<3 cheap Toyotas. One time, I bought a ridiculously small 20-year-old Toyota "Truck" (that was the model name) for $5k and drove it coast-to-coast across the US, in the winter, twice, through parks and forests, with what turned out to be a far-too-heavy motorcycle on the back.
The only things that went wrong were a speeding ticket and an exploded tire after 5000 miles. In hindsight it was a stupid trip to take - the people at the tire shop in Arizona were split between laughing and looking very concernced - but that little truck kept my self-sabotage from turning into a disaster and made the whole thing a fun experience.
I had completely unrealistic expectations about what a car should be able to do, and it lived up to them. Even after the 200,000 miles that usually marks the end of a car's life.
In general, if you want to find reliable cars, look at the old models that you still see on the road. Those are the ones that'll last awhile on the cheap. I still see plenty of Toyotas, Hondas, and Chevies from the '80s puttering around, and it warms the cockles of my heart whenever I do. I get the feeling I would have had the same experience with an old S-10 or Ranger. I wish modern pickups came in smaller sizes...
The only things that went wrong were a speeding ticket and an exploded tire after 5000 miles. In hindsight it was a stupid trip to take - the people at the tire shop in Arizona were split between laughing and looking very concernced - but that little truck kept my self-sabotage from turning into a disaster and made the whole thing a fun experience.
I had completely unrealistic expectations about what a car should be able to do, and it lived up to them. Even after the 200,000 miles that usually marks the end of a car's life.
In general, if you want to find reliable cars, look at the old models that you still see on the road. Those are the ones that'll last awhile on the cheap. I still see plenty of Toyotas, Hondas, and Chevies from the '80s puttering around, and it warms the cockles of my heart whenever I do. I get the feeling I would have had the same experience with an old S-10 or Ranger. I wish modern pickups came in smaller sizes...