Last week, we highlighted cars we’d buy for $10k. 

But to be honest, that wasn’t really that much fun. Useful, perhaps… especially John’s flowchart on Friday… but not really….that much.. fun.

Here’s why: $10k is an amount any of us would go spend on a new or used car. In general, cars in the $10k range don’t provide more utility (happiness) to us than cheaper cars. $10k is also not enough to buy something really cool, like a nice S2000, or a new GTI (heh). We find ourselves asking, why not just save some money on the car, insurance, registration etc, and buy something a lot cheaper? Heck, a ‘95 Accord makes me as happy as an ‘03 Accord…

So this week, we’re taking the other extreme. Welcome to $2k cars week! $2k is what we can afford to spend, and not cry if the car happens to blow up in our face a few months down the road. Surprisingly (I’ve been looking a lot recently - more on this later), there are a LOT of cars in this price range that appear to not be in ‘about to blow up’ condition.

But of course, let’s start by talking about one that IS.

Enjoy :)

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Crap Car of the Week
What NOT to buy with your $2k - Mazda 626

by Harvey Xiao

Oh boy.

There is plenty of garbage out there for $2k. You’ll find Buick Park Avenues… lots of crap from Detroit, really…

There are obvious bad ideas, like a 1980’s land cruiser, or a 1990’s anything European besides an old Volvo.

So why, out of all rubbish, did we pick this car for today? Because you don’t expect it to be bad.

Think about that for a minute. When you buy an old Mercedes for $2k, you KNOW damn well what you’re getting yourself into. If you don’t, you’re either an idiot, or lying to yourself. But the Mazda is a Japanese car .. just like Honda! You can find a (relatively) young model with (relatively) low mileage, full documents and the works for $2k. You THINK nothing bad could possibly happen. You THINK you just got a great deal on an Accord -ish.

Well, you’re wrong.

For a history lesson on why 626’s are not the reliable Japanese car they seem to be, read the wikipedia page.

Our advice for your $2k shopping spree. If you see a 626, run … run away…..run away fast. 

This car sucks.

photo courtesy of wikipedia