Beater Cars. Whats best?
 

Throwing it out there. Gonna get a beater car for winter here in Vancouver to get me up the hills and down to Baker etc. Needs to be reliable, economical on gas and cheap(ish), like under $2000. Happy to use chains so 4wd isn't on the cards.

Vehicles are a bit different here in North America compared to the southern hemisphere (where i'm originally from) so keen to hear what's good and bad.

What experiences have people had with different models and car makers? Especially for older cheap rides.

Also any horror and/or total asswipe-misery-vehicle stories be good too!

Thx

being that you are in van there should be alot of stolen civics for sale in the surrey area. if none of those are available i would look at the ford focus. i usually drive gmc products but the focus was a very good car.

Subarus are good, as are toyotas like the tercel 4wd. they are everywhere and decent in snow and alright gas mileage. wagons hold all you need.

if thats not your cup of tea. any front wheel drive car will work good. get snow tires and bring chains with you.

get a honda

Haha, awesome! Mm, yeh ford focus size is nice too. Liking hatchbacks as well

A lot of the older Hondas I see look shit... rust etc

something AWD...

Eagle Talon / Mitsubishi Eclipse TSi or whatever they were called (old ones, not new ones).

Can find those for pretty cheap and I think they're pretty reliable.

2001 or earlier Audi A4 (I have a 2004) you could probably get for 2-3k, great in snow. Maintenance a little more expensive, but if you take care of them they last forever.

he said a beater car. i wouldnt put audi in that lineup

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...609544338.html now thats a beater haha

Yeh, Tsi a bit low to the ground for my liking too. Still not convinced I need AWD/4WD either, uses more gas and drive train can get expensive if it needs work.

I had a Toyota Caldina 4WD in NZ. It was good but a little big for city driving and felt like I was wasting power on spinning all four wheels...

1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 now thats a beater haha[/QUOTE]

sick! lol 321,000 kms! :thumbsup: