Car for $5000?
 

So my friend needs a car, due to college and well...college. He's only got $5000 to spend? Recommendations?

I was thinking...

Ford Focus
Toyota Camry
Honda Accord
Ford Crown Vic

Under 110,000 miles.

Goodish?

What are the priorities?

I'd go Subie Outback or Impreza, personally, though it'll be fairly high mileage for that price...

Honda's are reliable and last forever... Just throwing it out there.

My outback was amazing for College.

No stick, that's about it.

Oh and be able to find one about or under 100,000 miles.

That's true.

Exactly, i know those cars will need an engine rebuild around 200K like most do...

Honda civic! Best college vehicle ever. I still miss both of my civics that I previously owned.

if you can live with it, the answer is always a miata. for a more practical car, i really like the mazda3 since that company really does put effort in to making all of their cars fun to drive. the downside is that they werent that great on gas until recently.

That's true, it's tempting to push him to get one but he's not much of a car guy.

Mazda3. We got the wife a new one in '05. Still love it, enough that instead of buying a new car this past year, we refurbished it (needed new shocks/struts, got new wheels, some paint work). 145k on it and it has held up remarkably well.

Toyota. Nothing else.

/thread

Not necessarily. The naturally aspirated Subaru engines tend to last a fairly long time, assuming you don't get one of the years that had head gasket issues. I've had friends get well over 250k on their outback without any significant engine work.

That having been said, if he doesn't need the space or AWD of an Outback, then I agree that a civic is a great choice.

A civic will last him for a long time