Winter is hard on cars. Not only does road salt take its toll on every part made of steel, but cold starts, especially if you have to park outdoors, can be brutal. And then there’s the increased risk of piling up your beloved ride on a slippery road. It’s enough to make some people park their “good” cars for the winter, and buy some cheap piece of crap to take one for the team. If that sounds like a good idea to you, you’re in luck, because cheap pieces of crap are our specialty here.
Yesterday, I attempted the impossible: Finding a worthwhile classic project car in Michigan, in January. Neither one is a good idea, but you were all good sports about it. The results actually surprised me; I didn’t think that little Comet had enough charisma to pull off a win. Or was it just the ick factor of an old hearse that gave it the win by default?
If I were still in college, and still in my “trying to start a band” phase, I’d be all over that hearse. Those rollers in the back would have been just the thing for loading and unloading my gigantic Ampeg amp that nobody would ever help me carry. But these days, I think I’d rather have the Comet, if these are my only choices. It’s been a while since I messed with an old straight six.
For today’s choices, I stayed in Michigan and stayed cheap, but searched for manual transmissions only, in an attempt to keep things interesting. Unsurprisingly, there were few options. But these two stood out to me as good potential sacrificial winter cars. Let’s take a look.
2008 Subaru Impreza – $1,700
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter OHC flat 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Oak Park, MI
Odometer reading: 158,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
It’s funny how some cars can become known for just one thing, but sometimes it’s a different thing in different circles. Ask a member of the general non-gearhead public about Subaru, and they’ll probably mention one trait: “They’re good in snow.” Ask a gearhead, and they’ll probably mention leaking head gaskets. Both assessments are true, which makes this base-model Impreza a qualified good deal as a winter beater.
Powering this Impreza is Subaru’s famous – or infamous, depending who you ask – EJ25 flat-four engine, which drives all four wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. It has 158,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs and drives well, but it does leak some oil, which may or may not be the old head gasket issue rearing its ugly, um, head. I think this is after the “bad years,” but I can’t find a consensus on which years those were. At any rate, the seller is throwing in some goodies to help keep it on the road, including ramps, jack stands, a battery charger, and enough oil and filters to take care of the next couple of changes. Including all this stuff with the car makes me wonder if the seller is going car-free. But it’s a nice bonus if you don’t have any of that stuff.
It looks good inside, and because it’s a hatchback, there’s a lot of room for stuff if you fold the seats down. Even though it’s a base model, it does have power windows and locks, as well as air conditioning, and it all works. Not bad for a $1,700 car.
It does have a little rust, but that’s to be expected. It also looks like it has a scrape on the left front fender and door, but it might just be dirt. All the glass is intact, and all the lights work, and at this price, sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
2008 Pontiac G5 GT – $2,300
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Portage, MI
Odometer reading: 123,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Back in 1982, when General Motors introduced its J small-car platform, every division got a version of it. But after 1988, only Chevy and Pontiac remained. In 2005, when the J-car was retired in favor of the new Delta platform, both brands also offered a version. But while Chevy Cobalts are everywhere, you rarely see the Pontiac version, known as the G5. Or maybe you do, and just don’t notice it, because apart from the grille, they’re exactly the same car.
This is the GT model of the G5, which as far as I can tell only means it has a spoiler and alloy wheels, no extra power or anything. It’s powered by a 2.2 liter Ecotec four-cylinder, along with a five-speed manual. It has new tires and a new battery, but that’s about all the information we get about its mechanical condition. But they do call it “reliable,” which is something.
It looks OK inside, but the fabric is a bit worn and shiny. This wasn’t a great era for GM interiors, but has there ever really been a good one? It’s intact, and hopefully most of it works. For a car this cheap, that’s about as good as you can expect.
The winters have not been kind to this car either; the rocker panels are toast. But I have heard that these can get impressively rusty before it starts to affect the structure, so it’s probably fine. The G5 only came as a two-door; if you wanted back doors, you had to go to a Chevy dealership.
I miss the days of $500 winter beaters, but I don’t think they’re coming back. Two grand or thereabouts is the best you’re going to do, unless you stumble onto a special deal. But it’s not like you’re shopping for a long-term car; if one of these gets you through until spring, and spares your nice car from the horrors of road salt, it’s money well spent. Which one would you choose?
My buddy Derek’s last car was a G5.
His was red like this one, also a five-speed, but a standard-grade model (actually a 2.2) with steel wheels and, for some reason, the big ol’ Cobalt SS wing. Being a New England car, it also had close to this much rocker rust before he had it welded up.
His dream car was a Brazen Orange GTO (the modern Americanized Monaro), and had health complications not taken him too young, the G5 would’ve been driveway-resprayed in homage while he saved up.
I’m sorry, Derek. My left foot’s currently sore, and for whatever reason, that car had a clutch like a parking brake pedal.
Besides, I’ve never gotten a Subaru stuck in the snow without doing something really dumb, and even then only once.
Subaru all the way. Of course they aren’t perfect, after 160K miles my turbo Forester’s EJ25 was leaking from the sump pan, drain plug, valve cover, pretty much everywhere except the head gaskets lol. Oil consumption was 1L every 1000km/600mi, acceptable for a beater I suppose. 5EAT went haywire after a single Hall sensor went bad, but going manual solves that too. Many many small niggles but never let me down or stranded me by the side of the road. Oh and it really worked wonders in deep snow, dealt with -25C blizzards like it was nothing special at all.
I had a 1996 Imprezia Outback my father in law gave us, and the thing just would not get stuck in the snow even with all-season tires. SUVs would get stuck trying to park in spots I pulled out of. It hit deer twice. Got rear-ended by a Landrover, Got sideswiped by a UPS truck, My wife got run into by some French tourists that handed her some cash, having mistaken the UPS damage for their damage. We would loan it to various neighbors in Brooklyn and not see it for weeks. Drove the thing to Chicago, dropped my kid off at college and was back home in Park Slope in 24 hours. The only problem was that all the wrecks allowed water to leak in and fill the trunk, but a couple of holes drilled in the spare tire well fixed that. At about 260,000 miles, rather than try to sell it we gave it to a notoriously cheap friend who lives on his family’s 225-year-old estate but is broke, and he is up to over 400,000 over the last ten yearsand just leaves the keys in it for anyone to use. His friends do a little welding on it. I think it may have been attacked by trees during his tenure.
Never a mechanical problem other than some wheel bearings and the usual preventive stuff.
I have no idea how it has kept going. The thing is truly the undead of cars.
After looking at that, I’d buy it in a heartbeat at that price. Take up ice racing if nothing else.
The subie by miles. Have one in the family about to tik 200k (2010, auto, West Coast car though). With proper maintenance and do the head gasket as precaution, it’ll keep going. Refreshed struts, control arms, tie rods, and fluids recently and it handles like new-ish.
650 of you are nuts!
Growing up in Upstate NY, there were plenty of rusty J-bodies as winter beaters and they did just fine in the snow. But no one would have picked one instead of a AWD Subaru.
Buy the Subaru, do the head gasket yourself in the spring when you break the nice car back out.
that pontiac is COMPLETELY rotted underneath. the only thing holding those floorboards together is the carpet,
Yeah. I wish I could take my vote back.
Is there really a question here? Who in their right mind would pick a Pontiac Crapalier over the Impreza? Though I expect once you have it on a lift, the Subaru looks like the Titanic underneath. Rust is no different than icebergs, what you can see is a tiny percentage of what is there. But no state inspections in MI, IIRC, so as long as I don’t fall through the floor, all good.
I’m leery of Subarus but this one seems cheap enough to take a chance
I don’t care about the AWD at all.
But the GM has no redeeming features, it costs more,
and the spoiler writes checks the rest of the car can’t cash.
I’ll ask my Doctor about Impreza.
*Impreeeezaaaa*
I see nothing redeeming in the Pontiac. Especially at that price. Subie for the win. Head gaskets and all.
I would have went for the G5, but the price is too high for what you get.
How hard can replacing a head gasket be?
It’s not replacing the gaskets it’s getting everything flat before installing the new oned.
On a Subaru flat-4 engine? You sweet summer child 🙂
Subaru for me. I had a 2011 with the 2.5/6MT that I drove for 5 years with no major problems.
Having owned a 2008 Impreza I can confirm both that they are excellent in snow, and like to eat headgaskets.
The G5 GT indeed came with some nice upgrades like a Pioneer sound system with a subwoofer in the trunk, sport tuned suspension, the sunroof (which I don’t think it would be a good idea at age 18) and a 2.4 Ecotec LE5 engine with VVT.
Honestly I liked the 2.2, used to own a vehicle with it and it never game me any troubles. The 2.4 had timing chain issues and oil consumption issues but I believe that was more of a problem with the DI version (LAF) that was never available in the Cobalt/G5.
But none of that matters when the rocker panels are gone and who knows what else underneath. Subaru had stronger rustproofing than GM back then and it shows here. I would never go beyond stop leak, a decent set of tires and valve cover gaskets to keep it going, though.