$3k budget daily driver; what you buying?

Miata was the better pick, definitely worth the change of heart I had a 5MT focus hatch many years back. It turns out that turning it into a racecar didn't make it any better, or better looking Surprisingly sounded good though! Magnaflow did some sort of wizardry with that one lol.

 

My daughter is driving a 2007 Subaru Outback with 250,000 miles on that she paid $2500 for. Best car she's ever owned

 

I miss the days when my answer to this question could be E30.

I legitimately have no idea now.

 

For 3K I would say a early 2000 honda civic with the 1.7L engine and auto trans.
Its a boring little sedan but as long as you do the maintenance it'll live forever.
I could also see a similar era accord/camry/corolla.
3K just isn't much buying a car with nowadays, your bound to have issues due to high mileage so might as well buy something fairly easy to work on that likely wasn’t being driving like a racecar.

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that no one will be describing me as a impulsive person.

 

I'd say a small 90's 4x4 a la Geo tracker, Suzuki Sidekick, Daihatsu Rocky, etc. All available in manual, sold in the U.S. (LHD), and are reliable gas sippers. Plus the cool factor is undeniable.

 

Zero regrets for going WAY over budget on what was supposed to be a sacrificial commuter car - take that three and multiply by five. And then add a few hundo for a seat lowering kit so that my fat ass can squeeze into the thing. And also a race exhaust because when I row gears through the underpass I wanna hear Brrrrrrrt!



But I do have to say that on those rare occasions when work puts me in a foul mood, that mood is always gone by the time I get home.

When I'm sitting in traffic and glancing at the poor hunched over bastard in the car next to me, I'm usually wearing this expression:




Yeah. Worth it.

 

My wife has a fiesta but she wants something jeepish for a daily(short commute tho). I am trying to convincer her on a geo tracker

 

I don't really have room for a project car right now but I was debating hard. I believe he already sold it though. He inherited it when he bought a building and really just wanted it out of the storage area.

I would definitely have picked it up if it wasn't for the Check Engine light on my Audi going off. LOL.

 

I’d be getting a manual minitruck for $3k. had a mazda B2000 benchseat with 7’ bed. that truck was great 25-26mpg but had no power. it had a grandpa midrise shell on the back. no air conditioning. it was awesome for camping. it was a great daily, but had low sex-appeal. not a great daily for getting dates in your 20s.

sold it when i bought a new 1992 mazda cab plus. but that extra space in the cab meant a 6’ bed. that was a great truck. fuel injection, more power. air conditioning. I totally regret selling it.

I think I’d get any japanese 4cyl manual trans truck. but maybe an old toyota with 22re. great motor - we had one in a celica.

 

I have to go with a 1st gen Matrix. I picked one up with 134k for just under 4k back in 2021. So that's a little over the budget. But I've put 60k on it since then and it's needed next to nothing, just basic maintenance items. It costs basically nothing to own it.

 

1st gen reg cab V6 4x4 and I'm getting it for $3k. Then I woke up


Something with good shocks will do. I don't expect people to throw money at something they payed 3Gs for, but I see so many vehicles with bad shocks bouncing around on the bumps and can barley hold a curve. Most of the time that won't slow them down. It's usually a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan sedan so something like that would work.

 

For a while, I had a 2004 5MT SAAB 9-5 sedan that I paid $650 for. It was an awesome car, eventually rust got it but it was an amazing daily. Fast, comfy, good-looking, and very reliable.

 

I carried more in that trunk as a daily driver than I do in my truck lol. Great cars.