i personally prefer hanes, especially without the tag so it doesn't scratch at your back.

 

Haha! I'd go with a 88-91 CRx or 92-95 Civic.

 

You can't go wrong there! I had a 1990 Taurus sedan (the Whitey Ford ) for 4 years, and I loved every single minute of it. I got rid of it when it had 120k on the clock, and gave me no problems whatsoever. You could probably pick one up within your budget. If you're only looking to keep it for a year, you could pretty much pick any car under the sun. Even the cheapest pieces of crap will give you 12 months of trouble-free use.

 

How can you say that?

What about that guy who bought a 'certified used' Kia and the timing belt went and it may cost $5k to fix?

My point is any car could develope a problem at any time. There is no way of saying a car will give you any amount of trouble-free use. IMO

There are brand new cars that don't even give one year of trouble free use. At least a new car has a warranty while a used car (generally) every little thing is out of pocket.

 

Volvo 240s can be bought under $1k, and run forever. The trim pieces might fall off and it will squeak and rattle, but the car will start, go, stop, etc. Oh, yeah, and it's ugly.

 

civic hatch
240sx

 

Get an older beater Neon...but expect it to break daily!

You can get old Fords (Taurus and Tempo) and old Chevys (10-billion variations) for dirt cheap. You may also want to look into a 90-94 non-turbo Eclipse or Talon. The things are practially bulletproof.

 

90's chevy blazers/gmc jimmys

I picked up that one for $1200, uglier then all hell, but everything works (including AC), and i haven't had to do anything to it since I've owned it (it been about a year and 24k miles). They are great beaters esp. if you live in an area that gets snow, the truck will go through anything. Plus you can toss a whole crap load of stuff in the back.

Long live the s#!t boxes

 

My Accord has been a tank. You pay a premium for the used Hondas but they are bullet proof and very easy to work on.

 

You beat me too it. The first gen MR2's are some of the most fun cars out there for dirt cheap and as far as reliability, they are Toyota's.