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Good cheap daily driver all year round?


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I'm in no hurry to buy this, but I do pizza delivery for pizza hut and in the spring I plan on buying a car that costs up to about 4500 for year round driving and just having liability insurance on it. I am looking at Audi A4 Quattro 96-98 and VW GTI. What are some other decent cars to drive in snow? This would also be my daily driver to and from school. I am selling the celica and I'm buying a 300zx TT to work on while at school.
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Eclipse GSX, clean 2g's go in that price range and despite what people will tell you they are reliable cars when taken care of and not dogged on.

 

I paid $4k for my Pathfinder, not ideal on gas mileage but it's reliable, 4wd, and can haul all kinds of shit.

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+1. i had a 03 elantra that i bought new when delivering pizza...delivered for a couple years in it (50k miles) with not a single problem. with appropriate tires, i never had a problem in snow. it was a very reliable car, so much im thinking about picking up another to do the daily duties.

 

and being that theyre a dime a dozen, you can get em cheap...i was finding them for 3k last time i looked w/ about 80k miles...if the prev owner didnt do the scheduled maintenence (timing belt, etc at 60k) and the motor takes a shit on you, theyre cheap as fuck. i got one for 350 shipped to blacklick and it had 27k miles...oil pan all the way to intake manifold. 300 to rutanTA to drop it in and i had a "newer" car for <700$

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I did pizza delivery for a couple years, if you do it full time and always work the busy hours you can make good money, I made around $28K+ for one year. Don't forget, if you do it full time most all car maintenance is tax deductible!!

 

 

Is a turbo swap consider maintenance?

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honda civic, accord

acura integra

toyota camry, corolla

mitsubishi lancer

nissan sentra, altima

 

all should be more than reliable, good gas milage, and great in the snow.

 

if you want something with some pep

civic si, prelude, sentra ser

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You can pick up an 88' Toyota Corolla GTS that's immaculate for around 2,000. I'm not shitting you, they run forever and the gas mileage is amazing. It's FWD and has the High-comp redtop 4AGE motor in it(rated at about 140bhp), so it's still a blast to drive. And best part is, it's a Toyota :).
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Civics (etc) suck in bad weather.. they're just too light. They drive on top of the snow instead of weighing down into the pavement. Joe not to be biased but you could get a nice svx for that cost with ~70k miles and no problems. They're a very inexpensive luxury/sports car good for year round driving. They only get like 20mpg though.. anyways, just an option. www.subaru-svx.net

 

Light cars are definitely not fun in the snow. My g/f got stuck on some snow last night in her Ion. It just sat on the ice and stuck there. She had to dig from underneath. My Ford Probe would slide across the rode if the wind blew too hard.

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IMHO only good suggestion I've seen so far has been the mid to late 90's Subaru Impreza.

 

I own a DSM and an Audi, so I can suggest not getting either of these cars. You can run into maintenance problems with the A4. Completely stock, very well taken car of 2g's have been know to crank walk. There's an inherent problem in those engines that make them more prone to crank walk that has little to do with mods except for the clutch. At that point you have a shell that's not worth a whole lot with an engine that's relatively expensive to replace.

 

The Subaru should be rock solid, get good gas mileage, and be in your price range.

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Find a decent Geo Prizm. Most people don't know that it's a rebadged Toyota Corolla. I've got one and it's the best car (for the money) I've ever bought. 187K miles on it, AT, AC, cruise, paid $700 for it, runs like a champ, and looks good, too... :nod:
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haha damn ^ Maintenance won't be a problem since I could do most of it myself. BTW not many people understand that delivery brings in good money for a high school or in college job. I average like 35-40 in tips every night and make 6.85 an hr.

 

Don't get too ahead of yourself. A lot of kids that come out of UTI or wherever you're going think they get out and they know everything about cars, just fyi.

 

I used to deliver pizza's when I was in high school, making 7.20 per hour/1.00 per run/averaging 40.00 cash in tips a night. I drove an '88 Nissan Stanza GXE and that thing ran like a top. Wish I still had it.

 

Once, two days before Christmas a church gave me a $480.00 check to "show me Jesus' love." Was out of our delivery area, two people skipped the run and one lady was crying when I got back and showed everyone the check. ROFL

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Find a decent Geo Prizm. Most people don't know that it's a rebadged Toyota Corolla. I've got one and it's the best car (for the money) I've ever bought. 187K miles on it, AT, AC, cruise, paid $700 for it, runs like a champ, and looks good, too... :nod:

 

true story :thumbup:

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Light cars are definitely not fun in the snow. My g/f got stuck on some snow last night in her Ion. It just sat on the ice and stuck there. She had to dig from underneath. My Ford Probe would slide across the rode if the wind blew too hard.

 

Light weight cars are fine (and even quite fun) in the snow, as are all cars with the right tires.

 

Ford Probe: not a light car.

 

Though, the best two handling cars I've had in the snow were my 1989 Mazda 626 w/Goodyear Integrity tires (all season) and my 1990 Subaru legacy FWD w/Integrity tires as well. They would drive where I wanted them, and when I pull the hand brake, both would do just what I wanted them to. Of coures, if you pay $4000 for either of those cars, that's a bit much, so you might not be looking for something this old...

 

Biggest things I've found to be advantagous in my winter driving expiriences is the tires and having a manuel tranny. To hell with autotragics.

 

Both cars were phenominal delivery vehicles as well, as I was delivering Pizza full time back then. Very affordable maintenance and reliable. 25+MPG.

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Light weight cars are fine (and even quite fun) in the snow, as are all cars with the right tires.

 

Ford Probe: not a light car.

 

 

app. 2900lbs. That was my pizza delivery car, it did ok in snow in the middle of nowhere. However, I had good tires. I consider them light. Definitely lighter then my cougar. Then again, it's no miata. I saw one of those the other day in that snow storm... funny.

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Yeah, it's lighter than the Couger, but not a light car by my book. Suppose it's a matter of oppinion and year, even. For it's day, I still wouldn't consider it a light car.

 

I don't drive the Miata in the winter unless I'm working on the beater for a day, or something big breaks, but when I bought it, my legacy had just been 'totaled' by that dickless piece of shit, hit-run muther....well, we all know how we feel about that type...but anyway, the MX-5 was then my only running car for a couple months and was on balding summer tires, but did just fine in the snow. You cannot gun it or take a corner like you can in the dry, but it handles just fine in the snow, just don't be dumb. Ice is another story, but that's true no matter what car you're in.

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