Pick a beater for me!

[BadMojo]

A car, I mean.

I've been looking to get a cheap, that's < $500, beater to use in situations I'd prefer to keep my 240 out of. I live in PA, so this will be a winter car. I don't have a place to garage the 240 yet, but at least I can keep it parked and relatively free of road salt underneath.

Requirements are:

1) Price $500 or less2) Plentiful supply of junkyard parts3) Relatively easy to work on.4) Manual transmission

I don't care how the car looks, since I can get a butt ugly Maaco paint job for $250 if the mood strikes me.

Here's what I'm considering...

1) Found a '79 Volvo...don't know much about them beyond their famous boxy chassis. Hard to find parts?

2) Old 80's Subaru of some kind. Old Subies seem to run like champs, but can I find one that's not held together by rust and sheer determination.

3) Dodge Daytona? I see a million of these things around here. The boneyards must be filled with them.

4) Feel free to add any ideas...

[nissanrcer240]

i would recomend a older honda, for 500 its gonna be almost impossible to find something that has any kind of reliability, unless you get lucky that is....that i know of, hondas are like the easiest cars to find parts for and theyre reliable

edit: and theres a 500 billion of them so theyd be easy to find:)

[Megaseth]

Older ford escort GT. one fun toy. i want to get one just to play around with as a "smash car". paint some numbers on the side, and some racing stripes. :ylsuper

[BadMojo]

These classified ads rock...this dude is quite the salesman.

PLYMOUTH VOYAGER '85$300. It over heats

Sold! LOL

Edit: Errrr...no, not really.

[Onizuka]

an old beat sentra, or an old beat civic.

[BadMojo]

i would recomend a older honda, for 500 its gonna be almost impossible to find something that has any kind of reliability, unless you get lucky that is

I'd be happy with something that started and ran most of the time. My dad's always had good luck with beaters. He had an old Honda with > 150K on it that was unfortunately totalled in an accident. He now has an '89 VW of some kind (looks like a Rabbit, but not) that's been running great. Both were $500 cars.

[zion]

anything made by honda could be considered a beater. lol j/k :pface

[krazy skwerel]

vw scirraco or howevber it is spelled. thats what you need. it might even be what your dad has.

[Megaseth]

scirrico, or somethng like that. cool cars. old VWs with the 16v motor rock. my friends old Jetta GLI was a beast. very quick and rev'd high.

[Onizuka]

i saw a scirraco kick the schnit out of every porche, corvette, and viper at a Solo II autocross event. It was running on the stock motor too.

[BadMojo]

vw scirraco or howevber it is spelled. thats what you need. it might even be what your dad has.

Sirroco? I don't think that's what he has, but that's worth considering. He's pretty good with older VW's.

So far I've found an old '86 'Lude and a '92 Subaru Loyale (with cheese). The Subie "needs work".

I'm not in any real hurry, but I may be switching jobs soon. I don't want to subject my 240 to daily commute and parking in some not so nice areas.

[krazy skwerel]

they are autocross beast's that they are. we got a neat one out at our solo II events as well.

[BadMojo]

i saw a scirraco kick the schnit out of every porche, corvette, and viper at a Solo II autocross event. It was running on the stock motor too.

On a totally non-beater note, someone in my neighborhood has a mint Corrado. Man, I love that car. I believe it's got one of those kick-*** speed sensitive popup spoilers. Mmmm...VR6 Corrado.

[SkillaSX]

Where do you live? Before I decided on getting the 240sx, I checked out a 91 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The guy was selling it for 350!!!!!!! Because he blew the clutch and didn't know anything about cars. The engine turned over on the first turn, the car looked like it was in relatively good condition.

[BadMojo]

Before I decided on getting the 240sx, I checked out a 91 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The guy was selling it for 350!!!!!!! Because he blew the clutch and didn't know anything about cars.

I live in Reading, PA. For that price I'd fix the clutch, sell the car, buy a $500 beater and keep the profits!

[ShadowKnight006]

I recommed the prelude, you'll need front wheel in those pa winters.

[krazy skwerel]

scirraco is fwd that it is, and based of the rabbit.

[Smurf6x6]

Get a older honda. 88 the oldest. Any honda under that would be carborated except for the accords i think. Just remember it will be a beater and you proberly don't want any problems starting it when it's cold out.

[p00t]

if u get a scirocco, i bet u wont treat it as a beater after u get used to it, very cool car.

[Structure240sx]

i live in south jersey and ill sell u my beater for $400. its a 91 celica that runs very strong has a decent dent in the quater panel but needs new brakes all the way around pepboys says. they did them 6 months ago rightbefore i bought and "cant find" the invoice for it

[Get240DiZzY]

Get a Geo Metro. I went to a junkyard here in KS, and half of it was filled with the darn things! LOL.

Actually, an old Honda probly would be the best solution, or you could stick with Nissans and get an old Sentra.

Any necesary repairs on the Volve will cost an arm and a leg, especially on a car that old. Definitly not a cheap car if it has problems.

[Megaseth]

Yeah, old Volvos are hella expensive to fix. go with an old sentra or and ol VW. you'll have lots of fun. or go domestic and get a Ford Escort GT like i suggested.

[Meantime]

Too bad you didn't post two months ago, I just sold my old beater, an '85 Subaru Brat. 4WD, 4-speed manual transmission, got 30 + mpg, had a short bed for utility work, easy as pie to work on (carb), parts are cheap and plentiful, and the engine was as solid as a rock. Not to mention the t-tops and well, the fact that it's a Brat and is neat to begin with.

I almost lament selling it now. It was a good soldier. Think about getting an older Subaru, I highly recommend them for those nasty PA winters. Mine didn't even flinch plowing through the 1.5 feet of snow we got that one day this winter.

[miteymax86]

Yeah, consensus rocks. The older VWs are nice(if you do get a Scirrocco it won't be a beater long, my friend has one, it's good, for FWD) Honda's, the Escort, not recommending the Cavalier although there's tons of 'em around and they are cheap. Had a Tempo for a while and the thing wouldn't die, electrical is crap, between 100 and 145K you can count on replacing the transmission, like a lot of Escorts too, but they're bound to be endless part supplies for it.

[Megaseth]

yeah, you can go to junk yards and find tons of them. and im sure they are cheap.

[BadMojo]

Tempo for a while and the thing wouldn't die, electrical is crap, between 100 and 145K you can count on replacing the transmission, like a lot of Escorts too, but they're bound to be endless part supplies for it.

The auto transmission on my '87 Tempo went out at about 97K miles, and you're right about the electrical system being complete poo.

I'm definitely leaning towards an older Subaru or a VW. A 4WD vehicle would definitely be a plus.

I left a message about the Loyale but no response yet, and it turns out that the old Prelude was auto.

I'm not in a big hurry.

[krazy skwerel]

old prelude si's are fuel injected. get yourself an 86 prlude si they look so cool, 2.0 liter engine and are oh so cheap.

[AkademikONE]

get a 89-92 CRX, and just slap in a b16

[Zaxx84]

Get an old Suburu, or something all wheel drive. Great in the winter and fun in the summer.

[Megaseth]

krazy skwerel has the idea. an 86 prelude Si. they do look pretty cool and you can find them for pretty cheap. and you could rice it out since its just a beater.