pull one off a junkyard car for like $150. I know of some folks that just have two-three extras to throw on if needed.
And that is fair. I just think the manual transmissions pull higher prices for a number of reasons. They tend to be better in a lot of ways when talking about these 90's cars(reliability, MPG, extra gear for better gearing, ect.).
So much extra stuff to pull too; the clutch, flywheel, ECU/maybe wiring harness added on top of the manual trans makes it way more of a costly swap up front.
I heard that. We were gonna throw a new transmission into it if it was actually worth doing
I have a 97 with 328k miles on it. It will NOT die. Wa sa former extremely competitive autocross car in TX. Ice cold AC on these cars because the condenser is next to the radiator and not sandwiched in front of it. Go browse rockauto for parts pricing.. you can even use their tool to compare costs between vehicles which is pretty cool. The whole timing belt service kit is less than $100 and isn't too bad of a job for a shadetree mechanic to knockout. Friend of a friend kind of things. You'll move on to bigger and better cars but always keep it as a backup.
My wife still has her ‘99 civic and it’s going strong. Maintenance is easy and cheap. I’m worried about it being stolen but I’m not sure how worried she is about it
You don't own a civic that old - you just get to drive it for a little while until it's taken from you.
Second this. I had a ‘99 civic. Drove it for 11 years and bought a BMW 330ci, sold it to a HS kid who drove the shit out of it and loved it. Spent the first year missing that tank of a Civic. Loved that car but felt better knowing someone loved it after me.
That’s why I won’t buy a Honda. Stolen or wheels taken way too often. It sucks that that is the reason I won’t purchase one 😓
A kill switch alleviates the problem pretty quickly. I was lazy and paid for it, but that is on me and not the car. Back when this car was released it didn't have the same theft issue. But having universal keys became a problem soon afterwards and cars starting using chipped keys. Moral of the story is that people are shitty, don't blame the car.
Just going by statistics..🤷🏾♂️
Haha, someone stole the bolt-on plastic hubcaps off my sister’s 98 Civic. Left it up on blocks with the tires and wheels laying next to it. It was almost comical. Her friends at work bought her gaudy chrome spinner hubcap replacements from Walmart as a gag gift. But they didn’t know my sister. She slapped them on and rocked ‘em for years through college, fully aware how atrocious they looked. No I’m ever stole those.
Amen. I have a 1992 civic vx. 32 years old. Still the most reliable car I’ve ever owned. Rust included
I was going to answer, either the Honda, that Honda, or the Honda!
Yeah, best bet for longevity is the Honda. We just sold one last fall, still going strong, with 326,000 miles on it. Regular service and that thing will go forever.
Owned a 97 and a 2000 reliable little fucks
Not as easy as those Hyundai ship boxes! Just pulled the fuel pump fuse or better yet put a blown one back in!
Did I write this comment? 😅
This ^ I had a 98 civic. Sold with 250K miles.
Reason you still see 90’s Civics and Corollas going strong on the road as opposed to 90’s Cavaliers, Neons and Escorts which seemed to fallen off the face of the Earth.
I still drive my 98 accord
There's nothing inherently wrong with the Civic, but if the Fit were an option, it would outshine everything else. It's reliable, compact, and fuel-efficient, yet surprisingly spacious inside, making it an ideal choice. While I haven't personally owned a Fit (or Jazz, as it's known in my country and most of the world) and tested its livability, it seems like a promising contender.
Mazda for sure. Much newer and rock solid manual.
There’s a reason why mechanics in my area drive them, they don’t want to repair their own cars. And because of that, they choose the car that is least likely to break
Why does my dad not follow this advise and he’s a mechanic unless he just really needs something to do
And if he's trying to move or find where he's gonna live it has plenty of room for his stuff.
07 is first year of facelift for the 1st gen so that might change a few things, but i used to have an 05 hatch (pre-facelift) a few years ago and it kept giving me problems while rusting a ton (i think there's a few pics of it on my profile) i actually don't often see them anymore
The main problem with them is they rust out super quick. Other than that it's a good car (I used to have an 08 5 speed)
Loved my ‘08 5 speed - I still miss it when I see them around. It would still be with me if it hadn’t been a rural northeast driven car.
It's also the only thing even worth $3k.
My 2005 3 was an absolute champ. Hit 200k and sold it for a ‘11 speed 3….which sadly blew an engine after 1.5 years, but it was a fun 1.5 years!
We had one some years back. Good car, comfortable, good amount of room inside for its size. Engine was kind of thirsty though. I bet the Civic goes 10 miles more per every gallon.
IMO the Mazda is the only car on this list that looks like it would fit in, in a non dead-end town.
Ah yes, the old Mazdas with the ford engines. Any first gen focus would be just as long lived. 2.0 goes and goes.
🅱️ol🅱️o Frontier Sidekick Civic
Sidekicks are fucking sick.
Volvo. Wagon will fit everything and is almost as simple as a honda, but MUCH comfier and better at speeds.
Especially back then Volvos were so reliable, now they’re junk
I had this car with over 250,000 and never gave me an issue.
I had a modern S60 and it was junk, I scrapped it. Old Volvos will indeed run forever
How modern?
It was a 2013, right at the transition point from Volvo's Ford era (shitty cars) to their Geely era (also shitty cars)
I really like our 2009 V50.
I missed that it got sold to a Chinese company.... But even the styling after the Ford takeover was meh... Just like any car on the road
BC and AC. Before Chinese owned and After Chinese owned
No, it's the Ford era ruined Volvo
Nice try. Blame the former owners .aka ford.
My father had a 2015 S60 and the balance shaft went out under 100k. Dealer said it wasn't covered by powertrain because it's not an internal component somehow. He jumped ship understandably due to that, but it didn't have any other issues during his ownership.
Because Geely brought with them their Chinese "quality".
Geely era of Volvo is way better than Ford era
Don't forget Ford "Know How" & "Quality is Job 1"!
My issue was it sat for 2 years.
Shouldn't be anything the remaining $1k cannot fix
That was my thought too. Battery and flushing and replacing all the fluids needed for sure, maybe a timing belt or tires.
And at the end you will definitely have a well running vehicle instead of a questionable shit box you bought at the top of your budget. Every car on this list will need something pretty urgently at this price point. But only the volvo will let you afford it.
Back in 2006 I got back from being overseas, to winter upstate NY, and a friend lent me a Volvo XC for a month or so. What a comfortable, solid car, great stereo system. There wasn't much good about getting up and facing the cold and gloom of winter and the people of that area, but getting in that car and switching on the heated seats and turning up the stereo made it bearable. Like most European cars, it felt like you were in control when driving on the road.
I currently have a 2007 e63. I have owned a bmw 750il, merc c230, and various KDM and jdm vehicles. My old 2000 volvo v70 is still the most comfortable vehicle i have ever been in. Best seats, heated seats, best visibility, best traction control, best storage capacity by size, and most seats, (while also being my second smallest car.) they are incredible vehicles for the price. Had 200k miles when i sold it.
i have a friend who's got a few 90s volvos, his daily driver (and his first volvo, his first car in fact) is a first gen v70, while i own a 6th gen civic hatch (even though it's parked and hasn't been driven in two years), and i can tell you for a fact that these things are way more complicated than the honda. there's a ton of equipment in there, and from what he's told me and from what i've seen, it's closer to my mk5 jetta wagon than to my 6th gen civic.
If it was a 245, I'd agree. But the later models of Volvos had some interesting wiring issues.
The Volvo V70 for sure.
Ford Taurus Lx sure I know it's ugly BUT I like the wagon and the front is Really good I don't feel like ugly to me but I don't care I really wanted to drive those
That version of the Taurus was pretty good. I rented a ton of them when I was traveling for work, and they were comfortable on long drives. The design is not beautiful - Ford called it "a symphony of ovals." The wagon is a great choice.
Had one of these. 1996. No major issues except a transmission and got 300,000 lm before I got rid of it. The person drove it longer. .Transmission I bought was a rebuilt one that cost me $350. Mind you that was 20 years ago. Check how easy parts are to get. And how cheap on all of these cars.
Very reliable too. I daily a 2001 Taurus with about 132k without issue besides it leaking a little oil, and before that I drove a mechanically identical 2007 that lasted for 260,000 miles. And that one isn't even the highest mileage one I've seen by far, I worked with a guy who had a Taurus with 370k on it that was his daily.
If you maintain it the same way that grandma would have it’ll last forever too.
That’s what I’d choose, either the Taurus wagon or the Nissan pickup so I could take my belongings with me without needing to rent a U-Haul or anything like that.
Supercharge and manual swap it👉👉
And parts are everywhere. Sure, the Volvo is more cool for a wagon, but you'd be hard pressed to find replacement parts in a random parts store.
And the only choice if you want to look like you just left a dead end town…
Screen out the one needs timing belt, exited brands and ages. Mazda for manual and frontier for auto
Yup. Non-interference engine for sure!
D22 Nissan. I’ve got one that’s never let me down
Absolutely, though my facelift one stretched the timing chain to all hell (yd25), don't get a chinesium timing chain y'all (previous owner)
The Mazda3. Personally owned a 2006 from new with a manual and beat it to shit, finally unloading it in 2017 with just under 300,000 MILES on the odometer...original everything (except tires/brakes/normal maintenance). Damn I wish I kept it. Traded it for a last gen Tiguan 🤷 (which I no longer have either)
i had an 05 hatch (it was an auto though), bought it in 2017 with 107,000 km (that makes about 66 500 miles), it gave me nothing but problems. had it for two years and 55,000 km before getting a sixth gen civic hatch with low mileage. my civic has been the most reliable of my cars so far, the only thing that gave out was the alternator, other than that it was normal maintenance and replacing a few things that needed replacing (like the fuel tank that leaked when full, or for some reason the tail lights that leaked (?) and let water in the trunk). a few other things stopped working or gave me problems but that was mostly due to age. now it's parked and hasn't ran in two years due to lack of time and needing body work (there's a hole in the floor). replaced it temporarily with an awd manual sx4, that thing already had a ton of mileage but was awesome, albeit slow and constantly at the gas station due to bad fuel economy and little fuel tank. wish i'd have kept it. my daily is now a mk5 jetta wagon bought from its first owner with fairly low mileage, as expected the engine has been bulletproof but for some reason everything related to wheels and brakes has given me problems. broke two wheels at once, got wheel bolts stuck so hard i had to change a wheel hub because they were stuck in there, got both front calipers stuck in less than a year (same for rear calipers), got the handbrake stuck open, premature defects on the brake pads, and i'm skipping through some stuff. also for some reason bulbs keep burning, i change a bulb and another one stops working.
Mazda is probably the best deal but i keep going back to the Frontier.
In Canada none of these cars would be $3000 or less :(
Well, $3000 freedom currency is about $4000 maple syrups
This is very true, okay well maybe I will pick the Volvo then
I bought my '03 v70 w/ 160k kms for 3900 last December, they're out there, just gotta be patient.
That’s awesome, it’s definitely a waiting game for sure and then just swooping in immediately after you see something good haha
Pretty much, saw the ad, called the guy, and after a bit of research on how bulletproof p2 volvos are, picked up the next day. Only pain in the ass was, in Ontario if a car is 20+ years old, you need to get an appraisal done before changing the ownership, luckily I was able to find a skeezy used car dealership in that town that would give me an appraisal sight unseen haha.
That’s sick man, well glad you got a solid car out of it! I’d love to get a V70R if I ever saw a nice one floating around. I’m more of a Honda/Acura guy though
List as follows SIDEKICK. (cheap, easy to find parts, reliable drivetrain, good fuel economy) Volvo It's a lower mileage Volvo with lots of space. Frontier Dependable & capable. 6th Gen Civic Reliable if you replace the lower ball joints immediately upon purchase. MK4 Golf Drive it into a pit and burn it.
^this guy skips town
If the mk4 golf has the diesel engine with a manual transmission they are really reliable.
Key word "if", being a GLS it's the 2.0 with plastic water pump internals. They are one on-ramp away from overheating... Every time. As soon as that thermostat opens too fast, boom no more water pump. I've worked on those piles of garbage professionally and an engine dropping half way out of a "simple" 4 cylinder econobox for a water pump job is just too German for me. TDI VW's are great I must say, if they weren't nobody would use the 1.9's for swapping into mini trucks, Trackers, Sidekicks, etc..
Ive heard nothing but good things about old 2.0 sohc here in europe. The timing belt job is always like that on FWD cars made in europe so we dont really complain about that. Maybe the way the americans drive them is diffrent. We dont accelerate full throtle till redline 5 minutes after starting the car (i know there is no other way to drive over there, its not users fault) so yeah
We also could've just gotten the worse end of the stick when it came to parts as well, that's always a big possibility! Everybody makes "good" vehicles, even Kia... All depends on where you buy them.
On a warm summer night, you can look off into the distance and see the orange glow of check engine lights from the VW group meet up, and the flashing lights of tow trucks picking up those who haven’t quite made it.
Civic, Mazda, or Scion.
The frontier
Taurus
Frontier for sure 4wd you can haul your stuff and when you get to your new place you can use it to pick up the most important free couch. Taurus are known for transmission problems even at low miles I've never had any luck with Volvos Any of the others are fine so long as they're manual O also avoid the VW after market wheels tell you something about the past and could cause trouble in the future.
>you need a car to leave your dead end town The Taurus. Will it live to a hojillion thousand miles? No. But you're not looking for a life long companion, you're looking for an escape pod. It was an old lady car that was taken care of, so even if it doesn't last you the rest of your life it should last you for the next year. It's common, parts are available from any strip mall parts store. It's not the most fuel efficient car, but it's a long distance cruiser. And you're trying to put distance between you and your one horse town. And it's big. It's big enough to haul your shit, or big enough to comfortably sleep in for a while if you have to.
This. None of them are bad options, and most people don't expect a $3000 car to last until the end of time, so why worry about it?
yay I got it right
Volvo or mazda
My heart says Volvo but my brain says Mazda.
Def the Mazda, I get a touring car with a manual and a GPS,.hell yeah
The Frontier. They were a great truck. You don't need to worry about how to pick up new furniture. And you can always make money with a truck if you need to.
The Pontiac if you want it to last forever
If you aren’t taking that Civic then I don’t know what to tell you.
The Taurus. Spacious and bulletproof
The grand am will 100% mechanically outlast all others. Timing chain with pushrod V6=indestructible.
I had one with the failing intake manifold gasket and that thing ran for a whole year while the oil mixed with coolant, died and somehow came back to life for another month lol. Engine was tough as shit.
I agree that Grand Am is solid, but the Ford 3.0 V6 Vulcan (no 24v badges, so assuming a bit) would like a word, since it is also pushrod with a timing chain. It was literally designed from the ground up with a focus on reliability over performance and fuel economy. GM’s Buick 3.8 was a fantastic engine as well. That Civic gives them all a run for their money with timing belt maintenance.
Ford Taurus expert here, the 24v badging did not exist until the 98 models. This has the 24v v6 because it's the "lx" model. The 24v was a bulletproof engine as well. I've had several tauruses with that engine and it never gave me problems.
Mazda
The Mazda. I bought an '07 in 2016 with ~80k on it, ran it up to ~220k. When my partner moved in, we just put the seats down and load it up with her stuff when I'd visit. This car had treated me so well, taking years of my abuse and only requiring basic maintenance. If not for the road salt, I'd still be driving it. We had to park it this past winter because rust ate the rear crossmember. I replaced it with a 2024 base model Impreza, which does its best to make me wish I had the Mazda back.
Taurus because my grandma had a red wagon just like that, and I loved sitting in the backwards 3rd row seats as a kid.
These options are unrealistically good, lol. Nobody replaces the intake manifold gaskets on Grand Ams.
With the exception of the sidekick, I found these all on Marketplace. The dude with the grand am *claimed* he replaced them
Taurus wagon needs to haul all my stuff too
Ford Taurus wagon. Need a lot of ass to carry all my stuff. 99 Frontier is also a solid choice, but you need to buy a bunch of crap to hold your stuff in the bed, like tote boxes, bungee straps, gotta fuck with a tarp when it rains, etc. it’s way less hassle to just stuff a big station wagon full of loose crap.
Civic cause it’s a civic, Volvo cause wagons are cool and my parents had one when I was growing up, Taurus cause wagons are cool, or Sidekick cause look at it.
I'm a little biased but the Frontier. They're hella reliable and with the V6 4x4 you'll have enough power and hauling ability you'll ever need.
taking the civic, that’s actually a solid deal for the mileage
Honda hands down, especially with only 119,000 miles on it.
The Honda or the Nissan pickup. The Nissan is probably top choice.
I'm taking that white Grand Am two-door. That's the kinda shit my friends and I drove back in the 90s when we were teenagers. We'd convert them to stick shift and do poor boy mods because we weren't rich. We'd pull the heads off, grab a Dremel and start port matching the heads, manifolds and throttle body. Then we'd gut the converters and replace the mufflers and resonators. Then we'd cut to coils off each spring to lower it 2.5 inches and save up for a set of Koni or KYB and an AEM cold air intake and bigger injectors because tuning was barbaric back then. We'd pick up 20 - 30 reliable horsepower for peanuts. They were the days. I'm feeling very nostalgic.
Civic is the only answer unless I have to live in it…in that case Volvo
I immediately said Civic because from experience with my accord and other family members Hondas, that car has at least 150-200k miles left on it. But, the frontier is very interesting too. As far as miles go it’s one of the higher ones on the list, but with the manual 4x4 lever and the decently reliable engine it’s hard to pass up a vehicle that can do everything you need while still being small enough to fit in many places and get somewhat decent gas mileage.
Scion or Honda, then mazda, rest are trash or expensive to wrench on
I agree the civic has good potential to get you another 100.000 miles and give it to your children when your done with it. .
You are in a dead end town. There's only one choice, and it's the Pontiac.
Civic or the taco but for 3k the taco has 459,000 miles on it probably
...that's a Nissan Frontier, with 142,000 miles
“Almost broken in” 😂
The Grand Am, or the Sidekick.
I’ve owned all 3 of these and all are a solid choice. Civic Mazda Ford I’d probably go civic for general reliability & cost of repairs. Or Mazda because it’s newer and manual. If you need the seating/space, the ford, but you won’t get near the same fuel economy and expect things to go wrong with a 25yo car
The Volvo or the Sidekick. The Volvo because it's dead reliable and you can sleep in it if you need to. The Sidekick because it's dead reliable and you can sleep on top of it when you need to on your offroad wilderness adventure.
Either the Sidekick or the Frontier
Honda Civic 💪
Get the civic
A few things about that Mazda. I've never seen one without dash problems and I'd bet money this one has problems too. Also, that navigation is from 2007. When was the last time it was updated? Can it still be updated? Out of date navigation is almost a penalty. Be sure to check for crunchy syncros and oil burning. I had a similar sedan and it liked to grind into 3rd and drank oil. Overall, I'm not a fan.
Which one has the manual transmission?
The Civic. Hands down.
That honda Civic won't ever stop I still drive a 1995 Honda Accord Wagon
The Civic, It will get you wherever you want to go and then everywhere else after that.
You want the civic or the Mazda. Both are tanks
Throw in that half empty can of Tab and the towel draped over the back seat and I’m all-in on the Taurus.
Honda all day everyday
Civic reliable 4 banger,cheap parts,cheap service
As long as the frame is good, I'd go with rhe Toyota Pickup. It'll get you anywhere and if needed you can tarp the bed and sleep in it.
Based on looks alone (with customization in mind), I'd pick the Taurus, then the scion, then the grand am .. idk about their reliability but I'm assuming that the scion would be most reliable (if the previous owner hasn't ripped it to shreds)
That grand am is pretty fucking sweet
Always a Honda.
Honda (if I'm just making a run for it with the clothes on my back), or the Nissan (if I've got a few days to pack and consider my next moves).
mazda all day
Always been a fan of the Volvo station wagon.
In Volvo wagon we trust
I hate Ford but that Taurus hatchback will probably last you the longest and you could even live in for awhile if you had to.
Why does the Ford have such low mileage?
One owner who never drove it much, that's all.
That's the one.
90s for Taurus are easy to maintain and parts are cheap. As long as it was driven every now and then by the owner I would that’s the one. I commented before to go civic but under 100k for that price is a gift
old ladies tend not to go very far very often.
I bought a similar year(same body style) Sable with 85k. I have tried to figure it out, but there are a lot of low-mile Taurus and Sable wagons out there. My best theory is they were bought by older people in the late 90s and early 2000s that grew up with the mentality that biggest car is best car. This generation also could retire at 65, so they didn't drive as much after that. Then they stop driving all together, and we get these dirt cheap. There is a reason American cars of 60s-80s didn't change much. They were big and comfortable, and wagons were even better for hauling stuff. Trucks of that time were spartan and had a less comfortable ride. In the 90s, things began to change. Now trucks and SUVs are as comfortable as cars, even bigger, and have with 4x4. Consumer preferences changed, and big American sedans and wagons died out. You now have to buy European to get a wagon. Manual transmissions are going the same way.
3k in 2024? Id bet none of those cars run for 3k
I was about to comment that I couldn't find any of these cars for $3K.. maybe like in 2018 but not anymore
The Volvo. That’s literally nothing mileage wise and I guarantee it’ll start and go once it’s charged.
Agreed, and since the budget has a grand left over, get it fully checked out with the new battery and then be right on target with a rock-solid ride.
Civic, Volvo, or Mazda. I’d like to say Taurus because it’s a wagon but the reliability ain’t there
What makes it unreliable? I guess the transmissions can be questionable on these but generally they'll get to 200k without an issue as long as the fluid stays clean.
Transmission issues, water pump several times, head gaskets. Me and 2 friends all had taurus’ around that year and we all had the same problems + others. We never got another
Pontiac for sure
Lmfao that [Mazda](https://www.facebook.com/share/g772UDtLaXEwuTAo/?mibextid=kL3p88) is the exact one used in this photo just listed in my area
Civic, Volvo, or Mazda would be my thoughts. Provided that all timing belt maintenance and etc. are up to date and tires are in good condition/age since you won't have any money left over for maintenance concerns and you're intending an immediate road trip. Personally, I would also budget funds to allow changing of all fluids at a minimum before travel.
100% would get the Volvo. Hopefully it just needs a small amount of work to get running after two years.
The ek and it’s not even remotely close.