Just Your Basic Little Beaters: 1998 Nissan Altima vs 2004 Kia Rio Cinco

Good morning! Today we’re keeping it simple, and taking a look at two cheap little stickshift cars that would make ideal “spare” cars, just something simple and reliable to have around when you need it. Teach your kid (or your neighbor’s kid) how to drive a manual with them. Drive them into the shady parts of town without worry. Change the oil whenever you feel like it. Who cares? They’re cheap.

Now, before I go any further, I have a quick programming note: Tomorrow, I leave on the first of three cross-country drives to move to Maryland. I’ll be driving my old Forest Service truck and towing my MG on a U-Haul trailer. My plan is to keep writing, and choose local cars from wherever I stop for the night – call it “Shitboxes Across America” – but if I suddenly go dark and you see someone else’s byline appear here, you’ll know it’s not going well. And if you see a big green pickup towing a little yellow sports car, both wearing Autopian stickers, wave hello.

On Friday, we had a four-way shootout with a twist: I asked you to pick a pair of cars. The clear winner, and obvious choice, was the most expensive pairing: the big maroon Caddy and the little green Kia Soul. For once, I agree with the majority. See? I’m not contrarian all the time.

Now then: Since I’m still in Portland, both of today’s choices are as well. They’re nothing special, but they’re affordable, manual, and honest-feeling. Let’s see which one you think is the better deal.

1998 Nissan Altima GXE – $1,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.4 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Portland, OR

Odometer reading: 158,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

Being the middle child isn’t easy, or so I’ve heard. I’m the older of two myself, so I don’t really have any first-hand knowledge. I do know the second movie or book in a trilogy is usually the low point, with two notable exceptions. When it comes to the Nissan Altima, a lot of people forget the second generation existed at all. The first Altima was a lively, sporty little sedan everyone seemed to love, and the third began the Altima’s reputation as the choice of deadbeat dads everywhere. The second was just a “Really? That’s not a Mazda? Huh” sort of car.

This second-gen Altima is a somewhat uncommon five-speed manual. It’s powered by a 2.4 liter four that was in the 155 horsepower range, no slouch in its day, and plenty powerful to keep up with traffic today. The seller says this one has been all over the west, including two trips to Denver and back, and never missed a beat. It got a new clutch about 30,000 miles ago and has new struts. The seller also has maintenance records from previous owners, which is always a good sign.

It’s hard to get a really good idea from the photos, but it looks pretty clean overall. The paint is weatherbeaten, but I don’t see any signs of rust or damage. The Wall Drug sticker is a nice touch. Man, I haven’t been there in about twenty years now.

Inside, it looks all right as well, though a previous owner replaced the headliner with sort of a weird tessellated cat pattern:

It could be worse, I suppose. At least it isn’t falling down.

2004 Kia Rio Cinco – $2,000

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Vancouver, WA

Odometer reading: 170,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

The first-generation Kia Rio has the distinction of being the most disappointing new car I have ever personally test-driven. It was a Cinco model like this, but a couple of years earlier. The engine made more noise than power, the brakes were frighteningly weak, and I swear the shift linkage was made from a Fruit Roll-Up. My opinion may have been colored, I admit, by the fact that I drove a third-generation Mazda Protege an hour earlier, which I ultimately bought. Had I driven the Kia first, it might have felt fine, or at least acceptable.

Regardless of my opinion, someone must have liked this one enough to put 170,000 miles on the odometer. It runs great, the seller says and gets about thirty miles to the gallon. The Rio’s engine was upgraded a bit in 2003, from 1.5 to 1.6 liters, adding a few horsepower and a bit more torque, which has to be an improvement. I doubt, however, that Kia did anything to improve the rubbery gearshift feel.

When you consider that this was just about the cheapest new car you could get in 2004, the interior has held up remarkably well over the past twenty years. The steering wheel rim is discolored, but the seats look all right, and I don’t see anything obviously broken.

It does look like a really useful little wagon, which is why I test-drove one in the first place. Small cars like this should all be hatchbacks or wagons; I never understood the practice of selling so many tiny cars as four-door sedans. They look ungainly, and they lose a ton of versatility, for no reason.

So there they are, just a couple of little runabouts, nothing special, but they’ll get the job done. You’ve got the Nissan with lower miles, but with cats on the ceiling, and the Kia wagon, which is a little more expensive, but it is a wagon. Which one would you buy?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)