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Whats the best car for 2k?


violacleff

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Heys guys what the hell. Why is everyones testosterone up so high lately....remember I am the one stuck half way around the world on a mountain at 6000 feet with no women......:mrgreen: Hug and make up please...we own Zs and are above the rest......imho....:burnout:

 

Terry

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I would vote on an late 80's/early 90's nissan/toyota pickup. For the most part dead reliable, decent gas mileage, and not hard to work on.

 

One of these would be a great choice if you can find it at the right price. It never hurts to have a parts hauler.

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If you're familiar with it already, check out http://www.craigslist.org . It's free classifieds. I would recommend a late 80s, early 90s Camry. I found one with a brand new V6 for my sister for free. It needed a tranny. I found one for her, gave it to her at cost, charged her labor and she had a clean, reliable car for $1500. A word to the stupid, if you've never done one of these tranny's before, DONT. I hadn't. It booked out at 10 hours and it took me 18 I'm glad I had a rack to do it on or it would've taken a week.

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Guest XXtaZy

I had found a few 240sx in that price range that made good daily drivers. When I had the money, I couldn't find the car. When I was broke they were trying to fall in my lap. Either way, just depends one your tast and so forth. My last car (87 300zx) cost me $1500 and ran me 5 years with no major probs 'til some idiot woman drove in to the back of me.

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well I can say that i have owned alot of volkswagen rabbits they never die cheap on gas cheap to buy and cheap on parts! you cant go wrong Ive had 3 or 4 of them for under 600$ each and driven each for a year before trading it for something else and without any problems.

 

except one that I really beat on and I mean BEAT on (lots of burnouts and smoke shows) and it lasted for about 6 months with about 6 1st 2nd 3rd hard pulls a day

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Guest JAMIE T
Thanks for the replies. I don't really want a performance car that gets harassment like an acura. I want something that just gets good gas mileage and noone's going to pay any attention to.

 

Good point. My brother gets tickets left and right. He hasn't gotten any since we swapped the exhuast out. I had built him a straight exhaust with a bullet muffler and it was uber loud. He got three tickets in three days one week. We swapped the stock exhaust off mine onto his since I'm not driving it right now. I did get it running though! It was ALOT of wires to solder but it worked. His car has illegal dark tint so he still gets harrassed. I don't plan on getting any tickets in mine. I will lower it and put wheels on it, but nothing to get tickets for. I love cops, really!

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Guest bastaad525

'91-94 Nissan Sentra SE-R.

 

Had one of these for over a year and LOVED it.

 

Should be able to pick one up in good shape for around $2000 I believe, but finding them can be a hassle depending where you live.

 

Very fun car, great on gas, handles fantastically, good power and feels VERY punchy thanks to a very close ratio gearbox. Tons of upgrades out there if you decide to spruce it up a bit, but is pretty quick stock (0-60 in under 8 seconds). The motor (SR20 which you are already familiar with) is just a wonderful motor... 7700 rpm fuel cutoff/redline = lots of grins :mrgreen: I also found it fairly easy to work on, relative to other newer ('90's +) FWD cars... not TOO hard to get to many of the usual wear items.

 

If I ever buy another "beater" or any kind of cheap daily driver to drive, say if I'm between cars/projects, this will be the car I look for. It was just too much fun for the money spent. Check around there are tons of websites/forums dedicated to the SE-R or other SR20 powered cars out there and most of them have for sale sections well populated by these sweet little cars.

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If you are looking for a car to just drive around and not be harassed or have the impulse to start modding then what about a mid '90s Buick/Oldsmobile? I don't know about your area but here they have absolutely no resale value. I picked mine up almost 4 years ago with a little over 100,000 miles for 2,000. I daily a '95 Buick Century with 178,000 miles on the clock and only minor maintenance. It has some problems but only because I spend all my money on the Z. It has never left me stranded, and trust me, you will not get noticed or have any urges to modify it. I can only recommend the 3.1 V6 cars, I have no experience with the others.

 

Another plus is that they seem to have been owned mostly by older people which usually means one owner cars with a good maintenance history. Just another idea.

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In older car like this, would it be wiser to go with an auto or manual transmission?

 

I would aim for a manual, it'll be marginally cheaper and the tranny will usually last a little longer, although that is also dependent on the manufacturer.

 

90s Buicks are a good idea too, old people don't beat their cars up. Yeah, they're ugly, but they're cheap.

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what about an e30 bmw 3 series? theyre fun cars, reliable, smooth running inine 6, 2.5 ac and heater and all the other little bmw goodies. the 325i's are nice but if u want there is also the "e" which is better on gas. then theres the 318. 4 cyl in the same body. all are reliable imo. I had an e28 super eta (same motor, m20 but bigger body) and it had 300,000 miles and was still running beautifully.

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Guest bastaad525

*in best ghost-like voice*

 

SE-RRRRRRRRRRRR... you knowwwwwwwww you waaaaaaaant one.... SSSSS EEEEEEE RRRRRRRRRR

 

 

For real though... of most of the cars mentioned here by other guys, the SE-R would probably outperform the lot of them in most if not all respects. Super reliable, fantastic gas mileage, right in your price range, and a terrific sleeper of a car to boot. No one ever 'notices' them except the few who know what they are. They generally come decently equipped as well, with things like A/C and sunroof. I was checking around some forums and found a few in the $2-2.5k range.

 

If you can find a G20 in that price range it's the same engine and very similiar handling from what I understand but is a bit heavier, also they are all four door I believe so you may prefer the G20 if you want four doors vs. the SE-R's two.

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