Thread 28662870

What are the cheapest RWD econoboxes I can buy and maintain these days? My grandfather sold his 6000km 1998 Skoda Felicia for like 4500 PLN before he died, leaving me without a car to inherit. And the Polonez is a retro commodity now despite being a gas guzzling pile of junk, so that's not an option.

Is there anything out there or am I better off settling for another FWD hatchback? My only reservations against them are how they handle and how annoying it is to work on them with the packaging I've seen. I'm just more familiar with RWD guts and parts.

>>28662870 (OP)
Why not hop over the border to Hungary and run the risk of buying a Hungarian car.

>>28662870 (OP)
don't touch polonez, is hurt your soul

buy sierra if you want vintage
buy e46 if you want to wrench a lot
buy is200 if you want bmw but rice flavor

>>28662880
You do realize that this nigga makes something like $12k/year.

My suggestion is to find a W123 or W124, chances are they fit your budget and they are known for reliability, even if they are getting quite old.

>>28662880
>if you want to wrench a lot
If it's a BMW it will probably be sisyphus work considering there's an entire shop and street where I live where they do nothing but repair those. Something that is at least reasonably reliable would be nice. Too bad Oldsmobile is hard to come by here cause I remember good things about those as a kid.

>>28662894
>W123
those need a special loicense plate now I think because le vintage/retro
>W124
used to see those all the time on the road (good times), not so much now
aren't used mercs known for having an iffy reputation or did that concern other years/models more?

>>28662903
That is for W210 and later. The W123 and W124 were considered some of the most reliable cars for the era having 66% less problems than comparable German models, according to ADAC.

My next suggestion would be looking at Miatas. If you do not mind SUVs, the Suzuki Vitara is also worth considering.

>>28662870 (OP)
>W124 were considered some of the most reliable cars for their era
Oh THAT W124, I remember now. There was a million mile taxi or something that I saw in the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart when I was there.
>66% less problems than comparable German models, according to ADAC
Probably due to 66% less complexity if I had to guess. I wonder what components are attributed in this statistic.
>If you do not mind SUVs
I also do not mind station wagons, could probably use one of those for hauling stuff like furniture or cross country traveling occasionally. Thanks for the suggestions. A friend of mine actually owns a Miata, but he seems to be a fanatic.

>>28662925
meant for >>28662915

>>28662925
>Probably due to 66% less complexity if I had to guess.
Officially it was build quality, these were really quite complex cars, but not out of the realm for someone to work on.

You are welcome. Also check out Volvos to any model up to and including the 900 series. American V8 RWD cars are nice too, but I doubt that there are many in Poland.

>>28662894
>known for reliability
Means 20yo W124 was in better condition than 20yo cars now are. Not that it will be more reliable forever. Those cars are now 30+ mostly in junkyards. There's a reason why you don't see them on the road anymore.

>>28662937
They are fairly common in my area still, but point taken.

>>28662937
>There's a reason why you don't see them on the road anymore.
Lack of replacement parts? As far as what I've told (whether it is true or not) the main problem I see eurofags facing these days is just that they have no way to replace parts (cuz 3d printers don't exist over there I guess, or they don't have their own local fabrication capabilities, or they don't have schematics). That, or rust.

>>28662870 (OP)
Dacia logan ?

>>28662870 (OP)
If you want a cheap RWD shitbox, just get a Zhiguli. It's the AE86 of Eastern Europe.

>>28662994
>It's the AE86 of Eastern Europe.
I thought that title went to shitboxes like the Polonez.

>>28662995
The Zhiguli is a shitbox, plus spare parts are questionably available on these.

>>28662995
Maybe it's different for Poland due to having its own auto industry during the socialist period. In Hungary, the Zhiguli is one of the cars that basically all new mechanics learned on for a long time, and there are engine builders and tuners that specialize in Zhiguli. They're getting more rare now, but I would still take one over 20+ year old krautslop.

>>28662988
All rubber and plastic parts degrade over time, if you want to keep your car usable, you have to pay for shit ton of parts, value of your car doesn't increase despite spending more than just buying newer car.
And also the rust, hard to find 20+yo car in decent condition in most parts of Europe.

>>28662993
FWD except for the old 1100 models, but if that’s not an issue and if he’s gonna go Dacia the Logan is a dumb choice, the Sandero beats it out value for price.

>>28662894
>he thinks that Mercedes cars are seen as anything but a luxury
>he thinks that old Mercedes cars aren't heckin retro vintage classics now and commanding big price premiums
If OP's grandpa knew what he had he probably could have sold that Felicia for 3-4 times the amount of money if he had just waited.

>>28663012
>All rubber and plastic parts degrade over time
Maybe the industry should learn something from the good old boys in America who can take a rusty old Winston cup car from the 80's, fabricate new parts for it, and rebuild it to be road-worthy once again. Surely it's harder to fuck up good old fashioned steel through normal use.

>>28662931
>American V8 RWD cars are nice too, but I doubt that there are many in Poland.
NTA but yeah, this is true. I have one but I very rarely see other V8 clappers. Ironically though there's a lot more modern niggermobiles like Challengers, Mustangs and 300Cs than stuff from the 90s and older.

>>28663022
>47k for a 400k km piece of shit
I hate modern car consoomerism

>>28664446
Do you mind if I ask what specifically? I feel that something like a Caprice or a Roadmaster would be particularly comfy driving around, especially on the country roads.

>>28664453
Turd gen Firebird. I saw a few Caprices and Roadmasters at meets but never in the wild. Like I said anything made before the year 2000 doesn't seem to be that popular because an old car isn't a status symbol unlike some gay leased numobile.

>>28664460
>Turd gen Firebird
Dangerously based.

Seems that way, pretty similar in America too, though the leasemobiles of choice are often German or Japanese (Lexus F sports and BMW Ms especially). Then of course there is the duality of the Infiniti G series, it is either a niger or a cute girl driving one, nothing in between.

Škoda 120 with a 136M swap.
It's reliable, fun to drive, cheap because no one cares about them and due to being rear engined, it's even easier to work on than a regular front engined RWD car.

>>28664461
I also have a second gen Probe. I could buy or lease something newer but almost every car made after 2004 is insanely gay so fuck that.
>though the leasemobiles of choice are often German or Japanese
It's the same here. Nothing interesting at all, it just has to be expensive because more newer and more expensiver means more betterer. Same with clapper V8s. Older things like a turdgen just aren't expensive enough to be considered worth the hassle for the vain dipshits who lease nuStangs or import Tyrone's clapped Chally Wally.

BMW 1 series you should be able to get a decent one for under 2k

>>28664500
The only good engines they put in these are M47 and N52

>>28662870 (OP)
looking at the current market, the cheapest RWD cars are:
-ford sierra
-w202 mercedes c class
-opel omega
personally owned 3 opel omegas, very reliable cars, simple and good suspension but it's pretty hard to work on because all of the engines were designed to fit into a FWD car, making everything laid out weirdly
4 cylinder diesels are slow as shit but will take a beating without a question, main point of failure is the high pressure fuel pump
4 cylinder petrols have great torque, there are significant differences in electronics between the 2.0 and the 2.2, if you can get a 2.0
rust can be a issue, mostly around wheel arches like picrel
STAY AWAY FROM AUTOMATICS

>>28664510
They made omegas with m51s.
But they are rustbuckets.
No need to reinvent the wheel, there's a reason everyone in europe drives a bmw.

>>28664477
>Second gen Probe
Holy based.

No clue why East Euros like Challengers, I had to talk a Romanian friend out of importing one.Not good cars, in my opinion.

>>28664509
And the N45 if you dont mind it being a slow piece of shit(and burning some oil through the valve seals but many shops change them for relatively cheap here in Greekland)

>>28662870 (OP)
mx5
bmw 3 series from 90s (maybe not as they're getting retro uplift in value) or 00s
if you're in the UK, cheap jags are plentiful, but you better know how to wrench
lexus saloons are often rwd, but they're mostly automatic so not ideal
pretty much any mercedes, but same as jag, you need to know how to wrench to run one cheap

>>28664804
>No clue why East Euros like Challengers
I would hazard a guess because it's big, pigfat and has the names Dodge and Challenger attached to it so it has a "threatening aura" or something equally stupid. Likewise with last gen Cumaros and Stangs. It isn't exactly the upstanding citizens who import and drive these things.

>>28662870 (OP)
buy 1er with m47 engine, don't go for e46 they rust like mad

you can try finding golf/a3/scirocco/leon with 2.0 tfsi ea113 engine they easily make 350hp

>>28664515
never had a bmw powered one
the engines are unreliable grenades and i don't trust anything bmw engineered
the highest mileage one i've had was a 2 liter opel engineered diesel, bought it with 430k kms and sold it with 470k of course with a different tachometer showing around 280k
rust is not nearly as bad as it was on the kadetts
anyways if you're really crazy about bmws(fucking retard) and want to experience one at a cheaper price, omega came with a m51 as you mentioned and the later facelift models came with a m57 which is apparently less of a ticking time bomb

>>28662994
>>28663006
Zhiguli make sense only if you gonna do most heinous redneck tier chopping to this thing. Think swapping some toyota drivetrain, rear suspension from e30, front from silvia type shit. Otherwise just stick to something better.

>>28665853
Both M51 and M57 are solid. They routinely do 750 to 1M km.