What's a good used car? I was looking to spend about $4000, up or down.

 

What are you looking for in a car?

 

good question. more reliability than anything else. its a second car that will see daily driving duty. i was thinking an LX mustang or a Jeep Wrangler, but don't know if I want to go with an older car. i was also looking at late 90s early 2000s ford rangers. don't really know what's good.

 

i picked up a 99 escort zx2 for my commuter car. paid 1800 for her and she runs great. gets almost 40mpg with the 5spd. not much of a looker but i'm more than happy

 

Civic?

 

Around how much are you willing to spend?
What geographic region do you live in?

 

$4,000, he mentioned that in his first post.

 

im by ohare airport in Rosemont, basically chicago suburbs

 

That would be my pick. But I'm partial, I own one.

 

You'll have a real hard time finding a decent Wrangler for $4k. Jeepsters are a cult-like following who pay top dollar for spare parts.

Just
Everyone's
Extra
Parts

Best bet is try to find something not so common, like a second generation (90-93?) Integra w/ lower miles. It'll be a difficult search, but worth it. And you can definitely find them in that price range.

 

I've Been Looking To Replace My T-Bird Recently And I've Been Looking At Focus ZX3's. I'm A Ford Guy What Can I Say? My Friend Has One And It's A Fun Little Car To Drive, Good On Gas (27/35 mpg A BIG PLUS!) And Fairly Roomy, Comfortable, Versatile, And Practical. I'd Love To Have An SVT But I'm Kinda Scared Of The Cost Of Parts On Them, Cause They're Kinda Rare. Not To Mention You'll Pay Twice As Much For An SVT As A Regular ZX3.

 

i was looking at focuses but my girlfriend doesn't really like them. i had a civic, a new one, but sold it because the build quality wasn't what it used to be and the used ones i've seen with decent miles aren't really that affordable. jeeps, yes, i think they are overpriced for used cars. the one car i think might work is the ford ranger 3.0 preferably with 4x4, but i'm open to other good suggestions. i know parts should be plentiful for the ranger

 

I like the Focus as an efficient and fairly reliable ride that will have the benefit of being fairly new. A Jeep shouldn't be too hard to find and reliable, but they can be a rail pain in the cold if top hasn't been well maintained.

There's always the 302-powered Ranger option:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1986-ford-ranger-with-302-motor_W0QQitemZ130266710723QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20Truc ksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130266710723&_ trkparms=39%3A1|65%3A2|240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0 .m245
Have enough left to paint it a better color.
Yeah, I officially am having a bad dyslexia day.

 

i was looking at jeep cherokee sports too (not the grand cherokee). anyone know anything about these?

 

They're pretty solid. Watch for rust. If the Cherokee uses the same 4.0L straight 6 that's used in the Wranglers, it's an awesome motor.

 

look for a honda with less than 150k on it. Should be good for another 50k easy

 

you can pick up a 2-3 year old Taurus very cheaply, If you need the extra room that is. The V-6 gets good gas mileage and Most of the bugs are long gone too.

 

ill look into the taurus

 

jeeps are awesome, I have a CJ7 (wrangler) and a grand cherokee, which I absolutely adore. but the rangers are great, you can beat them senseless and they still keep going

 

We asked ourselves the same questions when it was time for our 16 year old daughter to drive. We looked for economical, fuel efficient, late-model, low miles, reliable, and super safe. We got her a 5-year old 2002 Ford Taurus SES (leather, moonroof, power everything, alloy wheels, floor shifter/console, etc.). Only paid $6K with 50K miles on the clock. Get one with more miles and/or less luxury and it's easy to get them for just a couple grand. With the base 3.0L V6, my daughter gets almost 30 mpg highway, and over 20 mpg in town.