Welcome to day two of our price-doubling game! Today our budget is $2,000, and both of these cars are a little under that. But you’ll need some wiggle room in the budget to take care of a few things.
Yesterday we were only allowed to spend a grand, and surprisingly, both our choices were decent runners with livable interiors. But as several of you pointed out, if you’re looking for cheap cars, running costs are going to be important as well, so you’re better off picking the car that uses less fuel, all things considered. The four-cylinder Cavalier goes probably twice as far on a gallon of gas as the big F-150 does, which makes it the logical choice here.
I have to agree. Besides, I’m one of those weirdos who’s genuinely a fan of the GM J-cars, as well as their slightly larger N-body cousins, so I’m going to lean that way anyway. And the Cavalier is a stick, which I’ll always give preference to.
So what does $2,000 buy you these days? Something a bit nicer, with a lot fewer miles. You still can’t expect perfection, but you can drive off in relative certainty that you’ll make it home. These two are similar: both wagons, both manuals, and both economy-minded, but from different eras. They’ll both need a little tinkering if you want them to be at their best, though. Let’s see which one you think is a better deal.
1997 Ford Escort LX wagon – $1,700
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Odometer reading: 175,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, daily-driven until recently
If you’re not familiar with the second- and third-generation US-spec Ford Escort, frankly, you’re kind of missing out. I know that sounds funny, but it’s a delightful little car for what it is. The secret is the Mazda-derived chassis, the same platform as the BG-chassis Mazda 323 and Protege. It handles way better than the earlier Escort, and manual-transmission-equipped models like this one have that same great shifter feel as Mazda’s FWD offerings. It’s no Miata, no one is saying it is, but it’s a better car to drive than you think.
Mazda didn’t share its engines with the Escort, except for the GT hatchback from the previous version. Other Escorts got by with Ford’s tried-and-true CVH four, punched out to 2.0 liters and bumped up to 110 horsepower in this one. It’s nowhere near as refined as its Toyota or Honda competitors, nor even Mazda’s engines, but it’s a good solid little engine capable of covering a lot of miles while not using much fuel. This one runs and drives well, and the seller says it was daily-driven not too long ago.
This Escort is from Ford’s “oval” design era when the Taurus looked like a catfish and the F-150 just looked melted. Ford only changed the front sheetmetal between the second and third generation, so the Escort isn’t as committed to the bit as the Taurus was on the outside, but it makes up for it inside. Just look at that jellybean-shaped center console. Hopefully the tape player works because no standard DIN-mount stereo is going to fit. We do know the air conditioner doesn’t work, sadly. You can always try charging it up and see what happens, I suppose.
It’s faded and tired-looking outside, but basically presentable. Luckily it has lived its whole life in California and Arizona, so there are no real worries about rust. You’ll want to polish or replace the headlights; like most cars of this era, they’re sandblasted opaque.
2006 Scion xB – $1,700
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: San Jose, CA
Odometer reading: 165,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives “like a boss,” but won’t pass smog
This car, every regular Autopian reader knows. The first-generation Toyota bB, sold here as the xB under Toyota’s erstwhile youth-oriented brand Scion, was the original “Autopian Test Car,” subjected to all manner of indignities before being unceremoniously dumped and later revived by a reader. The little wagon is now a bona-fide rallycross hero, resplendent in tri-color stripes and sporting an impressive array of driving lights. If you would like an Autopian Test Car of your own, you’re in luck; this car is the same spec, only set up more for California boulevards than for Midwestern dirt tracks.
The heart of the xB is a 1.5-liter twin-cam four, with variable valve timing. This one is equipped with a five-speed manual, as they all should be. The seller sings its praises, but admits the check engine light is on – as well as the vehicle stability and traction-control lights. No idea why. It might all be related, but whatever it is prevents this car from obtaining that all-important California document: a smog certificate. If you’re not in California, don’t sweat it, I guess, but if you are, or anywhere else where those warning lights mean a failed inspection, you’ll need to take care of it.
The inside looks pretty good; it’s amazing what not being covered in food debris will do for the interior of an xB. It could use a cleaning, and the shift knob is strangely broken, but otherwise it’s in decent condition.
It looks good outside, but it has a salvage title; apparently it was rear-ended years ago. It has been used as a daily driver for years since then, though, and it has fairly new tires and a fresh alignment. The trim below the rear bumper is missing, of course; I haven’t seen one of these with that trim intact in years.
Little station wagons are wonderful things, especially lightweight ones with stickshifts like these. You can haul stuff while getting decent mileage, and when you’re not hauling stuff, you won’t hate driving them. You’ll just have to put in a little work to get either one of these in tip-top shape, but they’re both drivable as they sit. Which one better suits your needs?
(Image credits: sellers)
I’ll take the Escort and slap “Flyer” on the side in white lettering.
Rip off those plastic caps and paint the steelies white too!
https://www.radioflyer.com/cdn/shop/files/classic-wagons.jpg?v=1707410147&width=980
Decade newer Toyota for me. Also annoyed that we never got the original xB in Canada. No emissions tests here so I can live with a CEL.
I’ll take the Box all day on this one. The stability/TC light is probably a wheel sensor which is an easy fix and the check engine…. well, I’ve fought that battle many times as well. Probably a sensor… maybe. I’d still rather have the box which is a decade newer and generally reliable, than a 30 year old car that wasn’t very good when new.
I doubt it, Toyota likes to disable traction control with most CELs, so there’s probably nothing wrong in that system at all. It’s just the CEL that you need to mess with. There are tons of sources talking about it, but here’s a forum that several people state that’s the case. My wife’s Sienna does it too. https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/check-engine-light-vsc-and-traction-control-all-came-on-at-the-same-time.1264553/
The xB is one of my “I have no reason to ever buy one but god do I want one” cars and WA state got rid of emissions inspections so easy pick.
I’ll try on a Scion today.
Its a shame the AC is not working, I have the 1995 Mercury version and it has one of the best AC I ever experienced in my life, Costco produce refrigerators grade.
We have a ’95 Escort that exemplifies that. It’s still on its original R-12 factory Freon charge and was pumping out ice-cold air last summer. I expect it will continue to do so this summer.
Going with the Ford because I’m visiting DC next month and I want to tour the White House, but you have to have an Escort. I know, seemed odd to me too, but a lot of strange things are happening there these days.
If you bring an extra Escort for Secretary of Defense Hegseth he’ll make you an admiral, once he’s finished his morning thermos of (Long Island) iced tea.
FWIW I heard Joe required a different kind of Escort too… but I always preferred Valentine One. Bill on the other hand. Well, that was a totally different type of escort but nothing a quick stop under the overpass couldn’t take care of.
Pretty sure I could fix that Toyota in a weekend. Y’all too afraid of dash lights. 165,000 miles on a Toyota motor isn’t nearly enough for me to assume a dash light is something serious. And even if it is, low mileage replacements are available for cheap.
Once an accident is far enough in the past, it’s barely worth considering, but I’d still want to look it over more closely in that area.
Today’s contest is “what do you get when you’re done” and the xB wins that easily.
For me, its not the accident- its the salvage title. Taking it to a new state can be an utter pain in the ass, and not worth it unless its a desirable car.
Hmmm….
‘Winter beater’ in Phoenix, because there’s no way you’re driving that thing from May through September in that city without A/C. Sitting on I-10 in traffic as you do the human raisin impression in the July heat, regardless if the windows are open or not. That ‘I died a desiccated corpse in a Ford Escort in Phoenix’ might make an interesting song title, but does not appeal to how I want to get to the pearly gates.
Or…
‘It’s just a sensor’ Scion with a salvage title. It’s never a sensor. Ever. Or just a ‘small rear-end hit’ for a salvage title. You fix the sensor and sell it for double the price with a smog certificate or don’t because it isn’t a sensor. Knowing that you’ll have to deal with salvage title tomfoolery is another strike.
Ooof. The ‘winter beater’ appeals more, because at winter’s still going on in The Valley of the Sun right now, and fixing A/C is something that can be accomplished more easily than playing ‘find the electrical gremlin’ and ‘deal with salvage title nonsense’ games.
That’s was my conclusion. If it’s easy, why wouldn’t the seller of the Scion fix it and get way more $$? Well it’s because it’s not easy but they want out.
I’m in NC, no AC is a non-starter.
I had a ’99 Escort wagon like this one and I actually liked the car a lot. The seats were torture devices but everything else worked really well and got great highway mileage doing it. A 5-speed would have fixed about 1/2 what I didn’t like about the car.
We had a new Cayman Green ’93 Escort wagon, but with the 1.9L and a four-speed auto. That car was indeed fun to drive, even with the automatic. It would cruise at 85mph with no complaints and it was comfortable.
I like the xB, but something about that one just doesn’t sit right with me. The sketch level is up there so I went Ford in this case.
I’d have to go with the Mazda/Ford. I was never a fan of the looks of that Scion, and with the dash starting to mimic a Christmas Tree, well, chasing electrical gremlins is something I’m not a fan of. If a rodent or two got into that wiring harness, that’s a rabbit hole you might never get out of. Fixing an AC system? Well, it either leaks, or it doesn’t. If it leaks, replace the leaky bits. If it doesn’t, charge it up and enjoy the cool breeze.
I want my little red wagon.
I knew a fisherman who used a similar Escort wagon as his rolling surf-casting base of operations.
This vote’s for him, RIP.
P.S. He was also a fine storyteller, Shanachie
xB.
Strangely, I saw one last weekend that had the lower bumper trim intact.
I had an 05 manual and loved it. It’s a great city car and it’s amazing what you can fit inside.
I brought home a steel lateral filing cabinet (52″h x 42″w x 18″d) in the back of my xB. It was also pretty comfortable with a ton of space (possibly more space in rear than front) and getting in and out was the easiest of any car I’ve owned.
My ex had a 1984 escort wagon automatic. It was the slowest vehicle I have ever owned. It was horrid. The Toyota is a better choice.
The Escort will beat the Scion in acceleration. A few things changed between 1984 and 1997.
Surprised I’m taking the Escort, but the salvage title on the xB gives me pause. Also while I prefer the second gen Escort design, the third is fine, and should make for a decent rust free example up here where all Escorts have been used, abused, and rotted away.
No AC sucks, but for a 1700$ beater, I could live with that.
IMO that thirdgen wagon has alwars made me feel like the lost opportunity to have facelifted the hatchbacks along similar lines instead of that bubbly Toontown-looking sedan was such a waste.
Third gen sedan did look pretty darn dumpy. I’m a weird fan of the Contour, so I was cool with some of those Ford designs, but it didn’t work on the Escort.
“you won’t have to worry about rust,” except for that rust at the trailing edge of the wheel arch, right where the bumper cap meets it.
As fond as I am of the Escort, mostly due to childhood imprinting – we had two, this thing is old. The CVH may be a hemi, and it may be a stick, but the decade-newer Scion is a better car all around, AND it’s a Toyota.
I liked the bB derived xB, and HATED the second-gen that was a Corolla with a box on top, but either one is basically unburstable, so respect where it’s due.
With a smaller engine and more practical shape, the xB is the right choice.
AC doesn’t work in PHOENIX? Dear god. Regardless I’m picking the Escort solely for emotional reasons. I was friends with a neighbor when I was a wee kiddo (like 5-9ish) and his parents had this generation of Escort. I remember being driven all over town in it.
Those were good times. Simpler times. I’d rather relive those than own a Scion. I know the xB is widely beloved by enthusiasts and it’s a very, very good package but we had second gen ones as part of our work fleet at my first adult job and I cannot overstate how miserable they were. The interiors were creaky penalty boxes and the car felt like it was strained even at normal speeds.
They were always the last cars to be taken. We had two CRVs that felt like luxury cars compared to them and even a little Ford C Max that was more enjoyable to drive. Even the normies avoided the XBs, which is saying something.
They weren’t simpler, you just didn’t know what was happening.
No shit Sherlock, let me have this! We should all be allowed to have a little escapism these days. As a treat.
Just be careful, nostalgia is an illness, you know, so I’m looking out for you! If I could go back to the ’90s, I’d be a lot less lazy, though
What are you, my therapist!?!?
…kidding of course. I personally think that it’s okay to wax nostalgic sometimes but if you find yourself completely engrossed in it it can really hinder growth. I think it’s nice to remember good times, but it can become a crutch very quickly.
Yep, my vote t’day was structured the same way. Be it a song, a fragrance, turn of phrase, or an automobile: imagination and remembrance unlocks them old-time feelings.
Thankfully, many of us have an old storybook: kinda like letting the good times roll.
Or rock, of course!
Let the good times rolllllll
*cool synth noises*
Appropriately, performed by The Cars.
I always thought I’d be okay with a $1,700 Escort, and yet I find myself hesitating.
There are so many ways to interpret your comment. I, too, would hesitate paying $1,700 for an escort…
If the time I spent inside a $600 Escort is any indication, I’m not sure $1,100 will make enough difference. (It was a ’96 in 2011…. Even I’m gonna touch that one)
It was a ’96 in 2011
You may not want to be posting that.
It was the very ideal of an Escort, though. Teal, filthy, very heavily doused in things that didn’t smell very good to keep it from smelling even worse. What a tremendous piece of shit it was. I almost miss those days sometimes.
Not really, those were terrible times. But I did at least have a car friend with a GTI he kept in good order, and my Spec-V, so our dumb street antics were slow and well matched under steering stupidity. And then our other friend got rid of the Sebring so foul and moldy it made you smell bad to sit in it, and you could see the spores when the wind blew, whose seat rails were rusted in place from standing water in the floor pan. for a V6 Charger. Every time someone called out “cool car!” we yelled back it was “just the V6,” to the eternal agony of our poor friend who did really deserve to be the fuck up out that Sebring. And the guy with the Escort, poor bastard, he ended up with that turd because he was getting absolutely fucked in a divorce.
I hope they’re all doing alright. They worked hard enough to deserve better by now for sure.
Oh man. I’m not misty eyed, it’s just leaky convertible top mold spores.
What’s the old saying? 15 will get you 20?
If it were up against literally almost anything that’s not a Toyota a decade newer…
(Yes, I missed the double entendre at first. Coffee’s just now kicking in.)
I paid $2000 for my 94 Escort wagon a little over 20 years ago. Except for getting stuck in gear if you rolled to a stop in 5th gear it was a pretty trouble free car until it finally rusted out. The 1.9L CVH (Constant Vibration and Harshness) engine wasn’t exactly refined but it got good fuel economy and when the timing belt snapped didn’t grenade the engine. Good cheap transportation. If mine didn’t rust out it’d probably still be going.
I had the European version of this Escort once,and it was the worst shitbox ever.
The Scion has more space as well.
Completely different car, the ’90s US Escort was more closely related to the Mazda 323/Protege, the Euro one was a rebodied ’80s Escort.
Euro Escort was completely different from what we had in the States for the entirety of both model’s runs in their markets.
Good for you I guess. The one we had was made of tin-foil and hopes.
That pretty much describes everything in the U.S. in the ’80s, from politics (zealotry) to culture (zealotry, occasional creativity oppressed by zealotry), to hats (tinfoil. Covering the heads of zealots).
Harder choice than it first appears: I’m partial to the Scion Shoeboxes, but Escort wagons — especially with a manual transmission — are pretty darn nice, too.
In the end, I went xB because it’s shinier and appears to have had a little more TLC lavished on it. Also, since I don’t live in CA, smog tests aren’t an issue, and it will hold a little more stuff.
At the price, either one appears to be a good deal.
I picked the Escort. AC can probably be fixed pretty easily, but you can chase electrical gremlins FOREVER. Salvage title really made the difference, tho.
It’s probably just a single sensor. Sometimes a check engine light will also shut down the traction control and stability control.
If I floored my FR-S on an on-ramp, it would throw a code and take out cruise control, traction control, stability control and light the check engine light.