Just wrecked my car, need a new one @_@

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I imagine that all cars which are old enough to have depreciated to a value of around three thousand dollars or less would almost certainly have some rust

I sold my Sebring for $2k, which was $800 more than book value, and it had zero rust.

But it was a Sebring.
 
RWD and Canadian winters don't mix that well...

He's had a Camaro, a Trans Am, and a 240SX before so I'm sure he can handle a RWD car during your typical Canadian winter...

There's a lot of good suggestions here. The W201 Mercedes is a good car, but the newest one you would be able to find would be 17 years old. And any 17 year old car will need a lot of preventive maintenance. And maintaining a Mercedes, even a small one, can be expensive.

If you're looking for something similar to your Prelude, I would suggest a second-gen Ford Probe or Mazda MX-6. Especially in V6 powered GT or LS guise. They're inexpensive, reliable, and pretty sporty looking.
There is a Probe GT listed on Craigslist for $2000 with 152K Km. It's an automatic, though.:cry:
Link
 
Neither the MX-6 or Probe can be seen on the road in significant numbers any more, despite selling in large quantities - but you can still see W201s and W124s plugging along every day in any North American city. I haven't seen a Probe (outside of the junkyard) in months.
 
You know what kind of cars tend to be pretty good at not rusting away? Saabs. Particularly the old 900's.:mrgreen:

Don't we have some 900 owners that have rust issues?

Living next to the polish border i can assure you 900s have bad rust issues in climates that acutally involve winter. Owners here drive them until they literally rot away under their asses. My landlord just welded some holes shut again to give his 900 which he wanted to give up two years ago some extra life. There has to be something special about this cars, given how much owners cling on to them.
 
Both the W201 and W124 Mercs are good choices, as mentioned above. What hasn't been mentioned is that both were available as diesels and/or manuals in North America. The W124 had the 3.0L diesel and turbo diesel options from its W123 predecessor; the W201 had a 2.5L diesel.

In fact, as diesels, you are well advised to buy a manual as for some reason the automatics that Mercedes puts behind the diesels (especially the turbodiesels) tend to be wonky and lead relatively short lives.

Failing that, even the gas W201 2.6L six cylinder automatic is good on gas; it originally was rated at 20 city, 25 highway and many owners report that it averages towards the higher end of that spectrum. The rarer manual variant was rated at 19/27. The diesel W201 was rated at 30/34.

We have several members in Canada and other snowy areas who own W201s and W124s; I'll let them speak as to its snow capabilities. My own impression is that they are quite good in snow.

The W123 3.0 diesels are 5 pots, whereas the W124 OM603 and OM606 engines are 6 pots. W124's are excellent in the snow, the only thing you might have issues with is the steering, which is not rack -pinion. My suggestion would be to buy a W124 3.0 diesel and fit a larger turbo on it. :)
 
^This.

I wouldn't dabble with the larger turbo, get winter tires first :)
 
He's had a Camaro, a Trans Am, and a 240SX before so I'm sure he can handle a RWD car during your typical Canadian winter...

There's a lot of good suggestions here. The W201 Mercedes is a good car, but the newest one you would be able to find would be 17 years old. And any 17 year old car will need a lot of preventive maintenance. And maintaining a Mercedes, even a small one, can be expensive.

If you're looking for something similar to your Prelude, I would suggest a second-gen Ford Probe or Mazda MX-6. Especially in V6 powered GT or LS guise. They're inexpensive, reliable, and pretty sporty looking.
There is a Probe GT listed on Craigslist for $2000 with 152K Km. It's an automatic, though.:cry:
Link

Maybe he lives in a warmer part of Canada, or those cars were stored in winter. But than again why would he say it should be good in winter? Or maybe he just doesn't mind getting stuck.
 
Neither the MX-6 or Probe can be seen on the road in significant numbers any more, despite selling in large quantities - but you can still see W201s and W124s plugging along every day in any North American city. I haven't seen a Probe (outside of the junkyard) in months.

There is a bizzare amount of them around my area, they're not totally uncommon, but the roof kind of scares me a bit - it looks really brittle. I worry about rollovers, I'm a tall guy so I don't have much headroom to spare :(. That's the main reason I got rid of my 240, it was a tank, but it was a tin can and I figured I'd die in it if I was driving 300km a day (it was also unbearably loud, I took out all the sound proofing, haha).

I'm not against RWD cars in the snow, I drove the Camaro in the winter will all seasons on it, and the 240sx with some good blizzaks, without a working VLSD. As long as it's manageable and not super low as to get me stuck everywhere, I'm ok with whatever.

I did get some insurance quotes back:

1998 BMW 318is Coupe - $2696
1994 BMW 318i Sedan - $2542
1992 Mercedes-Benz 190E - $2542
1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E - $3079
1995 Acura Integra Coupe - $2619
1995 Honda Civic Coupe - $2360, Sedan - $2360, Hatchback - $2299

So, I dunno. It doesn't look good for the cool cars :(. I did find a nicely priced BMW 318is, auto though (poop). How are these things for high mileage? Stay away, or are they ok? I've seen a lot in the 200-250km range.

Edit: part availability still good on the older cars? It'll make me a little upset if I have to replace something stupid and I can't get the part anymore.
 
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Neither the MX-6 or Probe can be seen on the road in significant numbers any more, despite selling in large quantities - but you can still see W201s and W124s plugging along every day in any North American city. I haven't seen a Probe (outside of the junkyard) in months.

Probes also attracted idiots, while W201s and W124s attracted a much less...stupid clientele. I have seen many Probes over the past few months, but every single one has a big rice wing and a stupid rice paint job.

Sometimes the intelligence of your key market can affect survival rates.
 
Edit: part availability still good on the older cars? It'll make me a little upset if I have to replace something stupid and I can't get the part anymore.

I can't speak for the little BMWs, but the 80s Mercedes (except the SL) were all parts bin cars and parts for them are still cheap and widely available.

You may want to check into the Civic's rollover rating....
 
I can't speak for the little BMWs, but the 80s Mercedes (except the SL) were all parts bin cars and parts for them are still cheap and widely available.

You may want to check into the Civic's rollover rating....



......Should I be afraid??????? :cry:
 
......Should I be afraid??????? :cry:

I would sooner trust the 240's roof in a rollover than the 95 Civic's. I've seen both in the junkyard after being rolled.
 
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I would sooner trust the 240's roof in a rollover than the 95 Civic's. I've seen both in the junkyard after being rolled.

That's some good info - I'm now looking into 240s again. My girlfriend will love this -_-.

Honestly - best car I've ever owned. Totally ball-less, but I never had a single issue with it after owning it for a year, and driving the piss out of it on a regular basis (nobody has a 240 and drives it like a grandma <_<).

Edit- Perfectly legal fun, of course. This was my first accident and ticket. I don't want trouble @_@.

Edit 2- haha, found it up for sale. The guy is lying about the engine swap though....I never said that. GG internet. http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...icas-need-it-gone-or-trade-W0QQAdIdZ186606997
 
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For the older BMWs, if they are popular in the area, then your local junkyards will have lots of spares. If you are looking at a '91 318is (one of my favorite E30s) then he driver will get an airbag. If you want to do a swap, again, depending on popularity could be easy or not. Lots of people have done the swap and there's lots of forum support. I'd just wait to find a different car with a stick though.
 
Probes also attracted idiots, while W201s and W124s attracted a much less...stupid clientele. I have seen many Probes over the past few months, but every single one has a big rice wing and a stupid rice paint job.

That's why I decided against recommending a DSM Eclipse or Talon. It's rare to find one here in Northern California that isn't riced out. But Probes and MX-6s are pretty much kept stock out here; just a big fart can and that's about it.
 
I strongly recommend a Volvo 240/740. Great reliable cheap cars that can be worked on. Did I mention that Volvo's are epic win?
 
I'd take a good look at an 1990-1993 Audi 80 coupe.

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The 5 cyl in the car is relatively reliable. Not to mention you can always convert that car into an S2...
 
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