Do you also do a thing when you travel where you instinctively look at the local Craigslist just in case? It’s not even that I expect to buy a car, it’s that I need to know what it would be like if I lived there. This has only gotten stronger since I moved to New York, where the cars I’m interested in are both too expensive and look like abandoned oil refineries when you look underneath them.
Mark is fine, but he’s dealing with some family stuff so I’ve volunteered to step in to pick up today’s SBSD. The kids are playing, the in-laws are out doing something, and I’m warmly enjoying the basement spare room.
Yesterday’s battle was between a ’60s VW-based Dune Buggy and a sweet early ’70s Oldsmobile Toronado. I’m usually in the minority on my SBSD votes, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that a narrow majority of you agreed the FWD boat is better than the Buggy. A lot of this, I suspect, has to do with price and condition. The Buggy is some sort of strange kit and a barely complete one at that. The Olds looks ready to cruise. I also have a theory that large Malaise Era boats are making a comeback.
I’m currently in Western Michigan so I’m going to go in the complete opposite direction of this SBSD. What if it’s winter and you need to drive something cheap and just a little fun? The obvious answer isn’t RWD, though RWD in the snow can be fun if all you want to have is fun. AWD is the safe bet, but safe bets are rarely fun. FWD gives you the comfort of something that’ll track reasonably straight when roads turn wintry, as well as the joy of perfectly yanking a parking brake for a drifty turn.
Today I’ve got a couple of great options.
2010 Pontiac Vibe GT – $4,395
Engine/drivetrain: Toyota’s 2.4-liter 2AZ-FE inline-four, FWD, five-speed manual
Location: Lakeview, Michigan
Odometer reading: 194,900
Operational status: Runs and drives
It has been well established around these parts that the Pontiac Vibe is actually an excellent car, although the 1st generation car is generally more prized due to its more attractive aesthetic. I normally forget about the 2nd-generation Vibe, which remains a platform twin to the Toyota Matrix and was built at the jointly-owned Toyota/GM NUMMI facility in California.
While this doesn’t have the cool, two-tone faux rugged look of the 1st-gen car, this model does pick up the larger 2.4-liter 2AZ-Fe inline-four that also did duty in the same era RAV-4 and Camry. This isn’t necessarily a hot rod engine, but 152 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque it’s a decent step up over the outgoing Vibe GT.
This one seems to be remarkably clean for its high miles, and the fact that it doesn’t appear to have much rust underneath is a sign to me that this car didn’t spend almost 200,000 miles in Western Michigan and instead arrived from a different state. Otherwise, someone was keeping this car in the garage for winter, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given that it’s a Vibe GT.
This car is almost 15 years old and everything looks to be in order, with only a little seat-cracking here and there. I’ve seen four-year-old cars with worse interiors. The most important ingredients for happy happy fun time are the real e-brake and five-speed manual transmission.
Because the car has such high miles on it I wouldn’t feel bad hooning the crap out of it in winter. Yeah, it’s a nice car, but it’s a high-mileage econobox Camry built with a stout Toyota motor. Maybe rinse it off after you have some fun and it’ll last at least a few more Decembers.
2010 Honda Civic – $3,500
Engine/drivetrain: Honda’s 1.8-liter inline-four, FWD, five-speed manual
Location: Conklin, Michigan
Odometer reading: 199,900
Operational status: Runs and drives
This one is definitely ready to be a winter beater. Just look at how it was photographed. This car has probably served in this role for a long time and the owner is only selling it because he or she “needed a truck.” Otherwise, the car runs and drives great, according to the seller, and looks to be in better-than-decent shape.
While it has almost identical mileage to the Vibe GT, it is a little down on power at only 140 horses, although the Civic Coupe is almost certainly lighter. And, like the Pontiac, it shares the two keys to FWD winter fun:
Yup, manual parking brake and manual transmission. All you need to have a good time on a low-friction surface.
All of the photos from the seller are inconveniently cropped like it was shot on an IMAX camera for some reason, so you’ll have to use your imagination for interior quality. My guess is that it’s in at least decent shape given what I can see here. It’s an older Honda. They tend to hold up fairly well.
Would I love to see under the car? Unlike the Vibe, I’m assuming a little rust here, although nothing on the outside shows signs that it’s spread.
It’s an older Honda, so as long as it isn’t rusting through you should be able to fix anything broken on it fairly efficiently. Right?
All photos: Sellers
People here complaining about rust on that Civic. I have a same year CRV, it has a big rust bubble on the tailgate, and a towing bar that looks like it’s been sitting on the ocean floor for 200 years. I find this visually deceptive though, because it feels so fine to drive (pretty much like new.) No rattles, squeaks, crashing or banging, transmission is still so so smooth, engine never misfires, and sounds smooth as butter. I have no experience with Pontiacs, but I can pretty much assure you the Honda will fill you with confidence when you drive it.