A good RWD beater?

Militant-Grunt

Militant-Grunt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
550
Location
New York City
Car(s)
Audi S6 2.2T
The ML is being a little overused, and the Disco is unreliable and delivers horrid fuel economy. I want to get a car for around a grand to get me to school and just around, it has to have a manual tranny, and rear wheel drive. I am at the constant look out for early nissan 240sx's, they go for around 600-1500 depending on condition they're in. What I need to figure out is what other cars for around the same price and setup are out there. I dont want a front wheel drive car, I might as well have fun while I am driving a heap.

My original plans to get a roadster fell apart due to investment into my career into being a commerical pilot, therefore money is tight, but I need a car to get around. Any ideas appreciated.
 
A Miata, perhaps? A 1989-1990 model can be aqquired for that money, maybe. Maybe a Mark II Toyota Supra.

You will be hard pressed to find a M/T RWD car that can get good fuel economy for that price; you know what it's like here in the states, since its mostly FWD A/T.
 
matt_shaw said:
Why can't you sell the Disco? I don't understand why you need two SUV's?
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Mom uses the disco a lot, I take it to school, but this thing takes gasoline, and just chugs it down.

20mpg more or less with be spectacular compared to the disco/ml.
I looked into miatas, you'd be suprised how well they keep their price, heading upwards of 2500 bucks for a bad one. As for the supra, I just looked, bad ones are about a grand.. so that is a no go =/ Great ideas tho.
 
Hmm, this seems familiar.

For cheap RWD fun you can't go wrong with a Miata. Some other choices probably include Camaros and Firebirds, but your other thread mentioned that you didn't want American.

How about an old BMW 3-Series? E30 and older, maybe. Or a Porsche 924-944, perhaps. Or maybe an MR2. Or...
 
Merkur XR4Ti or a Volvo 2xx/7xx? Both have turbo options. The Merkur is only a turbo model.
 
Another vote for the Merkur XR4Ti! :thumbsup:
 
Raven18940 said:
Mark 1 MR2
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:thumbsup: (as if you all didn't know I was going to jump on that :D - though 'beater' seems such a bad tag)

My other suggestion would be the Miata, but that's out of your price range it seems.

The only thing with the MR2 is that being mid-engined it's balance and behaviour is quite different to a Miata / MX5 - if you want something to slide about in and learn about powersliding, the MR2 is probably not what you're after (though maybe I'm just not brave enough in mine...)
 
There's something about wedge-shaped cars from the 80s that just scream "beater" to me...but maybe that's just me, fbc :p .

The older Initial D -style Toyota Corollas are RWD, but with that price range, you'd be hard pressed to find one that's not rusted through, unless that isn't a major concern. Would an old 4-cyl pickup truck fit the bill? An old 3-series might also work.
 
I would say a pickup. They handle better than you think and are fun because they are rear wheel drive and there is almost no weight over the rear axle.
 
early 1980's Corollas or Datsuns?

The old Datsuns and Toyotas never die!

For $1000USD, I don't think you should be after a 'sporty' car, most on that money will have had a hard life (unless the US market is significantly lower priced than the Aussie ones, then again, here early MX5's are still near $10K AUD), but you could probably get a Corolla (KE55-KE70) or similar dirt cheap.
 
<---- Guess what I'm going to suggest. That's right, a Volvo. Volvos are hard to kill, though there is this one guy with a 240 around here that looks like it's gone through hell.

Though, if you want the engine of the 240SX, but with the cargo capacity of the Discovery, why not get an old Nissan Hardbody? My dad bought one brand new in 1987 and it's still running in top condition (well, he's taken very good care of it...). I learned to drive stick on it, and used it for a summer when I was home from school. Lovely little truck, that Hardbody. Not to mention, it really is quite fuel efficent (it is a compact truck after all). Unless you're dead set against trucks...
 
you won't find anything but problems for less than $1000 here in the US. save up and spend a bit on a decent car without 4 wheel steering and with an LSD.

That said there are all sorts of great RWD cars that can be had for cheap, just keep looking around. If you are mechanically inclined and don't mind wrenching, then yes you can find a car for $1000 or less, but it will need work, and most likely things will keep on breaking and you'll get frustrated easily. If you don't care what it looks like, whether half the electronics work and just want it to drive and be RWD, then you'll find something. But if you want a car in good condition where everthing works and new things won't break once a month, then save your pennies.

RWD cars I usually find for cheap($500-$2500) are:
  • AW11 MR2
  • S13 240SX
  • NA FC3S(RX-7)
  • AE86 Corolla
  • TE72 Corolla
  • Fox Mustang
  • Camaro
  • Miata(usually not very good condition, but stripped out former spec racer project cars are great)
  • Z31 300ZX
  • Cressida
  • MKIII Supra
  • MKII Celica/Supra
  • SA22C RX-7
  • S12 200SX
that's all I can think of for now. My advice if you don't need a care right away is to keep saving up and looking around, eventually you'll find a car you really like, then do some research into it. There are buyer's guides for nearly every car, especially if it has a tuner following. All the cars I listed can be turned into great little racers, and while others may be better out of the box, you really need to work with what you have. Availability and pricing depends heavily on location, so look around at what's available in your area, and stay away from stuff like autotrader, as those people usually want a grip for thier junkers. research into cars you're interested, find the potential problems, see how people tune them, etc. and decide if that's what you want.
 
zenkidori said:
you won't find anything but problems for less than $1000 here in the US. save up and spend a bit on a decent car without 4 wheel steering and with an LSD.

That said there are all sorts of great RWD cars that can be had for cheap, just keep looking around. If you are mechanically inclined and don't mind wrenching, then yes you can find a car for $1000 or less, but it will need work, and most likely things will keep on breaking and you'll get frustrated easily. If you don't care what it looks like, whether half the electronics work and just want it to drive and be RWD, then you'll find something. But if you want a car in good condition where everthing works and new things won't break once a month, then save your pennies.

RWD cars I usually find for cheap($500-$2500) are:
  • AW11 MR2
  • S13 240SX
  • NA FC3S(RX-7)
  • AE86 Corolla
  • TE72 Corolla
  • Fox Mustang
  • Camaro
  • Miata(usually not very good condition, but stripped out former spec racer project cars are great)
  • Z31 300ZX
  • Cressida
  • MKIII Supra
  • MKII Celica/Supra
  • SA22C RX-7
  • S12 200SX
that's all I can think of for now. My advice if you don't need a care right away is to keep saving up and looking around, eventually you'll find a car you really like, then do some research into it. There are buyer's guides for nearly every car, especially if it has a tuner following. All the cars I listed can be turned into great little racers, and while others may be better out of the box, you really need to work with what you have. Availability and pricing depends heavily on location, so look around at what's available in your area, and stay away from stuff like autotrader, as those people usually want a grip for thier junkers. research into cars you're interested, find the potential problems, see how people tune them, etc. and decide if that's what you want.
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I wouldn't mind working on the car at all, I work on the broken bits in the rover all the time. Awesome write up, I appreciate it. I guess you guys are right, I have a pretty well paying job, Guess ill save up an extra grand or two. Thanks for the reccomendation all =) If anyone has any ideas that werent mentioned dish em out. I am going to look into all of the cars mentioned. :thumbsup:
 
Is it really that impossible to have fun in a FWD car? They are of course inferior to a RWD in most ways but an early Golf GTI or just about any sporty hatchback are still pretty fun.

Or is it just the Saab-fanatic in me that just can't leave people who MUST have a RWD alone? :p
 
want to buy my Z?
its a good RWD beater
:unsure:
$23000 with 15000 miles includes warranty and new clutch/tranny
:mrgreen:
and of course im located in PA :thumbsup:
 
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