Top 10 Fun Used Cars for $5,000 or Less
What do you buy if you're a car nut and have less than 5 grand to spend? It can be a tricky situation, since cars in this price range have at least 100,000 miles or rank in the "too good to be true" category. That '98 M3 for $4,800 was almost certainly in a New Orleans driveway on Aug. 28, 2005. Also, many have already been trashed (aka modified) by previous owners.
Keeping that in mind, Inside Line took to the automotive classifieds in search of the most-fun used cars for $5,000 or less. Which would you buy?
Read the full story: The 10 Best Used Cars for Less Than $5,000
"...many have already been trashed (aka modified) by previous owners."
Not all mods are trash, ya know.
Mods would make me think twice, since that equates hard driving to me (assuming we're talking "performance" mods). I'd rather have a "stock" version.
I've been tire kicking Miatas for a couple of years and owners sure think they are worth a hunk of change more than TMV here in Idaho.
This is a surprisingly mediocre list:
-The Integra's a great pick except high theft rates and accident rates make insurance on them prohibitively expensive. Same thing with Preludes, to a slightly lesser extent.
-I've looked at C4 'vettes before and didn't find them to be particularly good used buys...don't seem to be very good value for money considering their age.
-Mitsubishi Eclipses, oddly, are much much more expensive than Eagle Talons. Either way, I'm no DSM expert but crankwalk in the turbo motors sounds too common to even want to bother.
-Where the hell are you guys finding Impreza 2.5RSs under $5000 in anything even remotely resembling good shape? Last I checked, the good ones are twice that much.
-Camaros/Firebirds/Mustangs...alright, V8s are fun, but these are ergonomically miserable cars that are not going to handle out of the box. You can fix both problems...for a chunk of $$$. I'd hesitate to reccomend any of those to anyone who wasn't specifically looking for some American Muscle.
-Man 240SXs are hard to find. Good luck getting one.
Really the only things on this list I really agree with are the Miata and the MR2 (though the SW20 isn't my cup of tea so much, I like the AW11 more).
For $5000, I think you guys missed out on a few good choices:
-Pre-99 VW GTIs.
-V6 99-02 Mercury Cougars
-Ford Contour SVT
-Ford Focus SVT (surprisingly, a few are getting down to $5000)
-6th and 7th gen Toyota Celica
-3rd gen Hyundai Tiburon V6 (a few are getting down to $5000)
-Nissan Sentra SE-R (yes, even the Spec V is getting down to $5000!)
and steve_, the Edmunds TMV on Miatas is comically low all over the country.
"Not all mods are trash, ya know."
The mods may not be trash but a lot of modded cars get trashed. When you're buying a 10 to 20 year old used car, the last thing you want is one that's been beaten on.
The trick is to look for the ones with service records. I've always found that people organized enough to keep all the service records are also organized enough to make sure all the service gets done.
When cars get to this age, a lot of people fall into the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mode. If the car will still start and go then it's fine.
Things like bad wheel bearing, CV joints, scored rotors, oil and water leaks, timing belts, transmission service etc all get ignored until they stop the car.
I've seen too many people buy used cars that look good and seem to run fine and then discover they need more in repairs then the car is worth.
Focus SVT would be great. Miata is always a good choice. AW11's are great fun and highly underrated thanks to the popularity of the AE86 and drifting.
I can't believe people are ignoring the RX-7. The NA Rotary is extremely reliable and these older cars definitely hold up better through time than the newer ones.
I got rid of my integra because it was constantly getting broken into and vandalized.
@clarkma5, I think a Cali Miata is the way to go for more realistic prices.
@firstwagon, I have all my service receipts on both my ten year old cars and they make an impressive pile. Keep track of the gas too. But I avoid mechanics like the plague and finally got around to doing a drain and fill and replaced the original spark plugs on my minivan at 125k. Verify, but don't trust? :-)