Daily Driver Vehicle Recommendations

[Roody]

Find the cleanest, newest, lowest mileage Accord sedan you can. Great cars, go forever, good gas mileage, inexpensive to maintain, and less sterile feeling than the Camry.

 

[GangsterOfLove]

Early models are starting to not look so hot, they're really showing their age as far as Toyotas go. I'd look for something early in the 2nd generation, like 97-2000. I see them around 3500-4000 for a decent one quite often locally so it should be possible. They are also a whole lot nicer inside. Kind of like the difference between a 2nd gen and 3rd gen 4runner.

I've had two Lexus GS - a '99 and an '03. Kept them both for about 200K miles.

They're very comfortable cars. The inline 6 is a very nice - mileage ran to the high teens combined city/highway and about 26 on road trips. They're supposed to run premium fuel but mine seemed to run fine on regular.

Both were really reliable overall but started needing work just before I sold them. Biggest problem was the electric door locks - they all failed one at a time. The '99 developed a loose wire to the dash that took out all of the instruments but I wiggled the harness around, which fixed it. Ran some 40K miles after that without a problem. Both were ready for front suspension work (ball joints, bushings) toward the end, which was going to be expensive. Both had growling heater blower motors, too.

The only thing I didn't like was the factory sound systems, even the upgraded "Mark Levinson" series one. That's easy enough to correct in most cars but these were all integrated in to the NAV, climate controls, etc. I always meant to try new speakers but I never did.

ClubLexus.com is the place to go for information. It's a very active board and I found the people there very willing to help.

Good luck!

 

[AssBurns]

Thanks guys! The Accords and TL's look like great cars too. The 2004+ are a little out of my price range but the earlier models look good too. I like Honda's too. I owned a '97 civic for a few years and it was almost bulletproof. Only maintenance I did besides oil change and tires were CV axles.
I know if I'm getting over a 150K mile car I will need to do some maintenance on it to get it up to snuff.


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[AssBurns]

Finally got around to actually getting a daily driver. I've been way too hard on the 4runner over the past year and finally pulled the trigger on what I should have done two years ago. I just picked up a 2004 Lexus ES330 with 162,000 miles on it. Drives great and price was right. Needs a little TLC, but overall it's in good condition. Planning to do timing belt and water pump, detail, stereo, brakes, oil change, maybe struts, and a new rear bumper. It was in a fender bender type accident a couple weeks ago. The owner backed out of his driveway and a car hit the rear bumper, putting a dent in the side of it. Insurance said it was his fault and wouldn't cover it without paying the deductible, so he just sold it, as it was just a spare vehicle that he didn't want/need anymore. For about $300 I can have a color matched bumper sent to my house.

 

[LandCruiser]

Cali?

Just get a 4 banger Accord with mismatched body panels, a near-flat donut spare on one of the drive wheels, a half-removed "abandoned vehicle" sticker on the driver's window, and a smashed rear quarter glass.

Cheap examples are hundreds of dollars, you can remove parts in parking lots from better/newer cars, and police will assume you're an illegal and not pull you over--especially if you drive erratically.