"Other" cars

[gba88]

Well, one of the family 99's is about ready to be put out of commission. Have patched floorboards multiple times, rear quarter panels (mice getting in!), and multiple other areas are just rusting apart. Something's wrong with the front end now (ball joints, other steering linkage...who the hell knows).

I'd like to know if there are any other cars/suvs/whatever that are as reliable and easy to work on? I've been thinking about some kind of subaru model (NOT easy to work on from what I've read), definitely not getting another XJ I've watched 2 of them rot from rust and my third is at the beginning of that cycle. Do WJs rust out this much?

This will be a DD and needs to be reliable, very low budget (as far under 3k as I can find). Any input would be welcome.

 

[iluv83vettes]

You need an SUV? Toyota/Lexus cars are very reliable and relatively easy to work on. Just change the oil like normal and the timing belt every ~100k.

 

[gba88]

You need an SUV? Toyota/Lexus cars are very reliable and relatively easy to work on. Just change the oil like normal and the timing belt every ~100k.

AWD or 4WD definitely preferred. Lexus sounds expensive, but I'll start looking into toyota models. Thanks for the reply

 

[iluv83vettes]

It sounds expensive, but its just a toyota. My wife's ES330 is only worth 3k. The <5k car is getting near impossible to find thanks to cash for clunkers.

 

[Boatwrench]

I enjoy my Chevy Traverse. The early ones had some problems but my 2009 has 197K and runs good. It's comfortable and has seating for seven.

 

[ehall]

You can pickup a decent Yota SUV for not much coin

 

[gba88]

Thanks, guys! there's a sub 3k forester i think I'm gonna call a guy about, but I'm still looking into the toyotas since it was an old listing and is probably gone. my brother had a couple tercels and was able to do a lot on those. is the "rav4" the main toyota suv out there? doesn't necessarily need to be an "suv", but AWD is high on the list.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

You can pickup a decent Yota SUV for not much coin

Just avoid the 3.0 v6

 

[gba88]

Just avoid the 3.0 v6

good to know, thanks for the tip!