Purchase advice (TL;DR find me a 4-seater Miata)

Newfag here to stay an' I need a DD. Looking for something
>old enough to not get me bogged down in electronics during basic maintenance
>new enough to find normal priced parts
>in respect to the aforementioned requirements, mid-late 90s maybe??
>extremely easy to work on (miata tier)
>not a miata since they're too fucking small
>with four seats, preferred four doors
>sub-$10k
>manual transmission
Things that kinda sorta fit the job description: Miata, E36, E30. I figure the Miata is too small, E36 I don't know enough about and the E30 is my favorite but I wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole unless I got an appraisal + a parts/service paper trail. As enthusiastic as I'd be to start with a project car I can't risk not having a method of transportation for any period of time. Just the way the news goes.

Wtf else? Throw whatever at me. I would drive a coupe, a sedan, even a damned truck. Not an SUV though.

Also would prefer German or American design, if they're shit compared to whatever the Japanese alternative is though then disregard this. I'm getting mixed signals but from what I gather the homegrown stuff is improving

I'm in the same boat as you, I've been trying to find a nice older civic hatch but they're all overpriced or riced out or an older NA impreza wagon but those are all overpriced or in absolute shit condition

What about a Volkswagen Golf MK3? I have one myself just passed my driving test and its a fun DD with lots of parts and aftermarket mods. Price is between 750 - 7000 depending on Engine size, condition etc.

"find me a 4-seater Miata"
"not a miata since they're too fucking small"
MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND

These are almost as cool as E36s with none of the obscene BMW maintenance

Mid 90s accord with h22 swap. Incredible power for at most $6k
The stock f22 isnt terrible but the h22 gives you a free 100hp gain and all you need is the motor/trans

>cute
>old enough to dodge the electronic shit
>practical no matter which version you buy
>enough power to have fun but not enough to get into trouble
>4 seats, 4 doors
>manual

Probably this, although boxers aren't particularly easy to work on.

Having owned 2 early 2000's Subarus, one of which is a WRX, they're EASY unless you need to do heavy engine shit. Oil changes can easily be done 100% on the ground, no jacking required. Common maintenance items like ball joints/tie rods are no harder than on any other car. Even removing the turbo isn't really a huge pain if you need to do it.

Subarus are special snowflakes, but they're remarkably consistent even between different models. Buy an Outback and all the knowledge you gain from working on it will transfer almost directly over to a Forester, or an Impreza. Can't speak for newer models, but anything from the early 90s through about 2010 is basically just the same shit done over and over.

Honestly, most of the time I think the WRX is easier to work on than a Miata.

Porsche 944, unironically

insurance though

>implying the insurance is good on a Miata

uh, yes, the insurance is extremely good on a miata, the fuck are you talking about?

I pay 41$ a month for an NB. Almost four times cheaper than a new four door turbo shitbox.

Audi a3 8l
1.8t for maximum fun, 1.9 diesel for maximum economy

I've got 1.8na and it's good fun, and 90s VAG are pretty simple

Civic for the $3k

fuck off.

Buy an actual miata when you can afford to have it as a second car

This
Or a Twingo

I'm in the same quest as you mate, with the same checklist. I've opted to go the 190D route.

No, I know four seater miatas don't exist, find me the equivalent of a miata with four seats. And I don't care about vehicle size as much as I do internal space (seat #) should have clarified that sorry
I am going to do research on these
I'd honestly forgotten to mention that, I don't know enough though. Is it easier or harder to work on & find parts for than its Bimmer equivalent, E30?

The hardest job to do on this is the rearmost spark plugs.
V8 cars have LSD's standard and 6-speeds are pretty common.
Just be careful not to dump the clutch and explode the diff. Rear seats fold down for more storage, which is good because they can't hold adults.

E30

E30's are shit. Nobody can afford an M3 and the others are too slow to bother with.

This

Guess what is cheap, has 4 doors, won't rape your insurance and is literally a 4 seater miata?
An rx8
Don't get one tho, you strike me as mechanically inept

buy a 2k civic

Ugly, and yea I'm pretty mechanically inept incase you couldn't gather from my posts that I need something easy enough to learn basic maintenance on
I've been recommended this at least 20 times, is this the equivalent of "fuck off noguns" or "go back to /pol/" on Veeky Forums? I quite literally cannot tell if you're being serious or not

Hey op look into these cars from top to bottom
>Infiniti g20
>90’s Nissan Sentra
>93-2000 Toyota Corolla or Camry (manuals are kinda hard to come by depending where you live)
>(same years as the Toyota I listed) Honda Civic or accord
>if all else fails geo metro they’re cheap and easy to fix so easy that if you can’t do an engine overhaul on it you should not look into cars as a hobby and anything geo is cheap and the prizm is a rebadged Corolla the gsi prizm came with a small port 4age that would cost as much as the car if someone desperately is looking for one.

Fox body mustang.

Fuck you I'll get a bimmer

Ok then have fun with your thrashed out bmw money pit I’ll wait for you asking questions on qtddtot thread on how to fix something for cheap.

why would a honda civic be a meme?
honda make a whole line of amazing cars that fit your description exactly unless you want a rwd

e46 are cheap to maintain, I imagine e36 are also.

Just get an E30 you fucking pussy. E36 and E46 are also ok.

3k civic

Chevrolet squarebody truck. Simple V8s you can do loads with, seat 3 or 6 depending on cab config.

90-93 toyota celica

>4 cylinders so good mpgs
>4 seats
>has cute popups like a miata,
>comes in hardtop or softop
>only costs 1-2k
>fwd, but has turbo awd options that you could swap in

How is the aftermarket? I like it but would it be unreliable due to age?

It's reliability really depends on the mileage and maintenance done to it. I bought a 1996 miata with 170k on it, and it's run with barely an issue for the last 30k. I also bought a 1997 rav4 with 315k miles, which has the same engine and transmission as the celica. Every bearing and rubber mount is toast after 315k miles, and even after rebuilding the engine and transmission it still has a bunch of problems.

If you want reliability, just buy a specimen that isn't beat to shit and doesn't have super high miles.

E30 is the answer.

Information is more plentiful (R3vlimited, E30tech, bimmerforums, etc) for the E30 than almost any other car. New, used, and aftermarket parts are pretty cheap and easy to come by.