Best Daily Driver for about $3000

Greg · January 28, 2003

One of my sons turns 18 in a couple days and wants to buy a car for about $3000. Unlike his older brother that bought a new S-10 last year, this one wants to buy one for $3K, have mom & dad finance him and pay it off in 1 year from his job. He wants something reliable, but doesn't want / like Toyotas, Hondas, etc. (So much for dad's advice.) He's interested in:

- Early 90's Blazer

- Late 80's Fleetwood or other full-size rwd car.

What would you recommend?

sduquette · January 28, 2003

I would recommend a Nissan 4x4, but it might be a hair more than that, the blazer would be ok, I would definitely stay away from a cadillac unless he has a good job to keep up on the repairs

Shaners · January 28, 2003

Both the Caddy and the Blazer could be expensive to maintain when you buy them for 3 grand.

In todays market there isn't much out there in that price range if you are looking for a 4x4 or something with all the bells and whistles.

He needs to buy something that has low cost repair items because he will most likely be wrenching on it some.

You might be able to find him a higher milage Monte Carlo from the mid 90's in that price range... it should be fairly reliable and get decent gas milage along with good crash protection.

TheScaryGuy · January 28, 2003

My buddy just bought a 95 monte for 2k. Its got 100,000 miles. Be careful, I put a new intake gasket on for him, since apparently they are prone to leak.

99silveradoz71 · January 28, 2003

I had a 92 Jimmy that I bought used in 97 with 71k on the clock. I'd caution you as the others are so far, for that price, you're likely going to end up with something with relatively high miles, at least in a 4x4. You just don't want to spend the money for reliable transportation only to have to throw more money into it.

Tucson_02Silverado · January 28, 2003

If you can find them, the 90 Fleetwood Brougham. It'll have standard the 5.7 TBI (L05). The last gen Fleetwoods 91-93 will also have the L05. 94-96 is the LT1 ones. You'll mostly find these cars on eBay and in Florida, for nice ones anyways.

Plenty of 3rd gen F-body, but for insurance you'll need to get a 6. Monte's are usually trashed out, again would need a 6 for insurance.

Other than that, the least maintainence would be a 88-90 Caprice non 9C1 (police) with a 305 not 307 (engine code Y). Some did come with the 4.3L V6. They say fantastic MPG's else a dog. They just have gotten very hard to find a decent one since the Impala SS craze.

95whtZR2 · January 28, 2003

I was just talking, just ignore this post...

miclri · January 28, 2003

You might consider an early 90s FWD Fleetwood or DeVille. I've got a low mileage (40K) 90 Fleetwood which I've owned for 9 years which has been trouble free (although I did have to replace the air conditioning).

28-30 HWY MPG. Decent performance. Ample crush zones. Air bags, ABS. Recommended by Consumer reports back in 95ish as a reliable used car. I'm not trying to sell mine, but there seem to be plenty out there.

Tucson_02Silverado · January 29, 2003

If your son changes his mind about RWD, I ditto the 89+ DeVilles. Although I think these are becoming very popular with early 20's crowd. I see a lot of rollas with 18's and 20's.

Big car, great gas mileage (26+ avg hwy), decent power, low maintainence.