Best car to buy under $5000 that isn't a Miata?

"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake) 02/19/2014 at 20:55 • Filed to: None

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I'm curious what the consensus would be on this. I don't have much experience shopping for cheap old cars, but at some point in the new future I want to pick up a cheap old car. Miata is my primary choice, but I'm open to alternatives.

Brian Silvestro > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 20:57

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944

Bandit > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 20:57

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2nd Gen Trans Am /obligatory

Sn210 > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 20:58

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I'm keeping my eyes out for a decent Aw11 mr2

Godspeed11- I own a SAAB > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:02

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Daewoo Matiz

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:02

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This. Its really good at getting you from place to place. Not exciting though.

 > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:03

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A Crown Vic? You can get a 2008-2011 Interceptor for under 5 grand. Those things are tanks.

Manuél Ferrari > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:03

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e36 318ti

For Sweden > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:06

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Any F body

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:08

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EP3 Si. Great aftermarket and perfect blend of performance and usability.

hethoughtofcars > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:08

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I'm going to go way, way different from a Miata. How about a Toyota Previa? Toyota reliability (most I see for sale have already crested 200k), mid-engine (with optional supercharging), RWD (or AWD), and an available manual. Though, admittedly, I've been looking for years and can't find a stick shift.

They even inspired permanent loyalty for this guy! :P

jariten1781 > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:08

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What kind of car do you want?

If I had 5k for a decent project that could be useful and DD occasionally I'd go with:

Or:

Lets Just Drive > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:08

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Do you know what you just did?

You pointed at room full of reasonably priced women and said, "I'll take that one."

I mean, what are you looking for? Great hand jobs or do you prefer head? Are you a butt man, into anal, or straight up missionary type? Do you like big women? Thin women? Black women?

Shit man, I need at least an idea of what you wanna put your dick in, or ass on if you prefer.

(I'm sorry that went so far, I couldn't stop)

6cyl > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:13

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e30 with a 5 speed and rwd (don't buy a 325ix).

LSD's are standard equipment on most

Lots of parts from the BMW parts bin are the same dimension across several models but have different characteristics (Control arms, bushings, steering racks, shifters, LSDs, seats...)

Engine swaps are pretty straight forward (or so I have been told)

Parts are easy to come by and not expensive

There is still a strong aftermarket community making performance parts

Pretty easy to work on

More room/storage than a Miata and more power

pfftballer > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:13

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Redblock Volvo.

Oh you said $5000, not $500. My mistake.

shop-teacher > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:13

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Just about any mid-70's "muscle" car can be had in decent shape for $5k. They are not fast, but they are easy to make fast. Unless you live in California, then the smog police will ruin your fun.

Agrajag > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:13

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Caprice, W123/w124, F-bodies, Jag XJ12

DarrenMR > 6cyl 02/19/2014 at 21:18

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Im kind of in the same boat as the OP, and BMW models names are confusing A.F. Any suggestions on how to figure them out?

daender > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:18

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Fox-bodies with 5.0s, maybe early SN-95s.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 02/19/2014 at 21:24

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I saw one at a rallycross last weekend. He took the "R" off the badges so he just drove around in "Anger" :P

Looked like a blast.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > DarrenMR 02/19/2014 at 21:26

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My sarcasm meter is in the shop, so ... not sure if serious.

If serious, then, in the old days*, the first digit is the series and the last two digits are the displacement of the engine in liters (without the decimal point). So a 325 is a 3 series with a 2.5l straight six. The "i" means "injected" IIRC. "x" means "all wheel drive."

*the last two digits don't strictly conform to engine displacement anymore

Skif6996 > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:27

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Impreza 2.5 RS. I haven't driven one but have heard a lot of good things about them. Should fall right into your budget, too. Available as a coupe or sedan. Not huge on power but handling is the key. Potential for upgrades is high because the WRX is based on this car. Manual transmission available. AWD. Plus you can throw all kinds of rally lights on this thing!

JApexing > 6cyl 02/19/2014 at 21:27

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E30 is a great older car to own. I have 2 (one is racecar) and love them both. Everything mentioned here, although I'm not sure LSD is standard on most, but certainly out there.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Lets Just Drive 02/19/2014 at 21:28

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"reasonably priced women" haha. Cross-post to Jez?

(nice analogy btw)

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 02/19/2014 at 21:29

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I was going to say the exact thing. Why?

-Manual

-Small

-Fairly reliable

-Fuel economy depending on engine/trans

-Possibly can fit more than two

-Simple (the same basic thing for years)

-Cheapish parts

DarrenMR > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back 02/19/2014 at 21:29

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Ok so where does the e30 and e36 and all that come from?

newton > 6cyl 02/19/2014 at 21:31

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Buy an E30 if you like spending more on an old BMW than you should. $5k nowadays would get you a presentable, but fairly mediocre E30.

newton > Manuél Ferrari 02/19/2014 at 21:32

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For $5k, go 328i. A decent manual 328i can be had for $4k all day.

Lets Just Drive > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back 02/19/2014 at 21:33

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If you or anyone cross posts this to Jezebel, I will disconnect myself forever from the internet and take my wife and young daughter down to our fallout shelter to live out the rest of our days because the unholy atom bomb of post-pre-feminist rage that would ensue would surely kill anyone in the vicinity.

JApexing > DarrenMR 02/19/2014 at 21:34

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BMW nomenclature is easy, well it used to be. For E30s, it's like this.

First number is the series, model, size. 3=smaller car. (all E30s)

Next is engine size, *displacement. 25 = 2.5liter

letters...

i is standard 2.5 coupe or sedan

ix indicates AWD

*e indicates eta or efficient (actually a 2.7, less power)

*also on E30s no letter usually indicates the same as "e".

Singhjr96 > DarrenMR 02/19/2014 at 21:34

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That is what you could consider generations of the car.

So this would go from like an e30 to whatever gen that last one is.

6cyl > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back 02/19/2014 at 21:36

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Yes this was the general idea but BMW has always made weird exceptions for example:

e39 540i was actually a 4.4l not a 4.0

e30 325e is a 2.7l low compression economy version of the 325i

e36 318i or 318ti was actually 1.9l

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:37

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Miata

JApexing > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:37

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Not sure what you consider an older car, but 2002-04 Audi A4 quattro 1.8t can be found in that price range. Also a great car to drive, own, tune.

6cyl > newton 02/19/2014 at 21:38

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Really depends where you look/who you know. You can find some excellent examples for under $4k and some crappy ones for over $5k.

Bandit > For Sweden 02/19/2014 at 21:38

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I approve of this message

DarrenMR > Singhjr96 02/19/2014 at 21:39

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oooooooooh I gotcha now. I skimmed the Wikipedia article and thats what was confusing me. So its a specific generation of the series, even if its a different model like a 325 or a 328 can both be e36's because they are both 3 series.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Lets Just Drive 02/19/2014 at 21:40

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I would never ever do that to you. No worries. I offer it up only as a warning as to how close you were to the post-apocalyptic-fallout-shelter-dwelling existence you so eloquently described.

(also, post-pre-feminist rage, lol)

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > DarrenMR 02/19/2014 at 21:42

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Singhjr96 has done right by you. The "e" is the first letter of the German word for "version" or generation.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > 6cyl 02/19/2014 at 21:44

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Excellent point. I knew there were some weird ones in the past, but did not know which ones. It's only recently that the final two digits have stopped being generally accurate reflections of displacement, correct? Like within the past two generations?

DarrenMR > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back 02/19/2014 at 21:45

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Thanks!

DarrenMR > JApexing 02/19/2014 at 21:46

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Thanks!

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > Jayhawk Jake 02/19/2014 at 21:47

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Oh you done did it now. I represent the Diamond Star Galaxy.

Allwheel drive, viscous LSD in the rear, .29 drag coefficient- Bonneville is easier for this car than most

Weighs 2900lbs stock but can get down to under 2600 just by taking stuff out

Go fast parts are cheaper than any other car (save a G/F body and a small block) because the community is so big

Records are still being broken on stock block/stockish turbo, which will get you into the 10/11's respectively and return mid 20's on the highway.

Swap in stock Evo 9 rods & pistons for cheap insurance, or a 4g64 crank to stroke it out to 2.4 liters.

Most of an Evo 3 swaps into it incl the entire engine/turbo (like mine), and even the clutch type front & rear LSD with a few extra parts.

I picked mine up for $2500 happy at 20psi and it had already clowned two Z06's in the neighborhood among other things. Now, I rally it.

Or...

Fender flares...hiding 245 rear tires & I believe gobs more character than a 240, also with a far superior exhaust thump. It sounds like half of a stroked small block when you remove the cat.

I convinced my friend to pick this up for abouts $2k with a spare engine /turbo in the boot he had cleaned up, machined and installed. It comes with adjustable dampers and a clutch type LSD. It comes with a giant 80's style audio equalizer in the dash. Its rear seats are extremely comfortable. It will make you amazing fucking cocktails...

Lets Just Drive > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back 02/19/2014 at 21:58

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It'd be like if Oppenheimer had been right on the very edge of discovery and been all, "Know what bro's? Fuck this. Let's get wasted."

Instead of becoming death, the destroyer of worlds.

Singhjr96 > DarrenMR 02/19/2014 at 21:59

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Yeah, it's sorta like a chronological time ordering sorta thing.

Roundbadge > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 02/19/2014 at 22:02

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Not only do I wholeheartedly agree with this reply....I'm actually looking at one tomorrow and one this weekend.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Lets Just Drive 02/19/2014 at 22:06

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Bobby Opp - getting hammered ... for science.

Manuél Ferrari > newton 02/19/2014 at 22:07

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Oh I didn't know you could get a decent one that low!

newton > Manuél Ferrari 02/19/2014 at 22:13

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I bought an automatic 328i last year for $2500. Despite plenty of small issues, it needed nothing mechanically. It even came with the dealer sticker. It is still the most reliable car I have yet to own.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 02/19/2014 at 22:35

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A friend from Amarillo let me borrow his Ranger of this vintage when my Audi broke.. 4 speed manual and NO tach. Things are amazingly light so it didn't get stuck in the snow so much as skip across it. I could definitely see myself rallying one.

hethoughtofcars >  02/19/2014 at 22:45

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You can get a less than 3 year old Crown Vic for under $5K? I had no idea depreciation hit them so hard, even if they are former police cars.

 > hethoughtofcars 02/19/2014 at 22:51

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At the auction you can get a 2011 for under 5k. Cabbies can't buy them any more because they are older than 3 years so there isn't that big a market for them any more. Granted they will have around 100000 miles on them and won't be pristine, you are still getting a 4 year old car for under 5 grand.

D > Skif6996 02/19/2014 at 23:06

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For under 5k though? Not so sure about that.

hethoughtofcars >  02/19/2014 at 23:06

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Yeah, that's a solid deal. And for that price you could take on a project like this .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Manuél Ferrari > newton 02/19/2014 at 23:08

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That is awesome!

What a deal!

Jayhawk Jake > Lets Just Drive 02/19/2014 at 23:41

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That was the point, to be open ended.

Personally, I'm looking for a sports car. Must have manual, preferably rear or all wheel drive. I have the practical car, I want the impractical one

MC_Leon6494 > Jayhawk Jake 02/20/2014 at 00:30

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Dude I'm in the same boat. I'm trying to stay under $4k but y'know. I'm probably gonna get a miata myself though

SpeedSix > Jayhawk Jake 02/20/2014 at 01:22

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I'm considering cars of a similar price level to buy in maybe 2-3 years during university, and for top 3, I'm generally considering Volvo 240/740/940 non-turbos, Saab 900 non-turbos or Mercedes-Benz 240D/300D in W123 form, or if I'm lucky, maybe W114 even.

If prices continue to drop, I'll probably try to get a Mazda 323 GTX, or other similar 1980s hot hatches. I'd love a Peugeot 405 or 505 too but I have no idea about parts or reliability.

Keep in mind though that I'm in Canada, where most older cars are either rusty and beat up or overpriced.

TomZ > DarrenMR 02/20/2014 at 05:34

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To be more specific, Exx (and more recently, Fxx) is just internal code at BMW for the chassis of the car. So if a 325 and 330 are of the same generation, then they would (theoretically) have the same chassis.

For that reason, the previous generation of 3series was E90 for the sedan, E91 for the wagon, E92 for the coupe, and E93 for the convertible, because the factories made all the chassis slightly differently. So they needed to distinguish.

Beyond those distinctions, there isn't much of a rhyme or reason for the chassis codes, other than newer ones for a given series are strictly larger numbers than old ones.

Jayhawk Jake > MC_Leon6494 02/20/2014 at 08:26

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I think when you factor in maintenance cost, the Miata is extremely hard to beat when it comes to 'fun per dollar'

Jayhawk Jake > SpeedSix 02/20/2014 at 08:27

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I'm in Kansas, where most older cars are either rusty, beat up, or trucks. The trucks are usually rusty or beat up as well.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Jayhawk Jake 02/20/2014 at 08:29

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RPM esq. > DarrenMR 02/20/2014 at 20:43

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Putting together others' explanations in what may be a more helpful way: these are BMW's internal chassis codes, which people use to refer to generations, where each generation may have several models. This also gets around the fact that Europe often gets different models from the same generation (different engines etc.) than North America, so it's a way to refer to that generation generally rather than the specific model. But no one told you which is which. Some common chassis codes you'll often see discussed here referring to much-loved BMW generations are as follows (all production dates approximate).

3-series: E30- 1982-1992; E36- 1992-1998; E46- 1999-2006

5-series: E28- 1981-1988; E34- 1987-1996; E39- 1997-2003; E60- 2003-2010

6-series: E24- 1976-1989

7-series: E38- 1994-2001

8-series: E31- 1989-1998

Skif6996 > D 02/20/2014 at 20:46

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I guess it depends on your location. They can be had easily for under $5k here. Two listed under 5k right now. One has little info and no pics for 4k. The other has high miles and typical PA rust but is asking $3800. Link: http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/4315017021…

midengineer > Jayhawk Jake 02/20/2014 at 22:11

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Here ya go, always been interested in these myself: http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/4299334828…

liquid_popcorn > pfftballer 02/21/2014 at 21:38

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same answer still applies! For 5k you can get a damn clean 242 turbo. RWD hoonery for days! And parts are cheap as shit.

Source: I own a 244 I wish was a 242.

liquid_popcorn > jariten1781 02/21/2014 at 21:38

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Dear god I want an El Camino. (or is that a Ranchero? Not familiar with Rancheros as much.)

pfftballer > liquid_popcorn 02/21/2014 at 23:42

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Who doesnt want a 242?

Fast, Faster and Fastest > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 02/27/2014 at 12:18

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I think you nailed it!

Captain Slow > hethoughtofcars 01/26/2015 at 04:32

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Dat tattoo