Since this is the second day in a row with cars meeting this criteria, I might as well make it official: it’s Cheap Stickshift Week. Manual transmissions are generally preferable for inexpensive used cars anyway; a failed automatic can pretty much total an otherwise decent car, but unless you really screw something up, the worst you can do to a stick is wear out the clutch. So we’ll just make a week of it, and have a good old-fashioned runoff on Friday.
Yesterday’s cars were both two-door coupes in good running order, but that’s about all we knew about them. To my surprise, it was a win for the GM car over the Japanese (or rather Mexican) import. The Olds Achieva, built right down the road from here in Lansing, Michigan, won you over with its snazzy styling and better-than-average powertrain. The biggest complaint I heard about it was that it was black. As the owner of a currently-filthy black car, I get it; they look great all shined up, but like hell otherwise.
The Achieva is absolutely my choice between these two. I have nothing but respect for that Sentra, and I wouldn’t turn it down, but up against a Quad 4 with a 282, it’s going to lose. That Achieva wouldn’t be all that quick, but that gearbox shifts very nicely, and the Quad 4 might be GM’s best-sounding four-cylinder ever.
I have always chosen function over form, especially when it comes to cars. I can appreciate a clean and well-kept car, but mine always seem to be a little dirty or have some cosmetic flaws somewhere. The oily bits, however, are kept in tip-top shape. The two cars I’m about to show you are no beauty queens, but they do seem to be in good mechanical condition and ready for some fun. Let’s check them out.
1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport – $2,200
Engine/drivetrain: 4.0-liter OHV inline 6, five-speed manual, 4WD
Location: Denver, CO
Odometer reading: 257,000 miles
Operational status: Ad doesn’t specifically say, actually
Some cars seem destined to be classics from day one. Others, while well-respected in their day, aren’t really appreciated fully until years later. The XJ-platform Jeep Cherokee seems to belong to that latter group. It sold well, people liked it, but it was in the hands of second and third owners that the boxy Jeep really came into its own. XJs have become the cheap 4x4s to modify and abuse on the trails. AMC and later Chrysler built a lot of them, and they’re durable vehicles, so cheap used ones aren’t hard to find. It is increasingly rare to find a stock one like this for cheap, though.
I’ll admit my eyes tend to glaze over when our illustrious editor-in-chief goes into the minutiae of Jeep lore, much like my wife’s eyes glaze over when I start talking about RC cars, but if I remember correctly, this 1993 model is one of the “good” ones. It has the legendary 4.0-liter inline six, along with the Aisin-Warner AX15 five-speed manual. It has over a quarter million miles on it, but that hardly seems to matter with these things. Everything is rebuildable, so as long as the body holds up, it’s basically immortal. The seller is a dealership, and they don’t actually say how well it runs or drives, but I have to assume it does run. Dealerships have nothing to gain by advertising a non-running car without saying it doesn’t run.
This is the best view we get of the interior, and it’s not much to go on. The seller does say that it’s a very basic model with crank windows, which is probably preferable for an off-road toy. We do get a good view of the manual shifter, which I really like the look of on these. It may or may not have something to do with The Goonies.
It used to be that nice forest green that was so popular on these, but the top half has been spray-painted flat black for some unknown reason. It doesn’t look rusty, but I know that rust likes to hide on these, so you’d be wise to check the underside carefully. If everything looks solid, give it a cheap DIY paint job and call it a day.
2001 Mercedes-Benz SLK230 Kompressor – $2,300
Engine/drivetrain: Supercharged 3.2-liter DOHC inline 4, six-speed manual, RWD
Location: Austin, TX
Odometer reading: 150,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Remember when the Mazda Miata came out, and it was a big hit, and then suddenly automakers were falling over each other to create their own two-seat roadsters? Those were the days. Mercedes-Benz had been doing the two-seater thing for years with the R107 and R129 SL roadsters, of course, but they were large and heavy cruisers, a far cry from the lightweight Miata. This R170-chassis SLK is still no featherweight, but it’s a lot closer to a Miata or BMW Z3/Z4 competitor than the SL.
I try really hard not to give sellers too hard of a time here, but there is an error in this ad so egregious that I have to say something. The seller has this car listed as an SLK320, with the 3.2-liter V6, but one glance at this engine bay will tell you that that’s a four-cylinder engine. That makes this an SLK230 Kompressor, not an SLK320. It would be an understandable mistake, except that the seller claims to be an experienced mechanic, and in two different places the ad says that this is the V6. That’s a mistake on the order of making an acceptance speech for an award you didn’t win. They do say that the car runs and drives well, but I suppose we had better take that with a grain of salt, too.
Mercedes interiors of the early 2000s were not the high-quality, indestructible environments that they were in the 1970s and ’80s, and it shows. This car has cracked and torn leather, flaking paint on the center console, and heavy wear on the steering wheel, all at only 150,000 miles. It still looks comfortable, and it’s fine for a car this price, but it’s not what you’d expect to see in a premium car like this.
It’s pretty scruffy outside, too. There’s hail damage, bad paint, and cracked plastic. The grille is absent entirely. In addition, the seller says the power-operated folding hard top is no longer power-operated, though it can be lowered and raised manually.
If you’re shopping at this end of the price range, you’re going to have to compromise on something, and it makes more sense to me to compromise on aesthetics rather than mechanical condition. A car won’t leave you stranded due to ugliness. These are definitely both ugly, but they seem to be in decent shape where it counts. Which one would you trust?
I’m throwing a dart today.
My ex wife had an 80/90s Cherokee that was a manual and no options at all. 2 door, 2WD, manual, crank windows, steel wheels, cassette… I learned what death wobble was without knowing what it was back then. It was fun to drive with the manual but that wobble seriously pissed me off trying to get on a highway ramp.
The Merc sounds like $$$ at any moment, but rallycross it to death until then?
Not necessarily a good indicator of cylinder count. Some Hemis had dual-spark, along with the Ford Lima 4 cylinder and some Mercedes engines.
I’d love to see a 4 cylinder with 6 plugs or vice versa though!
I don’t see the value of a Mercedes where the interior makes me miserable and the exterior looks like shit. Seriously, there’s just not much you’re going to be able to do with that interior unless you’re really really pumping cash into it. This isn’t the sort of car I would care to own unless it was in at least moderately good shape.
The XJ I could enjoy as-is in theory. Put work into it over time if I wanted. It gets my vote.
Guessing the bottom of that Jeep is pretty crusty. If it checks out as clean, that’s my choice. Today’s another day where if you just spend about 2k more, you can easily find decent examples of these, even in manual. If you absolutely must scrape the bottom of the barrel, I guess these are fine. The SLK is absolutely knackered at this point.
I find SBSDs like this pretty tedious, neither of these seem particularly interesting (to me) or exceptional, and FB Marketplace basically has beat to shit cars by the thousands.
The seller of the SLK clearly doesn’t know what he’s got. XJ.
I’m going to go against the grain here and vote for the SLK. I thought they were so cool when I was a kiddo and manual ones aren’t super easy to find. It’s also more interesting than another Miata or used Vette or whatever. The interior is a dump but I’d be willing to bet you could put a couple grand into sprucing this hooptie up and have a perfectly cromulent weekend car.
This example is also incredibly cheap. A decent manual one is a 5 figure car all day, so fixing this one up is probably a better value if you know what you’re doing.
Every touchpoint on the interior of that SLK is going to be mildly tacky and the seat will leave little black flakes stuck to your butt every time you get out. Hard pass.
Jeep, definitely. It’s probably the best thing the French designed with regard to space utilization and durability. This Jeep is so simple I could wrench on anything it can throw at me.
Man, that Mercedes is thoroughly trashed. I’ve always liked the looks of the Cherokee, and with a manual transmission and the 4.0, I’ll take the Jeep today.
As much as I would enjoy a tossable little runabout, I’m just not that guy most of the time. I’m more of a tractor-with-extra-seats kind of guy and oh, a Cherokee you say? Do go on.
I have a policy about buying German Cars with Turbo’s, it is not a thing I would want to do, the supercharger is a little better I suppose, but man, this is a typical mechanics car. they work on things all day and let their own rides run and look like garbage….AKA this 25 year old Merc. Jeep at double the price would be better to me, at this price it is kind of a steal, regardless of the sellers inability to spell.
One of these vehicles will spend more time waiting for a repair than it will actually driving. I think we all know which one I’m talking about. Give me the Jeep with its antiquated/proven AMC engineering that can be repaired until the end of time.
I’m not somebody who cares deeply about my public image but I just couldn’t be seen driving that Mercedes.
Unfortunately, the Muhr-cra-deez does not come in my size, so quarter-million-mile Cherokee by default. 4.0 and 5-speed is a fun combo anyway.
Thar Merc is kinda rare and could be kinda fun.
However.
Driving a beat-down Mercedes makes you look like you’ve got champagn tastes on a cheese in a spray can budget.
Driving a beat down XJ makes you look like you have a good time enjoying the outdoors on the weekends without breaking the bank. A cool dude.
I like spray can cheese on triscuits. That Merc is scruffy; I wonder how much a grill costs.
SLK today. It would be fun to flog. I already have a 99 XJ, same miles, same condition. That Denver Jeep has to be all crusty rusty underneath
Question is would you do the Crossfire over SLK? https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/6626bb1c-0960-4b17-9bda-20bdcc014e9f/
That thing looks really clean.
Is Denver really known for rust? I always thought that was one of those “snow-but-no-salt” places that weren’t bad for rust
I lived in the Denver area for most of my life. Rust really wasn’t a thing.
Easy.
The Merc.
Drive it hard, put it away wet, and if/when it breaks: sell off the parts to break evenish.
Neither one are one I’d want to long-term live with – least of all the Jeep.
Goddamn that Mercedes looks thrashed.
I’ve owned two XJs and said I wasn’t gonna do another, but it’s the move for today.
The Jeep is the better buy, but I just like the SLK and would rather drive it. I don’t know as I would ever actually roll the dice on this particular example, but it’s fake internet money.
My friends former stepdad got one of those Mercedes used when I was in high school. He almost never drove it, because it was almost always broken. I graduated in 2011. I can’t imagine the sort of issues that could crop up on one now officially old enough to wear historic tags. I’ll take the Jeep, at least I’ll be able to drive it.
This was a tough one, because I loved the look of this SLK when they came out. But that Benz would be a nightmare even if it had been cared for properly; this one is a ticking nuclear bomb.
That Cherokee, as mentioned, will run until the sun goes nova and probably afterwards. The only reason I got rid of mine was because it was a 2-door and it was painful to get our infant daughter in and out of the back seat.
I voted for the Cherokee and kind of hate myself for it. The first gen SLK is a car I’ve always liked the look of, but the seller’s dishonesty once again puts me off of it. I’m not an off roader guy, but at least the Cherokee is at stock height, and they’re fairly compact for SUVs. Sure, I’ll never use the full extent of the vehicle’s capabilities, and have no desire to, but at least I mostly know that I’m not going to have to argue with the owner about what it actually is.
Jeep. All day long. I’ve been craving an XJ as a second car (ended up with an ’03 RX350 when I last needed one…still bummed about that). This one is basic, seems fairly not trashed, and while the paint is a weird aesthetic choice it isn’t the worst and it could always be fixed. Probably wouldn’t do it, but I could.
The Mercedes…is concerning. That old girl has seen some things and they haven’t been pretty for a while. Plus I don’t really think this “mechanic” is from the Stephen Walter Gossin Coast Carolina Underground Volcano School of Backyard Shitbox Rescuing and Mechanical Know-How. Just a hunch.
Bonus points: you drive a slightly crusty XJ? People assume you are rugged, you know where to find a hiking trail, you probably have tools, you know how to start a fire correctly, you likely own flannel. You drive a crusty old Merc? People assume you bank by storing money in a Crown Royal bag, you likely know where to score meth, you probably have stolen tools to pawn, you don’t own a full set of dishes. In short, you aren’t likely to make the kind of friends that will keep you out of jail.
XJ all day. I don’t predict that this poll will be a fun one for the Mercedes SL???.
“you bank by storing money in a Crown Royal bag,” that will probably the funniest thing I read today. Thank you: and Yes my XJ owning friends are the way you describe.
I will take the 4wd cockroach please. Too many good XJs were trashed during the last cash for clunkers program. It is 4wd manual I-6 and already has tow hooks, off to the off road park.
Poll seems to be missing, but the Mercedes for me. I’ve just never been an XJ guy, the appeal is lost on me.