I was recently in a car accident and due to some circumstances involving the repair being more expensive than initially anticipated, the people paying for the repair may just buy my car off me for 10k in lieu of repairing it. For reference I had a 2003 Toyota Avalon with about 70k miles that I had gotten a few months back for about 2 grand. Anyway, I'm looking for a new car to replace this one that would cost roughly 10 thousand dollars. I would like a sporty convertible with a manual if possible, but above all else the car needs to be reliable. A friend of a friend is selling his family's MR2 Spyder with ~95k miles and the SMT transmission for about that much which I am very much considering as it more or less ticks all my boxes and is a well-maintained, garage-kept, one owner vehicle. I also considered getting an automatic LS400 with ~110k miles for 6 grand (needs fuel injectors though). If you guys have any recommendations I would love to hear them, and if you have any warnings about the cars I mentioned above (especially the MR2) please let me know.
>inb4 Miata
Two of my friends have Miatas and I would like to be more unique, but trust me this option has been heavily considered
I bought a old land Rover discovery 2 for 4k. tbh it such a fun beater car
>has 112k miles on it but well taken care of so it should last a while
Buying a 20+ year old sports car for a daily isn’t going to be as reliable as your might want it to be.
The only reliability issues these had was the SMT being a pain in the ass and not changing gear when you want it to. The 1ZZ is a solid engine but it would be best to opt for the more powerful 2ZZ if you want to track this thing
Don't plan on tracking it, just want it to be a fun car I can drive around my college and town for about a year until I graduate
the 00-02's burn oil retard
>Opt for the 2zz
I get that it's a common swap but why do people talk like it was sold from the factory with a 2zz?
what rustles my jimmies is people saying "eh, it's a simple plug n play swap" like it's something you can do with little tools in your backyard. You actually need a lot of tools and additional parts other than the engine and a whole different transmission (and clutch) if you don't want your car to suck cocks. It also requires some serious wrenching skills, I assure you it's not an easy "watch a tutorial on YouTube and be done in 1 hour" swap at all. Yes it's doable on your own without spending too much (still probably around 4k or more in total), but it's in no way something fast or easy to do without being relatively experienced and having the right equipment. Also finding all the parts is not easy, especially outside the US. I wish it was easier but it isn't.
take the manual swap cressida pill
>aftermarket clutch pedal boxes available
>aftermarket clutch line available
>clutch kits can be got for a decent price from rockauto
>w58 and front half of drive shaft from a ma70 non turbo supra bolt straight in
dropping the auto sucked mainly because it fell off the jack as i was lowering it and was so fucking heavy, but i still managed to get there in the end solo and with a basic floor jack and tools. only thing i had to run to the shops for was 3 ft worth of extensions.
This is a fair point. I recommended the Saturn/Pontiac and they're cool cars that should be reliable for you.
But.....having a cheapo reliable old beater as a backup and as a tool for making boring commutes to work and back wouldn't be a bad idea. If you can get another 20 year old Toyota for 2 grand it wouldn't be a bad idea.
I’ve got a 20 year old v6 Camry for this exact reason. Leave the fun car at home when I have to commute but it’s great to drive around town or go for a cruise. Granted it’s a KE20 Corolla but I’ve been thinking of selling for an MR2
>car has been running fine and maintained for 20+ years
>yea I don't think this would be very reliable friend
lol ok m8
It will be if you buy the right one. That said, for $10k it's going to be hard to find a nice one that isn't mostly original parts ready to fail and has just had fluid and filter changes and nothing more.
>wo of my friends have Miatas and I would like to be more unique, but trust me this option has been heavily considered
Pontiac Solstice GXP or Saturn Sky Redline both are basically the same car so you can choose based on looks. They're an American Miata with more interior room and a turbocharged 260 horsepower V4 in a light rear wheel drive roadster. Really cool cars that can be had for a bargain price because Pontiac and Saturn aren't around any more. They've proven to be reliable cars so that shouldn't be an issue.
Damn shame the 2008 financial crisis killed Pontiac and Saturn. Those companies were starting to turn things around and make some cool cars.
>Damn shame the 2008 financial crisis killed Pontiac and Saturn.
The crisis didn't kill either brand. Gm execs did because they can't into market segmentation and product differentiation properly
GM managerial incompetence definitely played a role; but my understanding is that in order to get the government bailout the government demanded they streamline so they started cutting things.
I remember when they started making Saturns into just rebadged Chevys instead of the domestic response to Japanese cars that the brand was supposed to be. That was the beginning of the end for Saturn, and there was no reason to buy a Saturn badged version of the same exact car. We also have China to blame for keeping Buick over Pontiac or Saturn, which is a decision that made no sense for the domestic market.
Pontiac was always going to have the problem of the Corvette; GM management was never going to let them build anything that came close to outperforming it. That conflicted with the desire to turn Pontiac into a sporty brand. In any case, the decline in sporty/fun cars would’ve likely led to Pontiac’s demise anyway.
>and the SMT transmission
do not buy
jimmy strings had a homosexual mr2 and is poopoopeepee in my ass
watch for pre cats if it's a pfl, otherwise you're golden with an MR2
3x Chrysler's TC by Maserati
Get the LS400 because the engine actually still runs and the car can actually do things besides being slow and noisy on the highway.
I see Toyota Solara convertibles for this price with a V6
I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon. I like it but I don't love it and I want something sporty and fun. Should I sell it and get a manual Miata?
Are you sure you want to buy an LS400 when you could buy a Lexus GS that is like 15 years newer for around the same price?
only 1 lexus mention muahahaha
miata
>Two of my friends have Miatas and I would like to be more unique
sounds like something a fag would say