small cars, which one is the best bang for your buck?
02-07-2012, 09:55 PM
#16
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Model: Cherokee
For sure different but that's what make them great.
Yes the parts have gone up but i still find them cheaper than most other cars to fix. They're so basic that instead of replacing some computer or complicated part it would be a basic part that is easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Off topic but good to see an air-cooled fan here and one that's had a type 3. I have (so far) a '74 beetle and a '72 squareback (man is that one hard to find parts for).
Yes the parts have gone up but i still find them cheaper than most other cars to fix. They're so basic that instead of replacing some computer or complicated part it would be a basic part that is easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Off topic but good to see an air-cooled fan here and one that's had a type 3. I have (so far) a '74 beetle and a '72 squareback (man is that one hard to find parts for).
1 of my busses is extremely rare, a non walk through, automatic with 3 full rows of bench seats, the middle is a full & not a 3/4 seat. another was a factory adventure wagon with hightop, & a couple are pop top campers, 1 followed the dead on tour.
what I used to want was a panel squareback. now thats rare, they made them 2 different ways, 1 with metal panels in place of glass with clips, & the other was metal solid. today manufactures use metal with clips, I know of a dodge minivan factory panel with metal instead of windows, & knew a guy with a Pontiac Transport factory panel.
now I am trying something new, & just bought my first 4wd, a 96 Cherokee, & reading & trying to learn.
02-07-2012, 10:03 PM
#17
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Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
first generation Plymouth, Dodge Neons, relatively cheap, $500 to $1,000 cars, decent mileage, & lots of goodies available. can be made quite fast. I been into & out of the scene for years, owned quite a few different ones, & have owned both SOHC & DOHC versions. still have 2 & a parts car, but dont drive them presently, got tired of them.
the early 95 models are different, the ones made in "1994", however the regular 95, still is different from the 96 to 99. earlier 95s have different PVC systems, valve covers, & different bearing tang locations when you build the engine, plus the earlier cars were 4 lug, the later were 5 lug wheels, different brakes, diffent steering wheel, the 96 to 99 uses a "clutch pack" the 95 uses a normal clutch. the 96-99 has a flexplate like automatic cars, but the clutch pack bolts to it same as a torque converter. once you get through the learning curve, they can be quite fun, & a depending on gearing you could get low 30mpg to upper 30mpg the tall gear pushes 40mpg, & thats stock.the lower gear will get 32 or so mpg.
the early 95 models are different, the ones made in "1994", however the regular 95, still is different from the 96 to 99. earlier 95s have different PVC systems, valve covers, & different bearing tang locations when you build the engine, plus the earlier cars were 4 lug, the later were 5 lug wheels, different brakes, diffent steering wheel, the 96 to 99 uses a "clutch pack" the 95 uses a normal clutch. the 96-99 has a flexplate like automatic cars, but the clutch pack bolts to it same as a torque converter. once you get through the learning curve, they can be quite fun, & a depending on gearing you could get low 30mpg to upper 30mpg the tall gear pushes 40mpg, & thats stock.the lower gear will get 32 or so mpg.
02-07-2012, 10:04 PM
#18
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Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
1984 to 1987 Toyota Corolla SR-5 or GTS, chassis code AE86. I had 3 and loved them. Stupid easy to work on, 2 door coupe, rear wheel drive. The SR5s were 1.6L SOHC 8 valve carbbed motors, could be had with a 5 speed or auto, the GTS was a 1.6L DOHC 16v EFI motor 5 speed only. Most of the GTS' had LSD rear ends, all had 4 wheel disc brakes, and pretty quick cars. Mine would smoke the tires through 3rd gear and would run away from Golf GTIs and Miatas on twisty mountain roads. The first gen MR-2s have the same motors. Very reliable cars and fun as hell to drive. Can be had on the cheap too. But they are getting hard to find.
thing was fast as hell.
02-08-2012, 07:04 AM
#19
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Model: Cherokee
around here a first gen neon could be had for $500 to $1000 pretty easily, less if it needs a little work. I have seen so many for sale while looking for a 4wd in the last year.
I know I would let either of my 2 go for under $1,000 as well. both need a little work, but technically could be driven home as is. depending how far a person lived. 1 I used to drive routinely to see a lady I dated in Alexandria, 600 mile round trip, but that was 9 years ago. I met my wife 8 years ago, & it has been parked for 3 years when the cone air filter came off. I do crank them a few times a year, & let them warm up. I do have a guy offering me a 96 blazer for both, but he is a friend & really needs the blazer more than the car, he weighs around 600lbs, the blazer is his second car. for him the neon would be hard to get in & out of.
there are a few known problems, but are easy to fix. for example, mysterious water leak inside car, comes from tail light seals, jumping speedometer needle, is caused by cold solder joints & you have to re-solder a few posts on the circuit board. a decent maintained Neon, no abused can go 300,000 miles, but the original head gaskets did give problems, usually leaking oil, & some of the earlier ones were the same style replacement. look around over at neons.org I think thats right, not been over there in a few years.
02-08-2012, 09:37 AM
#20
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Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6 firepower ignition, cat-back w/ magnaflow muffler, poweraid tb spacer, optima blue top
my fasty is an automatic, but has a bus tranny, a little lower gearing, but could be fun if I put it back on the road, but it need rings, & brakes. maybe 1 day. right now I am tired of the VW scene. just like the Neon scene. but I have quite a stash of parts. lol.
1 of my busses is extremely rare, a non walk through, automatic with 3 full rows of bench seats, the middle is a full & not a 3/4 seat. another was a factory adventure wagon with hightop, & a couple are pop top campers, 1 followed the dead on tour.
what I used to want was a panel squareback. now thats rare, they made them 2 different ways, 1 with metal panels in place of glass with clips, & the other was metal solid. today manufactures use metal with clips, I know of a dodge minivan factory panel with metal instead of windows, & knew a guy with a Pontiac Transport factory panel.
now I am trying something new, & just bought my first 4wd, a 96 Cherokee, & reading & trying to learn.
1 of my busses is extremely rare, a non walk through, automatic with 3 full rows of bench seats, the middle is a full & not a 3/4 seat. another was a factory adventure wagon with hightop, & a couple are pop top campers, 1 followed the dead on tour.
what I used to want was a panel squareback. now thats rare, they made them 2 different ways, 1 with metal panels in place of glass with clips, & the other was metal solid. today manufactures use metal with clips, I know of a dodge minivan factory panel with metal instead of windows, & knew a guy with a Pontiac Transport factory panel.
now I am trying something new, & just bought my first 4wd, a 96 Cherokee, & reading & trying to learn.
Just kidding.The vw scene is still kinda new to me, only been into it a couple years. I especially enjoy seeing the more rare models.
02-08-2012, 11:25 AM
#21
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Originally Posted by juice12292
so, im looking in a 1-2k dollar range for a car, im mechanically inclined so if its a p.o.s. it doesnt bother me. that being said what is the best small car, thats fuel efficient, but is also decently fast and you can do a decent amount of aftermarket stuff to them? im trying to stay domestic but im flexible. i was thinking of maybe getting a chevy cavalier z24 for 1500, its in good shape, but i dont know how fast it is and i dont want something with a 0-60 of 12 seconds. my jeeps pretty fast and its all stock so something as fast would be nice.
02-12-2012, 07:49 AM
#22
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Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Get a honda crx hf i had one it got 44mpg average. And when you get sick of the factory gearing that lets you do 90 in second gear just put an si trany in still get like 32 and it will actualy move, not fast but it will move lol. The old single cams are harder to hurt the a 4 liter in my opinion. I have a 90 hatch 298k changed the t belt when i got it thats it other then oil changes.
02-22-2012, 09:22 PM
#24
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Year: 1989
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Im going to go with a first gen neon, ive owned 3 and have never had any real problems them. Hell i had bought a DOHC with a blown head gasket and still smoked a Honda civic "vtec" on the way home 
Like kps said if taken care of they can run for a long time. My 2 door with a bored throttle body, full exhaust, mopar ecu, and cold air intake would keep up with fox body mustangs all day long. Another thing to watch with them is water neck where the thermostat is is made of plastic and known to crack. I do miss the days when $10 would take me 100 miles. O and parts are cheap
Like kps said if taken care of they can run for a long time. My 2 door with a bored throttle body, full exhaust, mopar ecu, and cold air intake would keep up with fox body mustangs all day long. Another thing to watch with them is water neck where the thermostat is is made of plastic and known to crack. I do miss the days when $10 would take me 100 miles. O and parts are cheap
02-23-2012, 10:15 PM
#25
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Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I agree with the civic. I sold my 96 civic ex to buy an 03 focus because it had ac and 70000 less miles. If I could go back id slap myself hard for doing that. When it comes to hondas, you can almost find aftermarket parts in the trash there's so many. And to be honest, there not at all expensive to work on. I think the most money I put in mine was new tires lol.
02-24-2012, 03:12 AM
#26
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Year: 1996
Engine: 4.0L HO
1984 to 1987 Toyota Corolla SR-5 or GTS, chassis code AE86. I had 3 and loved them. Stupid easy to work on, 2 door coupe, rear wheel drive. The SR5s were 1.6L SOHC 8 valve carbbed motors, could be had with a 5 speed or auto, the GTS was a 1.6L DOHC 16v EFI motor 5 speed only. Most of the GTS' had LSD rear ends, all had 4 wheel disc brakes, and pretty quick cars. Mine would smoke the tires through 3rd gear and would run away from Golf GTIs and Miatas on twisty mountain roads. The first gen MR-2s have the same motors. Very reliable cars and fun as hell to drive. Can be had on the cheap too. But they are getting hard to find.
Those 4A-GE are hard to kill though. My buddy has a MK1 MR2 with 349,000 miles and it runs excellent.
02-24-2012, 09:03 AM
#27
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Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I'll throw my hat into the ring on this one. You also can't go wrong with a VW Golf/Jetta 84-99 5-spd 8v cars. They run forever, easy and cheap to fix. This was a major factor when I I decided to get into Jeep Cherokees. I found them to be the American Truck equivalent and I was right. Love both!
02-24-2012, 09:54 AM
#28
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Year: 1989
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I'll throw my hat into the ring on this one. You also can't go wrong with a VW Golf/Jetta 84-99 5-spd 8v cars. They run forever, easy and cheap to fix. This was a major factor when I I decided to get into Jeep Cherokees. I found them to be the American Truck equivalent and I was right. Love both!
