Good manual-transmission vehicles?

cj iwakura

My Mazda GX3, sadly, is on its death bed. Transmission is just about shot.


I need a manual this time. :P I'm shooting for a used one, financially speaking, hoping not to spend more than a couple grand, tops. What's good?

EWom

Try to find a TDI Jetta, it'll cost more than a couple grand, but at 40+ mpg you'll save a lot of over the years you use it.

L Ron Howard

Mazda 3s, especially the early ones, are perfect. I haven't driven a newer one, since they've done the update in 2008 or so, but I would imagine they haven't messed it up. I mean, I hope not.

emp123

I really dig my Civic's transmission. The clutch soft but not too soft, and the gears have a really nice feel when youre rowing through them. I have a 2011, but I assume all of the 8th Gen (2005-2011) Civics use the same manual transmission.

Gas milage wise, Im getting about 34-37MPG with combined driving, and semi heavy AC use.

Casual

If your budget is a couple of grand you'll be looking for something older in which case I'd follow the golden rule of buying old cars. Go Japanese.

Jokerman

I can't think of a domestic sedan that has a manual transmission anyways, so Japan's your best bet.

Ruckus

Nissan Sentras, or Toyota Tercel/Corolla

My extended family (Grandparents, parents, aunts/uncles) went from almost exclusively Volkswagon Diesel (Jetta/Golf/Rabbits) to Toyota (Tercel/Corolla/Camry) about 15 years ago.

Tejs

Used Mazda MX5

Steev

I've driven two manual Corollas in the past 16 years and have been quite happy with them, but I have no experience with other manuals to compare them to.

cj iwakura

Really hate using Craig's List as a go-to source. Not much in the way of sticks there.

I actually do see a Sentra for 2k, but it's a 97.

Jimmy King

L Ron Howard wrote: »

Mazda 3s, especially the early ones, are perfect. I haven't driven a newer one, since they've done the update in 2008 or so, but I would imagine they haven't messed it up. I mean, I hope not.

I've got an 08 Mazda 3 and test drove a couple earlier ones. They are very similar. I'd also definitely recommend looking at a Mazda 3.

That said, "a couple grand", unless you've got a much more liberal definition of "couple" than I do is going to be rough I think. You may be able to find an early one as L Ron suggested in the $4k-$5k range, probably. Based on local listings, even that is going to take some work and it will likely have 100k+ miles.

cj iwakura

http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2468697556.html

This seems nice. (2003 Eclipse)

My first MT was an Eclipse, but it was 93.

emp123

Those cars are big, heavy and unless it has the V6, pretty slow.

Naebliss

My civic si is a blast to drive. The shifter has a nice thunk when you put it in gear. I would definitely test drive an older si if I were you.

RadicalTurnip

I bought a really nice car (for the price) at $2500, and got an even better deal (that really was a fluke) for $700 a few years before that. The $700 one was an '89 Celica with 132k miles (probably 7 years ago) that had been sitting at the used car dealership for probably six months or more, and was "too old" so that they weren't allowed to do any repairs to increase sell-ability. It had a dead battery, so they had to wheel out a jumper thing every time they wanted to show it off. For this reason, nobody wanted to buy it. Then, I talked the dealership down from $1000 because I knew they just wanted to get rid of it. I bought it, and payed another $80 or so to replace the battery. Unfortunately, I wrecked that one.

So, about four years ago, I bought a '93 Lexus ES 300 with 215k miles for $2500. It was a bit of a risky buy, but I could tell that the previous owners had taken good care of it, and my brother (who's a mechanic) and I went over it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure it looked good. That being said, it was a Toyota (effectively) and I've learned to trust them. Unfortunately, finding this kind of deal wasn't easy. The trick is going to dealers that sell new and barely used cars, and asking if they have any trade-ins that they are willing to sell you (before they go to the used-car market). Usually, there will be 2-5 trade-ins that they have, and sometimes, rarely, one of those trade-ins will be cheap. The trick is realizing that if they get 3 times as much from you as they would get from the used-car auction, then you're both getting a good deal. My Lexus would have sold for $700-800 tops at the auction, probably more like $400-500. They got a good deal, and so did I. It just takes not being picky (about things like make and model and color, still be very picky about condition, especially engine condition), and having a fair amount of time to waste buying cars. I ended up using about five evenings before I found my Lexus. Fouryears and 45k miles later, though, and it's still running great.

I would also reccomend a japanese used car for you manual, those things will last forever.

LavaKnight

I have a 2002 Focus that has held up pretty well, however the clutch needed to be replaced early on (was possibly due to my feathering it up a hill every day for high school, but it was used so who knows what happened to it in the first two years) and the shifter has become somewhat loose in the last few years.

So your only options aren't necessarily foreign, but yeah, that's probably the best way to go.

Jimmy King

LavaKnight wrote: »

I have a 2002 Focus that has held up pretty well, however the clutch needed to be replaced early on (was possibly due to my feathering it up a hill every day for high school, but it was used so who knows what happened to it in the first two years) and the shifter has become somewhat loose in the last few years.

So your only options aren't necessarily foreign, but yeah, that's probably the best way to go.

I would be wary of a high mileage focus in the age range. The mazda 3 I just bought was to replace my '03 focus with just over 150k miles on it. When they get up in the mileage they apparently have a nasty habit of having a valve seat break and get sucked into the #4 cylinder. After that the motor is shot. If you can find a motor for it, they are fairly cheap, but a friend of the family also has a focus with the same issue and looked at about 10 older focuses in junk yards that all had the same problem.

Up until then, they are great cars for the money, though. The car had been very solid for us up until this issue.

Mmmm... Cocks...

Jokerman wrote: »

I can't think of a domestic sedan that has a manual transmission anyways, so Japan's your best bet.

Oh they're there. My last two cars were domestic manuals, a Saturn SL1 and now a Cavalier.
The saturn was amazing. While I like the Cavalier less to drive, it's been 10 years, 200,000 miles and no problems.

harry.timbershaft

The Mazda Miata is not only fun to drive, plentiful, and has one of the best manual gear boxes around, but will easily fall within your budget. I owned and raced a '96 Miata and it was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned (and I've owned some really awesome vehicles). I even got my penis back from the "Guys Why Buy Miatas" genitalia escrow service when I sold it.

Five stars - would lose penis again!!!!!1112three

cj iwakura

Well, the trick I'm having now is finding one. :P I'm trying to avoid car payments, ideally.

Jasconius

I don't understand why miata's have such a stigma. They don't seem like the stereotypical mid-life-crisis-mobile.

More like a big, fun go-cart. A friend of mine has one and swears by it, and I want to pick one up eventually.

firewaterword

I don't know if you would want to deal with the service issues, but my first car, a manual 1985 BMW 325i, was incredibly fun to drive. When I can afford it, I'd love to buy another one and restore it. But yeah. I've got a manual G35 now, and that's crazy fun to get around in.

Anyway, I second the miata. They're neat little cars. Again, if I could afford it, I'd have one just to drive up to sears point and zoom around in!

cj iwakura

My dream car has always been a Subaru Impreza, but I've been told they're a maintenance nightmare. Confirm/Deny?

schuss

they had some head gasket issues for a bit, but that's about it. They're also AWD, which carries its own burdens.