Good morning, happy Monday, and welcome to Cheapskate Week! This week, we won’t be looking at a single car over two grand. As you might expect, that will mean some compromises – expect ’em to be ugly, beat-up, needing repairs, or all three. Today’s cars are both functional, but they have salvage titles.
Friday’s cars were anything but cheap, and neither one of them was perfect either. Comments were split; one contingent felt the Buick Grand National was overpriced, and another faction worried the Ferrari was going to end up being a money pit. In the end, the overdressed American beat the fussy Italian by nearly a twenty-point margin.
I agree that the Ferrari is a heartache waiting to happen, but I think getting to that point would make it worthwhile. A nice simple General Motors car is a wonderful thing, but if I had a chance at a piece of the Ferrari legend for the same money, I would not be able to resist.
Salvage titles on cars are a funny thing. It depends greatly on the state that issued it whether or not it’s a big deal. Once a car is sold as scrap in North Carolina, for instance, it’s done for – if can’t legally be put back on the road ever again. On the other hand, Oregon seems to hand out salvage titles like candy, and nobody cares. Still other states, like Georgia, don’t have titles at all for cars over a certain age, only registration. Today’s contestants hail from Washington and California, two states with fairly lax requirements for issuing a salvage title. But don’t fret, neither one was wrecked – one is a theft recovery and the other was vandalized. Let’s check them out.
1990 Honda Accord LX – $1,499
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Silver Firs, WA
Odometer reading: 182,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
When the final history of the automobile is written, hopefully a great many years from now, I hope the Honda Accord of the 1990s has its own chapter, because it has earned it. The Accord has gotten bigger and fancier since then, but I’m not sure you can say it has gotten any better. This car is just about the perfect size, it’s as reliable as a sunrise, it’s efficient, and it’s nice to drive. Unfortunately, it’s also prone to rust, and a target for thieves. This Accord was stolen, driven by the thieves for a couple months, and then recovered. It survived the ordeal, and runs well, but it needs some tidying up.
Power for this generation Accord comes from a 2.2 liter four-cylinder making 125 horsepower, which doesn’t sound like much these days, but this car probably weighs a thousand pounds less than the current model. It’s plenty. In this case, it’s coupled to a four-speed automatic. Yeah, I’d rather have a manual too, but Honda’s automatics, at least in the four-cylinder models, are pretty good. The seller says they took good care of it before it was stolen, and it still runs and drives just fine.
The inside is dirty, and it looks like some trim is falling off the passenger’s side door panel, but that wonderful Honda interior design still shines through. The thing that worries me is that the seller says the power windows aren’t working, and the passenger’s side window is down. Does that mean it’s been sitting open for who knows how long? In rainy Seattle? Not good.
Outside, the clearcoat is toast, and there are some dings and scratches, but I don’t see any signs of rust in the typical places. It’s got aftermarket wheels, but these days it’s hard to find a Honda this age that still has its stock wheels.
2002 Mitsubishi Mirage DE – $1,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: San Francisco, CA
Odometer reading: 106,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
The Mirage, Mitsubishi’s cheap and cheerful subcompact, has now left the US market – for the second time. What we have here is an example of what it looked like when it left the first time: a cheap, simple two-door coupe, with a badge on the back that always made me giggle; it says “DE COUPE.” You can just barely see it in the photo below, just under the right taillight.
De Coupe is powered by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, which sends 92 horsepower to de front wheels through a five-speed manual. I remember test-driving one of these when they were new, and it felt like enough power, especially for the car’s mushy suspension and skinny tires. A performance machine, this is not, but it does get good gas mileage. It has only 106,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs and drives great.
It looks good inside, and I dig the seat fabric. Weird fun patterns on seat fabric need to make a comeback; I’m tired of basic blacks and grays. It has a fancy aftermarket stereo, and an alarm system, both of which were installed by the seller. They say the salvage title is due to vandalism; I wonder if the alarm was installed before or after that. Or was it vandalized because the alarm kept going off?
It doesn’t look great outside, but it’s fine for a $1,000 beater. It has some dents and scratches, and somebody stuck some cheap fake chrome vents on the fenders, and added cheesy plastic wheel covers – or is that what they mean by “vandalism”?
Cheap cars are always a compromise somewhere. In this case, they both run fine, but have a bit of a past you’ll have to reckon with. Some insurance companies scoff at branded titles, but you shouldn’t have any trouble getting basic liability coverage, and that’s good enough for the likes of these. Which one are you willing to gamble on?
De Couple doesn’t look too bad for something that’s been living on the streets of San Francisco. Any used running and driving car for sale in SF for $1,000 is a hell of a deal. The low price makes me kinda suspicious, but if the seller is on the level and the car checks out, I’d definitely go for the Mitsu (but take a large friend with me to meet the seller).
I’ve driven one of those Lancer coupes and it was absolutely gutless, i’ll take the Honda which is marginally less gutless.
De wheel covers don’t offend me, I’ve seen worse. I don’t know why but the Mirage looks like fun.
Normally I am a Honda man but too many signs saying Go for the Mirage.
Hmmmm, all the windows go up and it comes with those sassy and oh so classy fender vents. Gotta go Mirage. Funky upholstery pattern, too!
I loved the Accord wagons of that generation. If I could get one of those in decent shape with a stick, I would.
De coupe, boss! De coupe!
From reading this, I’m relieved to learn no one was dumb enough to steal a Mirage or evil enough to vandalize an Accord.
This was so easy for me- I love those Accords. My Dad bought a 91 basically new (test car w/ 1K miles) and it was a great family car up to 240K then sold. The last part of that my sister owned it (it was also stolen! then found, then sold) Amazing cars. I’ve also had 2 3rd gen Accords (pop-up lights! 1 of them had a salvage title and had no problems at all getting insurance) I love this one in this blue too. What a great deal
My first car was a 92 Accord given to me by my dad when he upgraded to a 2002. It had 180k on it when I got it and 290k on it when the Atlanta flood of 2009 decided it needed to cosplay as a submarine.
I would probably daily that DE COUPE. Looks to be the right fit for my 12 mile work commute.
I like peak Honda products but not that moldy Accord with a missing pedal and shifter.
Mirage for me. The minor dents and dings don’t affect the functionality. And it’s cheaper, has less mileage and is a manual.
That Accord was clearly in a crash that involved the driver side front fender. And judging how the hood doesn’t close properly, it wasn’t repaired properly.