Cheap dependable commuter car.

My coworker is looking for a cheap dependable commuter car.

He needs something that is easy to work on, 4 cylinder, fwd, cheap to repair.
The Honda Civic looks like a good candidate.

Anyone have any other suggestions/experience?

Anything to stay away from?

Everyone I've spoken to that had a Dart liked it. If you can find an unthrashed Focus or Cruze, you can probably get it cheaper than a comparable Civic or Corolla. My younger daughter just turned 14, and the cars I mentioned are the ones I will be looking to get for her. Market has changed, but 2.5 years ago, I picked up an 06 Civic with 96k on it for my older daughter. Car has been flawless, has 124k on it now. I've done brakes, tires, belts, hoses, fluids, and rear stabilizer links and bushings. I've got about $5k in it, including purchase price.

Avoid anything European. My $.02.

My little brother really likes his Honda Insight, 52 MPG?. He's a recent convert from Nissan. Don't know anything about repair costs, he hasn't had any.

I bought a used Nissan Leaf electric car on the dealer lot for $7500. Had a little over 20,000 miles and was still under warranty. That has been a super nice little car. Very reliable, zero maintenance costs, easy to take care of.

An ex employee had good luck with the cruzes, Drove the cr-p out of them both. The 1st one had abou 120K on it, picked it up for 1800. ran it up to 170K and it was totaled. 2nd one 144K paid about 2200 for it, ran it up to 190k just normal maitenance tyep stuff. the first one did get a new A/C compressor otherwise brakes, tires oil changes. they were both manuals

I have a 2012 Cruze 2LT Manual I bought new. It had some teething issues but its been basically flawless the last couple years. If its a manual make sure it doesn't whine in 5th or 6th gear and it'll be fine.

The 1.4 engine is super easy to work on but you will need an e-torx plus socket set. I would guess at some point they will all need a valve cover, intake manifold, and vent tube with check valve. All cheap and easy to replace parts.

Compared to a civic or a corolla, its a much more comfortable car and it has a huge trunk. Its a likeable car.

I would say avoid VWs and Nissans. If the Nissan is stick shift and dirt cheap it might be OK.

My daughter has a '14 Cruze. Bought it w/20k...currently a tick over 100k. It's been a good little car. Couple issues w/t-stat housing leaks(crap design GM!) but other than that...brakes,tires, oil changes.

If they are considering buying a timing belt vehicle count on having to do a timing component job. People do not have this done because the car is running fine. Even when the add says its been done chances are it was just the $35 rubber belt replaced and not the idler, water pump, tensioners and seals that are hard and leaking by now.

Honda... we have had several of them..great cars!! in the last 10 years I had a 2011 Civic I bought for commuting then the 2016 Honda HRV I bought after the Civic because I wanted All Wheel Drive. When I was working several of my co workers drove Civics with well over 100,000 miles with minimal problems

My wife likes her 2008 Civic Coupe. She has had it since 2007 I do not think many are as clean. There is one in the next block that would scare me! Was driven by a young man who drove it like I drove my Challenger 340 in 1980. He beat on that car like a rented mule! He should have been able to kill it but is now handed down to his younger sister. How it is still running I have no idea but is and is driven all over.

Anything with the Toyota 1.8 in it. Pontiac Vibe leads people to believe that you support GM (LOL). 292K on mine.

having sorted out an 07 Civic for a friend this past summer I can state that Honda's are NOT easy to work on.

Being a hybrid didn't help either. AC compressor was one of the issues.

I have 303,000 on my '96 Breeze, and it's been as bulletproof as can be.
2.0L stick car, mid-30s MPG.
Been a nice commuter, even in big snowfall with winter tires.
More solid than the Japanese stuff of the same era.
I would think the later generation Stratus/Cirrus would be just as good.
That may be too old for the OP's buddy, though.

I believe no one has asked thus far. What is the price range?

Come on.
He's Mopar guy and member of Moparts.com he is cheap.
So low price should be assumed.

Ford Fusion is the most dependable bang for the buck and cheaper than most other econo boxes to insure!
KID

I agree Civic maybe not a hybrid though. Older ones won't be anyway. Corolla too. And as Not a Charger mentioned Ford Focus were good but not pre-'03 (I believe) because they had a lot of issues.

You realize that an 07 Civic hybrid, which is what I was referring to, is 15 years old. Most would call that an old car.

Yeah I hear ya. But weren't a lot of that year and even later models not hybrids?

I had a Toyota Yaris that I drove as a commuter car for almost 300,000 IIRC. Got awesome gas mileage and very dependable. Hardly spent a dime on it.

The 2.0L 5 speed Breeze was a major sleeper that didn't appear on most folk's radar. Great little car that rode good, had plenty of room, was dependable, and would consistently get mid 30s for mileage. We sold several of them and my son drove a high mileage one to work for a couple of years. Although recommended earlier in this thread, the new Darts have hit and miss for us. They would not make our recommended list. The 4 banger Fusion has been a good car for us, but to be honest, we haven't had any experience with higher mileage ones. Stay away from most anything with the GM 1.4 turbo in it. Lots and lots of problems. The NA engines seem to do better. Nissan has had more than it's share of tranny problems with the CV stuff. We won't buy them unless they are very low mileage. Honda is a good car, but they are expensive to buy and to repair. And has been mentioned before, nothing European.

It was something like 2012 until I’m not sure when the Focus had big problems with the automatic transmission.
I had a 2008 Focus I bought with 20K miles in 2010 and put a little over 50K on before trading it in. Most inexpensive car to operate I’ve ever owned. Consistent 35 mpg, oil changes, new front brakes, a leaky tire valve, maybe wiper blades, that’s it. I felt guilty trading it in on a new Dart in 2014 as it had treated me so well. But I wanted a few more frills, and a heater and defroster that didn’t take 15 minutes to warm up on bitter cold mornings. Still have the Dart and it’s treated me well too.

My wife drives a '14 Fusion Titanium..2.0 turbo. Not really sure I'd call that model an econo box, it's pretty well loaded. Very comfortable and fun car to drive....handles like a go kart and has enough power to not be afraid when merging onto the freeway. 50K on it...rear brakes,tires, a battery and oil changes. I'll have to pry wife's hands off of it when it's time....she absolutely LOVES the car!

Geo Prizm , if you can find one. Had a Toyota engine, got over 300K miles on it, and I sold it ! Was still getting almost 40mpg .
Agree with Civic. then likely a toyota , depending on year.
Problem is , prices are crazy even for used econo boxes.

Ha. Yeah Jimbo, tell us, I know what your definition of cheap is , but what about your coworkers...

I bought a new 95 Stratus for my wife back in the day - it had the 2.4L. Car was not good - we had it for maybe 6 years. Only a few months old, it needed a new steering rack. Other problems within 80,000 miles: needed a starter, the valve cover leaked oil into all the spark plug wells - I had to replace all the seals & that lasted only a short while before they started leaking again. Final straw was when the crank pulley & balancer started walking out & throwing the belt. The design of that part incorporated a rubber dampener that began to break down - CRAPPY design! In order to change that, you basically had to pull the motor. That was it - sold it. The front-end was garbage too. Light-duty tie-rod ends that went at about 60k. I'm amazed your Breeze has been a good car!

2nd gen Ford Escape. I've owned my 2010 since new and it has been one of the most reliable vehicles I've ever owned. 2wd, 4 cylinder model. 130k on the clock. Very easy to reach everything under the hood since it was sized to accommodate a v6 and it sits high enough to get under it without have to drag out the jack and stands. All it has needed was a blower resister and a throttle body ($50 on Amazon).

Rear wheelhouses, especially on the right side, have a tendency to rot out. The shock absorber goes right through it. Other than that, very durable. We used them for company cars for years. I drove the hell out of mine, zero issues. Mine was V6 AWD.

Watch the front suspension/engine cradle on any of the Escapes. They are known major sources of rot and when they go, they are gone. Not cheap to replace since you have to tear pretty much the whole suspension off to trade them out. All of the early generations have the issue and Michigan destroys them.

That's a good choice around the Cleveland, Ohio area with several Ford plants and plenty of A and Z plan (as they used to be called?) employee pricing. Lots of them and not too many miles on a nice used one. Almost be worth doing a search in this area, take a bus trip and drive one home. The other is to do a search around other brand manufacturing plants for similar high turn in/over employee pricing vehicles and the bus trip I know that in the Toledo area if you're looking for a nice used Jeep product that's the place to look. Lot's of claims of "employee pricing for EVERYONE" at least on new models, so there's lots of traded in Jeeps there too.

(Syracuse used to have a Chrysler plant in the area, don't know if that's still the case?)

I'll stick to my Dakotas for that duty, thanks. can still find decent 87-96s, I had a 99 for a while/ , it did the job but I never liked that truck as well as the earlier ones. have had my 96 4wd for 5 years now, at 238k shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. and you absolutely cannot beat a 318. 70 miles a day for work, every day.

My 2002 Dakota Sport will hit 250,000 later this week. My daily driver since new. Best money I ever spent on a vehicle.

3 2nd gen Dak's, all over 200,000 miles and still kicking ( or rolling ).

Also, Grand Caravans are great commuters, and can haul almost as much as a truck. I drive an '07 quite a bit.

i'll second that on the caravans !
i have had complete drivetrains in mine, plus loaded to the ceiling from the front seats back with swap meet "stuff" more than a couple of times.
got 311k+ out of my 95 until the body fell off, and 201k out of my 2000 until the same fate occurred.
still use those "buses" for parts.
my current 99 is a rust free arizona vehicle i oil up before winter, so it should last me far longer than the other two. it only has 170k on it at present.
i won't be without one. even if i look like a "sock-her" mom.