take a look at this youtube video of a 1959 bel air vs a 2009 malibu. While both cars are completely totaled, the Malibu dummy is bumped around while the Bel Air dummy is annihilated. You want your new one to be the bumped around one, not the other one.
well played shadowfax, well played
holy… that brought it down to a new level. That was hard to watch. But thanks for the suggestion.
Stick with the 93 Toyota or if you really want it, buy the '80 Toyota Wagon.
If the wagon has a new carburetor and is not rusty, it should be very reliable.
I would stick with Toyota or Honda Civic or Accord.I have worked on cars professionally for 36 yrs.Thats my advice.
Just my opinion, but I prefer to buy from private sellers; can’t always trust used car lots–and often the price is higher. (Though I did once buy from a small, home-based used car guy, with good results.)
I find the best deals through online newspaper classifieds and, yes, craigslist. But I live in rural Vermont, fewer bogus ads, and I also avoid deals that sound like they come from dealers or scammers. If you live in or near a major city or population center, I think craigslist is dicier. Try finding the online version of your local “shopper”–weekly free newspaper that’s all classified. Sometimes those are useful.
I agree also that the $3k range will be hard to find a decent foreign car, though the Chevy Prism and other Toy clones are good. Check out Pontiac Vibes, clones of Toyota Matrix. Just make sure to avoid the years of the recalls (see Toy recalls site).
How’s the search going so far?
A Mog! Love, absolutely love, that car! Makes me break the Tenth Commandment every time.
Ditto!
I had the misfortune to own a RWD Volvo (142 GL) from the era when they had the reputation of being rock-solid reliable cars. Unfortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth.
Even though I maintained that dog far better than the mfr recommended, it burned oil severely by the time that I had logged 60K miles, had ongoing problems with the CIS fuel injection system, had a persistent transmission leak that nobody was ever able to resolve, had severe electrical problems from the day that I bought it, and had a tendency to burn out a fuel pump ~once a year. In short it was a POS, and it took a whole lot of money to keep that POS running.
As to safety, it was safer than other cars on the road at the time.
However, ANY car manufactured in the past 10 years will provide far better occupant protection than these old Volvos will.
I just looked up the 1997 Volvo 960 at safercar.gov. It received four stars for frontal crashes, same as a 2000 Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. It wasn’t rated for side impacts, and I acknowledge that cars with side airbags are going to be safer. But respectfully, I don’t agree that the Volvo is NOT safe.
Thanks for the tips! The search seems to be neverending… I keep going back and forth looking for new listings online… and so far I’ve found some notable cars, so I think… I’m hoping to go and check them out this weekend…But MAN! Whats up with all the scams!?
Found a couple of prisms 99,00, and 01 in the low 100K in the mid 3000s.
Honda civic 00 with 91K for 3900
It has been suggested to me to stay away from subaru’s but! I’m going to check some outbacks out… theres a 96 for $3K and a 02 for 3800…both have about 125K - 135K miles
also a 97 legacy with 120K miles for 2900.
I’m looking at them because I know they’ve been rated for safety…
theres a passat wagon 03 with 130K miles in my budget that looks nice… but yes I heard you all about ws not always reliable…
A couple of toyotas… and a 2005 and 2004 hyundai accent…
I see a 05 KIA rio cinco wagon with 70K for 3900… read mixed reviews… and cant find much on the safety spex…
If it were up to me… I’d like one of the hondas or the subaru’s.
Would a 93 accord be too old?
Thanks folks… you all dont know how much I appreciate all the help.
Can anyone give me the rundown on purchasing a car from ebay?
Is the payment really secure? I’m seeing many potential scams… the good ol… I’m in the military an the car is in georgia…sort of deal… but they say that through ebay everything is secure…
Sounds fishy to me.
But besides the obvious scam, is purchasing through ebay pretty decent?
Im in the 23221 area… nothing but scams! or really nice cars that I cant afford… I’ve been looking at cars.com and autotrader mostly
I bought a car! I went for the 2000 Honda Civic 91K for 3300. Not bad I’d say… Drives like a peach 
Thanks for everyones comments and suggestions. It was fun.