picking a daily

[Tarsun2]

looking for a daily driver. i commute 80mi/day (40 miles each way) and live up in northern NJ. (snow)

i can t seem to find what im looking for but maybe im missing something...

the top 3 criteria are:
Manual
Not DBW (drive by wire - electronic throttle body)
Not EPS (electric power steering)

the other criteria is:
$10,000
reliable(?) although ill have a spare car
(AWD/FWD) - RWD would be a tough sell
im not scared of mileage but id like to keep it 140,000mi or lower (even though the engine might be fine, the sus'/bearings/brakes are most likely shot)
with the amount i commute, a timing chain would be nice but not a deal breaker.


let me know what you have in mind.

[shooter311]

When I was in college, Obama was doing the cash for clunkers deal and I really needed a better car. I needed a commuter car because I was commuting about 60 miles round trip every day, so I wanted something that was reliable good on gas, under 10 grand, and something I can fit in because I am enormous. Of course I had to buy new with the cash or clunkers I ended up buying a 2010 Kia soul. It was a manual, but I think it had the electronic power steering, and probably drive by wire. I paid roughly $10,000 for it after the $4,500 credit for cash for clunkers. And I drove it for 150,000 miles. I didn't baby it at all, and I never had a single problem with it just routine maintenance. The factory tires went bald after like 15,000 mi but I somehow squeezed 30,000 out of them. I ended up selling it for five grand cash. It's not a pretty car but I was getting Good gas mileage and the fact that I never had a problem with it after all those miles is pretty astonishing, especially for a Kia. However since then I've only bought Toyotas and they've never let me down, I now have a tundra with 156,000 mi and it's only been routine maintenance. But I couldn't think of a worse commuter car.

[Jonnydread]

Second Toyotas. I love Subarus, but they aren't always as reliable and they tend to keep their value secondhand to the point where it feels silly to buy used. If you can find a slightly older Camry/Corolla with a 5-speed it will treat you very well. No idea about DBW/EPS, I'm not really a 'car' guy.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I like the Audi A4/S4 for winter performance. The AWD and winter tires have amazing performance. Comfort for long distance driving smooth at speed stable and safe.

Stay away from the 3.0 non turbo, 4.2 and 2.0T motors. My favorite are the 2.7TT and 3.0T (actually supercharged) direct port injection motors. You can still find manuals but often the bring a premium but can be found in your price range.

I currently have a 2002 Allroad that has 280k on the clock and still runs awesome APR chip gives it about 450Hp and AWD she scoots. Only got like $2k into it.

With a 10k budget you could go a lot newer lower mileage to. Lots of people are scared of the euro cars but if you stay away from those two motors they make amazing daily drivers. Just change the oil regularly. My 2.8 lasted 500k my old S4 2.7TT rolled the OD over on.

[Junglepeanut]

Myself/family put way to many miles on cars, we drive a crazy amount each year. Have owned something from about every major (non German) car company out there. At this point especially for a commuter car all I would buy are Honda/Toyota. Although I will also add i have a Mazda 3 manual tranny with about 170k miles on it that has never given me issues, it's been a great car.

[Wmasspeedsoft]

Toyota Matrix AWD, not sure if Toyota made manual version though and getting harder to find

[Cdn_Cuda]

Or the Pontiac rebranded Vibe which is a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac badge stuck on the hood and according to Google also have the manual. Same fine Toyota engineering but at the price of a Pontiac.

[Tarsun2]

i had an audi TT225 6spd awd. it was great. intakem exhaust, and a few other goodies made it really fun. it was coming up to its 3rd timing belt change before i sold it. i really liked it when it worked but with almost 200k miles on it, it was nothing but never ending repairs.
id love love love a 2.7t and actually found an A6 for sale in my price but the maintenance and repairs from the TT give me nightmares. lol
same thing with bmw 3-series Xi with the N54 tt I6.

i also had a toyota matrix with the 2azfe engine. the engine was good and tons of torque but the DBW and EPS made life miserable. the awd matrix does not come in manual either. id be happy aas hell if i could get a pre-2008 matrix xrs with the 2zz... depending on price, i could send the engine out to MWR to have them rebuild it.

right now im in a mazda 3 2.5 auto and cant stand it. mainly from the auto trans. it gets thrashed on daily and never had any issues. 145k miles? something like that. but my 13 highlander (80k miles?) with the 2grfe v6 gets babied and nothing but the best and yet it always seems like something is breaking in that. head unit went out, window fell off the track, parking brake had to be replaced, AC took a dump (that was nice and expensive) and a few other things.

subaru i tend to stay away from due to the timing belt, valve cover gasket, and head gasket issues.

i really liked my altima with the ka24de and short throw but it was rusting out. if i can get a clean infiniti g20 with the sr20de id be very happy.

it seems like all hondas either have DBW and or EPS except the rsx but people want crazy $ for them.

found a cr-v in manual with the k-series AND AWD, which is pretty cool but i suspect the gearing will be very long on them and take most of the fun away.

anybody have any leads on a manual g20 or corolla xrs with the 2zz? hell, even a geo prism with the 4age would be nice.

[Chuck E Ducky]

The older 1.8T and the 225hp ko4 variant of TT were not bad. The newer ones are not as reliable as the older ones. That’s why I suggested the A4 or even the A6. The 2.7TT motor are bulletproof just keep up on oil changes and they last forever. Things to watch for on manual cars are 1st and 2nd they are the week points especially if it’s chip tuned. The AWD torque and power don’t take kindly to clutch dumps. 1st and 2nd will go before the clutch let’s loose. Upper control arms go about ever 75k miles drive shafts every 100k. It’s important that you buy a car with OEM axles the aftermarket are junk and not rebuildable. Core charge can kill a good deal if it needs axles and 4 of them are aftermarket. (First thing I check are for OEM axles) OEM = Rebuildable = A lot cheaper repair

Just stay away from anything 2.0T, 4.2, and 3.0 (non supercharged)

2.0T have a timing chain tensioner issue (boom)

4.2 high mileage carbon build up and dual segmented fly wheel issue feels like a miss but throws no codes.

3.0 are just bad motors don’t see many high mileage ones.

[imped4now]

Mazda 3 or Vibe/Matrix get my vote.

I daily a Golf R and would highly recommend it, but it's outside of your budget.

[JeepDVLZ45]

Go find an old Cherokee XJ with the 4.0L. A ‘99 would be best — but they’re getting tough to find in manual.

They’re easy to work on, cheap to fix (any pick and pull has 200 of them) and bullet proof as long as the North East’s rust hasn’t eaten them up.

Sold mine with 289,000 miles on the odometer and the guy drove it to South Carolina for his sister(made him text me when he got there, I didn’t think he’d make it) I was still getting 20-24mpg mixed driving (mostly back roads).

just turn the radio up to mask all of the rattles and park over a piece of cardboard to keep it from making a mess— it’s a jeep after all

[Tarsun2]

with my tt, the k04, clutch, and trans were great. no issues there.
i went through 3 oil dipstick tubes though lol. it seemed like all of the rubber and plastic pieces got brittle. The diverter valve bung ripped, a bunch of the emissions bifurcations cracked, plastic covers and pieces would crumble.
when i had it, i loved it. but i had to replace:

rear shocks
front struts
2 wheel bearings
2 front axles
plugs
coil packs
diverter valve
countless tubes and pipes and connections and splitters
washer fluid pump
washer fluid reservoir
one front brake caliper counting bracket
2 abs sensors
shift lever (the top half separated from the bottom half and i was left with a little nub)
shift cables and linkages
timing belt (twice)
water pump
alternator
AC compressor
rear sway bar bushings
lower control arm bushings (never got around to it)

[Tarsun2]

CD player stopped working
window regulator
door lock mechanism (door wouldn't catch the latch)
LCD display went out
fixed LCD display
LCD display went out again
gas gauge stopped working
fixed gas gauge
gas gauge stopped working again


i think there was some other little stuff as well as regular maintenance items (oil, filter, plugs, bulbs, air filter, battery...)
i didnt beat on the car but i do like some spirited driving from time to time. The mazda i have now gets thrashed on, on a daily basis and only needed an axle, bearing, and rear shock. thats it.

the TT belonged to my parents before i got it and i know how my mother drives (the car never saw redline when she was behind the wheel) and i know it never over heated.
never a clutch dump, gave it a few minutes before i turned it off, religious about oil changes, good quality gas always, and i wouldn't say i ever realllly thrashed it.

[Tarsun2]

i want to get another one but the thought of going through all that again scares me. (that was before kids when i had the time and $). and now, if i get another one, who knows how the previous owner took care of it.

maybe ill look for a 2.8 v6 4motion...

i thought $10k was a decent number, especially since i bought a running driving car for $900... this was before covid though.
a vibe gt or matrix xrs 2zz would be great. cant really find them though.

the 09 matrix manual i had made me swear off DBW and EPS for good.

if its a turbo, the DBW gets hidden by the turbo lag and is not a big deal.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I’m not a big fan of the 4motion VW. With a used car your not saving much over the AUDI. The 2.8 is a great motor and will run a long time. But I would look for an AUDI if I was going that route. I buy Audis all the time but I stay away from the VW cars especially manuals. Inflation has caught up with the used car market big time cars have skyrocketed in cost. Your $5k cars are now $9k cars.

You can still find deals tho. I picked up a 2002 S4 2.7TT automatic the other day with 68k miles for $5k cash. Did a manual swap on it ($4K) put it in myself, and sold the car for $16k. Then put the auto 68k mile transmission in my Allroad that has over 280k miles on the clock. The transmission started to slip because I got the boost cranked up. My daily puts out about 480hp and I don’t exactly baby it. The 2002 S4 are collectible and finding a manual under 100k is next to impossible. I could have sold it on BAT for big money but by the time they take there fee Im breaking even. Kid that purchased the S4 has big plans for the build and wants me to build it for him. So I’m going to make money building it to this winter when my shop opens up a lil.

[Tarsun2]

i thought the Audi/VW were the same with just amenities being different.
more sound deadening, nicer materials, and more standard features. but i thought mechanically they were the same and even shared most of the same components...

i was even thinking of the basic honda move and get a 7th gen with a d17 and swap in a k20. i know there are companies that sell everything needed in a kit. i could work on it a little at a time. but with a full time job and 2 kids, time is limited. im coming to terms with having to buy things instead of make them or piece them together. i just dont have the time and it kills me.

i think the worst of it though, is that i consider myself to be a "car guy". ive worked on cars with my father for as long as i can remember. i blew up the motor on my 1st car and my father helped me swap it out. i put a bigger motor in of course and grenade'd the diff which took out the trans. when i replaced the trans i put in a stage 2 clutch and the car was a blast. this was all before the days of youtube. you always had the one grease covered haynes manual lol.
ive worked as a mechanic for a short period of time as well and really like/appreciate cars/engines.
and yet here i am in a Sh!t Box. its really disheartening realizing that $10k will only get you a clean D17 civic or a versa, cruze, or sonic/spark.
im trying like hell to find something reputation. some decent, cool, something with a good engine.
thats how i got the altima, just for the engine.
id like to get a 2zzge or a sr20de or possibly a qr25de, or 4age, b18/16 or even k20, or a NA 2jzge or N54 or 2.7t, something that someone who is "into cars" would appreciate.

it kills me that no one is concerned with EPS's numbness or the DBW throttle lag and rev hang, or how rev matching and anti stall is taking all of the skill out of driving a manual to perfection. how after toyotas "unintended acceleration" fiasco, most companies made the brake over ride the gas and prevented heel-toe shifting. How counter balance shafts with fully balanced cranks and heavy crank pulleys kill throttle response. and to end the rant, i want to burn every car with an acoustic tube going into the cabin or sound effects played through the speakers.

[tetsu_no_usagi]

Manual, reliable, and snow capable? Oddly, my most capable snow beater was a 96 Chevy Corsica v6. Not a manual and FWD, but with that big, heavy block over the drive tires, she was as sure footed as a mountain goat. Never ditched her and regularly passed Subarus on the highway during my then daily commute. Of course, that could have been the relative driver experience levels.

What would I suggest today? Volvo, and the boxier the better, like the old V70 XC (cross country).

[Tarsun2]

ive had dreams of a reliable S60-R manual wagon. id rock the hell outta a wagon.

[Chuck E Ducky]

BMW makes a AWD wagon manual. They are almost as rare as the S60-R tho.

[bassninja]

I daily a S60R, sedan version of the V70R wagon. It's awesome, I wouldn't hold out for the wagon if you find a deal on a sedan version.

[jwatts]

Your going to be really hard pressed on trying to find a car that’s a drive-cable-cable these days. For the most part, all modern vehicles built within the last 20 years have switched over to DBW. Unless you’re looking for an older car. I had a 98’ Audi A4 that was DBC, manual transmission, 1.8 turbo and Quattro. It was an awesome car. I modified it with S4 bumpers, side skirts, headlights, etc. Interior was swapped out for manual cloth sport seats too.