WTB: A Cheapish Car

[SDKmann]

My grandma was hit yesterday by some lady who slid on some ice and ran a red light. My grandma is ok, she has a minor case of whiplash, but she needs a car. Her 95ish honda accord was hit in the side and is totaled (Thank God, I hated that car). My grandma doesnt have a lot of money and is currently driving a rental car to get around. I havnt even talked to her yet about things so I dont know what her plans are or how much she could spend, I just know that if she could buy something it would have to be pretty cheap. Heres where I come in, after the accident my mom said a few times that I should go find my grandma a car. I dont want to put her into another sh!tbox car that she will have to dump money into every month to keep it up. I think this car will be temporary since she is going to get married and will probably have a new car after that (this could work out for me since if its a cool cheap car I might get it after shes done with it :D ). So with that said does anyone know of or have a cheap car they would like to get rid of? I remember someone (kevin?) with a barn full of MKI GTIs, I dont know if any of em run but I know she would think it was "cute". MKIIIs seem fairly reliable and from what Ive heard the parts are pretty cheap so that may be a ideal option too. Really I dont think it matters too much as long as its not a wreck and its reliable. And like I said before I dont know what her budget is or if she would even want to do something like this but I thought I would try to get a feeler on whats out there for her anyways. Thanks for the help guys.

[OrangeDUB]

Get her a cavalier with the 2.2L motor. I can tell you from experience that it was the most dependable car I've owned and it was the best on gas mileage (35mpg)

[SirRangeALot]

My gf is trying to sell her 99 Z24 Cavalier... $3000

[63ragtop]

give her the TI and make your parents by you a 1 series

[1FastB5]

if you love your grandma don't put her in a cavilier

[SirRangeALot]

if you love your grandma don't put her in a cavilier

You stay outta this! :nono: :laugh:

[DSV]

My gf is trying to sell her 99 Z24 Cavalier... $3000

I had a Z24 once. Head gasket/water pump failure is imminent and takes about 8-10 hours to replace at a shop and around $800. If its a 5-speed, the Isuzu trannies aren't the greatest. My gear synchros started slipping on me with a 3 month old clutch and I ended up trading it off before it got worse.

I'd say look for an older Corolla, like 93-97. Those things are tanks.

[Dubjetta///]

I'd say look for an older Corolla, like 93-97. Those things are tanks.

x2 my mom has only owned corolla's and none of them has had problems.

[twooly]

if you love your grandma don't put her in a cavilier

:word: I hated both the cavy's I had

[MurA1]

My gf is trying to sell her 99 Z24 Cavalier... $3000

A good car at a decent price too!! I sometimes miss the ease of maintenance with my old Z. It was a 93 Z so it had the v6, but could get close to 30 mpg on the hiway.

[SirRangeALot]

If its a 5-speed, the Isuzu trannies aren't the greatest. My gear synchros started slipping on me with a 3 month old clutch and I ended up trading it off before it got worse.

It's an auto.

[SDKmann]

It's an auto.

Ill tell her about it. I kinda wanted to get her something euro so my mech could work on it for free/cheap and so I could play with it after she was done but Ill mention it to her.

[SirRangeALot]

I got to thinking as I was driving it around today, it is a 2-door, so I'm not sure if it would be easy for her to get in and out of a coupe. :tu:

[SDKmann]

Yeah that probably wont do, she just had a knee replaced. I didnt think about that...

[SirRangeALot]

Yeah that probably wont do, she just had a knee replaced. I didnt think about that...

Ouch...yeah, that definitely won't work.

[mshimon]

Is some kind of old audi gonna do? I have no idea of maintenance on those things, but if it is anything like old BMWs then..........

[SDKmann]

Is some kind of old audi gonna do? I have no idea of maintenance on those things, but if it is anything like old BMWs then..........

Well old BMWs and old rare high strung and performance oriented M cars with a insatiable appetite for cash are two different things :p . The difference between going American vs. Euro is that maintenance would be cheap/free and if it was a BMW parts would be very cheap. The only problem with a BMW is that my grandma cant drive as it is and a RWD car is the last thing she needs. What she needs is something like a 716ix but unfortunately they didnt make such an idea vehicle.

[Fick]

Does she live in Des Moines? Something like this happened downtown.

[SDKmann]

Nope D-port. I dont think the accident was anything too horrific, that damn honda was totaled before it was even hit.

[mshimon]

what about an old E30 325ix? there is your awd cute fuel sipper. How can you get cheap/free bmw parts? Also, when she gets her new car, you can have this one to play with.

[SDKmann]

Yeah that would be sweet if I could ever find one. And I may or may not have a hook up at the local dealership here...

[mshimon]

My friend's dad, who is also my friend, loves the old E30s. He has a few ix's around, i'm pretty sure. They can't be that hard to find, how much you thinking she's gonna spend?

[SDKmann]

Im not 100% sure. BTW Im also thinking about picking up a E30 and the guy in Wever hasnt emailed me back.... any chance your friend has a few manual coupes lying around?

[turboA4]

HEY!!! i found one for you....

http://forums.projektgerman.com/showthread.php?t=3247

[SDKmann]

:rolleyes: Lol..... I wish. Grandma would be rollin in style!

[da9tegra]

there was a pretty nice looking older Pearl White 4dr Audi for sale in fairfield a while back, sat right off the highway for quite a while, I think the wanted $3K for it but I don't remember really, I may swing by there and look again. I would say it would of made a good daily driver type of car, was real clean looking. I am pretty sure it was a quattro as well so the 4wheeldrive would be a plus

[acollicott]

I think I saw the car you were talking about. It was a 1996 A6 Quattro. I go by there just about every day on my way to work, but it has not been out there for a while now.

[wood_e]

There's a Saab 900s here in ames for $300/bo with only a bad master cylinder...

[SDKmann]

Thanks for the help guys, she ended up skipping the rental car and cheap car steps though and buying a Lexus. Don't ask me how that happened. Thanks for the help though.