Good morning! We’re ending the week, and starting the month, with a pair of Japanese sedans that I haven’t seen for sale in a very long time. And I can’t even recall the last time I saw either of them in person. They’re both in great shape, too, so you can’t complain about me offering you junk today.
We looked at a couple of wagons yesterday, one battered French survivor and one squeaky-clean Accord. It sounds like quite a few of you really wanted to like the Peugeot, but its condition, especially next to that Honda, put you off. The Accord wagon took an easy win, but I think the Peugeot voters were more passionate about their decision.
For me, the decision comes down to one simple fact: Hondas with automatics are boring to drive. For me, with no commute and a non-boring automatic already in the garage, the Accord is utterly useless. The Peugeot is a manual, rear-wheel-drive, and is known for surviving in some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Plus, it’s got character, and I admire that in a car. If the Accord were a manual, then it would absolutely be the better choice. But it isn’t.
Living in Portland, Oregon for sixteen years made me forget that certain cars go extinct in other parts of the country. Look around hard enough in the Pacific Northwest, and you’re bound to find an example of almost any car you can think of. Since I moved away, I’ve missed seeing all those old survivors casually street-parked all over town. Maybe that’s why I feature so many of them here. But I haven’t seen either one of these cars on the road, even in Portland, in ages. They’re nothing special, except that there are hardly any of them left, especially in this condition. Let’s check them out.
1986 Mazda 323 DX – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter OHC inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Brentwood, CA
Odometer reading: 140,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Before there was the Mazda 3, before there was the Protege, there was the 323. And before that, there were two generations of what Mazda called the GLC, for “Great Little Car.” The 323 is sort of the forgotten middle child of the line, except for a couple of special versions, but it doesn’t deserve to be. These truly are great little cars. This humble little DX sedan isn’t the GT or GTX that we all know, but it shares the same basic bones.
The engine is a 1.6 liter four cylinder with electronic fuel injection, a welcome update from the GLC’s carburetor. It’s not powerful, but it is very reliable. Unfortunately, what power this one has is delivered to the front wheels through an automatic transmission, and worse still, it’s an old three-speed non-overdrive unit. It’ll probably run until the end of time, but it won’t be a particularly fun ride. Mazda’s small cars are generally more fun to drive than, say, Toyota’s, but that gearbox is a real buzz-kill.
The seller calls this car a “bit of a beater,” which makes me think they’ve never actually seen a beater. This interior photo could almost have come from a Mazda brochure. There aren’t many photos in the ad, but the ones that are there show a really clean car. It’s a pretty simple car, with crank windows and no air conditioning, but that’s just less stuff to go wrong.
It’s really clean outside, too. The black plastic bumpers are faded, of course, and some chrome has come off the badges, but honestly that appears to be the worst of it. Even the headlights aren’t clouded up. Someone took good care of this car, and kept it in a garage.
1989 Mitsubishi Galant LS – $5,499
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Austin, TX
Odometer reading: 104,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
This is another somewhat forgotten car, but it was a big part of Mitsubishi’s boom in the US in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The previous generation Galant was a pretty frumpy car, but this one became the darling of reviewers when it came out. The Galant was available with all kinds of high-tech features: all-wheel-drive, a turbocharged engine, and electronically controlled suspension, but this LS model keeps things fairly simple.
This Galant is a one-owner car, with just over 100,000 miles on its 2.0 liter engine. It has an electronically-controlled automatic transmission with “power” and “economy” modes, terms taken from Mitsubishi’s old twin-stick “Super Shift” manual. I’ve never messed around with one of these, so I don’t know how much difference there is in performance between the two modes. The dealership selling it says it runs and drives well, but don’t expect any history or service records.
The interior is in beautiful shape, and it looks really comfy. This one is a little better equipped than the Mazda, with power windows and locks, and air conditioning. The seller claims the stereo has Bluetooth, but it looks like the stock stereo from 1989 to me. There must be some add-on doohickey in there.
Outside, it’s clean, shiny, and rust-free. What more could you want? You don’t realize until you look closely just how much chrome there used to be on cars. There are little bits of brightwork all over this car. It’s a nice change of pace from all the black plastic cladding on cars today.
Yeah, I know that both of these cars were offered in turbocharged all-wheel-drive versions that were a lot more fun. But those command silly prices these days, if you can even find them. These both seem like reasonable deals, especially considering their condition. Which one interests you more?
LOL that Galant is crackhead priced
Yeah, a 37 y.o. economy sedan, no matter how good of shape it is in, ain’t worth $5.5K.
I KNOW WHAT I HAVE FIND ANOTHER LIKE IT
I’m ashamed to admit this, but as a kid of the 80s/90s, this type of once-common car has a good nostalgic pull for me and I could see myself buying it. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Galant of this gen on the road, much less in this kind of condition.
It is that, but it’s a much nicer car.
I want to support the Mazda, having enjoyed driving a GLC in the distant past, but picturing both cars on the freeway I have to go with the extra power and comfort of the Mitsu. And it’s a much more attractive car. Though for that price I would want everything to work, including the AC.
Regarding the “power” and “economy” modes of the transmission, it’s just some electronic function that holds higher revs in power mode and shifts up more quickly in economy mode. I never had an automatic Mitsubishi, but I had an Elantra with the 4G63 engine and that car had a similar economy button. The effect was not very noticeable.
The badging is hilarious. It’s a Mazda mazda323.
Cheap beaters should be cheap so the Mazda gets the nod today even though it is overpriced.
$5,500 can get you a much nicer car than that old Galant. There are 409 used cars on Car Guru within 50 miles of my priced from $5K to $6K. Most are decades newer.
Except that the Galant is not really a beater. It’s super clean. If you happen to want a well-preserved Japanese car from the 1980s and you don’t care to have a rare or sporty model, then I would say this one is worth a look. You can drive in relative comfort to Radwood or some local Mitsu club.
If you just need a car, then nothing that old should be considered… most cars from the 1980s are wonderfully light, but you don’t want to crash or be crashed into.
I view all old cars as beaters. Newer cars are better in any objective measure so the only thing old cars have going for them is price. That is why I bought old beaters when I was in my 20’s and working to dig myself out of earlier poor financial decisions.
I realize that some people collect cars or have a nostalgic attraction to cars of their youth. I’m not that guy.
I did let the rose colored glasses cloud my vision once and bought my first motorcycle again decades later. Then I rode it a bit and realized it my memories did not match reality.
What PBL said. This has entered the less rational realm of nostalgia. These really are of-a-time and that’s of value to some people like me who grew up seeing these all over. It’s a really nice example.
I don’t do nostalgia, I vote on these daily polls based on practical value. I grew up in the 80’s and to me these are just old cars.
If you are willing to pay more for nostalgia that is fine by me. I don’t get excited about how other people spend their money. (Real or imaginary internet dollars)
I get that, but the $5-6K used car market is a dull place with a lot of risk for anyone who doesn’t wrench or have a healthy repair budget.
The Galant is far more interesting to me than 99% of what I’m seeing in this price range. Compared to a 200k mile Corolla or an Elantra with The Troubles in the engine bay, it may not be all that less practical either.
Not seeing how a Mazda that is 20 years old with more miles is riskier than this:
2007 Mazda MAZDA6 s Sport
106,654 mi
Happy Valley, OR
$5,999
No accidents recorded
Lots of options with less than 200k miles and being in the west coast rust free. Yes, many are dull but cheap transportation.
Not seeing how a 20-year old Mazda3 is more interesting than the Galant. They’re everywhere.
Well, not that gen. Rust.
It isn’t more interesting. Neither car is offered in the poll today is interesting. They are boring family sedans that just happen to be old.
The 2007 is simply a newer and better car for the same price.
Nope! Mitsu is more interesting! In another 20 years the ’07 will be equally so.
Have a fun weekend. Or a practical one.
So for you it is just an age thing.
Yes, have a good weekend. I kicked mine off early today going to the One Motorcycle Show and then for motorcycle ride on some twisty 2 lanes.
There was an interesting car at the show. A Datsun 240Z turned into a very clean track car.
First thought was the 323 would be the darling of this crowd, but it cannot really stand against the super low mile Mitsubishi today. I would rather it had AWD and thus the VR4 option of course, but for most anything I would do with that car it would be wholly adequate.
I’ve spent a lot of time in that era of 323 and if it was the manual, I think I would have picked it, but I think I’d rather have the fancier (and extra gear’d!) Galant.
This is one of those times the wrong transmission kills the deal. I owned and loved an ’87 323 wagon 5MT and would buy THAT car back in a heartbeat, but I cannot work up any interest in a slushbox 323. Also, when a seller tells you a car is a beater, believe it. That Galant is a lot more appealing, albeit overpriced.
Mazda, both for nostalgia and the price. The Galant is fine, but not my favorite year or model, while many decades ago my friend had a (I think ’87) 323 DX hatchback that we had lots of fun in. His 323 was basic, but it was also highly tossable and had surprisingly good road feel (along with terrible road noise). The automatic won’t be as fun as a stick, but that’s true for both cars, so I’ll take the cheaper option.
The Galant looks like a more pleasant place to spend your commute.
I would probably rather have the Galant, but not for that sort of premium. I’d be plenty happy to putt around in that 323 for 3k, considering the condition it’s in. Mazda for me.
I wish Mazda would return to that spelt out logo with that font, versus their recent generic as hell ” M A Z D A “. Mazda is making some great cars but they’re lacking personality in a few different ways (offering another color that isn’t the admittedly great Soul Red would help).
Galant 100%. My dad drove one of these when I was in elementary school, in a fantastic red color. I thought it was so much cool than Mom’s minivan.
I already owned the Mercury Tracer version of that 323 when it was new – I couldn’t imagine owning a stripped down, automatic version of that.
The Galant is definitely a couple steps up despite it being black.
“
peoplecars that annoy you”Black isn’t a car color, it’s a second job.
The Galant is a little bigger, a bit more powerful, a little nicer, and if I wanted a 3-speed auto 1.6, I’d look for an ’85-’88 Chevrolet Nova like my college car.
Mazda. If for no other reason than it looks better IMO.
I’ve seen Mitsubishis from this era with half a million miles. Anyone know if Mitsubishi reliability around this time is hit and miss or solid across the board?
Hit or miss, for sure. I had a Montero that seemed well-built, but I knew someone in the early 1990s who successfully used the lemon law to get out of his Galant. Relative to USDM or Euro brands reliability was pretty good.
Apart from anecdotes, Mitsubishi went through several scandals lawsuits in the 1990s and 2000s, including hiding from vehicle recalls. Management culture was so toxic that it’s hard to believe the company could keep up the kind of quality being delivered by Honda, Toyota, or even Nissan.
I’m going with the Galant today, but both would be a viable choice.
Today’s build would be full VIP treatment, but without slamming it to the ground, just a modest drop on some lowering springs. I’d get some classy wheels for it, tint the windows, add a massive stereo while retaining the factory head unit for that clean look.
MAYBE a louder exhaust and intake combo if I get bored.
“Beater”? That Mazda? Maybe by Brentwood standards.
Fun fact: California has two Brentwoods! The more famous one isn’t really a city, just a fancy neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Mazda is in the city of Brentwood, which is a far outer suburb of the Bay Area where housing is still semi-affordable by California standards, so the bar for a beater is going to be different there than in the LA Brentwood.
Right you are, Autonerdery. And the suburban street with a bit of land around the houses just about gives away that it’s in the nicer half of California.
They’re cheap enough that you could easily pocket both, use the 323 for dailies and the Galant for weekends.
Calling the 323 “a bit of a beater” is really a gross misapplication of the word “beater.” That thing looks super clean. My truck is a bit of a beater; that Mazda is one detailing away from a museum plinth.
I don’t have much interest in either one; the Sirius engine and I have a bit of a history that didn’t end happily so that tips the scales very slightly away from the Galant.
323 today. I wouldn’t enjoy it very much, but I’m afraid the potential is there for me to enjoy the Galant even less.
I’m going with the 323 on this just because of the price. Neither is a bad choice in this on though.
Another vote for the Galant. I have a soft spot for Mitsubishis of this era, having owned several variations of Colts and Mirages back in the day.
I guess the Galant, this old man needs AC these days, even if I really like simple cars.
The Galant is a superior car but it is in a completely different class of automobile as it is a Mercedes compared to that little 323. I love the Mazda’s of this era, well almost any era. But it’s the Mitsu for me!
Well, more like a 626 LX compared to the 323 DX….
Would it help the comparison if it was a Galant AMG?
Galant, but only if they come down on price. If they don’t budge I’d go for the Mazda. I was expecting almost crime scene levels of interior, but they both look surprisingly good.
It’s not what one would call elegant, but I’ll take the Galant today. Gotta have some AC for the summer.
Galant for me too. The Mazda is a bit too compromised.
I’d rather have the Galant, but you will have to pry my wallet from my cold, dead fingers to get $5500 for it.
You’ve got $5500 in your wallet? Aren’t you afraid of muggers?
I’m currently reading a book about George Remus, a bootlegger in the early 20’s that at one time controlled 30% of the liquor in the USA.
I was shocked to read that he often carried $100,000 on him in $1,000 bills for the routine task of paying bribes to officials and politicians. That is about $1.6 million in today’s dollars!
I guess that’s why you can’t get $1,000 bills anymore.
Would be nice if they did though. Bring back the $5,000 and $10,000 bills too.
With the Galant you wouldn’t have to worry about the spent money and you’d probably also be invisible to car jackers as a bonus.