Only one question, "auto broker": what (including all fees and taxes) did you pay for it?

You're just moving the goalposts to make your point - this reminds me of a Jezebel discussion. If Nissan-Renault had made it lighter, more exotic looking, and given it a proper stick shift - they would have had something IMO. As it is? There are a plethora of sub-$60K (used) sports cars that I'd rather have over one.

If you are serious, then your $3K will easily buy you a 10-15 year old, slightly crunchy, liter class sport bike.

Yeah, if a Toyota product is going to appear on this list - I'll take this over the (wrongfully anointed reliable and easy to work on, lol) LS400 any day of the week.

Not at all. Do you realize how many CV's and Gran Marquis are sitting in Grandpa's garage in Sarasota with about 4K miles a year put on them? These cars go to Estate auctions because a 15 year old car (even with 60K miles on it) isn't worth quabbling over in the will. I'm here to tell you (again, from personal…

I see your point. I guess what I'm saying is that for a "$3K beater" (which I've absolutely bought and driven) I could live with the 'marshmallow ride' of a Crown Vic that was garage kept by somebody's grandmother in Sarasota (estate sales, FTW!) easier than I could live with the spray painted yellow and cut-up…

Not unless you pull some really sneaky stuff with open source intel and then run it through Equifax without the SS#. We only did that if the car didn’t show back up right away (which happens).

In the most hetero way I can say this : I <3 you, Doug.

Absolutely wrong. Harley-Davidson / Buell, BMW, and Truimph all STRONGLY ENCOURAGE test rides - and I test rode all of my motorcycles before purchase.

They are rare here too (in the southeast). To be honest, there is almost nothing for sale here that starts, runs and has stick shift for less than about $1500, regardless of aesthetic condition.

While I agree in principal, could one find four decent five-spoke wheels, most of a new interior (installed), a full refresh (fluids, filters, hoses, belts, etc) and keep it under $3K?

Great buy. What area of the country?

1998 N/A whiteblock is a more reliable engine than the Lexus (in my experience). I do wish there was a stick shift example - because that heft and transmission coupled with the weakest engine make for a dog slow car.

Just wait until your power steering unit fails and the fluid leaks onto the alternator and wiring loom. I'm pretty sure the idiots who got fired from Lucas (when Jaguar went to Ford electronics) went and learned Japanese sometime in the late 80's / early 90's.

Again - having owned (title in hand, registration and insurance in my name), driven, and wrenched on both - I'd much rather have a Crown Vic. In a year of ownership on the LS, the transmission blew up, the power steering unit started leaking onto the alternator - which fried it and caused all sorts of electrical…

Yes, that's what I was referring to - there were a couple of those on Crownvic.net few years ago. My apologies if calling a "step-by-step" is an overreach - but the folks over there were excellent to work with, very knowledgeable and helpful. The Lexus forums on the other hand...

I certainly would rather have the Crown Vic - but that's because I've spent time under the hood of both. The Lexus is a nicer ride around town (debatable on the highway) with more curb appeal - but it's a giant pain in the butt to work on when something does go wrong.

Holy Jesus those wheels are ugly.

Buy it now is $5200, I bet he gets about $4000-$4500 for it. Doesn't qualify.

If that was a five speed, you've have this won by a landslide.