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"cool" beach car suggestions
HELP!
I'm in need of a car for my wife to leave at our beach house and am looking for suggestions. It will see less than 1K a year as it is a small island and we have my Defender 110 for hauling the family around. Needs to traverse a decently maintained mile long dirt road to and from the house. No manual trans as she simply doesn't want to deal with it. This is for running errands and into and out of town trips. Kinda-sorta reliable would be nice, but I'm happy to fix what breaks Criteria: -<12K purchase price -Short wheelbase for easy parking -automatic trans -able to fit a pair of child seats in the back A Jeep Wrangler fits all the criteria, but is pretty generic. I'm toying with increasing the ride height on a salvage title 996 C2 that has been in the back of my shop for a year as something cool but getting to the rear seats with kids seats is annoying. Early bronco is out of my budget, and the land rover defender 90 market is equally hot and trucks at this price point are junk. What am I overlooking that is not a boring appliance of a vehicle? Vin |
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Yeah, it's just an appliance, but it fits your other criteria to a "T". And you'll never have to worry about your wife & kids being sidelined by one of these either...they're practically bulletproof. Plenty of 'em out there for sale too (2WD & 4WD), and the older ones are very DIY friendly.
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I know a few people whose beach wagon is a Volkswagen Thing. I like them. They sure do.
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Forgot about them. Will start looking tonight
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Things available in an automatic?
Chevy Tracker. We have one, leave the top off. a few grand, small, reliable. |
Please quiz YellowPeril about the love of Toyota Yaris's. If not a Yaris, then an Echo (a bit smaller than a Yaris) or a Corolla. Anything fancier and you will end up walking due to reliability issues.
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Gents
I am asking you to spend my money on something less than practical and defined by being cool first and reliable second. I'm disappointed that the suggestions have included Chevy and Honda products. �� By extension we all should likely be driving Toyota's and not old 911's Sunday evening was the wrong time to make such a request! Hopefully by irrational brethren will chime in tomorrow. |
Late '80's Bronco II or a '90's 4Runner. Clean either one up and it is perfect.
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Unique and classic: Jeep Wagoneer.
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As was mentioned on the Defender Source, I'd go with either a Range Rover Classic or a swb Gelandewagen. Or a Bronco...
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I thought bronco 2 as well.
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But would go wrangler.
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Well, the tracker is a rebadged suzuki....SmileWavy
Since you are considering a 996 c2..... How about an early Cayenne 'S' ? |
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That fantasy island car is so absolutely awesome I'm speechless. What exactly do I search for on bat?
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The American Icon, no question. If no auto, teach her. I'm thinking about one of these for my DD.
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You should be able to find a pretty clean example for under $12k. Just make sure the common issues have been addressed, or factor them into the purchase price. If you want to go full beach-mobile, just add a set of beefy A/T tires and recode the air suspension module to max out the ride height. :D |
Sandrail!
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A cool car for Less than 1,000 miles a year with an automatic transmission for running around a beach property for the wifey? There is no right answer. Get a Toyota Camry.
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Subaru. Take your pick of which one. They'll all do the job.
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485743603.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485743603.jpg Pretty cool Eah? smiley wavy facey thing. |
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Willy's wagon. Get really cool and drop it on a late 80's Bronco or Blazer chassis'drive line set up
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485744291.jpg Jeepster http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485744291.jpg How much more money you want me to spend? Need a boat or a plane? I can find those to... |
Have plane and boat and both are equally quirky. The Willy's and Jeepster are awesome choices. I've seen a few running around here and had forgotten about them. Now to see if they fit the budget!
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Neither are exorbitant to purchase and very simple and inexpensive to repair. 6 cylinder Huricane
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Did the VW thing ever come with a Sportomatic? Hard to get more beach car than a Thing!
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757315.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757343.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757371.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757389.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757421.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485757440.jpg |
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BMW 2002s came with auto transmissions, are reliable when sorted, a solid investment car, and auto box cars are less money than their manual siblings.
Teach your wife some techniques to drift and throttle steer to make the gravel road a bit more fun. Sans kids of course. 12k should buy a nice car that has been well sorted but not restored, Patina! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1485762199.jpg |
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That is cool Dave. |
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That is cool Dave. |
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a slightly used 4 seater side by side could be an option.
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