Im thinking about turning my f150 from my daily driver, to my weekend warrior. So, Ive got about $5k set aside to buy a used car or truck. Any year is optional. I need something that will be reliable and I can get 3-4 years out of, driving no more than 10,000 miles a year and gets reasonably good gas mileage. I looked at a ranger, but I think I might want to go with a 2dr car. Any suggestions?

 

Go with a ranger. You wont be disappointed. I did that and I love my little truck. Gas mileage could be a little better but 22mpg isnt to bad I guess. Its a 4cyl. 5-speed.

 

That's what I did a couple of years ago.
Picked up a '98 BMW for around 8k.
It has all the bells and whistles, is peppy and I have enjoyed going back to a stick.
MPG is 27 mixed and I get 30 all highway, one trip I got 33.

In the last two years I've put 10k on my truck and 20k on the car.
I was averaging 16k a year on the truck before that.

This would be a good choice for you since you are in Germantown.

 

My first thought when I read the title of your thread was Ranger.

If you definitely don't want another truck, why not a used Focus or Mustang? You should be able to find either one of those cars in a two-door variant for somewhere in the $5k range.......

 

Get a Panther car, aside from a Lincoln. You can even pluck a cherry government car from a local county auction on the cheap.

My 95 police interceptor was a supervisor car and it has cruise and autolamps, unlike most, though. Got the good carpeted interior, too. Wasn't mistreated, either.

Nothing against a Lincoln other than all the upscale pricey options are standard there. Last thing I'd want to do is find the airbag suspension is toast and end up swapping coil springs in place anyway.

Pre-99 cars without the COPs and the torque converter shudder issues...oh, and those plastic intake manifolds as well. Winner.

 

I'd say get a 4 cyl Ranger. Dad had one, now it's my brothers. Gets 25+ mpg.

 

hmm, i never thought of a bmw, i will have to look into those. i really wanna buy a mustang but i will have to buy one then fix it up and mod it. i need to find something i dont really wanna mod but i still wanna drive it. im thinkin maybe an eclipse, any thoughts on those?

 

Guess I should add, the Rangers are damn near bullet proof. Dad taught me and two brothers how to drive a stick in it. When we would drive it, we'd drive the **** out of it. It has 190K on the original clutch and still going strong.

 

They have terrible reliability. Check out the stats online, besides its a total chick car

 

Get a used Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. On the used car market they are expensive compared to other brands, but they hold their value better than any other make and their reliability is outstanding.

I would stay away from another truck since you have that already. A manual tranny Honda Civic EX Coupe would be a nice choice, great mileage and fun to drive.

 

Go with a pre 98 car. I had a 98 Interceptor and that was the first year for the COPs. I bought the car and had to replace 3 right off the bat. Granted I only paid $500 for the car. Then the other notorious problem with the oil cooler lines. Pin Hole and I lost 3 quarts of oil in 7 miles. That was a $300 fix. Add front brakes $100. Turned around after putting several thousand miles on it and trading it for my ranger. After all the crap I had to do to the car, I made $100 on trade in.

 

I had a 1990, I got it with 130k on it, sold it with 170k on it. Aside from the normal high milage older car stuff (starter, alternator, engine mounts, tires) I only had to put a dampener pulley on it, which was the only time it left me stranded (it threw the belt off and I had no tools with to put it back on) I did put the belt back on and drove it for an hour home before the pulley let go for good. Very nice dependable car, a car that old with that many miles won't be perfect and you have to accept that. I do really miss the speed and 27 mpg while driving it like I stole it.

Actually it was a Plymouth Laser, which is mainly just a Eclipse with a slightly different apearance package (similar to a Talon), mine was a 2.0 Turbo with a 5-speed. I wouldn't mind finding another to mess around with sometime.

 

I think the Ranger is a terrible idea. If you weren't keeping your F150, then it'd be a great idea, but why would you need two trucks? If your just looking for a DD, you can find something way better than a Ranger. I got a consistant 23mpg out of my Ranger. My wife's CRV beats the Ranger in power, useability (when not needing a truck) and on mpg. Her old Civic was even better on gas.

Where am I going? Get a nice little four banger car. You should be able to find at least a 30+mpg car out there that'll save you some money, which you can spend on your F150 to treat her right since you aren't driving her as much. While their trucks get slammed on here on a regular basis, most will admit that Toyota and Honda make some bullet proof little four banger cars that hold their value and will run forever.

If your set on Ford, then remember that the same (with a few changes) bulletproof Duratec engine in the Ranger is in the Focus, and it gets much better mileage than a Ranger.

 

for a commuter car... go with an Escort.

30mpg highway, cheap to buy and pretty dependable

 

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I bought a BMW K1100LT Sport Touring Motorcyle as a commuting vehicle. I can ride it about 8 months out of the year with the proper gear.

You can't beat 42 MPG! I put 8,000 miles on it Just last year. Miles that would otherwise be on my truck right now.