$5,000 is a difficult budget for buying a car.
It certainly won't get you a car made in the past 5 years and will rarely get you a car less than 10 years old.
That being said, there are a number of excellent options available in this budget.
The cars on this list make excellent commuters- they provide good gas mileage and excellent reliability.
Corolla/00-02/120k- Probably the best known car on this list, and definitely the most common.
The corolla is one of those cars that will depreciate at a very low rate (especially at this price range).
This car will give you great reliability and a solid engine.
In fact, the 1.
8L in the corolla is going to give you about 125 horse power, which is pretty solid in the small car class.
Civic/99-01/130k- Definitely the second most well known car on this list, and very common as well.
The civic is another car that will retain its value even as the years and miles pile on.
You can easily buy one of these for $5,000 and put 50,000 miles on it and sell it for $3,000.
That is pretty phenomenal.
The civic comes standard with a 1.
6L engine (smaller than the corolla), but has a slightly sportier feel to it.
Prizm/00-02/100k- The Prizm is easily the least common car on this list.
However, you should not discount it because of that.
In almost every way, the Prizm is a clone of the corolla.
Indeed, if you look at them side by side, the only recognizable difference would be the tail and headlights, and the logo on the front and rear of the vehicles.
The Prizm was made at the same California plant as the corolla, and includes the same 1.
8L engine.
What does this mean? It means Toyota reliability and dependability for a lot less.
$500-$1000 less, to be precise.
A Prizm with identical features and options to a corolla of the same year and mileage will typically sell for almost $1,000 less.
Forester/99-00/110k- The Forester is the workhorse of the group, with all-wheel-drive standard and the larges cargo capacity by far.
This car is best suited for people dealing with tough winters or trips up to the ski slopes.
The large cargo capacity means being able to bring several friends and all your gear, and the all wheel drive means feeling safer.
And all the while you have Subaru reliability behind you.
In fact, foresters in this year range are very common, and you see many of them still on the road with close to 200,000 miles.
Golf/00-01/130k- While slightly less reliable and common than the other cars, the golf makes it onto the list because of it excellent combination of sportiness and practicality.
It tops my list of best road trip vehicles because of its fun to drive nature that never gets old and its large cargo capacity.
The German styling is sleek noticeable, both on the inside and out.
This is definitely the car that will be most memorable.
The Verdict: All of the cars on this list are excellent choices.
They are all reliable choices with low maintenance costs.
They provide excellent fuel economy and great resale value (which is quite remarkable because of their low price to begin with).
However, if I had to choose one, I would go with the Prizm.
You can get a very nice Prizm for around $4,000, and it will last you just as long as a corolla or civic.
In fact, 99% of parts made for the corolla will work on the Prizm.
Couple this with a strong 125 horsepower 1.
8L 16 valve inline 4 engine and you have an excellent package.