I'm picking up an early 90's saturn ls2 tomorrow, or ls1. Heck if I can remember. Pretty decent shape with the bells and whistles, 100k miles, 5 speed, and its mainly all plastic which means no rust. Oh, and I got it for 300 dollars. Keep on looking man, you'll find a heck of a deal. Lots of these little cars are running around and going for cheap mainly because teenagers think they're ugly (and therefore their image suffers).

 

Thank you sir for posting what you did. I sortive wanted to stay diesel but totaly forgot about Mercedes.

Is there a specific year/model I should be looking for? Easy to fix/parts avaliable?

 

Yea I heard Saturns are good little cars aswell. And your right about the kids thinking their ugly. I know when I was younger I sure as heck wouldn't of wanted a little beater. But now I realy don't care. Im all about staying efficient and saving money for the bigger picture.

 

Back in the days before Diesel... I crashed my 79 F150 BAD! I didn't really NEED a truck at that point in my life. We scored a '87 Corolla Auto from a tranny shop for $1200.

It didn't do anything stellar, but did everything I asked of it well. It had over 300K when we got rid of it, and saw it driving around at least a year later.

Later on Sister had an '89. It wasn't as reliable (electrical gremlin) and didn't drive as well.

I'd still readily recommend a Corolla!

Most fun little car I ever got to drive was an '85 Honda CRX. But you'd be very lucky to find one of those that hasn't had the snot run out of it.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention my last beater I had was a 91 Mazda Protege. Pretty stout little 1.8 something or other, with an auto. Got 26mpg with a gas leak, had decent pick-up, and was pretty nimble. FAR from a sports car but the **** thing was so small and light that you couldn't help but have fun with it sometimes. Ended up selling it because the whole b-pillar rotted off the drivers door and the door just wasn't worth replacing. That, and I just wasn't interested in replacing all the ball joints it needed (PO didn't maintain it well).

 

i am in the market for a little car or truck also. I had a geo prizm it was an awesome little car and was all toyota corolla just had geo on it the parts interchanged and everything think it was a 91. I would say go with a little nissan or toyota truck though thats what i am looking. It will only get you about 25-28mpg but you can haul stuff which is improtant to me.

 

I live in MN too and I have been driving a 93 Accord as a commuter rig for the past year or so. These cars are extremely reliable, super easy to get parts for and extremely common so they are relatively cheap. If you are looking at only spending $1000 this is the route I recommend. Civics are great too - but they actually seem to bring more money than these Accords. I average 27 mpg all the time -and on the highway it is 31 or 32. Corollas are great too - if you can find one that isn't a complete basket case in your price range.

 

I think I found the car im going to pickup. A 90' Corolla. Waiting for a call back from the owner.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/car/473915227.html

 

Id go for it, you could probably get it for $900 or less, so even if it doesnt last too long, you arent out much, and will probably easily recover the money is gas savings... good find, but as with all cars on Craigslist, you gotta jump quick, they don't always last long.

 

If it were me I'd go with 700 cash and the flat bed behind the truck. Nothing motivates a seller like knowing it's gone NOW.

 

I just did the same thing yuo are trying to do, I bought a 98 saturn SL, it is a four door, 5-speed 4-cylinder. I just got it on Tuesday night but so far I love it, it's not much to look at but it's not a "beater" in my opinon. If i saw it going down the road I wouldn't even give it a second look. Anyways, I am driving about 80 miles round trip a day to work, and so far I am getting 37mpg, mostly highway.
I decided I could pay for this car in about 3-4 months for what I was paying for diesel. I would look into these saturns, they are fun to drive, with the 5-speed and parts are more than easy to get.

Good Luck

 

Yea I was thinking about offering the guy $900 cash and towing it home. Hell, I'll probley just drive it home. The guy said it needs a muffler and that's it. Thats about a $80 part, no biggie.

I do a 45mile round trip daily w/ my truck so this is deffinetly going to help me. Plus I hate starting my truck after it sits in the parking lot for 6+ hours at -20* below. I'd rather wear out a cheap car then stress out my truck. Not to mention all the salt that eats at your vehicles up here.

 

Make sure it says "300" somewhere in the name and that it is turbocharged. The non-turbo ones are pathetic. "300TD" does not necessarily mean it's a turbo, that just means it's a wagon. 300D is a sedan, 300SD and 300SDL are also sedans but kinda big for your use. The 300CD is a coupe - one of them would be perfect but they are harder to find than the 300D's. Old is OK, I think the turbo ones came out in the late '70's.

So far I've found mine to be easy to work on, basic parts are at any auto parts store. The local M-B dealer has been able to get everything else I needed (all little stuff like o-rings, linkage bushings, etc.). I've just been doing little maintenance stuff, it was a decent runner when I got it. It's got a nice little mechanical inline pump, now I just need to figure out how to turn it up.

 

I hear you about the cold and the diesel prices. I drive a 95 Grand am. A friend of mine just picked up a saturn for 300 and while its no beauty queen it runs great and get about 30 mpg. Where are you in Minn?

 

LOL -

I have the same thing. 93 Accord EX 130,000 miles. My mileage isnt as good as yours but I really like the fact of putting $20 in it every week and a half.

My truck is also parked.