Cheapest Reliable Car in 2023

[Peenine Light]

Hi Friends and Greetings for Holiday season.

I am stepping down after 5+ years from my reliable Suzuki Swift 2003 (Jeep model) sold due to migrating plan. But plan is delayed. I don't want to spend a lot on a car due to current crisis. Required is basic relative comfort travel 15-20 km. Mostly reliable so you can go somewhere with confident even in night. Also no need of profit but need to be able to get rid of car at short notice+ easy maintenance. 

Budget prefer about 1.5M max go up to 2M but I want to go as cheap as possible. Also I really like to have auto gears manual if no choice at all. 

I have done some research and even check few cars here's my list please help with pro and con so make me not make a mistake.

Nissan : For my budget Very good condition Trad Sunny is there. But 90% manual so not a fan. Very few auto ones - are they reliable? 

Then Doctor Sunny diesel is lot cheaper than petrol. Petrol I think overpriced. Why is diesel cheaper? Cars look good condition but people say Diesel Sunny is a lot of problems why? But still not auto but my budget gets me good condition cars. Few Auto gear cars are there as well. 

Wingroad Auto  is there but 2 cars I checked are terrible state so I think most are like that. Good ones above 2 M

Toyota: Everything is above 2 Million except for

Wagons (18/19 dash)  But Manual.

And corolla and Corona (17/18 dash) both available Auto and same engine 5A according to a seller. Diesel Auto also available Reliable? Parts?

Mitsubishi Honda very few for sale at the budget - Honda Grand Civic is there but a friend tells it's likely to have lot of issues and no one knows to fix it. 

Suzuki few random Cultus etc but worried about spares. 

Finally there's a LOT of Hyundai for this budget Sonata Elantra and Accent. Much newer and Auto+ Seems a good deal but what's the catch? A mechanic tells their difficult to fix.

What do you think and suggestion friends?

Should I conserve budget an go for a classic like Sunny Trad/Doctor and live in pain of manual drive in city? Are Hyundai risky?

Or should I just stretch my budget to above 2 M and get a March K11 or a FB14??

 

[matroska]

No idea about the Koreans. The B12 and B13 Sunnies are ok cars -and people do use them as daily drivers. Personally (and no offence to the stick-shift fraternity out there) Carburetted Manuals are ok for weekend jaunts and nothing more if you want a daily that you need to drive to work you really should look at  EFI + Auto combo or at least EFI. 

Not sure of the diesel sunnies - we had one 20 years ago.Didn't have license back then. Only diesel I had was a Camry and it was a hoot to drive. 

Since you're shifting from a Swift Ignis - the closest you can get in terms of dimensions and driving experience would be the K11 - bland little car but common and generally reliable. There are couple of Automatic -geared starlet EP71's on the classifieds and one of them looks like a swap (Probably EP91 drive train) if so that'll be a reliable runabout. 

 

[iRage]

Okay...so harsh reality knock here. For the budget you have, you are looking at cars from the mid to late 80s and a very small selectin of cars from the early 90s.This was a time where people in SL feared automatic transmissions more than death itself. Thus, 99% of these cars which were imported were manuals. The few that did come as automatics...well most of them were converted to manuals. The remaining automatics were poorly maintained and serviced by mechanics who had no idea what they were doing. So...if the car is running on the original gearbox...be prepared to do (at the very least) some basic maintenance to even a proper rebuild.

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

Nissan : For my budget Very good condition Trad Sunny is there. But 90% manual so not a fan. Very few auto ones - are they reliable? 

Expand  

B12 Sunnies, E80 and E90 Corollas came out in the 80s. See above regarding automatics of the period. You are more likely to find facelifted E90 Corollas or B13 Sunnies that are automatic than B12 or early E90 Corollas

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

Then Doctor Sunny diesel is lot cheaper than petrol. Petrol I think overpriced. Why is diesel cheaper? Cars look good condition but people say Diesel Sunny is a lot of problems why? But still not auto but my budget gets me good condition cars.

Expand  

Where automatics are concerned...same as above but the early to mid 90s saw a bit more automatics entering the market mainly because that is what was widely available in Japan for import to SL. Almost all of the diesel B13s (i.e. SB13) were imported under government permits by the agent (most common are the basic basic trim level). The engine felt flat and very "industrial". It simply did not have the finesse of the Toyota 2C engine, which for the time was not a refined engine at all. The SB13 came with the CD17 engine...it wasn't a bad engine (a family friend has one of these diesel Sunny and is still in immaculate condition and the engine has quite a few miles on it). If looked after it worked but, again, it did not have the pump and run attitude of the Toyota diesels. The reality is most of the time the car simply did not get maintained once the agent's service warranty expired (considering the type of people who bought these later on...maintenance was not a priority). Also, diesels of the era were not very refined like modern day diesels...they vibrated a lot and were noisy and the engine mounts, bushes etc...were not very strong. So diesel variants look a lot more worn out and tattered than the petrol variants.

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

And corolla and Corona (17/18 dash) both available Auto and same engine 5A according to a seller.

Expand  

17 and 18 dash means you are probably looking at the last of the E90 Corollas (i.e. facelift) and early E100 Corollas...and T170/190 Coronas. Yes. They both have variants which shared the same 5A petrol engine as well as the older 3E petrol engine. So it depends on what specific years you are looking at. Yes...., in descending order, you are more likely to find an Automatic E170/E190 Corona (because of what was more common in Japan for import as a used car) or an E100 Corolla or a facelift E90 Corolla (but considering your budget you are more than likely looking at late E90 variants?). The diesel variants of these came with 1C and 2C engines for the Corolla and 2C engines for the Corona. Both of these engines are marginally better than the CD17 on the Sunny. 

No idea about the Grand Civic.

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

Finally there's a LOT of Hyundai for this budget Sonata Elantra and Accent. Much newer and Auto+ Seems a good deal but what's the catch? A mechanic tells their difficult to fix.

Expand  

Early Hyundais and Kias did not and have not aged well. Yes...some parts are hard to find. There are Hyundais that are still in good shape but has been in the hands of owners who have loved them from day 1. Most of them are very tatty. Yes...it does seem like parts availability is an issue with some of the models.

 

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

hould I just stretch my budget to above 2 M and get a March K11 or a FB14??

Expand  

Stretch your budget..yes. But stay away from B14 Sunnies. They are utter garbage. Our company had two and they both just broke apart (and we took care of them like babies along with the E100 Corollas we had and used in the same manner). Everything ! I mean EVERYTHING ! in the Sunnies broke apart from the engine block. On the plus side, every time it broke down, even a monkey with a spanner could have fixed it with some rope and nails..it was that simple  

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

Should I conserve budget an go for a classic like Sunny Trad/Doctor and live in pain of manual drive in city? Are Hyundai risky?

Expand  

Hyundais...risky..yes. Driving a manual...it is not that bad. You just need some time to get used to it and find a car that doesn't have a transmission and clutch that has been shi***ed on. Is it as easy and cozy as an automatic in bumper-to-bumper traffic? H*** NO!!!!...but it is not that bad....and once the road does open up...you will have a bit more enjoyment as well. 

As @matroska mentioned...try to get a car with EFI. Old carburetors can be a pain. Also, something like a B12 or even a E90/E100 Corolla can be easily resold if it is in good nick as there is a bit of a cult following (plenty of youngsters are buying these things for modifications and restorations). Coronas and Carinas of the period...mehhh.

Edited December 17, 2022 by iRage

[Gummybr]

  On 12/17/2022 at 2:40 AM, Peenine Light said:

Hi Friends and Greetings for Holiday season.

I am stepping down after 5+ years from my reliable Suzuki Swift 2003 (Jeep model) sold due to migrating plan. But plan is delayed. I don't want to spend a lot on a car due to current crisis. Required is basic relative comfort travel 15-20 km. Mostly reliable so you can go somewhere with confident even in night. Also no need of profit but need to be able to get rid of car at short notice+ easy maintenance. 

 

Suzuki few random Cultus etc but worried about spares. 

 

 

Expand  

Seriously you have been a Suzuki owner for over 5 years and you are scared of spares for a Suzuki? Most parts can be interchanged, not the body parts obviously.

Well since reliability and night time driving is of importance next to resale and ease of maintenance why not consider something Japanese and small (meaning newer). Believe me when I say this, I have a 110 and sometimes its very difficult to find parts, I have had better luck with the two Suzuki's I have had, it all boils down to the age of the vehicle sometimes.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Gummybr

[Peenine Light]

  On 12/17/2022 at 12:41 PM, iRage said:

Okay...so harsh reality knock here. For the budget you have, you are looking at cars from the mid to late 80s and a very small selectin of cars from the early 90s.This was a time where people in SL feared automatic transmissions more than death itself. Thus, 99% of these cars which were imported were manuals. The few that did come as automatics...well most of them were converted to manuals. The remaining automatics were poorly maintained and serviced by mechanics who had no idea what they were doing. So...if the car is running on the original gearbox...be prepared to do (at the very least) some basic maintenance to even a proper rebuild.

B12 Sunnies, E80 and E90 Corollas came out in the 80s. See above regarding automatics of the period. You are more likely to find facelifted E90 Corollas or B13 Sunnies that are automatic than B12 or early E90 Corollas

Where automatics are concerned...same as above but the early to mid 90s saw a bit more automatics entering the market mainly because that is what was widely available in Japan for import to SL. Almost all of the diesel B13s (i.e. SB13) were imported under government permits by the agent (most common are the basic basic trim level). The engine felt flat and very "industrial". It simply did not have the finesse of the Toyota 2C engine, which for the time was not a refined engine at all. The SB13 came with the CD17 engine...it wasn't a bad engine (a family friend has one of these diesel Sunny and is still in immaculate condition and the engine has quite a few miles on it). If looked after it worked but, again, it did not have the pump and run attitude of the Toyota diesels. The reality is most of the time the car simply did not get maintained once the agent's service warranty expired (considering the type of people who bought these later on...maintenance was not a priority). Also, diesels of the era were not very refined like modern day diesels...they vibrated a lot and were noisy and the engine mounts, bushes etc...were not very strong. So diesel variants look a lot more worn out and tattered than the petrol variants.

17 and 18 dash means you are probably looking at the last of the E90 Corollas (i.e. facelift) and early E100 Corollas...and T170/190 Coronas. Yes. They both have variants which shared the same 5A petrol engine as well as the older 3E petrol engine. So it depends on what specific years you are looking at. Yes...., in descending order, you are more likely to find an Automatic E170/E190 Corona (because of what was more common in Japan for import as a used car) or an E100 Corolla or a facelift E90 Corolla (but considering your budget you are more than likely looking at late E90 variants?). The diesel variants of these came with 1C and 2C engines for the Corolla and 2C engines for the Corona. Both of these engines are marginally better than the CD17 on the Sunny. 

No idea about the Grand Civic.

Early Hyundais and Kias did not and have not aged well. Yes...some parts are hard to find. There are Hyundais that are still in good shape but has been in the hands of owners who have loved them from day 1. Most of them are very tatty. Yes...it does seem like parts availability is an issue with some of the models.

 

Stretch your budget..yes. But stay away from B14 Sunnies. They are utter garbage. Our company had two and they both just broke apart (and we took care of them like babies along with the E100 Corollas we had and used in the same manner). Everything ! I mean EVERYTHING ! in the Sunnies broke apart from the engine block. On the plus side, every time it broke down, even a monkey with a spanner could have fixed it with some rope and nails..it was that simple  

Hyundais...risky..yes. Driving a manual...it is not that bad. You just need some time to get used to it and find a car that doesn't have a transmission and clutch that has been shi***ed on. Is it as easy and cozy as an automatic in bumper-to-bumper traffic? H*** NO!!!!...but it is not that bad....and once the road does open up...you will have a bit more enjoyment as well. 

As @matroska mentioned...try to get a car with EFI. Old carburetors can be a pain. Also, something like a B12 or even a E90/E100 Corolla can be easily resold if it is in good nick as there is a bit of a cult following (plenty of youngsters are buying these things for modifications and restorations). Coronas and Carinas of the period...mehhh.

Expand  

Many thanks for this detailed reply I learnt a lot from this than hours of Google. I have taken this advice and probably will try to extend my budget. I did background check on spare availablty and seems Nissan's have easily findable spares. 

I checked a few cars and impressed with how good and modern 1980s Trad sunny is. It's quite value for money I think Only downside is manual and some models don't have power steering.

I'm not too happy with the doctor sunny in budget. I think good ones cost as same as FB14 or close.

Also happy with the corolla I checked it's manual but auto one would be perfect.  

Thank you again for valuable ideas. 

 

 

 

 

[Peenine Light]

  On 12/19/2022 at 2:46 AM, Gummybr said:

Seriously you have been a Suzuki owner for over 5 years and you are scared of spares for a Suzuki? Most parts can

Expand  

Yes because the swift parts are easy to find and really the swift is a great car that never broke down in 5 years other than small stuff like a/c gas, break pad, etc and the rear door hydrolic arm -not sure exactly word.

but when I say Cultus  etc people are confusing. Very few cars. So bit worried. 

But good points about age of car.tjanks

[Peenine Light]

  On 12/17/2022 at 4:55 AM, matroska said:

Since you're shifting from a Swift Ignis - the closest you can get in terms of

Expand  

Thank you march is bit high budget actually I want to spend less due to car market likely to go down and nowadays with economic situations I feel spend less in automobile but of course need to have a reliable car. I sold swift due to migrating plan but it got delayed but still don't want to park all my money in a car. Sad story  

[Gummybr]

  On 12/23/2022 at 2:13 PM, Peenine Light said:

Thank you march is bit high budget actually I want to spend less due to car market likely to go down and nowadays with economic situations I feel spend less in automobile but of course need to have a reliable car. I sold swift due to migrating plan but it got delayed but still don't want to park all my money in a car. Sad story  

Expand  

Here is what I think, in the short term I dont see the car market picking up, for you I would say the best bet would be to look at getting a taxi or a rental vehicle which you will not have any issues to sell or source parts etc, its someone else baby to look after (servicing, repairs etc and I dont mean for you to abuse the cars). Maybe you could do some calculations and see. Not a long term solution but in the short run it would be the ideal as you will not tie up your money on an expensive asset. And maybe you could keep them in a FD and rake in the interest.

 

[JaylenHouse]

Nissan Sunny's a good choice for reliability, but I get your hesitation with the manual. The Wingroad might be hit or miss, so be cautious. As for diesel, they tend to be cheaper due to fuel efficiency, but maintenance costs might be higher. It's a trade-off.Toyota's solid, but finding an auto wagon might be a challenge. The Corolla and Corona are trustworthy, and the 5A engine is reliable, just check the service history.Hyundai's tempting with newer models and autos, but the catch might be slightly higher maintenance costs. It's worth getting a trusted mechanic's opinion on specific models you're eyeing.If you're up for it, stretching the budget for a March K11 or FB14 could be a sweet spot for a reliable, easy-to-maintain option.As for your migration plans, have you considered checking out options at Police Auctions USA? Sometime

Edited December 26, 2023 by JaylenHouse