I'm looking for another car to replace my trailblazer.

Budget is about $4000 tops

I want something that is fuel efficient, easy to work on and not have expensive parts.

no domestics please. no more suvs please. no pickup trucks please.

any recommendations?

 

Find a corolla for 4K. Good gas mileage, and are so dead reliable that it dosn't matter if they are hard to work on or parts are expensive, you'll never have to do anything to it. Speaking from experience.

 

Dont get sunfires they are nothing but garbage, go with a mazda or toyota.

 

Yeah a corolla or maybe a tercel (cheaper). Otherwise a protege can be very reliable be the parts can be more expensive than the toyota

 

Corolla, or Camry. they don't break, dirt cheap to fix if they do

 

My g/fs protege is awesome i recommend them as they're pretty cheap. I'm also a fan of the CRX HFs, buddy of mine consistently finds them for $500 with high miles but they seem to run forever and get 50+ mpg.

 

a 5spd probe or mx6 is a really good cheap car too. and we really had no problems with a 95 escort that we used to have, well untill my sister flipped it

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3697558

fun, seats 4...decent on gas....cheap/easy to work on...mine.

 

forgot about VW, they last for ever but if you can find one for cheap. How are the prices on parts for VW's?

 

mid 90's protege 5spd ftw! cheap, reliable, 4 doors, great gas mileage, has the magnet installed from the factory. I purchased a mint 97 protege with 38,000 original miles for $2,000 beat it then bounced it.

 

SUBARU!!!!

My dad had an 1980 GL wagon for 19 years and 325,000 miles! It wouldn't die.

I had a 1993 legacy and a 1994 impreza. Both were ridiculously reliable and very cheap to fix. Both cars had the lowest emissions #'s I've ever seen. (I've had 9 running cars and I used to work at a dealership)

And, since subaru's have so many interchangeable engine/drivetrains, swapping them is quite common.

 

I'm a big fan of Toyota engines.. my 20 year old Toyota pickup still runs like a champ, albeit not a spring chicken in any regard... engine was rebuilt at just over 250,000 miles, and the block looked so good, we didn't even bore out the cylinders, just a quick hone. The 4-speed transmission (not one of the stronger ones) lasted until 286k; probably would've went over 300k, if it wasn't for my .. ahem .. driving style.

While I've never been fond of the looks on most older Toyota cars, even when they were new, I can count more old Toyota cars on the road today, than most other makes, particularly ones owned by people who haven't had the budget and/or inclination to properly maintain them.

Honda and Mazda have also had their good models, I'm just biased towards Toyota because of the truck.

For something completely different, I wouldn't consider it super easy to work on, or even super cheap on parts (some are discontinued, e.g. head gaskets), the 89-95 Ford Taurus SHO is an impressive car. The transmission and brakes are the weak point on these cars, the engine came from Yamaha special for the car, and it's a work of art. ~225hp V6 3.0L, likes to rev high (good into 8k rpm, accessories mandate a lower rev limit), reasonable on gas (not a 4 banger), stick shift, and a trunk that'll fit at least 3 bodies. Yeah, owned one of these too; 4 door was great for insurance, plenty of space, surprisingly good handling for a 'sedan', stick shift, fully loaded with accessories, and a very strong engine. You can find them for well under $4k, varies with condition. Some performance parts (exhaust, bushings, chip) can be found.

 

Get a Saab 93. 99-00's can be found cheap, and are easy to work on. (I got my 02 with 68K miles on it fully loaded for 5250.) They come with a turbo and are easy to mod with a simple ECU upgrade. ( Engines are good to 22Lbs of boost off their existing turbo too.)

Great in bad weather, and parts can be found used or cheap if you look in the right places.

 

Hmm where's the right places? Saab forums/clubs?

 

+1 on subaru, but i just bough a acura integra dc3 for $950. A ls model, 5 spd manual.

Best buy ive gotten, only 140k miles on it and it runs like a champ. Hondas are great cars.

 

get a yugo, they is so reliable...


any car that has been maintained properly will do, however, when it comes to buying a cheaper car or truck, on a budget, just a reliable cheap daily driver, that kind of car, i go to auctions and buy them wrecked and fix them, i do this for a number of reasons...

1. cheaper
2. i can do most of my own work and find cheap parts
3. you can sell them years later for close to what you paid
4. its not a car someone put for sale after it started giving them a problem, etc.
5. you can have a much newer car for same money as an older car

 

old subaru. Just check for the headgasket failure on the 2.2's. After 100k they either show the external leak, or they've already been replaced.

I have a 2kOBW and its been reliable at 150k miles. No major repairs on record from the previous owner.

 

Really any average Honda or Toyota will last forever. I see them all the time at work with 100K+ miles running just fine. If you have a local u-pull it, repairs can be super cheap if you have a common car.

 

Fixed that for you, the 2.2 is dead nuts reliable.

 

dirt cheap...and fun, I kinda just want to finish this build on the miata is why I had mine for sale...kinda thinking twice though.

Its all about how a car has been taken care of.