Best beater cars to buy?
 

Hey guys. I'm still waiting to pick up a 2017 BRZ and in the mean time I want to purchase a sporty car that is manual for under $1500 to practice with. (Since I have no patience and only have a little experience with manual transmission). I've tried looking at old integras, but can't come up with what other cars that are that cheap but can still run without much problems. Oh and is it generally expensive to insure a car that is that cheap?

Any ideas/recommendations are appreciated! :bonk:

If you think an integra is "sporty" then practically anything is sporty.
Miata.
Expensive is relative.

Given your budget and location, good fucking luck getting something that isn't a turd, vast majority of cars are auto because you're in one of the top 10 most congested commutes in the country.

I'd be looking at Mazdas, Hondas, and maybe a Nissan or two (sentra?), if you're adventurous an old BMW might be a hit as well, given your budget you can't be too picky. Toyota's are a bit overpriced around here, and most of their cars are tripe in terms of 'fun'. Also take a look at pickup trucks, late '80s early 90's Nissan, Toyota, Ford/Mazda, higher chance of finding a manual and resell will be easy at the right price.

Go to craigslist, put in $1500 max price, manual transmission, and type in a brand name; Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, BMW. If you see something that catches your eye, google it. Good luck.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/5612018429.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5596360143.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/5602909434.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5601029254.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/5609020718.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/5597856871.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/cto/5570663534.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/5572227365.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/5545982296.html

Set the bar low, go check out some cars and whatever the ad says the car is, expect something at best 80% as good.

Edit: Insurance will be cheap if you have a good provider, I had an accident on record and a big name provider, at first they were charging me $90/month on my $1k truck that I sold for $2k last year, years ago I switched providers and the accident dropped off my record, it became a second car and my insurance was ~$35/month for the beater. Basically you pick the policy where if YOU make a mistake your insurance company laughs at you and you eat the cost of replacing the car, deductible: lol. All other values on the insurance coverage should be as you feel fit so you don't end up with garnished wages because your brake failed rolling down a hill and you took out someone crossing the street.

$1500 for a sporty car? Yeah not going to happen. The only way is to find a fix-er-upper. Your going to have a hard time just maintaining it.

The only ones that I see that are sporty and that cheap are 90's Miata's with engine problems and torn convertibles.