Good morning! Well, here they are: four reasonably practical, affordable cars in good condition. In this column. I know; I’m as surprised as you are. Now we’re going to pit them against each other in a battle for shitbox supremacy.
Yesterday’s crossovers were pretty evenly matched, and the vote was close, as I expected. But in the end, the Escape Hybrid took home more votes, earning it a place in today’s Showdown. Personally, I think I’d pick the Escape as well, but I’d rather have it in the color of the Toyota.
I’m surprised at how many of you voted against the Escape strictly because it’s a hybrid, over fears of battery degeneration. It’s a concern, granted, but since the seller says it’s still getting well over 30 miles per gallon, I personally wouldn’t be too worried about it. It does raise the question of how willing shadetree mechanics are going to be to tackle the new technology as it appears. I know some old-school mechanics who still won’t touch a car with fuel injection. Me, I’ll take apart anything that I’ve got proper tools for, if it needs fixing.
When I first had this idea of a week-long search for the best possible used car, I fully expected it would come down to the usual suspects: Corolla, Camry, Accord, that sort of thing. But I didn’t find any Hondas at all that I wanted to feature, and the two Toyotas for the week lost. In their place we have three Mazda MZR engines and a Jaguar V8, or two sedans, a minivan, and an SUV, or two sticks and two automatics, depending on how you want to divide them up. Goes to show you never can tell, I guess.
What we don’t have is any color. White, silver, and dark gray; that’s what we ended up with. So, just to make things a little more interesting, I want you to not only vote for the car you think is the best deal, but in the comments, also tell me what color you would repaint it. Let’s recap our choices.
2005 Mazda 6i
The case for it: It’s a clean-as-a-whistle example of a car that’s not only reliable and efficient, but also fun to drive. It’s got a good level of equipment, a reasonable number of miles, and someone sprang for good-quality window tint for it.
The case against it: Nothing really, unless you can’t or won’t drive a stick.
2001 Lincoln LS V8
The case for it: It has a V8, a well-tuned chassis, rear-wheel-drive, and a nice European luxury feel. It has had a ton of maintenance work done recently, and the seller is confident enough in it to use it as their current daily driver.
The case against it: It’s historically about as reliable as Use Your Illusion-era Axl Rose. Sometimes you get a stellar performance; sometimes you get a temper tantrum. Also, some nitwit painted the wheels black.
2012 Mazda 5
The case for it: It’s a minivan with a six-speed stick. It also happens to look good, and be quite reliable. And that swoopy design detail down the side looks cool.
The case against it: It’s a Mazda for sale in Wisconsin. There’s a good chance at least some portion of the undercarriage resembles Swiss cheese, even though the ad doesn’t mention rust.
2005 Ford Escape Hybrid
The case for it: You’re not likely to find anything this cheap and useful that gets better gas mileage than this. It’s also known to be very reliable, and this one has been well cared for, from the sounds of it.
The case against it: It has a rebuilt title, if that matters to you, from an accident that occurred years ago. And the long-term durability of the hybrid battery is a bit of an unknown factor.
Four grand, as much as I hate to admit it, is pretty much the floor for a decent used car these days. You can find running cars for cheaper, but you’ll have to do some digging, and probably some repairs as well. If you want to just drive off and feel confident, this is about as cheap as you’ll find. But the good news is they’re all pretty nice cars, and there’s a little bit of fun to be had, as well.
I’m not sure what next week will bring, but I’m thinking it’ll be another week-long search – maybe for the best winter project car we can find. For now, though, we’re all about the daily drivers. Which one of these strikes you as the best deal?
(Image credits: sellers)
Mazda6 all day. That would be an enjoyable car to daily drive, and seems to be in really nice shape. The few Mazdas of that vintage that I see around here in Chicagoland are just absolutely obliterated by rust. They really didn’t rust-proof those cars for shit.
On the note of the LS, one of my co-worker friends owned a V8 one about 8-9 years back and is likely still haunted by that car to this day. His was a metallic red, and It was a great looking car. It even sounded great with the set of mufflers he had put on it at an exhaust shop, but man that thing gave him tons of electrical issues. He ended up ditching it after a few years, because the constant CEL’s kept him from being able to pass our annual “emissions” tests we have here in NWI.
The 6 for me. I’d probably save the paint cash to replace the dashboard, which can turn to goo on these cars. Happened my neighbor with this exact car.
Another easy choice, for a daily driver that is economical both to feed and maintain the Escape Hybrid by a mile.
I went with the Mazda 6, but I’d probably drive it as-is. It’s not amazing enough that I’d invest the money to paint it, and it’s a good “blend into your surroundings” vehicle.
The Mazda 6 is reliable, has low miles, no rust, and is great condition. Literally the only mark against it, is the boring color. Which won’t matter when I repaint it that gorgeous Acura A-spec blue. That color even makes an MDX look attractive.
Three of these were the correct choices for the day. The only one I would rule out is the Mazda5. I’m getting bad vibes from that car. I don’t like that it has a rebuilt title that the owner didn’t address in the description, and from two angles it looks like it has visible rust on the undercarriage. I think this car is not nearly as nice as it looks. I envision the seller saying “I KNOW WHAT I GOT” and thinking “… and I hope you don’t.” No thanks.
The other three are decent choices, though. I am not a fan of the Mazda 6. I will take a Shitbox Showdown version of an Alford plea and acknowledge it is a good choice, but I will eliminate it because I’m not interested in it. I like big sedans so the LS seems like a good choice, but this is supposed to be a daily driver competition and I think that is the least practical of the three options. Plus, I suspect reliability could be less than ideal.
So I voted for the Escape. I like that it is a hybrid. A small but roomy SUV that gets 30+ mpg sounds like a great daily driver. Also, I like the styling. I like traditional body on frame pickups and SUVs. This truck has enough styling cues from old SUVs to look good, but has the comfort and economy of a modern small SUV.
Mazda 6. I would have gone for the Mazda 5 except that I used to live near where it is for sale and I cannot fathom how it isn’t pure rust underneath.
I voted Mazda 6. All good choices if somebody needed some wheels and didn’t have a nest egg around. I think it would be the most fun to drive and would last a while. And the color: a nice dark green with metal flake.