[wrath]

Cobalts/G5 are damn near free at this point.

4 cylinder epsilon (Malibu or G6 or Aura) aren't far behind.

4 cylinder Fusion, if it still has a transmission in it.

Then you have the normal shitboxes that nobody cares about.

Older Fucus, they're pretty easy to work on. Most of them are getting crispy now. New ones are too much Mazda.

The only thing on your list you might be happy with is a 2.5RS Lezbaru. Easy to work on, fairly reliable, fairly cheap to fix.

If I had to drive a shitty commuter car because it was too expensive to drive something nice I'd probably either find a different job that is closer to home, move, or ask for a raise and buy something that doesn't suck to drive.

 

[Tommy]

Take a look at the Impreza sport (hatchback) or the Crosstrek. We have an Impreza and it is 10X better than the POS Cruze we had. Better drivetrain (No oil issues after redisign) wayyyy more legroom, no mechanical problems, AWD, and assembled in Indiana.

 

[Tommy]

I love the Shit out of my 13 Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4 turbo.

Gets great mileage, its peppy and fun to drive, has great head and leg room for tall people (even if it looks like it doesn't from the outside).

Set of winter tires on some steelies and it is the best car Ive ever owned for the winter too.

Also you can pick them up low miles for pretty damn cheap and still have factory warranties.

My 1.4l Cruze was a turbo lagging dog with a non responsive 6 speed auto that visited the dealer 6 times for engine issues and recalls. I traded it in for my Subaru after #6. Glad to hear you are having better luck than I did. I did test drive a Sonic before I made the mistake of buying a Cruze. I kind of liked the Sonic. Simple and cheap, plus manual transmission.

 

[bbaXJ]

What ya smoking Duane, they are built in Orion township...

Assembled in Orion maybe, but there's probably barely a single American part on those things. Not trying to make any kind of point, just throwing that tidbit out there.

If I had to drive a shitty commuter car because it was too expensive to drive something nice I'd probably either find a different job that is closer to home, move, or ask for a raise and buy something that doesn't suck to drive.

Ah the usual passive-aggressive, quasi insulting Wrath "advice". Some things never change.

Some people live where they want and work where they have to. I don't want to live where the good engineering jobs are cuz that's where everybody else lives. I'll gladly drive a bit to do so. I could afford to drive a nice truck daily just fine, but why pay more to drive an expensive purpose-built vehicle into the ground when I don't have to? I'd rather keep my nice truck nice and save money driving a decent car that I don't mind racking up miles on. Parking is easier, every day it's putting $20 in my pocket, and the little 5 speed "Lezbaru" is fun in all weather. I daily drove a truck long enough, whether I can afford it or not it's still no fun spending a small mortgage payment to drive around in a 3/4 ton truck with an empty bed and no trailer. There are better things to do with the money for most of us.

 

[Big_T_Roose]

Assembled in Orion maybe, but there's probably barely a single American part on those things. Not trying to make any kind of point, just throwing that tidbit out there.


Ah the usual passive-aggressive, quasi insulting Wrath "advice". Some things never change.

Some people live where they want and work where they have to. I don't want to live where the good engineering jobs are cuz that's where everybody else lives. I'll gladly drive a bit to do so. I could afford to drive a nice truck daily just fine, but why pay more to drive an expensive purpose-built vehicle into the ground when I don't have to? I'd rather keep my nice truck nice and save money driving a decent car that I don't mind racking up miles on. Parking is easier, every day it's putting $20 in my pocket, and the little 5 speed "Lezbaru" is fun in all weather. I daily drove a truck long enough, whether I can afford it or not it's still no fun spending a small mortgage payment to drive around in a 3/4 ton truck with an empty bed and no trailer. There are better things to do with the money for most of us.

I can tell you the seats are assembled in Rochester so there is more American labor in the seating. Please do some research on vehicles before making claims that they are not American made. Also the profits go to GM which is an American company. I would say it is an American made vehicle.

 

[alexdummy]

I love the Shit out of my 13 Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4 turbo.

Gets great mileage, its peppy and fun to drive, has great head and leg room for tall people (even if it looks like it doesn't from the outside).

Set of winter tires on some steelies and it is the best car Ive ever owned for the winter too.

Also you can pick them up low miles for pretty damn cheap and still have factory warranties.

Is it @Alex456123 Size compatible?

 

[Lousypirate]

Assembled in Orion maybe, but there's probably barely a single American part on those things. Not trying to make any kind of point, just throwing that tidbit out there.

I realize that, but I don't think any sub compact is any better, or made in the us even?

 

[firehawk]

How do you not have a vehicle to choose from?

Are they all projects?

LOL!

 

[bbaXJ]

I can tell you the seats are assembled in Rochester so there is more American labor in the seating. Please do some research on vehicles before making claims that they are not American made. Also the profits go to GM which is an American company. I would say it is an American made vehicle.

Get over it. Every auto maker sources parts to the lowest bidder these days, American or not. It's an international market and unfortunately American manufacturing hasn't been the cheapest way to go in a long time. Fortunately for us costs and issues with China have both increased, and Mexico isn't far behind, but the US still has a ways to go if we wanna be back ahead of the curve. Putting the blinders on and thinking 'Merican car companies being the only ones that benefit America isn't going to make it true. I'm a big supporter of the big 3, have worked for American automotive suppliers my whole career, and much prefer American cars to foreign, but I'm not ignorant enough to think that big 3 cars are any more American these days than your average Toyota, Nissan, Honda, or Subaru. They all provide tens of thousands of American jobs and most use comparable mixes of locally and internationally sourced parts. Very few things are truly made in America anymore, and cars sure as hell aren't one of them. Even when things are assembled here it's usually done with internationally sourced parts.

I realize that, but I don't think any sub compact is any better, or made in the us even?

Nope I doubt many/any are. I'm all for vehicles being built here, but I bet all those people driving big 3 vehicles assembled in Mexico and Canada are just as proud of their "American made" vehicles.

 

[kickstand]

Assembled in Orion maybe, but there's probably barely a single American part on those things. Not trying to make any kind of point, just throwing that tidbit out there.


Ah the usual passive-aggressive, quasi insulting Wrath "advice". Some things never change.

Some people live where they want and work where they have to. I don't want to live where the good engineering jobs are cuz that's where everybody else lives. I'll gladly drive a bit to do so. I could afford to drive a nice truck daily just fine, but why pay more to drive an expensive purpose-built vehicle into the ground when I don't have to? I'd rather keep my nice truck nice and save money driving a decent car that I don't mind racking up miles on. Parking is easier, every day it's putting $20 in my pocket, and the little 5 speed "Lezbaru" is fun in all weather. I daily drove a truck long enough, whether I can afford it or not it's still no fun spending a small mortgage payment to drive around in a 3/4 ton truck with an empty bed and no trailer. There are better things to do with the money for most of us.

This.

Even if I made a million bucks a year it wouldn't be financially wise to drive an expensive vehicle into the ground when an econo beater would do the trick just fine.

Hell, I work from home and I STILL consider buying an econo beater for running errands and shit in to avoid putting the miles and depreciation on my truck.

 

[scottie]

What's your price range?

Cars I would consider:
Mercury grand marquis
Anything gm with ecotec and manual trans, cavalier, ion, cobalt, G5, vue, Malibu, etc.
Then obvious choices of Camry or accord civic Corolla with 3 pedals
I'm an Oldsmobile man, so I'd find anything with velour seats that isn't rusty and whistle big band music music out my ass with a smile on my face.

I was also looking at tracker and vitara prices the other day and they didn't look too bad.

 

[Shotgun]

I drive a shitbox 02 sunfire, paid 1500 bones for it. Put a clutch in it and have driven it for 70k miles with very minimal maintenance.
Still averages 32mpg at 195k

 

[alboy79]

I loved my focus. I put IPike winter tires on it and it scooted well in the snow. Mine was an automatic. It was not a race car, but it did what I needed it to.

 

[deerebowtie]

Merc diesel with leather interior. seriously nice ride, even if the front is fugly.

 

[CSFJ]

Merc diesel with leather interior. seriously nice ride, even if the front is fugly.

That is beyond awesome. The color is even hideous.

 

[whiterhino]

I daily drive my truck because I don't have the want, need or room to put another vehicle in my driveway. I don't consider there to be a right or wrong on what a person dd's. It's personal choice.

RE American made, I'm also a big 3 supporter. World market for manufacturing? Yes. Similar content? Probably very similar. I've seen charts in the past that show the big 3 to be a little more but not a big difference. (no idea on the current contents) But I like the fact that the engineering, R&D and profits are primarily here for the big 3.

 

[jimhri]

I daily drive my truck because I don't have the want, need or room to put another vehicle in my driveway. I don't consider there to be a right or wrong on what a person dd's. It's personal choice.AGREE....IT'S WHAT YOU LIKE AND FEEL COMPFORTABLE WITH. what do you LIKE to drive , what can you afford to drive [including ins., maintenance (especially parts and oil changes if it's foreign) and misc. costs and how long is the trip? if you don't have a lot of open road, don't make a sports car your dd.

RE American made, I'm also a big 3 supporter. World market for manufacturing? Yes. Similar content? Probably very similar. I've seen charts in the past that show the big 3 to be a little more but not a big difference. (no idea on the current contents) But I like the fact that the engineering, R&D and profits are primarily here for the big 3.also a Detroit supporter. BUT I think Fiat/Chrysler's profits are going to Italy to prop up Fiat in Europe. BooHoo. FIAT did the same thing DAIMLER did.. they took Chrysler's large cash reserves and moved them to Europe to prop up an ailing local business.:whiz:

:beerbang:

 

[mschaffer66]

Assembled in Orion maybe, but there's probably barely a single American part on those things. Not trying to make any kind of point, just throwing that tidbit out there.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/04/32-gm-vehicles-make-most-american-cars-list/

50% US/Canada with the engine and trans coming from the US

:fish:

 

[caveman]

If you are considering a wrx look at a saab 92x. Its a wrx with a saab badge and a ugly ass front end, but can be had for a fraction of the price of a wrx, usually never have any mods, and a loaded interior

 

[BlooMule]

Well, a vote for option 4

The HHR never let me down, but be prepared to replace struts and LCA bushings often if you live on a dirt road. Fortunately, they are easy to do- like 15 minute job easy. It will also carry a surprising amount of parts for other projects, and you won't be tempted to turn it into a project car.

Only reason I traded mine in was Camaro.