Rob, No contest... late 80's, early 90's E-class (W124 chassis). You can even get AWD if you can find a 4Matic that had the transaxle replaced. I'd shoot for a 1990 300D 2.5T, the only 'ritual' is waiting a few seconds for the glow light on a cold start. Hard to argue with 30-34mpg and all the Mercedes features...! (OK, ok, I am a wee bit biased... I have three W124's plus one parts car and there are 2 others in my family.)
Although I might get flamed for this, I'm not a big fan of Camrys or similar recycled beer cans... economical and reliable yes, safe in a major crash, no. That's one of the major reasons I drive Mercedes... anything short of a ready-mix truck with 12 yards of concrete on board, and the odds are heavily in your favor! I kind of like Subaru (especially the WRX STi) but I don't think they fare much better in the crash survival metric. :-) Dave M. Boise, ID > ------------------------------ > Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 22:39:35 -0400 > From: Rob S. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [MBZ] preferred $5000 car? (kinda OT) > > What will $5K get ya nowadays? > > Redhead's Plymouth Breeze is in need of more work than it's worth, and > she commutes 70 miles a day. We're not going to take out a loan to > buy a car so the cap is about $5K. less would be much better. > > Safety, Fuel economy, reliability without much maintenance, and > drivability are the key shopping points. > > Early C classes are starting to fall into this price range, although I > doubt they're reliable at that price. > > late 80's, early 90's E classes are right about there. > > Subaru Legacy / Outback are great AWD contenders. > > 90's Accord / Camry are boring as anything but easy to find. > > > She wants an airbag, AC, automatic, and ABS. That's really all she > requires as features. > > She doesn't mind riding in my 123, but has no interest in driving a > diesel, or any car requiring a "ritual" to start it or turn it off. > > any opinions? > > -Rob > York PA
