Concerns about the cost of having an E30 as a DD....

[surfevo]

I use Crazedlist to search all of the west coast including phoenix and vegas. The one I found is in LA. I would post but I do not want anyone to grab it before I see it. If you guys have never used crazedlist, check it out it allows you to search the whole country at once if you want.

Vacman- I look at that car on CL. Looks clean but the seller seems very firm on price in the ad. On another note that is one badass Touring you have there. S50 swap and manual, Nice. If I could only convince the wife her wagon needs M5 power.

[surfevo]

There are no real fun used jap cars with back seats. 240sx have a drift tax and most are beat to all hell. 300zx for that price would cost a fortune to fix and are a PITA to work on. Galant VR4 I suppose, but hard to find and it is just a 1st Gen Evo so to speak. DSM Eclipse, not really a fan, once again very similar to the Evo. Lexus SC300/400 auto only for the most part, heavy and shitty handling.

Nothing fun and RWD....Jap cars are out

[evandael]

I bought my car, an 86 325, with 160K on the odometer, for $1500.

I've currently sunk an additional $1500 into it and counting. I anticipate to not spend more than $4000 to get it to where I want it. I consider that to be reasonable.

I did regular maintenance, replaced the exhaust, windshield, and some trim pieces here and there. I'm also adding a nicer suspension and wheels though, and that can get pricey. But when I know people that drop $8K on a 90's honda accord (which will admittedly never fail them), I feel a little better driving around a car with character.

just my .02

[ethree]

Thought about selling your evo and getting a family car? You might be able to get a forester xt or something that is a bit of fun. I think driving your kid(s) around in a 25 year old shitbox to save miles on your evo is shortsighted at best.

[surfevo]

Actually my Evo works great as a family car and so does my wife's touring. I only plan to use the E30 back and forth to work 8miles each way. Having the back seat is just in case we all have to ride in it. The plan is to stop taking the Touring on longer trips i.e. visiting my parents in LA 250 miles round trip and instead take the Evo. Then I drive the E30 during the week to keep down miles on the Evo. I mean tires for it are about 1k alone for OE rubber. Also gas mileage should be better as I only get 15-16mpg or about 200 miles per tank on my commute.

[3046]

Nothing like a broad statement, from fagtech

[Jean]

Well, since the e30 = no car payment it's already cheap no? It depends on how anal you are about your car. Look at it realistically, it's an OLD CAR, so there will be MANY things that will need to be replaced sooner or later. Since we are talking about 1k-2k, it's not very hard to spend more on the car in maint/upgrades and I don't see any problem with that. If you spend 1k on a car and it will need new tires/brakes/suspenion you can easily spend 1k on just these to start with....

If it's a concern, then you can just lease / buy a new car with warranty for 200 a month.

[AlarmedBread]

1k or less car = rolling parts car

It is highly unlikely to be safe or road worthy at that price point. That is not to say that many do not roll around in cars in such condition and say there is nothing wrong with that.

Cars that are well maintained tend to fetch a bit more, and fully rebuilt ones more still. You can fully rebuild and e30 with a few bells and whistles under 10k, so they are still pretty cheap cars to play with.

[325ix]

I got mine with 77k on it, new clutch, flywheel, water pump and timing belt and all other maintnence with only a slightly leaking ps hose for 3k and it was an ix. I have had no problems dd it.

[mitch500]

i bought my 1988 alpine white vert 5speed. perfect condition and payed 5800$ for it... original owner.. everything replaced.. in my eyes i got a good deal.. it will be with me for a long time and will stay in original perfect condition.

[pbr87]

My e30 (1991 318i 4dr 5spd) cost me $1400.

So far, I've had pretty good luck. It needed new rear brake pads. And it currently needs a new wheel bearing. On the interior, the guage cluster doesn't work properly. Other than this, nothing really seems to be wrong with it. I've spent around $700 buying parts for it. And I plan on spending another $700 or so. That way, I'll have a reliable and comfortable DD that handles well, all for under $3k.

[scottinAZ]

I got my 87 325 5spd 4dr for 600 bucks of crazedlist. Currently have sunk another 1000 or so into it, but still, with all that said and done, and all the maintenance taken care of for another 50K miles, its a good daily driver. It gets better mileage than the car it replaced, and what I needed to do in maintenance has cost less than the payments on the old car. I say find a decent one, invest a bit of work into it, and drive it till the wheels fall off (again).

[Farbin Kaiber]

A/C is a must out here in Palm Springs Area. 120 in the summer :(.

Lies. It hits 125.

Where you at out there? I'm a CCHS'er. I'll be out in the Desert in a few days, flying out...

[bimmer_E30]

for 1k you will mostly end up with a car that will keep you saying, i wish i never bought an E30....

[LivingLegend06]

I've been driving a $950 eta around for over a year and all I've had to do is change the oil, I almost had to replace the exhaust due to a really bad rattle but it somehow fixed itself after a few days.

Edit: Also it should be noted that when I bought the car I wasn't looking for an E30, I was just trying to find a sub $1000 car to get around in. After driving all kinds of Japaneses and domestic POSs I came across the E30 and the decision was instantly clear. I'm so much happier than I would have been in a shitty $500 ford escort.

I just remembered I had to replace the brake master cylinder, It took all of 45 minutes with bleeding the brakes and the used part from here cost a whopping $20.