It occurred to me, when I started looking for cars for today, that all the cheap cars I’ve shown you this week have been automatics. That just doesn’t seem right, especially since I’m a big fan of manual transmissions for beaters, for durability and reliability. So today, I went looking for some stickshift options and found a couple of homely choices that should get the job done.
Remember how I said yesterday that at least one of the cars was going to be sold before anyone could read the ad? Well, I was right – the Crown Vic was gone early in the morning. The ad for the Matrix disappeared for a while, but it’s back up now. But there are a lot of things that don’t add up about that car, and now that you all point them out, I realize I should have noticed them earlier. It’s got more red flags than the grandstands at Spa.
And who cares anyway? That thing is toast. A Crown Vic is a blunt instrument, but it will keep doing its thing for a long time to come. I saw multiple Crown Vic taxis at the garage with nearly half a mil on their odometers, and while no one could call them nice anymore, they still did their job. That’s where the smart money was yesterday, and I hope the Vic’s new owner gets many happy miles out of it.
The Crown Vic would work fine as a cheap beater, but personally, I’d rather have something small and manual. You’ll use less gas, and you won’t have to worry about a complicated automatic transmission shitting the bed and rendering your cheap car useless. A clutch can be replaced for $150 and a twelve-pack of beer to get your buddy to give up a Saturday to help you, and there’s not much else that’s likely to go wrong with a manual. I tried to find two cars for under a grand each, but one of these is just a little over. It’s still a bargain, though. Let’s take a look.
1986 Volkswagen Golf – $850
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Port Orchard, WA
Odometer reading: ad lists 100,000
Operational status: Runs and drives well, but needs ignition lock/switch
The most colorful – and one of the most well-known – variant of the VW Golf was the “Harlequin” edition, made by taking standard four-door Golfs of four different colors and mixing up their body panels. Harlequin Golfs are cool, especially to those of us who like bright colors, but there’s a fact about them that is relevant here: they were built ten years after this Golf was. Someone liked the look and decided to replicate it on this old MkII Golf.
This is a car I know pretty well; I drove a two-door 1985 Golf in college, and it treated me well, even when I didn’t return the favor. Forget what you think you know about the MkIII and later Volkswagens; this has more in common with the old MkI and Rabbit. It’s a simple machine, devoid of any later VW craziness. The engine is the old EA827 four-cylinder, with nice simple Bosch fuel injection. It only puts out 85 horsepower, but trust me, it’s sufficient. The seller says this one runs and drives well, but the ignition switch is broken, and the steering column sometimes locks when it’s not supposed to, so they suggest towing it. They also mention that the ignition is wired to a toggle switch; I wonder if maybe they don’t know you still need the key to unlock the mechanical steering column lock? Or maybe the key is lost? In any event, check the VIN and name on the title carefully and make sure they’re authorized to sell it.
The ad claims that this car has 100,000 miles on it, but I suspect that’s just a placeholder the seller put in because you have to put something. I suspect it actually has a lot more than that, and that the odometer is probably broken, because they all break eventually. The interior sure looks like it has more than 100,000 on it. And I see that the mirror has fallen off the windshield; I think I glued mine back up about five times. I have no idea why they don’t stay put, but no glue seems to work.
The funny thing is that the fake Harlequin job almost works, but they didn’t follow through on it. Maybe if the next owner committed to the bit and used the correct colors in the correct pattern, it would look better. Bust out the Rust-Oleum and the foam brushes, and do it up right.
2002 Honda Civic EX – $1,100
Engine/drivetrain: 1.7-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: San Diego, CA
Odometer reading: 175,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Honda Civics have been a staple of the cheap used car market for decades, and probably will be for decades more. They’re tough, reliable, and more fun to drive than you’d guess, especially when equipped with a manual transmission like this one is. Unfortunately, they’re also the darlings of the street-racer crowd, and too many of them end up modified beyond any semblance of usefulness. This one appears to have escaped a lot of that, but it does have an absurdly large aftermarket wing on the trunk lid.
It’s an EX model, so it has a little more power and a few more toys than lesser Civics. The engine is a single overhead cam D-series, displacing 1.7 liters and putting out 127 horsepower thanks to Honda’s VTEC variable valve timing setup. The seller doesn’t give us a lot of detail about its condition, saying only that it’s “good on gas” and that the clutch is “excellent.” That’s enough to get you started; as long as it’s largely stock under the hood, it should purr happily along for many more miles.
It’s surprisingly not bad inside. So many old Civics get absolutely trashed, but this one just shows a little wear. There’s some kind of weird seat cover on the driver’s seat back, and something stuck to the dash on the passenger’s side, but that’s it.
Outside, the paint is dull, and it looks like parts of it have been touched up with spray paint. It’s all blotchy and uneven. And then there’s that wing. I don’t understand it myself, but I guess some people go for that sort of thing. Take it off if you hate it as much as I do, and plug up the holes in the trunk lid with something. You might even be able to sell it to bring the purchase price down under a grand.
Neither of these cars has led an easy life, by the looks of it, but they’re both tough customers, and they should still have some life to give. They’re both cheap, and they’re both ugly. It’s just a matter of which one you’re willing to park in your driveway.
Remove the wing, give it a paint job, and you have a decent-ish car for really cheap. Easiest thing ever.
I always thought the Harlequins were cool, so a down and dirty tribute sound about like my speed as long as everything is above board with the seller. I would enjoy owning an old Golf a lot more than another Civic.
The wing is too small.
maybe he doesn’t need that much “compensation”?
Please don’t repaint the Golf. It is perfect as it sits.
I went against the grain and chose VW. I could have fun making it look halfway decent. I’ve always sort of liked the Harlequins. Just not enough to, you know, buy one. This could be my best chance.
The Wing on the Civic give me pause, but it is still the better choice here for what I would use the car for. The VW is more interesting, but having rode in them as a kid, I can say they would be scary these days. they blew around back then and with average daily driver pickups getting close to Box truck weights and fontal areas, I am not sure I would want to fight that all the time. Trying to keep up or stay in front of them is the other side of that coin. these were kind of peppy feeling around town, but in the end they were still dog slow. And I must be the rare non-bosch Injection fan around here. they seem to be harder to diagnose for me than say a basic TBI setup.
I guess if you have to start somewhere the Civic seems like the better choice.I bet you will find a Vanilla Ice CD somewhere inside.
More likely a Limp Bizkit CD 🙂
I have fond memories of Dad’s Mk II Golf. Also no kid at Cars& will know it’s not a real one. And anyone who doesn’t know Harlequins are a real thing will just think it’s a neat piece of vehicular art. Or that you’re a hippie. Or broke.
On the other hand, I’m nearly 40 and I don’t need a wing. Golf.
they always just made me think it was driven by a granny who could not pass a bollard without denting a panel, but the kid bought whatever panel color they could find and “planned” to one day repaint it all.
Even though the Golf is a Mark II (which sounds like it came before VW started messing things up in the Mark III? I don’t have first-hand experience with these.), the mystery mileage means I’d rather take my chances with the be-winged Civic.
The VW because it was probably owned by some eccentric VW dude and it just “is”.
That Civic has been beat on and run through the Autozone “appearance” aisle one too many times.
Plus, you just know it smells like vape juice and Axe body spray. Hard pass on that thing.
Civic is the better choice, you cross the border to Tijuana, get a cheap paint job, new tires and a full tune up and send it.
Forget what you know about modded Hondas, the 7th Gen Civic is not that. No one tunes a D17, as such they are either K-swapped or stock beyond intake/exhaust, which only makes it louder, not faster.
I’d take this EX, and strip it’s heart out to transplant into my LX, after doing all the gaskets, including the head gasket. I’ll keep it around a bit to pillage any other parts I may want before scrapping the shell. I can probably get $50 for that wing on Marketplace.
I’ll take the nearly 20 year newer Honda, thanks.
I’ll take the boy racer Civic over the non-zero chance that Golf is stolen for $1,000 Alex.
Honda is better than VW, and a good Honda is muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better than a poor condition VW LOL
Even if the conditions were reversed, the Honda would STILL be the better choice 😛
I’ll take the Civic from San Diego, which, in German, means a whale’s vagina.
Stay classy San Diego
I always thought it meant large wooden ship.
Well, no one really knows what it means.
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
This is such a toss up for me. If I was looking for basic transportation I’d get the civic, especially because the interior is better than it has any right to be. However, the VW is far more interesting to me, but the interior is shot. I’ve never owned either a VW or and Honda, but with how many of each were built parts must be cheap either way. I think I’d probably have to go with the VW just based on how I know people who modify Hondas like that treat them.
Civic all day. Pitch the boy-racer ebay wing and pepboys tail lights, wrap it and run it for another 100k. Oh, and probably leave the windows open for a month out in the sun to get the vape stink out of it.
I voted for the Civic, as it is undoubtedly the better buy.
But…
I really wanna finish the DIY Harlequin. No rationalreason for it. Maybe put my art school degree to good (bad?) use.
Civic seems easier to get into a non-cringey state. Some bondo and a little paint vs a whole lot of paint and the time to it reasonably right/not make things worse.
But I will say that 80s VW design is my absolute favorite. That Euro rectilinear style worked so well, if differently, across the lineup. It managed to seem mature and fun at the same time.
I really like the concept of a Harlequin where every panel is a different shade of rust but I just couldn’t with this mess. That Honda screams Fast and Furious wannabe with the wing. Hopefully that’s the only mod…
Ugh, Civic Coupe.. no thanks
Any Golf is way more interesting. Especially this one.
The wing on the Civic is actually hilarious, I love it.
Needs a Folgers Coffee can spray painted silver and attached to the single exhaust pipe with Self Drilling/tapping screws.
It just has to be self tappers
I really wanted to go Golfing, but the ignition issues scare me.
Take the Civic, sell the wing, enter the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge at the 1/2 price point. Might even have enough in the budget for tires or eBay nitrous.
Then rallycross it until it breaks.
Can someone explain that absurd embarrassing wing on the back of a 127hp economy car? Why is this done? Street racer crowd have a humorous sense of irony, like when you hear one of these Hondas rev up through the fartcan on the highway yet barely gain any speed?
Regardless, rip it off, patch the screw holes in the trunklid, and get on with it. An otherwise OK looking ’02 Civic is about fifteen billion times more appealing to me than a beat up VW nearly 20 years older.
Did VW offer a Harlequin Golf in 1986, or is this one homemade from the junkyard?
I liken it to all the people putting grill marker lights on their trucks now.
which, the wing or the terrible spray paint Harlequin colors?
As you can see from the red Honda badges, it’s a Type R.
Pro Tip: If you add an AWD badge under the Type R badge it will also make it better in the snow.
Yeah, that is the first thing I noticed when I saw that.
You could try reading the words as well as looking at the pictures.
Thanks, I missed the short paragraph at the very end of the Golf description.
But honestly, that’s a dickish comment. Granted, I’m sure you have a 100% record on this sort of thing and have never overlooked a single word, but the savants in my life whom I respect the most try to be a little more humble about their perfection.