For a beater car, Im going to start saving for all the crap for my car, and ill need to budget in a crappy car. I need a couple opinions.
I can get a Chevy Turbo Sprint 5 speed for 500$ mabye less, but its smokes a little bit, but otherwise runs great, sounds like the turbos about to take a shit, or is it possible for the drain line to be clogged like ours? its white, and has some exterior paint damage and rust starting, nothing extreme tho, sound like an ok car?

Nother is a early to mid 80's Chevy Celebrity Wagon thats blue with red trim and a 2.5 4 Banger, its just beein sitting and it looks in ok condition, what would be a good asking price for it?

I was also just thinking for shits and giggles an 80s Dodge caravan to beat the hell out of, but i have no clue on reilabity of those.

Any other susgestions of beater cars i should look out for?

With the talk of gas going up to $3.50 to $4.00 per GALLON this summer...I am looking for a 4 banger myself. Kinda wished I kept that POS Celica ST I had a couple years ago. 34-36 MPG depending on what I held as a cruising speed.

Honestly when it comes to a beater car...keeping the drivetrain under you without issue is the important part for me. I give a shit who makes it or how it looks...I want a solid drivetrain to get me from A to B and back without worry.

To me the best gas economizer and best reliability is a Honda and then Toyota made car. I hear the GEO Metro's are ok in the reliability respect...but I do like at least a semi quiet cabin to drive in. From my understanding a Metro is like driving and enclosed roller skate. Real wabbley and NOISEY as shit on the inside.

Just my $ .02! ;) :laugh:

yea i didnt think a Spint/Metro would be a high class quality vehicle, lol, but i duno what to get, i like that celebrity, lol but is the Duke a reliable engine?

Low mileage Quad 4 GTZ Beretta....

Change the head gaskets, take care of it, and you are set.  Good looking car, they are quite fun to drive, handle damn good, and 30+ MPG easy. 

One guy over on the Beretta boards has a Turbo one, you can't beat 13.5s, driving the car in and out, getting 37 MPG :)  :icon_eek:  :willy_nilly:

I need somthing cheap in the 4-500$ range lol, i may go for the little turbo sprint, ill drive it and see if I like it, im nto skilled at driving a stick  :icon_neutral:

If it's your daily driver/beater you'll learn to drive a stick fast.

You need yourself one of these:  :icon_mrgreen:

Those are the coolest little things, Susuki Samari right?

I would probly go with the Celebrity. The 4 bangers are pretty good on economy, They only have 2 problems. The exhaust manifold likes to crack if you romp on it alot, and the Tranny TCC solenoid likes to go out. But they are cheap to fix, and only takes about 1 hour to do.. Either that or shop around for a OLD VW diesel. Cant beat 58 MPG (thats what my VW Rabbit Caddy pickup got).

Quote from: pontiac6ksteawd on April 10, 2006, 10:51:01 AM
I would probly go with the Celebrity. The 4 bangers are pretty good on economy, They only have 2 problems. The exhaust manifold likes to crack if you romp on it alot, and the Tranny TCC solenoid likes to go out. But they are cheap to fix, and only takes about 1 hour to do.. Either that or shop around for a OLD VW diesel. Cant beat 58 MPG (thats what my VW Rabbit Caddy pickup got).

Thanks for the reply! I wasnt quite sure about those celebrities

Or get an older 2.2 Cavalier, failly reliable, parts are cheap and plentiful. Decent on gas and its a bit more roomy than a Metro.

I dont know where you are at, but I could sell you a 88 Celeb with a v-6 fairly cheap.. Needs minor work, but runs out good..

One of the things I hate about the new forums, you never know where anyone is at!!

Washington, but im super sure im getting this Turbo Sprint, im going to test drive it here in a couple days

Get one that has a lot of parts to choose from at the J/Y. Then you can get what you need to make it a good A to B car. I did a Ford LTD (1985 year) just because the yard near me is always littered with them :icon_lol: nobody wants to fix or sell them and there is thousands of them.  good mileage too for a 3.8 V-6, and roomy and built like a tank.

Well the Sprint is a no go, i drove it, and it was great at first...then the oil light came on and it started to knock HORIBLY and i checked the oil...there was none on the dipstick....we put a few quarts in and it still knocked, so unless he gives it to me im not getting it. Fun little car tho...

Well im going to look at my uncles 88 Mazda 323, its a 5 speed and its got 320k on it, but i guess all he said is "It needs a new head" so i dunno, hes a duche, so im thinkin mabye the timing belt broke and he didnt know its non-interference and his friend told him the valves were all bent and he needed a new head, or it overheated and warped, or it blew a head gasket, ill found out sunday

EDIT: only has 155k