Good morning! Today, with our price cap all the way up to $4,000, we’re looking at two cars that you might have trouble telling apart. I mean, they’re both wagon-y things, they’re both 4WD, they both have inline sixes, and they both mention camping in their ads! They’re practically the same car. Hopefully you can keep them straight.
Yesterday’s cars were pretty similar too, though one needed a few more questions answered about its condition than the other. But even with dashboard warning lights and a dinged title, the Scion xB pulled off a decisive win. Quite a few of you seemed to think the warning lights were not a big deal, and easily fixed. I hope for the buyer’s sake you’re right.
Me, I’m sticking with the Escort. It’s a car I already know, and it’ll be easier to get fixed if something goes wrong on a trip. The air conditioning should be R134a, so refrigerant is available anywhere. And I’ve got the vacuum setup to fill it properly, so even if it needs seals or something replaced, I’m not scared of it.
(And I just now noticed I should have waited for six more votes to come in before I took the screenshot. Oh well.)
So as it turns out, shopping for cars in the $3,000-4,000 price range is where things start to get boring. Everything runs all right, and nothing seems like a terrible deal, but it took me a while to find two things that really jumped out at me. And when I did, I was amused by the fact that they’re not only the same price, but also advertised as being suitable for the same purpose. They’re twenty years apart in age, however, and go about things in a very different way. Let’s see which one is more your style.
1985 AMC Eagle – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 258 cubic inch inline 6, three-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 95,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
If you’re looking for the start of the crossover craze, you may very well be looking at it. Around the same time that Audi figured out that driving all four wheels was the key to winning rallies, AMC grafted a Jeep driveline onto the underside of the Concord wagon and created, well, this thing. It sold pretty well, for a while anyway, mostly because there wasn’t really anything else like it back then. These days, the AMC Eagle is something of a cult classic: a few people love them, many more think they would love one if they had one, but I think the general public has more or less forgotten them.
Perpetually broke AMC had to make the best of things with a few simple ingredients, and one of those was its simple but sturdy inline six. This one displaces 258 cubic inches, and is backed by a three-speed automatic, a Chrysler Torqueflite if I’m not mistaken. Two 4WD systems were available in the Eagle; this one is part-time, as evidenced by the little 2WD/4WD slider on the left side of the dash. It runs and drives great, according to the seller, and just had a bunch of suspension and brake work done.
It only has 95,000 miles on it, and the interior is surprisingly nice. Most of these things are absolutely trashed inside these days; they ended up as hunting rigs or off-road toys, and that’s not easy on carpet and upholstery. This one is beautiful, and the seller says everything works, including the air conditioning. And it is very well-equipped – it has everything including the kitchen sink. Check it out.
The seller has it set up for camping, and it has a sink and a two-burner propane stove in the rear cargo area. From the looks of it, the propane tank and water tank are where the back seat should be, so there isn’t room to sleep in it, but if you pitch a tent next to it, you could make yourself a nice breakfast in the morning.
2004 BMW X3 3.0i – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 6, six-speed manual, AWD
Location: Seattle, WA
Odometer reading: 174,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
By now, every luxury automaker has joined the SUV market. BMW was a little late to the party, with the X5 first sold in 1999. This smaller X3 was introduced for the 2004 model year, with all-wheel-drive meant more for snowy parking lots in Breckenridge than for trails in Moab. And while you might expect an automatic transmission in a family hauler like this, the original buyer of this X3 opted for a much more BMW-appropriate manual.
It’s powered by BMW’s 3.0 liter M54 inline six, and the seller says it runs like a top. It has been a family adventure vehicle for quite a while, from the sound of it. It has an aftermarket add-on touchscreen with a backup camera, bringing it up to more modern specifications. It also came stock with the cold-weather package including heated seats – a nice feature on cold mornings.
It’s a little dirty inside, but it’s in good shape. The seller doesn’t mention anything that doesn’t work, but if I know BMWs of this era, I bet there’s something. The 3 series sedans of this generation absolutely ate power window regulators, and when they fail, the “bang” from the cable breaking will scare the crap out of you. Just be warned.
It’s clean and straight outside, and probably rust-free underneath, considering it’s a Seattle car. Too bad it’s Default SUV Gray, but that’s hard to avoid in this market. At least it’s a stick. And it has a big-ass sunroof, which is cool.
The Pacific Northwest is full of folks who like to “get away from it all,” and the default getaway car is a Subaru Outback. But as these two show, they’re anything but the only choice. The Eagle is a good choice if you want to be able to fix stuff with baling wire at the campsite, but the BMW will be a lot more fun on the curvy roads to the wineries down past Tualatin. It’s all a matter of what you want to do outside, I guess.
(Image credits: sellers)
The AMC is hideous – consider that an anti-theft feature. Absolutely nobody is going to mess with your car.
The drooping headliner will force you to pay attention if you are brave enough to cook inside the hatch – don’t even think about doing anything flambe, and don’t use any strong spices like curry or you will never, ever get the smell out.
I wonder if the sink has a grey water tank or if it just drains out onto the ground?
What fun! AMC all the way.
AMC all the way. My first car was an 81 Spirit (thanks gramma) with a leaky valve cover gasket. I would drive it until the oil light came on and then drive around looking for somewhere to buy a quart of oil. It survived me and then two of my friends after me, eventually going from NY to LA to WA, getting oversized wheels/tires (friend #1 made it look like 2dr Eagle) and a radiator full of gatorade on the side of the highway somewhere in the midwest until it finally succumbed to a cracked bell housing from bottoming out going over a cruel RR crossing with too many people in it (friend #2 in LA before driving it to WA).
This Eagle has that same straight-6. Bullet proof. Also, weirdly silent when it was idling. You could literally not tell it was running it was so quiet and smooth.
Eagle for the win! I love AMC and miss it. My brother used to have 2 of them, one was an awesome SX/4 and the other a sedan- that one wasn’t in as good a shape. They were fun though, and AMC’s are such unique vehicles. The story about the last AMC dealership still “open” is fascinating https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/amc-documentary-delves-into-the-last-independent-automaker/
Also, coming this year is a documentary about AMC as covered here
https://www.theautopian.com/why-i-quit-my-job-to-make-a-documentary-about-american-motors-corporation/
https://www.americanmotorsmovie.com/
The Eagle is a no-brainer. I wouldn’t touch that BMW with a 10 foot pole.
I’m picking the Eagle because I make stupid car choices. Better than stupid life choices, I guess…
Fond memories of the 258 in the 73 CJ-5 I bought 30 years ago. The oil pressure gauge was broken so I didn’t realize it only had 10 psi at cold idle and 0 hot. Still, that engine pulled hard for several years before I replaced it with a 304, which I never liked as much as that 258.
I’m going for the yellow BM…er Eagle. Sorry, got them confused. How can you pass on a 4WD wagon set up for camping, and it has a stick…wait, that’s the BMW. The Eagle’s inline 6 was so silky smooth…nope, sorry, that was the X3. Which one has the heated seats?
Ugh, please don’t pick two almost identical vehicles again, I can’t keep them straight.
My (ex-) wife bought one of these AMCs – without asking me about it first – from a friend of the family that was moving out of the country. She paid a hundred bucks, and overpaid. It drank more oil than gasoline (almost), was ugly as hell, and didn’t do anything well. And the gas mileage was awful. It was worn-out, so my memory of this model is not positive. Maybe the low-mileage choice here with the stove and sink (??!!) has a tight suspension, comfortable seats, a purring engine and plenty of headroom and storage space. It ain’t worth four grand, though.
The flip side – the BMW has a manual, and could easily be resold for the price paid. So forced to choose, the BMW is the better option.
For those of you that voted for the BMW, I am so disappointed in you,shame.
I think I’ve told this story before here, but a family member had one of those AMC Eagles back in the day. She would bring it over for my dad to fix it. It was a regular occurrence, and I learned some epic swear words standing outside the garage, listening in. I need to learn some German swear words, so I chose the BMW today.
Hey I just noticed something – the BMW’s seller LIED about the E83 having the Cold Weather Package! I know, I know – I, too am shocked at finding a dishonest seller.
The Cold Weather Package includes very obvious and ugly headlight washers, which this one clearly lacks. It also includes a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats.
This E83 only has heated front seats, which could be specced independently of the Cold Weather Package.
I was going with the Eagle until I clicked on the link and I noticed the big dent on the right front fender, plus the seller describing oil leak, transmission leak, cracked windshield and so on. The sagging headliner is a given due to its age and I don’t care for it as much as I do for the other items.
It’s good to know the rear seat is still there, or so it seems by zooming in on the picture with the open hatch, though.
I’m going with the E83 if it clears a PPI as it’s already run and drive, has a solid engine and transmission combo and overall is better sorted than the E46 it shared most of the parts with.