Hello all...
I'm at that stage in my life where I said enough is enough, I will finish my undergrad once and for all . In light of this, and going to school full time, I've had to cut back on expenses and toys... first... my 2002 C240 had to go (yes, for me it was a toy). Now, I had to give up my G35 coupe (major bummer). This is pretty much due to Boston's rent... insane. So, I am left with a great lease deal on a 04 Toyota 4Runner ($305/mo ) which my wife makes use of. It's a safe car, and we have a kid on the way so I'm happy we have it. So I'm on a tight budget and need something to get me the 25mi to school and back. I have a good friend who is willing to give me a car for free. It's a 1990 Volvo 240 Wagon with 30K miles. He's owned it since new and drives it only to maintain it. I've seen this car, it's a time capsule. It still has the new car smell. The only problem is: The car is in Italy. The shipping alone is $2500 and I don't know about all the other customs charges, etc. The car was originally sold here, so it will pass standards. Obvioulsy this car is my first choice for a commuter, but if this plan does not realize, what do you guys suggest for under 3K? A VW Jetta? A Toyota? A late 80's MB? Anxiously awaiting your thoughts....

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Mike,

Frankly, that Volvo sounds pretty good. An odd choice for best under $3k: Toyota Cressida. Only because I know two people who bought one under $1k and put no more than oil changes/tuneups into it, yet were able to drive day in, day out, including 1000+ mile road trips, for 2+ years, and then sell for around $1k (which was original investment)!?!

But I'm not sure what to be more alarmed about in your case- that you had three late model lux. imports (or two, depending on your classification of the 4 runner) but still feel the need to get that degree, or that while able to afford multiple nice cars, you're in a city where that income level still leaves you a renter due to housing prices! (Not intended as a jibe at you at all... my GF and I both have our degrees, don't plan to have any kids, have 4 cars (three paid for) and don't see how we'll ever afford a house in a neighborhood we'd walk into...

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1985 300TD
1984 380SL
1983 280SE (full Euro, trunk triangle and all!)

Formerly owned:
1986 420SEL
1984 300D
1983 300D
1981 300SD
1976 300D

Ain't that America....

No offense taken, believe me. The 4R was leased with $1500 down at 1.9% on a 60% residual... it was just too good to pass up!!! I wouldn't consider it a luxury car by any means (I have the base SR5 with cloth, manual seats, etc) It's a total PIG (15mpg combined) on gas, but whatever. I like it. The C240 was a company car, but I switched jobs so that went. The G went to my brother in law because I wanted to get rid of it anyway (baby and all) and he wanted a car right away so... here I am. You're right though, Boston is crazy expensive. Half a million dollars will not buy you much more than a shack 45mins from the city. My motivation for going back to school is because I want to change career paths. I've been working in small business for so long now that I'm sick and tired of it. I learned the hard way that there's only so far I can go without higher education. I kinda want to get this done before I have 4 kids. But back to cars, I was thinking about mid-90's lexus ES300's... similar to Cressidas I would think?

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No, the Lexus ES300 is a Camry. Which isn't bad. But it's not a Cressida. The Cressida is the b*stard child of a Supra and a Buick LeSabre. not literally, there is no relation to a Buick apart from the soft ride. it does, however, have a variation of the Supra engine; every Cressida made had an inline six and rear wheel drive. That's part of why it's so sturdy. It's basically a car on '70s Corolla lines but with DOHC and two more cylinders, with a Buick sensibility towards ride and power accessories. The Cressidas I cited were a 1988 and 1992 models.

The FWD Lexus and Camry aren't bad, but the Cress was the end of an era WRT superbly tough Toyotas. M-B 300E is a notably better car, engineering wise. It isn't necessarily a better $3000 car though.

Personally, I'm pretty happy with my $1500 300SD, but that's a diesel and might not be your cup of tea. I also have heard, on this forum, that most aren't as lucky reliability-wise as I've been...

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1985 300TD
1984 380SL
1983 280SE (full Euro, trunk triangle and all!)

Formerly owned:
1986 420SEL
1984 300D
1983 300D
1981 300SD
1976 300D

That "90 Volvo would be perfect but if it's in Italy, you'd have to go through the entire DOT/EPA certification, through a registered importer, in addition to the shipping. With the customs bond, fees and expenses of conversion, you can figure about $10,000 or so for the process over the price of the car. So that car looks out of the question

Family concerns probably would mandate a SAFE car above else. A rear wheel drive 4 cylinder B12, 112 hp Volvo like a 1985 -to about a 1992 Volvo 240 or 740 would be a good choice.

Also, why not consider a 1986-1993 or so Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis sedan (or a Wagon throuogh 1991), or even a Lincoln Towncar, they are really bulletproof, easy to fix, roomy, comfortable, reliable and fairly safe cars, many of them are bought by Senior citizens so you might find a pampered one. They are undervalued and dollar for dollar one of the most inexpensive vehicles to run today. The Police and cab and livery companies run these to intergalactic mileages and the Police Interceptor retired cruisers are all over EBAY all the time, and might be worth a look

A 1995-1997 Subaru Outback AWD wagon might be another possibility, the new style started in 1995 and they are pretty well equipped with ABS, full power on most of them, they seem to be very reliable, and last to very high mileages with little repairs along the way.

The '92-'95 Buick Century could work for a few years of cheap transportation that was pretty reliable too.

If you get any of them in the Northeast, though, watch out for rust though.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I've owned a '91 740, and 88 Crown Vic and a '95 Outback and each of them were HIGHLY satisfactory, the Crown Vic especially cost virtually nothing to keep.)

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis, owned by the proverbial 'little old lady' and with fewer than average miles on the odometer.

Not flashy, but easy to maintain and run almost forever.

Blue hair tint optional!

From the first post, I understood that the car is US spec and was originally sold in the US and then was shipped to Italy. You don't need to do EPA testings on a US spec as its already in spec. I'd imagine tax would still be counted though.

If you want a 1990 Volvo wagon, you can buy them all day already in the US for <$3k. Go to cars.com, autotrader.com, craigslist. Beware of rust on hock towers and tubes.
I think the Crown Vic idea is great. Solid cars, reasonable fuel mileage, room for family, fairly easy to get parts. I really like the idea of one literally owned by an old lady who no longer drives.

Under $3,000 and full reliability? Get a good Toy or Honda. Anything else will eat you alive in repair bills.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Not to hijack this thread, but here goes:

Sounds like us...4 cars, three paid for, wife and I both have degrees and highly technical positions in the same company...except we have one (really busy) adolescent and a decent home (actually too big for a family of three).

Not sure where you two are age-wise, but the house thing is doable, and will come in time. Our current home is pretty much the "dream" home, and we've custom decorated it for our tastes, but it took years before we got there.

Our first home was a tiny tudor, that while charming, really, really, needed tons of work to make it look decent. We were recently married, and shortly thereafter, had a bouncing baby girl. Little money between us, so we borrowed to the gills to renovate the old house. By the time we sold it, we had three mortgages on it! Even managed to make a small profit on the sale too.

You'll get a house soon enough...there are a lot of financial vehicles out there these days to help you get there...many didn't exist when we acquired our first home.

Thread hijack over.

W124s are at or below $3K these days. I would venture that the Toyotas and Hondas would be a bit more reliable, but consider that they aren't all that robust when they get on in years! And despite the high-dollar illusion the MB commands, I find other import car parts to be just as pricey as the MB ones...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

92 or earlier W124 for under $3000 is stout and easily repaired either by you or a qualified Indy, which keeps maintenance costs down. For longevity it's a tough car to beat.

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Subaru mid 90's if you want AWD but I would not
get a outback. The 2.5L engine has weak head
gasket. I think the 2.2L is a better engine and comes
in the legacy L and impreza.

If you don't need AWD get a Toyota.

Any Mazda Protege is a great car, and there are very affordable in the used car market relative to Civics and Corolla's.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

For that matter, due to lackluster styling and poor advertising, Ford Escorts are very affordable. Same thing as the Mazda Protege. I had a 94 Escort before my 300E and I loved it. Bulletproof, and along with the GEO Prizm is a Consumer Reports best buy. Very reliable and inexpensive to maintain.

The Prizm is a Corolla in the same way that the Escort is a Protege. Don't overlook either of these cars.

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Ditto that. I dearly miss my wife's 1997 Subaru Impreza. The only problem with Subarus is that they don't get the gas mileage of some similar cars (Honda, Toyota, etc.). Otherwise, they are great cars. More fun to drive and more personality than the competition, IMHO.