sandcastle

age isnt a worry i really like 80s cars
dont they make a rwd corolla?
iv seen sone 240z/280Z close to 3/4k price, maybe?
i really like the 240sx, but i cant find many in my area that dont have ove 200xxx miles
i like e30s but iv heard they are expensive to maintain?
i like civics/accords and they are an option if i dont get a rwd
mr2 seem nice but how much space do they have?
trucks- iv thought about the datsun pickup,and 2wd tacomas.

CosmosMpower

E36 328i

SlowTeg

I guess "reliable" is relative then. If you're considering early 90's model or even 80's cars, you'll be replacing everything on the car. Bushings, relays, switches, etc. etc. Any 80's model cars imo will likely need a whole lot of work and simply aren't worth it (you were looking for cheap you said..?). All depends what you want, but my definition of a beater is something that's reliable (something that doesn't need fixing a lot) and cheap.

Gotpepsi

1. rwd - im just now getting used to rwd in my s and i dont want to have to start over.
2. manual
3. reliable/cheap to maintain
4. cheap - 3/4 grand
5. space - a little more than the s or a car i can install a roof rack on

Reliable/cheap to maintain. I would consider cars such as the Honda Civic, Accord, Toyota Camry, Corolla, or Celica, and old Lexus ES. Those cars are reliable and cheap to maintain, and could be found for under 4 thousand. They also have more space than the S, and a roof rack could be installed with ease. It does not seem like a good decision to have a required RWD compartment for your next car. What is the purpose of having a RWD in a beater? Also consider that a cheap RWD car is mostly owned by young adults, around the age of 15-17 years old. During that ownership they are probably ragged on; most kids at that age just love sliding the back out.

When I was 16 I owned a Toyota Celica with 165k as my daily driver. I broke all of the struts sliding it around on a dirt road, and blew out my axle by accidently driving it off of the road. After I fixed the axle, got into two accidents, I sold it to my friend for 2600 dollars. I told him it was cheap and reliable... lol

Moddiction

For that price you need to shorten that list significantly. For 3-4 grand and reliable only possible options are really an old civic or corolla or something.

aklucsarits

The NEWEST Nissan 240 you will find will be like 18 years old. At that age is when all the rubber and plastic bits are really starting to disintegrate and the body is damaged by weather and years of environmental fallout. That's your biggest worry with a car like that, not the mileage. All the RWD cars you will be looking at in that price range will be in that same situation: Old and falling apart simply due to age and the elements.

As others have already suggested, you will be getting a newer, more reliable car for your money if you also consider fwd cars.

Or if you bump your budget up to 2x what it is now, there are plenty of sporty, reliable cars in good shape you can start considering.

Andrew

TheDonEffect

240sx is really you're only choice. Granted the consumables and wearables will need to be addressed, but still shouldn't be horrendous, especially not to the point where it will still be a value. I would generally stay away from 80s cars at this point as they will need quite a bit of attention, and I always felt that there was a general leap from 80s cars to 90s cars in terms of quality and technology, just like the 90s to 2000s, and the 70s datsuns will probably need bodywork as rust seems to plague them all, unless you're aspiring this purchase to be a project car that you're going to pour tlc into.
If you can live with less practicality, I'd go miata, you can get them cheap for your range, maybe even an NB, alot of them were cared for so the list of items that would need to be addressed wont be as great, and to be honest at that price range are you really going to fix every last issue with the car that doesnt make it any more reliable or safe? or in CA pass smog?

Truth32

I paid $1700 for a 97 Jeep Cherokee sport with 4.0 I-6 and 5-speed manual. Rwd, manual, reliable, easy to maintain. It has 247k miles and literally EVERYTHING works on it. Parts availability is great, and I got 25mpg on my last road trip. By the way, it really is super comfortable on those long trips as well.

Bullwings

I just went through this and spent around $2300 on parts for an '88 E30. After taking the car apart, and changing all of the little things, this was very much a mini-restoration project.

I did go into this knowing that what I was doing was completely stupid, impractical, and uneconomically sound in every way...

Also, after all of that the car still doesn't have AC. hahahaha

I took a week and a half off of work to install said parts and ran out of time at the end of it. I'm paying a small amount to have the big job done (water pump and timing belt). The head technician in the shop where I did the majority of the work at said I saved a ton of money doing all of the other stuff myself.

my requirements were essentially the same as yours... Good luck. I'd say E36, 240sx, or NA/NB is your best bet - much easier to work on and maintain than an e30. My preference would go to the NB - I didn't get one because i'm a huge hipster fanboi and wanted an e30 (go figure) - yes I really am embarrassed to say it. I also needed the extra space afforded by the e30 - I already have an S2k, and the NB would essentially be an even more under-powered girlier version of the S2K.

I'm also lucky (or unlucky) enough to live in SoCal, so rust is usually a non-issue for most cars, assuming they've lived California lives.

What the one other person said - bump your budget up to $7K or so. You'll have a few more options, AND they should have much fewer problems/issues that need to be addressed. All said and done, my beater e30 project turned into a lot more car than I had initially thought.

To get a $3-$4k rwd car to where you want it - you'll end up with a $7-8K car, and at best it'll still only be worth $5k. hahaha
Here's a short list of shit that i needed to do
-Bushings and mounts - all of them
-Tie rods
-Front Control arms
-Shocks and springs (front shocks were blown and full on leaking when I pulled it out of strut housing)
-right rear axle - boots were destroyed and leaking
-flex disc coupling unit (it's this rubber piece that's part of the drive shaft - you'll be stranded if it fails)
-valve cover gasket
-timing belt & water pump
-tires
-brake pads

JHooby

there are Plenty of is300's in Southern California in the ~5k range.

they're usually 170k+, but that's not a problem at all if maintained properly.






trust me, there is no better beater for the price.