Okay, okay; you all have suffered along with the non-running heaps long enough. Today we’re going to look at two nice sensible cars that both run and drive, and both have manual transmissions. But because of our price bracket, you gotta compromise somewhere, and that somewhere, in the case of these cars, is the leading edge of the hood.
So let’s see which battered race car you picked, and we’ll get to them.
Great. And now I’m hungry for Doritos.
Moving on: As David has pointed out, the key to finding a good deal on a cheap used car is to know how to drive a stick, and be willing to do so daily. Look for a manual transmission in a car that nearly everyone else would only want with an automatic, and you can save some money and feel all gearheady and superior about it. (This is my car-buying MO as well.) Two such cars are the ubiquitous Toyota Camry, and that college-graduate favorite from twenty years ago, the fourth-generation VW Jetta.
Today we’re going to look at one of each, and while previous owners may have known how to handle a clutch, it looks like they could have used some practice with the brakes. But what’s a little wrinkle on the hood? It adds character. Let’s check them out.
2004 VW Jetta GLS – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter inline 4, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Lynnwood, WA
Odometer reading: 200,000 miles
Runs/drives? Doesn’t explicitly say, but they say “call to set up a test drive,” so I assume so
It always perplexed me that the Jetta was so vastly more popular in the US than the Golf was, especially considering our current love affair with hatchbacks (You can call ’em crossovers if you like, but I know better). In the early 2000s, you saw a Golf or two here or there, but these Jettas were everywhere. And as a result, they’re all over the classifieds as cheap cars now, but all too often with an automatic, and either the fragile 1.8t engine, or the service nightmare VR6.
This car has neither of those drawbacks, being powered by the basic two-liter single-overhead-cam four that can trace its roots all the way back to the 1970s. Often derided as the “two-point-slow” by the sorts of VW enthusiasts who favor slammed suspensions and energy drinks, it’s a good solid engine that puts out sufficient power for a smallish sedan, especially when connected to a manual gearbox. Reliability, efficiency, and ease of maintenance count for a lot in cheap used cars, and this powertrain is the pick of the litter when it comes to Jettas.
It’s easy to see why these cars were so popular: they’re handsome machines, stylish without being fussy, and a good deal more elegant than, say, a Honda Civic of the same era. This car’s design dates back to the Clinton administration, and it still looks inoffensively pleasant today.
[Editor’s Note: Personally, I think this is the Best Jetta. – JT]
Inside, VW’s foray into “soft-touch” materials during this era made for a lot more wear and tear than the old vinyl-and-plastic Rabbit interiors, but this one doesn’t look too bad. A little grubby here and there, and it looks like the passenger-side door panel is coming apart, but it’s a sub-$3000 car in a seller’s market. This looks a lot nicer than a lot of cars I’ve seen this age.
There is the matter of that minor disfigurement on the front, which seems to have taken the entire grille with it. If it bothers you, a trip to a junkyard should score you a new hood and grille from another Jetta, probably one with a more trouble-prone drivetrain, without much effort.
1999 Toyota Camry LE – $2,450
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter V6, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Cypress, CA
Odometer reading: 250,000 miles
Runs/drives? “GREAT!”, the ad says
Fun fact: This car is exactly the same non-color as my own daily driver Corolla, a hue that Toyota calls “Taupe Silver Metallic,” but thanks to our own Stephen Walter Gossin, I am going to henceforth refer to simply as “Meh.” As far as I can remember, Toyotas of this era were only available in White, Black, Meh, Ugh (that hideous gold-biscuit-beige), Oh God Not Another Silver One, and That Nice Dark Green You Never See.
Chromatically challenged though they may have been, there’s no denying that these cars are excellent: reliable, durable, comfortable, and low maintenance. The worst charge you can level against them is that they’re boring, which this particular Camry attempts to alleviate with a five-speed manual backing up its 194 horsepower V6.
I mean, it’s not going to give anyone “the fizz,” as James May might put it, but it should pull strongly enough up an on-ramp to at least not bore you to sleep. And while Toyota’s front-wheel-drive manual shifters aren’t the toggle-switch-click of a Miata or Boxster, they work well enough. This one is probably a little sloppy after a quarter-million miles, but it’ll get you there.
And look! A CD player and a cassette deck! Finally, you can listen to Hootie and the Blowfish again, as it was meant to be heard.
This car’s nose job isn’t as bad as the Jetta’s, but it looks like it happened longer ago, judging by the rust in the wrinkle. But it gives the car sort of a Billy Idol sneer that might make the traffic think twice about messing with you. (What am I saying? This thing is as invisible as they come.)
There you go: two cars that are both good-running, manual, not hideously deformed, manual, efficient, and manual. I don’t know what more you could want from me. Take your pick!
Speaking of “Meh” I would love to see more “Meh” cars from Jason. It was always one of my favorites back on the other site.
They’re both snoozeworthy, but even with its disadvantages, I picked the Jetta. That Camry might outlive me by six decades, but nobody will ever notice it doing so. I don’t need OTHER people to notice my car, but it’s so utterly bland and personality-free I fear I’d constantly be backing into it with one of my other cars in my own driveway. It doesn’t even try to protest that it actually exists. It’s an unsalted saltine cracker. It’s a beige pair of Crocs. It’s an HVAC system that neither heats nor air conditions but only ventilates. It’s an unsharpened MY PAL pencil that already has somebody else’s tooth marks near the end. It’s a reasonably clean but secondhand sock. There’s a Celine Dion CD jammed in the player, and the included cassette adapter squeaks. Plus the driver’s side front tweeter is blown. And the entire interior smells like that shifter boot.
Hey don’t disparage Celine Dion.
She sings her songs like they owe her money.
She came here kick ass and sing songs, and she’s about out of ass.
She sings songs like she has a very particular set of skills.
She is the too much that is never enough.
You could not pay me to drive that crayon-smelling 2.slow VW. Especially with 200k on it.
I would pick the Camry if it had the four, but I’m not interested in DOHC vees with timing belt routing that looks like a GPS plot of a dog chasing his tail. No. Thank. You.
And yeah David, this is the best generation of Jetta, but not the best generation of Camry. So Jetta it is.
I usually don’t even participate in this game, but I decided to play today — and not only play but to dig into the original ads.
The stick-on neon price numbers on the windshield of the VW scream “shady used car dealer” and the ad does that annoying thing where it lists nearly 900 unrelated “keywords” at the bottom. Yeah, seller, I’m sure someone shopping for a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, or Land Cruiser is also cross-shopping a beat-to-hell Jetta. Get out of here with that nonsense!
Although the Camry seller claims that it is “Fun to drive.” so I’m not sure if I trust him either. Still, someone who thinks that driving a Camry is “fun” is probably pretty risk averse and took good care of the car.
While I like VWs (and this one looks like the one featured in that nice relaxing commercial from the early ’00s https://youtu.be/DcfW_hlYZ5k), I gotta go with the Toyota if I had to pick between the two.
Camry all day. It’ll require some maintenance, but it’ll also forgive so many automotive sins.
Camry. Sure it’s 5 years older and has 50,000 more miles on it, but I’d still expect it to be more reliable and easy to wrench on than the Jetta. If I’m shopping at this price bracket it’s because I am pretty much broke and need reliable transportation so I don’t lose my job, and I just wouldn’t trust that VW to have my back.
Also, that generation of Camry in that color is what I would’ve used as a getaway car in a bank robbery, ten or fifteen years ago. Today it would have to be something like a white CR-V from 2015 or so.
That German minx named Jetta whispers to me, “I vill punish you and you vill like it”.
Wife owned one of those Jetta’s back in the day. It was a fun little car, but even with low mileage (~50K) I was replacing coil packs all the time. With 200K? No way.
If I’m looking for a car in this price range, reliability is king. I’ll suffer in the Camry.
I’ll take the Camry. It’s even dimple free!
I’ll try to find a green replacement hood, so I can at least see the front of it. Otherwise it’s invisible.
For the price, both are good beaters. The Toyota won by a slight margin.
Make mine a meh.
I’ve driven a shit-ton of both of these as rentals. Never a Camry stick though. The Jetta always felt like a rolling beer can. Toyota it is.
Camry, all day everyday. The Jetta may be the most reliable drivetrain, but they have a super nasty habit of dropping their windows into the doors when the regulators self-destruct.
As for the Cry color, as a Smoking Tire Podcast fan, I can only refer to that color as “Jewish Racing Gold.”
Camry. V6 and stick? Yes, please! Those Camrys were built like tanks.
Yup. My father-in-law (RIP) bought one as his last car. Basically used it as a pickup.
That VW engine is nearing the end of its lifespan while the Toyota is just getting its second wind. No question that Camry is the winner here.
I’d go with the Toyota either way but that word salad at the bottom of the VW ad really grinds my gears.
Meh-the-color caused me to laugh out loud for a good minute and nearly spit my coffee out. Thanks for that.
Best urban camo there is.
Perfect getaway car if you’re going to rob a bank.
“Suspect was last seen driving……uh… I can’t remember.”
“That Nice Dark Green You Never See” is also about the most apt descriptor of that travesty of non-availability.
VWs are easy to find in manual, so that’s nothing special. The 2.Slow is even less special.
An XV20 Camry with a manual…attached to a V6? AND NO CAMRY DENT? Some call Bring A Trailer, we got a rare breed here.
It’s Meh-gnificent.
As an owner of a “Nice Dark Green You Never See.”(Woodland green pearl) I’d have to go with the Camry. 5spd V6 aren’t that easy to come by, and there’s even a supercharger kit available for it. They are low-key and relatively cheap to repair, 2500 might even be a steal in this market
As a former owner of a 1997 model, I have to put my vote in for 1997-98 “Classic Green Pearl” over 1999-2001 “Woodland Green Pearl” as the better “Nice Dark Green You Never See.” Though it did start to chip after 10+ years of driving. We had to track down that color and have it trucked 200+ miles to us to get it, but it was worth it.
With a rebel yell she cried more, more, more!
I went with the Jetta. The under hood shot is remarkably clean looking for 200k and a face that looks like it lost a round with Rocky.
If the Jetta was a TDI, it would get my vote but the 2.slow is a dog.
The Camry probably needs a new cam belt but it will run forever once that is done and it has almost twice the hp of the Jetta.
Camry all day everyday. That thing will still be running long after cockroaches remain the only form of complex life in this planet.
The cockroaches will be driving Camries.
I imagine a nice cockroach by the name of Herald owning this one. He’ll be the accountant for a very small manufacturing company.
I’d prefer the Toyota have an I4 for easier service access, but a 90s Camry with 250K has more life left than a Jetta with 200K.
It’s an absolute slog to get up to 60 with the 5S, but that engine is nothing if not bulletproof
Yeah, the rear motor mount is a MAJOR pain in these. As is the steering rack if I’m remembering a weekend I tried hard to block out.
The 5-speed took most of the meh out—but largely replaced it with Oh GOD I’m gonna DIE understeer. I’d still take it over the Jetta, tho
Even with the 1MZ, the Camry is the better pick than a Mk4 Jetta, which is one of the worst cars ever made.