Help me pick a daily driver!
 

So i've decided its time to sell my seven, and buy a different daily driver. Im looking to spend no more than 10k, its going to be left stock mechanically. Ideally I should get a four door, but im not limiting myself to only four doors. I've been seriously considering a 2002-2003 Mitsubishi Galant GTZ , but have also been toying with the idea of a FD, but temptation to modify might bite me in the ass if I buy something that I would want to play with, and although I dont think it would be worse than the winter I spent driving the Miata, im sure a FD would suck in the snow. Im considering the galant since I would get a good deal through work, and would have money left over for whatever. The FD however would run me dry. Anyone have any other ideas? No domestics :nono:

I did a month-long search for a daily a couple months ago. My criteria was: import, fwd or awd for snow, moderately fun to drive, and hatchback since I move every year in college.

I didn't want a civic since they're overpriced and way too common around here. I ended up with a GTI since my dad found a one-owner 2000 in very good condition for $6k. The smooth, quiet ride spoils me on those 300 mile trips to and from school, and I get about 28mpg on the freeway averaging 80mph. I just hope it stays decently reliable for the next few years.

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Mazda protege. Over 30 mpg, 4 door, slow, cheap on tires, cheap on gas, cheap on insurance. Plus you already know the motor if something goes wrong.
I only say that because my g/f has one, we take it on trips to save money on gas.
I personally want a small diesel car that i can convert to vegetable oil. Like a diesel rabbit. My schools cafeteria will provide me with all the oil i want.

I was gonna make a joke about the reliability of the mitsu but then i saw you've owned a few rx7's :p

Hey Mitsus are reliable.. DSMs aren't because of their chrystler blood, but everything else is for the most part. DSMs just give mitsubishi a bad rep.

Sam - This is random but out of curiosity, is that grille stock?

I use an SRT4 as my backup beater when the Miata's down, it's a 4 door but you said no domestics..

Agree the FD would be too much temptation to mod, I'd get an EG Civic for a daily if I were you. Good on gas, reliable, inexpensive to maintain, hell even if you blew the engine a used D series is like $50 lol.

No, it's made by Kamei or something like that. The grill and window tint were the only mods done by the previous owner.

I have to disagree. The Galant has been one of the worst cars ever made, in my experience. My brother had a '91. It went through two transmissions in only 75,000 miles of light use.

My cousin had a '96. It decided one day that the overdrive gear was superfluous and stopped offering it as available. It also popped a headgasket at only 15,000 miles. The paint gave up the ghost within three years of ownership. The brake rotors would warp if you looked at them wrong.

My ex-girlfriend had an '01. Two motors within 60,000 miles.

None of those people were enthusiasts, just average folks driving to and from work/school/what have you.

With that track record, when I heard mitsubishi was offering a 100,000 mile warranty on drivetrains, i figured they would have been out of business by now. lol.

About the Chrysler blood: I had a '90 Dodge Spirit go to 375,000 completely worry-free miles before I got rid of it when i bought my first mx6. The air even still blew cold. It's a freak among its type, i'll grant that, but what a car.

+1 on the unreliability of mitsu's, The shop my dad works at gets mitsu after mitsu, mostly eclipses, lots of galants, and surprisingly a buttload of 3000Gt's
even a VR4 every once in a while, and they specialize in Merc's and Bimmers o.0
hell my aunts evo's tranny went completely kaput after 30k mi, and thats driving from san diego to LA, mostly highway miles, not to mention shes 40 and drives like she is, i drove her evo the other day and the clutch/general tranny feel has never been the same.
thats just my rant about mitsu's
aside from that
I have a 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20 valve that i freakin ADORE
I have the DOHC 5 cyl, and it kills me on gas mileage, (shouldnt have turbocharged it . . .wait . . .)
but his leaner younger brother, the Audi 80 1.8E i hear gets nearly 35 mpg,
and i think its available with Q, not a bad choice i think, considering u can get one for less than 2000 bucks if they person doesnt know what they got
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...56_47_full.jpg
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BTW: who needs headlights anyways?

'02-'03 Bugeye Impreza WRX fo life!

yeah impreza's are pretty impressive :P
nah tho i like the 99 coupe body, in that sonic mica blue i think they call it,
bugeye is a close second for me.

a couple year old taurus, impala, or buick would be a cheap, reliable, comfortable daily. or a ranger, hardbody/fronter, tacoma pickup too

W124 Benz 4Matic Wagon.

http://www.geocities.jp/musajtm/300te.jpg
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I had a gray one for a while, and with exception of the self-leveling suspension, it was bullet proof. When the self leveling fails, you replace it with standard shocks. I have an extra set of AMG Monoblocks I haven't used in a few years if you end up with one :)

That ran through my mind but I dont think I could pick one up for less than 10k, they all seem to be 12ish. I didnt really look that hard though.

I think I made a mistake by considering the FD.. Now I cant get it out of my headdd

If you get an FD, I will find you and make you let me drive it. Now are you still considering it?

Yes haha. Theres this LS1 FD for sale on ebay right now, and its just gorgeous.. I didnt know that a FD could look that sexy.

sounds to me you already made up your mind

do want

any vw/audi in that price range is not going to be reliable. The 2005+ cars may be more reliable, but its still not a solid choice.

I vote for the protege because they're cheap, but I'm sold on subaru. I love my 2k outback wagon. I should have bought one a long time ago.

Friend's girlfriend has a Mazda 3 hatchback. He said it is a blast to drive and gets outstanding mileage.

methinks you get the best civic you can for the cost.
it's cliche but they're reliable and cheap to maintain

a rotary FD is a terrible DD. Terrible mileage, terrible reliability.

If i were buying a brand new car right now for a daily driver it would be a toss up between a few different cars.

1. Mazdaspeed3. Nice ride, solid build. Horrific torque steer that manifests itself in second gear.

2. Nissan 350z. Have yet to test drive one.

3. Mazda RX-8. Torqueless four door coupe. Fun and engaging drive since you have to wring it's neck to get the most out of it. Truck-like mileage.

4. Nissan Altima. Nice ride, decent interior, comfortable seats. Good communication through the pedals and wheel. Opt for the V-6, every retard and their mother bought the cut-rate 2.5 liter four cylinder.

5. Pontiac GTO. Still on the lots here "new" here, no one buys them for some reason. What's not to like? Four seats, 6.0 liter V-8.

Notice I really don't give a fuck about mileage?



As for hte Used Market....

1. 1992-1995 Honda Civic Hatchback. Preferably VX model, it utilized the VTEC-e engine. Good balance and fun for an anemic front driver. Third Gear was good for up to 110mph, but a good head wind would push it down to 105. I had one and still would if my wife let me keep it when I bought the Miata.

2. Whatever year MR2 Spyder. wait, did you want practicality? This car has none unless you can pack a weekend back into something the size of a small shoebox.

3. Meeehhh... are you looking for something that gets good mileage regardless of looks? Toyota Echo. No longer in production, cheap to get on the used market, excellent build quality... just don't plan on having intercourse of any kind with the opposite sex while this is in your possession.

Personally, I found the suspension on the Altima to be quite a bit too soft and the steering very non-communicative. Granted, it's no sports car and certainly no miata, but i was very underwhelmed even for a sedan.

I quite liked the mazda3 hatch though. The steering was very precise, but the slushbox model i drove lacked pep. The 5 speed helps alleviate that though.

If you want grunt get a mustang GT.

For 10k i would get a nice subaru legacy wagon, decent on gas, will keep me from speeding, has awd for winter, alot of space to pack people or stuff into, and will run forever

I'd let our Xb go for 10k.......
Dead fucking nuts reliable. 30+ mpg city and 40+ on trips.

I daily drive a FC right now so I think I would be moving forward by going with a FD.. As for practicality, I dont really have any in any of my cars right now lol.

haha nice

I tried the Maxima and Altima back to back. Driving a Maxima is like fucking with five condoms on with cardboard wrapped around your dinger. NO feel through the steering wheel, throttle, or brake pedals and dead quiet.

:gay: and the altima is worse. the previous gen maximas are GREAT DDs. my friend's 99? has almost 150k on it and it's running strong. bullet proof cars imo.

as far as a DD's concerned... mine is the Miata. otherwise, all the wagon recs are GREAT. wrx wagon, protege5, mazda3 hatch, etc. i, myself, am looking at a w210 wagon soon, so ben, send me some pix of your monoblocks?

The current Maxima blows for driver feedback. HOWEVER, if I was shopping for luxury, my money would be on the Maxima. Hell, it's seat backs up for you to get the fuck out! My only beef with it is the rear window, visibility blows.

+.5 on the wagon trip. There have been lots of times I'd wished I'd gotten that Sedona Red WRX wagon instead of the sedan. But since I've bought my Titan all that went out the left ear. I'll drive my Miata to work and shit too, doesn't sound like much, but take into account that I am a firefighter and have to pack enough shit for four days worth of dinners and then sometimes have to pack up my gear and shit to go to another station. That's a lot of shit and the Miata swallows it all up.

OK so I found a WRX, hes asking 9200... 130k

Im going to try and look at it this weekend.. BUT I keep asking myself if I really want a WRX. Im not a fan of wagons, I would love to have AWD for winter.. but I just dont know if a WRX is for me. Maby its because a few of my friends have this inner circle WRX click that annoys the hell out of me and the rest of my friends, and im afraid of being associated with it haha.. As dumb as that sounds. They seem reliable, but ive just never really been a fan. I DO know that I would be able to keep it stock though, unlike my other choices for daily drivers.

Ahh I hate making decisions.. Especially ones that require financial commitment for a year or so.

130k? What year?

I ask because mine is one of the first 7500 produced, an '02 bought in '01, and I only have 48k on the clock.

2002

They are very reliable. I bought that outback wagon, and its so nice to have the space. Get if for utility, not looks.

That's one thing I've noticed about Subaru, they have some seriously loyal customers. If they made a full size truck or if Mazda made a version of the F150 I might have been swayed into that.

+1 Had a 92 eclipse gsx turbo awd.. 2 motors (timing sliped 2x + interference motor), 1 turbo, transfer case locked up on the hyw (fun..), cracked exhaust mani, tranny issues - had to replace 1st gear 2x and 2nd also. This all happened b4 60K and was covered by Dealer (don't believe in sueing but .. sued dealer for not replacing transfer case lube which caused the lockup at 80mph in traffic - think skidding on all 4 in rush hour hwy traffic to a dead stop.. and won the cost of the repairs..).

Exwife had 2001 Eclipse turbo - motor was gone b4 powertrain waranty expired (dealer tried to get outta this too - diff dealer fyi but they replaced it) This one I didn't drive and was driven fairly normally..

Mistu = crap :td:

really? i just don't get it, i've had 4 eclipses, 91gsx, 93gs,91gs,97gst. All of them were great with the exception of the 91gs that was an auto, the trans broke all the time(seriously). My 91gsx was the most fun car i've ever had, 20g turbo and all the supporting mods and not one thing ever broke. i miss it bad but those cars are so old now i don't have it in me to do another.

Right, honestly the only mitsus I see as "unreliable" from 1990+ are the first gen DSMs, like I said due to the chrystler blood line. Even then, if they are left stock and maintained, they do pretty well. In CURRENT mitsubishis, I back them 100%, although still if they arent maintained, they dont fair well, but thats just common sense. Also, they didnt make a turbo model Eclipse in 2001.

+1 on the gc8 i had one of those with an ej25 in it.... that was a great car. it got me through snow and rain and ALOT of hurricane doughnuts. but i also agree with firedog the bugeyes are pretty sexy, and you can buy them yeah for 12k but they already have mods. just had to add my $0.02

get a kia, they still run the same BP we do. :)

We put over 100k on ours before 2005, and we purchased ours in 2002. Sold it for the Forester 2.5 XT, which is actually faster. If you want utility the Forester XT should not be missed. I saw a number of '04's on Ebay for only 15k.

Hell if you could do without the turbo...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-...QQcmdZViewItem

$4500, wagon, AWD... turbo it later.

Mark

I keep mine for sentimental reasons. Richard Burns won his the '01 Driver's Title in a bugeye. Then 2 years ago he died of brain cancer and while Subaru U.K. made a limited edition for him (RB320) it wasn't exported anywhere.

v-dub tdi.

not the fastest car, but awesome on gas, great comfort for commuting.

I remember seeing in GRM a guy with a tdi beetle that got big injectors and new ecu and made like 400 lb-ft of torque.

Took a black 2001 Eclipse GT home from work today.. So far I like it, and I would be paying dealer trade in value so I just might buy it.

This may make me sound like a sissy but god damn is it nice to have an automatic for a change.

I'd avoid anything DSM or European if you want a truly reliable DD...

IMHO.

00+ Eclipse is not a "dsm"

Anyways I passed on the 01 eclipse, and bought a 00 eclipse GT in near mint condition. I paid whole sale black book value on it too so i'm pretty happy with this one. :)

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Uh it's not?

looks clean as hell

AFAIK, the diamond star motors thing with the eclipse/talon/lasers ended with the 1999 model eclipse, that was the last of the half mitsubishi half chrysler eclipse. Mitsu and chrysler still (sadly) do have joint models together but luckily the 3g+ eclipse isn't.

Can you sense my bias lol