Because it isn’t their Vibe...

Both of my cars have this amazing feature:

My client is a young man in high school with college aspirations.

Way too easy, and yet they all missed the mark on this. If you can’t afford to maintain a premium hot hatch, stick with Honda / Acura from the low-mid 2000s.

Easy: Peugeot 504.

I love the Mercedes W123, and so I am extremely biased, but a rock solid 5 cylinder turbo diesel pickup that also looks classy AF as it slowly makes it’s way just seems like a total win to me

I’m going to stick my neck out for the 2nd generation Nissan Frontier. While obviously not the most powerful, and definitely not without its own issues (then again, what truck is without these?), it came in several different configurations and offered plenty of power and even modest reliability for a…

“Tribute”

Wait, so for the main photo you show the perfect car, yet no one recommends it? 

Didn’t it go beyond the motor? I thought the Prizm was basically just a Corolla with a Geo badge slapped on it.

Any 70's Fiat after 2 winters daily driven in the northeast:

90's Isuzu Impulse AWD Turbo. Even when new most people didnt know this car existed, yet for the 90s it was a AWD Turbo with 160HP, comparable to the Preludes and Integras at the time but with AWD.

!st gen (2001-2006) Acura MDX.

“Crossover” wasn’t even a thing in 2001. Think about how many of these you still see on the road, then remember that the youngest examples are 15 years old. I swear, they’re the functional heir to a RWD Volvo wagon. After a while, they’re cheap, well built vehicles with (mostly) low cost…

Nissan Senta

The minivan. When we finally had enough money to buy a vehicle in 2005, I needed something that could haul: kids, diapers, wipes, home improvement, family, non-family, road trips. Maybe splurge on the flip down DVD player.

The answer is Suzuki Kizashi, right?

The Geo Metro, and really the Geo brand in general. The Metro has now moved up to be slightly better regarded (especially when gas prices spiked in the late 2000s) but in the 90s it was the go to butt of “shitty car” jokes. Yes, it was hilariously small and basic but it was a reasonably reliable dirt cheap mode of…

But the Insight is the Cadillac of hybrids!

The Mitsubishi Starion / Chrysler Conquest, especially the later wide-body models. There were plenty of Japanese 3door hatches back in the 80s but the Supra, Rx-7, and 300ZX got all the notoriety. Mitz turned that around a little bit in the 90s with the 3G/DSMs but the 80s Starions were completely overlooked, despite…