Fun to drive, absolute hoot to drive in traffic, we had two but I sold my 2013S as we needed something that would seat 5 and I have minimal space at home for daily drivers. I’d be wary of a car in the 4K price point unless you could easily go the route of Robbby when the need arises.
had one was an ok car . struts, high pressure pump ,turbo, yes they use oil,driver door latch. parts are still pretty $$$ Fun as hell to drive
I'd be terrified of those at this point with the age and mileage on them. I'm sure they are an absolute hoot, but have you considered looking at similar other options of that vintage? My daily commuter actually falls right in that category and I consider it fun. 2003 Focus ZX5 hatchback. Paid $3k for it with 118k. At 130k now. Put a CAI on it, swapped on the SVT suspension kit for $350 which lowered it a half inch, and boom, great little car. There are other options that may not be QUITE as fun, but surely a hell of a lot easier to maintain and cheaper to fix. Similar vintage Focus SVT hatchback? Or regular ZX5/ZX3 with a couple mods? 2002-2004 Civic SI? These only came in 2 door hatches in the vintage, but 160hp and 2700 pounds Mazda 3 sedan or hatch from that vintage?
Hmmm...I did not think of that. I'll look at those. My current commuter is a Focus and I hate it so I can't do another one of those.
My cousin had a supercharged S model. Fun car to drive, but after 100k miles, the repair bills quickly made it impossible to own. It's a BMW so it is ze caca. I'd go look for an old Civic Si too.
Guys mentioning turbo's and direct injection, are talking about the newer ones. The 02-04 have a supercharger, not turbocharger. I'm sure a Honda is more reliable. I had a 03, bought it used in 05 with 12k miles and owned it till 2010, sold with 55K miles. I loved it. Only problem I had was window regulators that wouldn't always work. Quick hard smack by the speaker and the electric motor would start working again. Common problem in BMW's too, they use the same part. Mine had lowered springs and different swaybars, different pulley, different intercooler and supposedly made 205HP. It was really fun and handled excellently. My best friend had a 05-06 Boxster S and it was barely quicker. If I could find a good one, I would like one again.
What, you want me to tout a Prius to @blkduc ? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. He'd be better off with the Civic or a Yaris.
If I didn't have the need for four doors due to two car seats, that's the only vehicle in that range I would've ended up with. I think it may actually be 02-05's that are the 2 door hatch's. I'd have to think they are a fun car for the price point and typical Honda reliability. Finding one that hasn't been hoodlum teenaged out is the issue these days
Beac, I really wanted a Yaris, loved the idea and the look of them. Then I drove one and wouldn't take one for free. Complete trash.
I had one for a couple of months while working in LA. They are the SV of freeway cars. Underpowered, but fun. I think there is a turbo version now, too.
Everything about it felt cheap from the way the doors closed, the swtiches, the cover for the tiny luggage area to way the transmission shifted. Yeah, it was a rental and abused but it crushed my Yaris love. The Kia 5 door, which I was prepared to hate, actually damn near won my shit box shoot out.
So I was just in this boat and a Mini was on the list. Long story short, my budget was 5K. I searched for about 3 months and settled on a 07 E90 328i w/ a manual shift. So far, awesome little car, get's 30 mpg. Found it with all the major stuff that goes wrong already repaired. For the money, I am happy.
My dad had a ZX3 hatch that got passed around the family. We put the same SVT suspension kit on it, and it was a great car. It went to Hawaii, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Italy (Naples), and now back to Hawaii. If my brother didn't have it in Hawaii, I'd buy it back from him. Now the SVT Focus is in that price range. I'd expect some maintenance, but that maintenance is done with more parts availability and ease than similar vintage mini coopers. For comparison, I was shopping slightly newer minis 4 or 5 years ago, and bought a Fiesta ST.