beater car suggestions?

timaishu

timaishu

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Me and my brother want to learn to drive stick and we were thinking of going halves on a cheap beater we can learn on and then get rid of once we got it and are bored of the car.

Was thinking of trying to stay around 1-1.5k. I am of course limited to what I can find locally, but do you guys have any ideas of what would be a good choice if I can find it..? I really don't care what it is. So far we found a 1992 tercel with 180k. He wants 1k for it. Looks relatively clean for what it is.

Toyota tercel

Any other thoughts of what we ought to look for?
 
even for $1000 that's too beat up. keep looking and good luck...
 
Doesn't take long to learn. How about renting.
Payed a driving school to teach ex wife..
 
It really does not matter what you spend as long as you can turn around and sell it for what you have in it or more.
That being said unfortunately most people don't want stick shift cars. If you want to buy/drive/detail and resell I recommend a Wrangler. You might spend 5 to 7 grand, but you won't lose money when you go to sell, and if it's a 6cly stick it's desirable to most Jeep enthusiasts.
 
Keep in mind a car that old is going have a rough clutch to learn on and may be on its way out if it still the original. You guys could easly burn it out in an afternoon.

My favorite part of the ad "paint 80% good" - um no, I'd think so. Little did the seller know we'd be looking at it.
 
Before I clicked on this thread, my suggestion would have been Tercel/Corolla. $1000 is a good price. Cheap to fix, easy to work on, and should be a non interference motor. Both of our kids had a Corolla. My sons girlfriend just got one for $1500, no rust. Heat and A/C work great.
 
Looks like you are on the right track. Something small and reliable. Tercel, Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Honda Civic. Or alternately, a Ford F150 or Bronco.

Don't worry too much about the condition of the car. But, as Angus said, pay close attention to the clutch. First of all, learning on a good clutch is a LOT easier. Also, If you burn that out on a car that cheap, all your investment will be gone. You'll only be able to sell it for parts. And it can be burnt out in a week or two by stick shift newbies if it's already in bad condition.

The way you check a clutch is that it should have a fairly distinct spot in the pedal travel where it engages quickly. If you know anything about guns, it's the equivalent of a good trigger that 'breaks like glass' without any trigger creep. A worn clutch will engage somewhat gradually or engage when the pedal is almost all the way out. I assume you'll have someone who knows how to drive stick check that out before you buy.

Btw, a clutch replacement typically costs $800-1500.

I think, if you shop around, you're going to see that $1000 either gets you something that looks terrible but runs ok, or something that looks ok but has a lot of issues. If you can scrape together $3000 you'll have better options. But you'll still need to be careful. As MPBGT said, if you're not keeping it long and don't destroy the clutch, you should be able to get your money back out of it. Hell, if you detail it, you might make a tidy profit.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

1-1.5k really is my max, as I don't make all that much money as I work part time and go to school. Idea is to learn on something cheap, then sell it and save up for a new used car down the line. I wouldn't have any plans on keeping it for more than a few months Id imagine, so I really don't see a point going beyond that as my Altima is and will remain my dd.

As for renting vs buying.. I thought of that that, but I imagine it would be more practical to own it, so I could kind get used to it? Maybe take it out a few days a week until I am confident I got it down then try and resell.

I do have a friend who drives a stick currently for the last few years, idea was to bring him along to test drive and tell me if anything seems off.
 
amongst the cars you've listed, as much as it pains me to avoid an older Honda...i'd go with that Corolla.

if you are super handy...that Civic could be a better investment overall as it could be "restored" more or less to something worth MUCH more than what you'll buy it for, but for immediate use and resale as-is...i'd go Corolla.

the Nova ad is NLA but i would have liked to see that car. they are basically Corollas.
 
builthatch said:
amongst the cars you've listed, as much as it pains me to avoid an older Honda...i'd go with that Corolla.

if you are super handy...that Civic could be a better investment overall as it could be "restored" more or less to something worth MUCH more than what you'll buy it for, but for immediate use and resale as-is...i'd go Corolla.

the Nova ad is NLA but i would have liked to see that car. they are basically Corollas.
Click to expand...

Yeah he just took it down awhile ago. It was really clean, actually kinda bummed as its a neat looking hatchback with white paint and black steelies, looked slick honestly.

It looked just like this one.

1986+Chevrolet+Nova+Wagon.+-+2.jpg


Anyways while were on the subject.

I came across this

C4/1991 Corvette *OBO*

Aghhhh its beautiful. This is the combo of colors (red paint, tan interior, stick shift, targa, low miles)and car I am hoping to save up for next year, this would be IT if I had the money. But student loans come first. Darn.
 
Saabs are either a nightmare or they'll run forever. There was a guy in my area who had Million Mile Saab. He put over a million miles on one, and Saab gave him a new one as a PR stunt. As much as I'd say avoid a car with high miles, that one might be a good choice. The owner obviously has taken care of it. Plus, Saabs are just really fun to drive. Altho I see now it has a salvage title. Not sure what's up with that. But worth asking about.
 
brettS4 said:
Saabs are either a nightmare or they'll run forever. There was a guy in my area who had Million Mile Saab. He put over a million miles on one, and Saab gave him a new one as a PR stunt. As much as I'd say avoid a car with high miles, that one might be a good choice. The owner obviously has taken care of it. Plus, Saabs are just really fun to drive.
Click to expand...

i was going to say the same thing but i refrained because i have experience having a strange older vehicle that had way more relatives in terms of parts than that Saab and even with that fact, it was still sometimes hard to find certain parts. if i was lucky, i'd find some weird closeout on Rock Auto or something. but that might not be an issue with Saabs, not sure.

i know that issue kept me from getting a SWEET 1982 VW Quantum wagon! it was mint, 55k miles...and parts were IMPOSSIBLE to find so i stayed away.
 
brettS4 said:
Saabs are either a nightmare or they'll run forever. There was a guy in my area who had Million Mile Saab. He put over a million miles on one, and Saab gave him a new one as a PR stunt. As much as I'd say avoid a car with high miles, that one might be a good choice. The owner obviously has taken care of it. Plus, Saabs are just really fun to drive. Altho I see now it has a salvage title. Not sure what's up with that. But worth asking about.
Click to expand...

Yeah that was my concern as well in regards to salvage title and mileage. But the saab would be more "interesting" than the other two I think. Right now I have sent an email out about the mazda as there is no number listed that I saw; its the "newest" with lowest miles for its age. My 05 Altima has the same miles and its 12 years newer. The stanza ad was taken down.
 
Not to dissuade you, but at one point every member of my family owned a Mazda of that era. Now none of us own a Mazda and never will again. But I also realize you only plan to keep the car a few months. Reliability isn't as important as resale potential.

And for the record, the mazdas were fun to drive. They just didn't last long. Mine blew a head gasket without warning on Christmas Day leaving me stranded 100 miles from relatives. I think it was possessed.
 
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