I try to vary the price range of the cars we look at on here to keep things interesting, but I’m still a cheapskate at heart. I love finding a sub-$2,000 car that still looks like viable transportation, or at least something fun to putter around with. And if it’s something unusual and friendly-looking? Even better. We’re going to look at two such cheerful bargains today.
I fully expected yesterday‘s vote to come down in favor of the Audi, and I was right. That Pontiac is a cool conversation piece, but it’s overpriced, and it needs plenty of work to put it back into regular service. The Audi is ready to go, and it’s still in the prime of its life. I’m not surprised you preferred it.
These both push the nostalgia button for me, because I grew up with a bunch of VW/Audi products, and the mayor of my hometown owned a Pontiac dealership, so they were by far the most common GM vehicles around. I really want to want that 6000 STE, but there are a lot of other late-80s GM vehicles I’d rather have. The Audi A6 is a bit newer than the ones I grew up with, but the spirit is the same. I’m with the majority here.
I’ve never had much luck spending a lot of money on cars. Every time I decide to spend some actual money, in the form of a loan because I never have much cash saved up, I end up either regretting the car or the deal. So these days, I deal strictly in cash, which means I have to go cheap. I’m fine with it; I would rather have something I don’t have to stress out about, or carry collision insurance on. These two are very much in my wheelhouse, and one of them gets bonus points for being a rare car, and the other for being an excellent color. Let’s take a look.
1990 Daihatsu Charade SE – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.0-liter OHC inline 3, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Blackwell, OK
Odometer reading: 70,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, but needs tires
Small, basic cars are all but gone from the US market these days, but in the late 80s and early 90s, it seemed like a new one was popping up every week. The Yugo won the low-price crown, followed closely by the Hyundai Excel. Chevy replaced the long-in-the-tooth Chevette with the Sprint, a captive import built by Suzuki. Ford countered with the Festiva, a badge-engineered Kia Pride. Subaru gave us the Justy. And a Japanese brand nobody in America had ever heard of, Daihatsu, started selling a tiny hatchback called the Charade.
Daihatsu’s dalliance with the American market only lasted four and a half model years, before new corporate boss Toyota pulled the plug, presumably to sell more Tercels. That’s kind of a shame, because the Charade was like a Chevy Sprint or Geo Metro, only more so. It has a fuel-injected three-cylinder engine, a five-speed gearbox, and is allegedly nicer to drive than a Metro. It’s not fast, obviously; it has only 53 horsepower to its name, which means that the 105 MPH speedometer is likely a work of pure fantasy. I mean, I know from experience that a Geo Metro will do 90, but I don’t recommend it. The seller says it runs and drives fine, but the idle fluctuates, meaning there’s probably a vacuum leak somewhere. It also needs new tires, which might be a bit hard to find. The seller says they’re 14 inch, but according to my sources, they’re actually 155/80R13 – which almost nobody stocks anymore.
You don’t go for a car like this expecting luxury, of course. It’s got seats, and a steering wheel, and a shift lever, and that’s about it. It does boast an aftermarket stereo with some big speaker enclosures in the rear hatch, and fuzzy covers over the seats and steering wheel. I like that the seller is honest about the condition of the seats; apparently they’re “not great” under the covers. I imagine they look something like the driver’s side door panel.
If nobody knows your cars, and they kinda look like lots of other cars, you’d better put the model name in big letters in the side so people know what it is, right? That seems to be the thinking here, though Geo did the same thing with the Metro during this period. It’s not a bad looking little car, really, and it looks like it’s in decent condition except for the faded bumpers and some bubbling window tint.
2002 Ford Escort ZX2 – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Loveland, CO
Odometer reading: 182,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Say “Ford Escort” to most people, and they’ll picture the little hatchback or wagon that their aunt drove, a competent way to get around, but hardly a performance car. But a sportier version of the Escort has always been lurking in the options list, on both sides of the Atlantic, if you knew what to ask for. We never got the old rear-wheel-drive Escorts that were the stuff of rally legends, but we did get two ever-improving generations of Escort GT, the cool two-seat EXP, and this little number: the ZX2.
Ford made a big deal out of calling the Escort a “World Car,” but I think that term applies to the ZX2 most of all. It’s based on the Mazda BG platform designed in Japan, it’s powered by a 2.0 liter Zetec inline four designed in Europe, and it was built in Mexico. This thing is from everywhere. The Zetec is a good amount of power for this little car, but unfortunately, this one is shackled to a four-speed automatic transmission. Hey, it’s fifteen hundred bucks; you can’t complain too much. It runs and drives fine, the seller says, and has a new battery, belts, hoses, and valve cover gasket.
Inside, it’s “Ford Interior Gray,” a color you know if you ever owned a Ford product from the 1990s or 2000s. My ’93 Escort was this color inside, as was the ’96 Explorer my wife drove for years. It’s boring, but inoffensive, and it holds up pretty well. This one has a rip in the seat bolster, and it could use a cleaning, but it’s basically intact.
I have to give Ford a lot of credit for its exterior color choices during this time, however. You could get the typical 90s teal and yellow, but there were also several good shades of blue available, as well as fuchsia, purple, and this excellent emerald green. This one has some battle scars, but it isn’t rusty, and it still looks pretty good. I do wish Ford had left that dumb rear spoiler off, though.
The great thing about cars in this price range is that if something happens to them, you can just scrap them and walk away, and you’re not out much. The bad thing about them is if you’re going on a first date, you might want to pick something a bit nicer. But they should both be reliable, more or less, and they’ll both get pretty good gas mileage. Which one seems like a better deal to you?
I had a Thunderbird in that green, it’s a truly beautiful color when buffed up.
I found some tires for your Daihatsu: 155/80R13 Tires | Discount Tire
You’re welcome.
The link is funky. They’re Kumho Solus tires and are $85 per corner.
That is a cool shade of green on the ZX2. Ford does greens pretty well. The current Maverick p/u has a nice shade available these days. This particular example’s green is more vibrant than my old ’01 Jetta and I like the subtlety of VW’s shade better, but other than the sad bumper, the ZX2 gets today’s nod from me.
And I have to ask… was there ever a ZX or a ZX1?
Closest thing I can think of was the Ford EXP. Should have called it the EX2!
Wow. I had forgotten about those. Thanks!
Oh, why in the hell would you name a car “Charade” and expect it to have any kind of success?
I had the same year ZX2, bought it brand new, same color but with a five speed! That little Z tech motor loved to get the shit rang out of it. Wonderful car. At the time I could only afford one vehicle, and I desperately needed a truck for my infant business. My little green beast got traded in for a Silverado. The Chevy had a 5 speed, too! The 4.3 didn’t like being rung out though. And the 5 speed in the truck wasn’t as fun to stir around. Rarely see ZX2’s around anymore. I loved that car.
Per my screen name, I had a ZX2 in college! Mine was the base model “Cool” trim so no spoiler, but it was optioned up with power windows, power mirrors, AC, and the less-common 5 spoke alloys. No cruise control or ABS though. Excellent handling, fun to zip around in, but the seats were incredibly uncomfortable. Over 80 mph, the frameless door windows would suck away from the seals and let wind noise and rain pour in. I thrashed it for three years, then gave it to my brother who performed zero maintenance. After a year with him, the power steering went out. He kept driving it. Then the power steering pulley snapped off, throwing the belt, thusly loosing the alternator, AC, and water pump. He kept driving it for months! He had a short commute so it never ran long enough to overheat, and he would trickle charge the battery overnight. Once I found out, I made him buy a new power steering pump and helped him replace it. The car lasted another year until he stuffed it into the side of an SUV, cracking the radiator. He was unharmed, and then drove it sans coolant, several miles to a friend’s parent’s house. It sat there for a few months until they made him get rid of it. The car fired right up and drove onto the rollback. Tough little cars!
You are right about the door windows sucking out at high speed. The Neon I traded in on my ZX2 did the same thing. Perhaps American compacts are meant to have frames around the windows. And I agree, the ZX2 seats were comfy for about 45 minute jaunts, max. I got one of those then trendy wood bead looking cushion thingy’s for it and that did help. Still loved the car, despite it’s issues. It felt so quick with the stick and it’s love to be revved shitless!! Was a fun, handsome car.
Man. That REALLY was a tough little car! Like a ’70s Toyota pickup. Or a cockroach. But nicer looking.