The other most important aspect of a vehicle is to be light on the pocket. People love reliable cars this is what some companies rely on when they advertise their products !
FZJ80 Toyota Land Cruiser/Lexus LX450
 |
| image : Jason Herring's (notyourmomslx450) Bucket |
This truck will outlast you, your kids, the next apocalypse, and maybe, just maybe, the next presidential term. This one has a touch more than 200k miles, which is barely broken in for this rugged people mover. It's as smooth as a baby's butt and designed to be overworked and underpaid for years on end.
I'll let BenLikesCars explain:
This is the last Toyota Land Cruiser sold in America with The Straight Six. The Straight Six, with its Inherent Balance, turns forever, and, forever. Hey, let's imagine a hypothetical road-trip... across the former Zaire, and of course slowing down or stopping to chat with heavily armed strangers is not a great idea. What do you take? A Dodge Ram with a Hemi? A Land Rover? A Gelandewagen? Hell no. You take The Land Cruiser.
Don't take my word for it. Get a whiff of the worship on ExpeditionPortal.com, on http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/archive/... I think they have a handle on What Works on long trips. :)
(Suggested by BenLikesCars)
VW GOLF/JETTA MK3
The Volkswagen Golf Mk3 is a small family car, the third generation of the Volkswagen Golf and the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Mk2. It was launched in Europe in November 1991 (though not in the United Kingdom until March 1992),[2] and in North America in the spring of 1994. The delay in North America was due to Volkswagen's decision to supply U.S. and Canadian dealerships with Mk3 Golfs (and A3 Jettas) from the VW plant in Puebla, Mexico. Quality control problems led Volkswagen of America to reject Golfs and Jettas from Mexico; shortly thereafter labor unrest at the plant delayed production there even further. The third-generation Golf and Jetta first appeared in North America as 1993 models in the San Diego, California area and in Canada, then in the autumn in the rest of North America as 1994 models. The Mk3 Cabrio replaced the Volkswagen Cabriolet, which continued the original Golf until 1993, although the original Golf, sold as Rabbit in the United States and Canada ceased sales in 1984. The Mk3 Cabrio continued until the 2002 model year, when Volkswagen replaced it with a convertible version of the Volkswagen New Beetle. The Mk3 was sold in Japan alongside the Polo, where both vehicles were in compliance with Japanese Government dimension regulations that encouraged sales.
FORD TAURUS
If you have $3500, you can buy any early '00-era Taurus, because they're all $3500, sort of like how every Lotus Elise ever made is $30,000. This silver on gray example is — you guessed it — $3500. It's not the best driving car in the world, but it's damn dependable. There's a reason why these were company cars and fleet vehicles almost exclusively, and that reason is trouble-free reliability. Buy one and drive it until the wheels fall off. Then replace the wheel and drive until something else falls off.
A32 Nissan Maxima
 |
| pic continuum on flickr |
I can personally attest to this model because it was my first car. Barring some minor wear and tear faults, the 1995-1999, 4th generation model was the most solid and reliable Maxima that Nissan ever made. It didn't have any variable cam timing, no variable runner intakes, just 3 liters, 6 cylinders, 5 speeds, a surprising amount of power and one hell of an engine note. It can do the quarter mile in mid 14 seconds, bone stock. It can last upwards of half a million miles on the original engine if you change its oil occasionally, the parts are dirt cheap, and the wealth of knowledge is plentiful. This '99 is the last year of the 4th gen, A32 chassis code, which did have a bunch of extra emissions equipment, but it's also the newest one you can buy before the body style changed. It's a great alternative to any new car today.
(Suggested by WINGZERO)
FORD F150 90's
This truck symbolizes the era when Americans needed trucks to be simple, dependable, rugged, and safe. This was the body style that solidified the F150 as the best selling car in the world, with good reason - you can still find great examples like this one 20 years down the line for a reasonable price, with no real downsides. For anyone that needs to haul, pull, or push anything for work or for fun, this is the truck for you.
(Suggested by BrianMadigan)
90s-era Lexus LS400
 |
| pic Wesley Wong on flickr |
There's nothing more reliable than Japan's version of Germany's most reliable luxury car. This car one-upped the Mercedes S-class in nearly every conceivable way. It doesn't require any special engine-out services, has one of the smoothest V8s ever made, and looks just as stately today as it did 20 years ago. This one is a great example of what Lexus could do when it wasn't busy ruining sports coupes. This beats a brand new Altima any day of the week.
In my service/repair days these were regularly seen above 250k miles and looking solid as ever. Distinctly remember a regular customer with one over 400k. It may be a stretch at $5k but you might win out.
(Suggested by NotSoSlowAsThat)
Lexus IS300
 |
| pic Marvin on flickr |
The "affordable" Lexus is actually pretty damn reliable when you realize that it's built with the drivetrain that Toyota has used in nearly every car in the 90s - the 2JZ-GE inline-6 engine. Parts are plentiful and reasonable, the electronics aren't super complex like they are in later LS and IS models, and the car is reasonable light, so that means that it's a great sporty drive. Plus you can modify the living hell out of it and make it decimate all, with about 10 grand in overnight parts from Japan. This nice silver example is a little over budget, with a contemporary look that would have you questioning why you'd ever buy new when you can get this amount of performance, reliability, and value in such an affordable package.
The engine is an NA 2JZ, a bulletproof engine. The transmissions are so good that they go 250K miles with minimal maintenance and when they do go bad, you can buy used replacements from ebay for between $150-500. Any part you might ever need is available from ebay. Front engine, rear drive. A-Arm front suspension and multilink rear. Typical Lexus quality on a compact form. They're easy to work on and maintain with Spritely performance. I own two of them. One with 250K miles on it.
(Suggested by Quade)
Jeep Cherokee XJ
Even though TheSmokingTire managed to destroy a clapped-out example, under usual conditions, this car is unkillable. Its engine will last multiple trips to the moon, and its drivetrain will give any $140k Range Rover a run for its money when things get bumpy. This one is slightly over budget, but for a low mileage example, it's worth it. I'm not sure it'll stay pearly white for long though.
(Suggested by FCV_P71)
2000s-era Toyota Corolla CE
 |
| pic Josh Willard on flickr |
This car cannot die. Its engine is simple with no expensive service intervals, has room for 5, uses cheap tires, cheap fuel, parts are plentiful, and it doesn't look half bad. This car is below budget and rivals brand new Toyotas for reliability.
It's the most dependable car possibly ever made, and a shining example of why people should never, ever go into crippling debt for a car they think is reliable and safe when you can get this car for 1/10th of the price of new.
You literally cannot kill it. This is the CE version also, which means manual windows, manual seats, manual locks. Literally nothing to stop working.
(Suggested by El-Verde)
source : carbuying
