beaters what options do us mopar lovers have?

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74dodge

74dodge

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ive come to realize that my dart isnt exactly the most fuel effecient thing and alot of my friends have bought little imports with 4bangers and i just dont think i could ever bring myself to buying something like that if im gonna spend money on a car its gotta be something i want lol anyway so im wondering what cool little fuel effecient domestic beaters(by beater i mean 2000 bucks or less) are out there?doesnt have to be a dodge. anything american.im just curious what is out there for cool little domestic beaters other then little s10's
74dodge
 
no way you can get a pt cruiser for 2000 or less lol plus im not a big fan of neons or pt cruisers i think dodge took a turn for the worse on those lol i do like dakotas but not really any better fuel wise then my dart lol i was just curious to see if there were any cool little 4cyl american beaters
 
I felt the same way. We drove our old yellow Valiant forever. I gave my daughter a 91 Geo Prism several years ago and her and the children wore it out inside. Door handles, seat belts, dash vents, you name it, it's broke.
So about a year ago I put them in a nice , newer Camry and took the Prism for my own wheels. I can't keep power steering fluid in the thing and I haven't found a good used rack for it either.
I will say this though, for cold morning starts, fuel mileage, etc.. it can't be beat. Well others can beat it,
with their car doors in parking lots. LOL
That sort of thing doesn't matter either.
That should be Websters' definition of beater. "A vehicle that can be left in public parking lots".

I wanted to argue with ""at least you get to keep your dignity"" too. Maybe I don't understand the difference between dignity and vanity so I'll reserve my argument.
Cheers
 
hahha nice.a buddy of mine got a dodge daytona for pretty cheap 4cyl 5 speed t tops says its pretty fun that could be an option
 
RedFish said:
I wanted to argue with ""at least you get to keep your dignity"" too. Maybe I don't understand the difference between dignity and vanity so I'll reserve my argument.
Cheers
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I just meant at least it's mostly US-made (AFAIK), and is a truck (or small truck) rather than a little foreign crap-box. That's all it means. I almost said "some of your dignity", which is probably closer. Plus, you can at least pick up car parts in a Dakota. Not too much you can haul in a foreign crap-box.

A 4-cyl (or well tuned 6-cyl) short bed/cab Dakota wouldn't be TOO bad on gas. I'm sure better than your Dart. I've had 2 318 Dakotas, and even those weren't all that bad on gas compared to an old '60s/'70s V8 car.

I like the old Daytona idea, if you can find one in nice shape.
 
BlueSwinger said:
I just meant at least it's mostly US-made (AFAIK), and is a truck (or small truck) rather than a little foreign crap-box. That's all it means. I almost said "some of your dignity", which is probably closer. Plus, you can at least pick up car parts in a Dakota. Not too much you can haul in a foreign crap-box.

A 4-cyl (or well tuned 6-cyl) short bed/cab Dakota wouldn't be TOO bad on gas. I'm sure better than your Dart. I've had 2 318 Dakotas, and even those weren't all that bad on gas compared to an old '60s/'70s V8 car.

I like the old Daytona idea, if you can find one in nice shape.
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It's all good. I think dignity is "groomed for the show" and vanity is giving a mutt a bath daily LOL
Anyway... Trucks are nice for hauling most anything other than several passengers. Most around here ,including myself, haul our own trash to the dump. I dont worry about getting fined for something blowing out of the Geo like I did when I drove a truck. So far the only thing I couldn't haul in the Geo was the riding mower. Wonder if I could put a mower deck under the Geo ROFL
 
Yeah, it really all depends on your needs. It's a tough question to answer without ALL of the details. Personally, I need a truck. But then, I don't have kids (yet). I have a Jeep Wrangler with a 4x8 trailer, and I can haul a lot in it that I can't move in my wife's Camry, but I still need a truck to do everything I would like to do.

Most things in life are a compromise, unfortunately.

That said, as much as I would probably never buy a foreign car myself (even though that's a big grey area nowadays), I do have to say that overall my wife's '00 Camry has been a pretty good car. If I put the back seat forward, I can even stick things like a few long 2x4"s in there. It's comfortable, quiet, gets good MPG, and if it was something I would enjoy driving and would suit my needs, I would consider something like it for myself. But frankly, it doesn't meet either of those requirements for me.
 
minivan 300 concord any lh car all mopar have been thinking
the same as u about a beater
 
74dodge said:
no way you can get a pt cruiser for 2000 or less lol plus im not a big fan of neons or pt cruisers i think dodge took a turn for the worse on those lol i do like dakotas but not really any better fuel wise then my dart lol i was just curious to see if there were any cool little 4cyl american beaters
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Keep your eyes and mind open for a Cruiser. Drive one, they are fun. You may find one within your budget.
 

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As much as I love my 80s dodges. Look around for an Omni, Charger, Turismo, Rampage, etc. They're cheap and usually for 2 grand you can actually get a pretty nice running car! Heck, ya spend 3-4 and ya have one that runs mid 13s and smokes mustangs.
 
i blew a plymouth acclaim and dodge spirit for a bunch of years.... i think i paid 2 grand for one of them and drove it till it blew a transmission. Transmissions seemed to be a problem in those damn things.

a 6 cyl dakota is decent on fuel mileage around the 15-20 mpg range. Thats all my 3.9L was doing. Now that i have the new 4.7L it does the same gas mileage with more horsepower. The 318 i had before all the other dakotas did about 15 mpg on a good day if i remember right.
 
I got better than that on my 318 Dak's... in the 20's for sure. I kept my foot out of it to do that of course. My 2nd one was even extended cab.
 
Redfish,
Remember, the Prism is just a rebadged Corolla and new, used and remanned racks are pretty easy to find.
And they are decent little crap boxes.
 
efriedrich said:
I had two Neon's and loved them both.
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between all my family members we have 4- 2000 and newer neon's they average about 450km to a 40 L tank (280 miles to a 12 gallon tank) 20 dollars takes you a long way. and there very cheap for parts. neons gained a bad rep with the first generation ones, newer ones are better
 
This is a long shot but if you can find a /6 D150 with a stick, buy it. That thing will run regardless of what parts may or may not be working right and still get high teens to low 20's for mileage. The V6 Dakota that my friend had did 17 mpg average. Not much better than your Dart but maybe more practical for daily abuse. Don't rule out a Neon. My wife currently drives hers 120 miles three days a week to work and back. It's got 180k on it and still runs and drives good. It's cracked up and squeaky but she has hit about a half dozen animals, been in the ditch three times and been shoved into a building, just to name a few. That thing has our respect.
If you can't find any of these that you like, I'd consider any GM with a 3.8 liter V6 in it. they run virtually forever.
 
I have a 98 avenger I bought for less than 2 grand 2.0 dohc 5spd. Its gets mid 20's all day and 30 on long trips. I'm at 195,000 miles 2 qrts of oil between changes. Bought a blown up 95 talon for $50 bucks for spare parts.

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I'd say a Neon. People make fun of the car but it was the #1 car for sub-compact racing from 95-99. Most HP and TQ of all cars of those years in the same category.

Best thing is, engine's cost about $100 and if you blow the trans, it's about $100 as well.

I have a few friends who drive Neon's and there so cheap to drive and maintain.

Find a manual trans car from 1995-1999 with a SOHC motor. It's not as powerful as a DOHC (18 less HP) but they have less moving parts and seem to last much longer.

Riddler
 
I got a 1986 pontiac 6000 4 banger get around 28 mpg with it. Best part it was free complements of the grandparents. They had 2 cars no longer drove this one. We always had to move it when people came over so one day i asked what are you going to do with that car. My grandma said sell it why you know sombody who wants it. I said sure do me. She handed me the keys said its yours.:cheers: gotta love grandparents
 
As stated before, 95 to 99 neon. Hands down. Cheap to buy and repair, and get great gas mileage. I would do that waaaaaaay before I bought a k car.
 
On 2nd thought, I was only getting a little over 20MPG in my Dakota for highway... I was driving between states a lot and that's what I remember that from. I remember deciding whether to get rid of the Dak or the Jeep, and the Jeep got worse MPG. So, I guess forget the Dak if you're going for MPG, sorry.

It all really comes down to what do you need? I like the Neon idea, if you could find a nice one. I've heard so many people say they look like a crayon (?!) but I think they're decent looking small cars and great on gas.

I was just looking on CL, and there's tons of Neons for $600-$1600.
 
Find you a Daytona Shelby Z Turbo

25 mpg around town and 32 mpg on the highway....if you keep your
foot out of it. Around 25 is my average.

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