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Reliable, AWD DD/Commuter Recommendations?

I found this one yesterday. Minty manual, low miles…but quite a bit more than I want to pay. Am I wrong in thinking this is like a $5,000 car? Figure inflation adds about $5,000 more to actual value.

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A coworker has a CRV with a manual transmission with over 300k on it and still driving. Still has the original clutch.
 
FleshEater said:
I found this one yesterday. Minty manual, low miles…but quite a bit more than I want to pay. Am I wrong in thinking this is like a $5,000 car? Figure inflation adds about $5,000 more to actual value.

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That is high but it is still a decent car. the auto in that was cvt that is tough to find a replacemnt for. They are all dieting.
 
DMG said:
That is high but it is still a decent car. the auto in that was cvt that is tough to find a replacemnt for. They are all dieting.
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Yeah I’m specially looking for a manual due to most people neglecting their transmissions for the life of these cars. The older they get the harder it is to find spares in the yards.

Sometimes New Castle has some old parts.
 
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As long as you don't overpay for whatever the condition the car you get is I feel like you can't really go wrong with whatever you get.
 
arse_sidewards said:
As long as you don't overpay for whatever the condition the car you get is I feel like you can't really go wrong with whatever you get.
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That’s the mindset I’m trying to come to.

Like the Zuk above. I figure if I can get 15-18 years out of it, it’d be a decent investment, even at a slightly inflated price.
 
DMG said:
If you want 15-18 years you should look at a new or 1-2 year old car.
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I should preface this by saying my average mileage a year is like 7,000-9,500 miles. I live 6 miles from work. Grocery store runs are about 10 miles. So…I don’t put a lot of miles on.
 
FleshEater said:
I should preface this by saying my average mileage a year is like 7,000-9,500 miles. I live 6 miles from work. Grocery store runs are about 10 miles. So…I don’t put a lot of miles on.
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You will not be able to find parts for that suzuki in 5-10 years. And rust doesn’t care how few miles you drive.
 
DMG said:
You will not be able to find parts for that suzuki in 5-10 years. And rust doesn’t care how few miles you drive.
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Rock Auto always has parts. I’m still buying Geo parts. :flipoff2:

I heavily undercoat everything. My truck is 15 years old and just now starting to show signs on the bed. I have faith. :laughing:
 
My wife drives a 2010 CR-V every day. She's had it since new. Not AWD, but I doubt the AWD models are much different.

Over the last couple years, it's started to show it's age. AC went out and cost more than I wanted to fix. It's burning a bit of oil, but it's not an issue.

It drives nice, and isn't rattling or otherwise falling apart.
 
FleshEater said:
I should preface this by saying my average mileage a year is like 7,000-9,500 miles. I live 6 miles from work. Grocery store runs are about 10 miles. So…I don’t put a lot of miles on.
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I wasn't going to add this, until you mentioned how long your commute is.

I really like my 1st gen Nissan Leaf. They're dirt cheap, feel bigger than they should inside, nearly zero maintenance, and having a full tank every morning is quite nice. Not AWD, and I assume since you're on here that you have a 3/4 ton truck or similar for when a shitbox EV doesn't cut it.
 
FleshEater said:
Rock Auto always has parts. I’m still buying Geo parts. :flipoff2:

I heavily undercoat everything. My truck is 15 years old and just now starting to show signs on the bed. I have faith. :laughing:
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Try finding the correct power steering pump for that suzuki on rock auto or anywhere else.
 
arse_sidewards said:
And 5x the cost :lmao:

Toyota idiots really love that "it's other people's money, it doesn't matter" commie type thinking.
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ya well...I paid $6500 for this thing 7 years ago with 250k on it. Really haven't done much to it other than standard maintenance since then. In my particular situation of constant mountain driving, I'd say it's the best $6500 I've ever spent on a truck.
 
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My research into this indicates the only mass produced options are a Subaru of some sort, and the AWD manual Element. But people that have that model know it, and aren't keen to get rid of it
 
blakes said:
ya well...I paid $6500 for this thing 7 years ago with 250k on it. Really haven't done much to it other than standard maintenance since then. In my particular situation of constant mountain driving, I'd say it's the best $6500 I've ever spent on a truck.
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Change the numbers and you could say the same thing about my white Lesbaru (the one that racks up the most miles) and the dollar amount would be far more than 5x less (would still be more than 5x if I'd paid market rate for it).

Your shitbox isn't special. Nobody's is. You just think it is because fanboy koolaid indoctrination crap.
 
Wife had a '12 Rav4 until it got totalled in a minor rear end collision. It was unmaintained and flawless. She ran it out of oil once, I checked the filter, no metal in it, fresh filter, half quart of Lucas, topped off with full synthetic, can ran tits. 178k on it when it was totalled? Zero rust, in the rust belt, commuting to work through all the worst weather (was an LNA for a while)

I vote a Rav
 
arse_sidewards said:
Change the numbers and you could say the same thing about my white Lesbaru (the one that racks up the most miles) and the dollar amount would be far more than 5x less (would still be more than 5x if I'd paid market rate for it).

Your shitbox isn't special. Nobody's is. You just think it is because fanboy koolaid indoctrination crap.
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The Land Cruiser/LX is special. It is one of the best built vehicles in history. And capable off-road. My 100 series is the best vehicle I have ever owned.
 
I believe the manual version of those sx4's are a plain 50/50 fulltime awd which is kinda of cool, compared to the crv/rav4 type half-assed awd.
 
Clastic said:
My research into this indicates the only mass produced options are a Subaru of some sort, and the AWD manual Element. But people that have that model know it, and aren't keen to get rid of it
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And if your area is like mine, the Subaru owners think their cars are almost all made of gold too.

Iirc, a manual subie gets you a center diff AWD (auto gets you a weird transfer clutch auto pto thing) to go with your head gasket eater.

On the anti-cvt side (I'm not wanting a high mileage used cvt) subies after about 08 with the smaller engine are almost all cvt. Big engine options went cvt about 15ish. Manuals are not real common, but do exist in almost all of them until 15-18ish depending on model/engine,
then they get rarer. Outside of the wrx line, the big engine options are almost always auto only.

Having done head gaskets in one of mine already, it's not that bad, it's just time consuming. Paying a shop to do them on a 20yo car will cost roughly the market value of the car. And most subie owners won't do their own work.

I need to decide if it's worth putting a trans in one currently, but if $3k in gets me four years of use, that's a pretty good deal all things considered. It's just hard to justify putting a $3k trans into a $3k car.
 
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Pontiac vibe came in awd but only with the auto and low hp engine. Same with its twin Toyota matrix.
 
ScottRS said:
And if your area is like mine, the Subaru owners think their cars are almost all made of gold too.

Iirc, a manual subie gets you a center diff AWD (auto gets you a weird transfer clutch auto pto thing) to go with your head gasket eater.
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The clutch one is actually more tolerant of stupid tire size differences and can transmit 100% torque even though it's limited to ~50% duty cycle

The viscous is easy to rebuild. I have one on the shelf for a project car. Gonna stuff some extra thick fluid in it to see if I can get it to grab harder.
ScottRS said:
On the anti-cvt side (I'm not wanting a high mileage used cvt) subies after about 08 with the smaller engine are almost all cvt. Big engine options went cvt about 15ish. Manuals are not real common, but do exist in almost all of them until 15-18ish depending on model/engine,
then they get rarer. Outside of the wrx line, the big engine options are almost always auto only.
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You can still get a new Impreza or Crosstrek with a manual. It's no difference in cost.

The outbacks and the other mom shit stopped getting manuals over the course of the 2010s.
 
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