In the market for a cheap runabout car

[Landy Smurf]

I am now just down to my series 3 as a registered vehicle and now looking for a daily driver.
I would ideally have liked a dualcab 2wd hilux but they seem to be over priced or too many kms or both.
I am now looking at small-medium sized cars mainly under 5k.
There are quite a few on the market with reasonably low kms.

Any suggestions preferably from experience of some good or not so good cars to look at?
I am not in that much of a rush as I do have my series 3 which I dont mind using as a daily driver for a while as I dont drive often or far at the moment.

[carlschmid2002]

I was in this situation a few years ago and one thing I won't recommend is a Hyundai Excel.

[Keithy P38]

The late 90's/early 00's Suzuki Jimny is around that price range. My partner had one before offspring #1 came along. The thing was amazing on fuel and with the rear seats removed was even a good little couple-a-day tourer!

Of course towing ability and payload are not the greatest, but reliability was awesome!

Cheers
Keithy

[Pinelli]

My wife drives a 99 Camry which has just ticked over 300,000km (its the V6). Pretty reasonable on fuel, goes like the clappers, and rarely needs any work more than oil & filter changes.

[Kev the Fridgy]

I have just recently sorted out a 1990 SV21 Camry that had been sitting for a while (9 years), seriously surprised me just how good these early Camry's are, equipped with cruise, power windows, Auto off lights, central locking, climate control (basic), and a dam comfortable ride with above adequate power and good economy too (Avge 9.5 l/100Km)...... would be worth a look if that's the sort of car your looking for.


It's just a good all round car and has a reasonable room, also look at cars like the early 90's Toyota Cressida Grande... well equipped cars with low prices IMO pretty reliable and parts for both are easy to source and reasonably priced.......kinda changed my way of thinking actually not being a Toyota fan.

[numpty]

I have a 2003 model Mazda 323 with 235000 k's which I've had since new. It's mainly used now to transport me between Tamworth and Brisbane each month for work purposes. It returns 7l/100k's and has been a very reliable and comfortable car.

[FeatherWeightDriver]

The late 90's/early 00's Suzuki Jimny is around that price range.

+1 for the Jimny - it is the Defender 90 of the Suzuki 4wds, but with even less load space...

For the $5k price range you might just be able to squeeze in a Suzuki Grand Vitara v6 around MY00

I owned a GV for many years and it never missed a beat. Apart from needing a lot of recoveries trying to keep up with my mates locked and lifted Land Cruisers and Patrols.

[Landy Smurf]

I do love the suzuki jimnys and would be prepared to pend afew more grand on a good one.
I did think about the camrys as I know they seem to go forever, however I am probably only looking at 4 cylinder and probably looking at something that is late 90s/00s, I probably should have said that.
I am probably mainly looking at ford- fiesta, festiva,focus and maybe laser. toyota- echo, yaris, corolla. mazda- 121,323,2,3. mitsubishi- lancer and maybe a mirage.
Ideally a 5 door car that is manual and has air con, in saying that if a 3 door came up at a good price I would still consider that.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions

[PTC]

If you were after a 2 seater with a huge boot space then i would suggest a Subaru Fiori. Also called a Rex or Sherpa, depending who advertises it. 700cc 3 cylinder engine. Average fuel usage for me around town was 4L per 100kms. And it does have AC and it works too. Such a small car doesn't take too much to cool down.

I've taken that car on many dirt tracks and adventurers. Its light weight so i could push it back on track and when all went crazy i had a tiny hand winch to pull me back into line. Longest was 10 days out of the back of the car for 2 of us without resupplying. So much room as long as you pack right.

I had to get rid of mine, though i had it for years and the money i saved by driving that instead of the Patrol all the time covered the years fuel, rego and insurance.

[gofish]

Any Toyota Corola would be good. We have a Mazda 323 & it has never missed a beat.