RMills944

Get an old Toyota Pickup if you're looking cheap. My brother has one he offroads in and he's put it through hell and back and it runs like a top. Great, indestructable trucks.

Wachuko

I say get a Volvo 240, bullet proof... you will not win any races with it... :-/

When my brother moved to Orlando I got him a '89 Volvo wagon and a '91 Saturn wagon. He has not put a cent in them (gas and oil changes aside). Both cars were less than US$5k.

Luis de Prat

Jaime, I agree that the 240 Volvos are good cars, but their gas mileage is not economical, to say the least... We had a 245 DL for 14 years before the Vento.

Tom R.

I know geico doesnt cover NJ, but a 500/500 liability with 500SUI is about 800 a year in ny, which i thought was high for a beater to take to the train, so i splurged on the 1500 a year for full coverage on a decent (some may disagree) mullet.

Dave

No Geico...yet, I hear they're in talks to re-enter the NJ market. The quote was to add the car to my existing policy which requires it to have the same liability limits as the other cars. I also have an umbrella policy so my auto coverage is base, in part, on where the umbrella coverage starts. There is no such thing in NJ as "full" coverage, they will always sell you more so it's kind of open ended, but I know what you mean by that. The sales pitch was made that by also taking comp/collision, they could give me a better discount, I don't see the need on a cheap beater and I don't want to pay more for insurance in <2 years than the car is worth. Keep in mind that NJ has the highest insurance cost of the 50 states, NYC might be a bit higher than either state but I'm in an area that's above the NJ average. I doubt you're much closer to the city than I am so we should really be around the same rate but NJ has the insurance industry so screwed up...

horsepowerfarm

Dave,

Mid '90's turbo diesel GM pickup. Reasonable to buy, any that are on the road have had the updates completed. 16mpg around town 22mpg on the highway at 70mph. Today in NJ diesel fuel was $1.649. Oh, the best part pull 10,000lbs no problem.

Dave

I had a '96 Chevy 3500 diesel crewcab utility body for a while, pads and rotors every 14k miles, 3 trannys and 2 turbos in 80k miles, not a cheap truck to maintain. The only thing I miss about my old job is the '01 F-350 that replaced the Chevy But I'm liking the diesel idea!
My wife comes home today and tells me that her boss has a kid that just bought a new car and has a '95 Cavalier with new brakes and whatever else, going cheap. Why do I feel obligated to take a look?

Nabeel

Audi Coupe Quattros are very nice cars, but they are somewhat rare. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...481335093&rd=1

inactiveuser92616

80's (not 90's, they are crumple cans) Isuzu Impulse.
Its homely, but reliable and good build quality. Fun to drive too; from what i've heard. They have a board of rennlist quality, though not quite the particpation; at isuzone.net .

Friendan

I have a 1982 Volvo GLT 2 door 4speed, 265k km...I've only had it for a couple months, but man is that thing built like a tank...sure it has rusted out fenders, but it runs so strong, decent on gas, fun as HELL to drive (you can drift SO easily, and fishtail), plus despite being boxy I think they look cool. They are also as simple as they come to work on, everything is easily accessible, and the hood lifts right out of the way, almost vertical. The Turbos are more fun if you can find them, and the diesels are good too.
I found a buyer for it finally, I can actually say I'm reluctant to see it go...if I didn't need the money I would keep it for the winter...

KLR

I actually have had a couple of volvos and would certainly vouch for them as superb beaters. The mileage isn't spectacular (I think that I got mid-20's in my 1985 240 and was in the teens in my 1972 164E), but man, those cars are tough! The 1972 had over 240k on the clock without a valve job or overhaul when it made the ultimate sacrifice on my behalf. It only burned a quart every 2k miles at that point.

My uncle has three 240's with over 650k miles between them. One had a valve job about 12 years ago. The others are untouched. All have the original transmissions (two auto, one stick). Hell, the stick car is still on its first clutch at 275k miles!

Swagger93

you said you wouldnt feel safe in most jap cars, well, the older jettas and golfs are not exactly a really safe car, although they are safer than most other jap cars from that time period.

alot of guys get old volvo 240 and saab 900 and run them well into the 300k-400k range. dont get these cars in the turbo trim though, you're begging for high maintainence bills and you won't escape the expensive gas.

a car that's pretty solid, no joke, are the FWD pontiac bonneville's. they run up to 300k on the stock motor and tranny alot of times, they have some power, and they can haul a good amount of stuff. gas milage isnt terrible either, and they drink regular. my friend has 260k on an 89 and my fathers business partner has 350k on another. they are cheap too.

Ken

The Ranger isn't nearly as inept as you would think. While I agree it's not the optimal solution, it gets the job done fairly well. 4liter V6, tranny cooler, 7500lb towing capacity(car and trailer ends up around 4000). Plus, the weight distributing hitch with sway control makes towing a breeze. The trailer has never been out of shape(towed twice to Lime Rock, once to Pocono, and a couple times to Powertech.) The MPG ends up about 10-12 towing and 16-18 normally, which is nice too. For me right now, it's a great setup. For anyone with a larger trailer and/or heavier car, it probably wouldn't work.

On a more on-topic note, my friend Jim is selling his 98 Mazda B3000(not the one we tow with). 5-speed, new clutch, extended cab, bed boxes, good shape. Check out his autotrader ad if you're interested.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...lor=&cardist=0