JonBoy

I saw a 1992 Accord for $500 with 172K miles in Houston. Needed a new passenger door but they had one for $85+installation, so that's well under your cost.

Wasn't a pretty car but it'd be a great beater.

s2kpdx01

^flood damaged? lots of those running around houston these days!

sable/taurus

JonBoy

No, just an old car that someone wanted to get rid of.

A Sable/Taurus is definitely doable but man, they're usually in rough shape by the time they're down to the $1K mark. At $2500, the choices are a LOT better, I think.

mxt_77

Yeah, pretty much any 88+ Honda would fit the bill. I'd go with an Accord, just for comfort, but a Civic would work, too. I'd stick with a manual tranny and the fewest doo-dads possible.

I suspect you could pick up a car like my 95 Accord EX sedan for ~1500. Mine has pretty high mileage (205K), but is in really good mechanical condition. A DX or LX should be even cheaper. I prefer the EX over the others for a few reasons: 1) Power windows/locks are nice, though the motors on mine are getting pretty slow and that is worrisome. 2) Sunroof is great in Texas. It's not the same as a drop-top S2000, but still helps move more air. 3) Disc brakes all around makes pad changes a cinch. However, replacing the rotors up front requires pressing it out of the hub (or was it the rears? I forget). I converted mine to a rotor-over-hub design when I had to replace my rotors, which will make it much easier next time, in case I keep it long enough to have to do it again.

sahtt

There is no such thing as a 1,000 car that only costs 1,000. I'd stick in the 4-5k range where you can still get a good value and not just a good initial price, which is irrelevant.

cravnpup

E30 325. I bought mine for $1200, and sold it a year later for $3200. Got 30mpg, and it never broke down..

Popeye

91 Civic EX 4dr it came from Honda with 4w disc brakes and the CRX Si engine

rockville

I'm really surprised how many people are willing to recommend cars apprioching 20 years old without knowing the things history. A 1990 Civic or Corolla can be a reliable car if the service has been kept up. However, if things haven't been done correctly it can just as easily turn out like my 1991 Corolla which was but 9 years old when the head gasket took a dump and cost me $800 in parts and rebuilding the head. The shop that looked at the car said $2000+ or they would buy it off me for $200.
Again at the $1k price point you can't be picky. Condition is the most critical thing. I would also add look at the service history. I helped a friend look at a used 1996 Accord recently. The interior was in good shape and the car had only 70,000 miles but the car had issues. The automatic shifted very poorly. The exhaust had a leak somewhere and the timing belt hadn't been changed. Ignoring the shifting and exhaust, the timing belt change would have added $500-$1000 to the price of this cheap car. Because the Honda engine is an interference engine I wouldn't risk the belt (I might in a Mazda or Toyota).

Condition, not brand, is everything at this low price point.

alexchou

i love MKII Gti's but they're just so hard to find

alexchou

that's what i'm driving as a DD now!! been trying to fix little things here and there but nothing major.
how did you sell it for $3200 thou?! i wanna know what's the trick!!