Good morning! For your mid-week Showdown, I’m getting you over the hump by showing you the two cheapest viable rides I could find in my old stomping grounds around the Twin Cities. They may not look like much, but they’re cheap, and they run just fine.
Yesterday’s California stickshifts both ran fine too, though the Matrix made some ominous noises. That wasn’t enough to put you off it, though; it took a narrow but definite win. Personally, I’d prefer the CR-V, but that’s just because I liked the feel of my old beat-up Honda Accord better than my old beat-up Toyota Corolla.
It sounds like the lien paperwork didn’t help the Honda’s case, and I understand that it might give you pause. I just know that lien sales in California are no big deal, because we went through it once, for a Nissan Pathfinder that someone took to a mechanic to have a bunch of work done, and then never came back to settle the bill. We got it for $1,300 with a rebuilt bottom end, new clutch, new water pump and timing belt, and a bunch of other work. Their loss; my wife and I moved to Portland in that Pathfinder, and drove it for three more years after that.
Speaking of cheap cars I used to own, I spent ten years in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul driving a string of absolute crap cars. Some lasted me a year or two; others a matter of weeks. The cheapest one was $175 (’78 Plymouth Volare) and the most expensive was $800 (’88 Oldsmobile Calais – with a Quad 4 and a stickshift). I do not miss those days, nor do I pine for any of those cars, except maybe that Calais. That one was kinda fun.
From time to time, I like to look at cheap cars for sale in that area, just to see what I might be stuck driving if I were in that situation today. Obviously, I’m not going to find anything for the five hundred bucks that was my average purchase price back then, but these two are only fifteen hundred each, and they’re actually a hell of a lot nicer than any of my old beaters were. Let’s check them out.
2003 Mitsubishi Outlander – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Cadott, WI
Odometer reading: 179,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Mitsubishi’s entry in the early days of the crossover wars was the Outlander. Like Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4, it borrowed mechanical components from a compact sedan, in this case the Mitsubishi Lancer. And like the others, it sat taller than its sedan cousin, and offered all-wheel-drive, which this one has.
This Outlander, like most, drives all four wheels with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. I’ve never actually seen an Outlander with a stick, though I know they did exist. This one has a manual shift gate on its shifter, but it isn’t really the same, is it? The good news is that it runs and drives well, according to the seller, and both the heat and air conditioning work. At this price, what more can you ask?
It ain’t pretty, but then, it wasn’t pretty to begin with. It looks like it’s had a bonk or two on the nose. The plastic front bumper cover is all cracked up, and appears to be held together with wood screws if I’m not mistaken – a time-honored way to hold broken plastic pieces together on old cars. I think I see the zip-tie trick here and there too, another classic. It also has a pretty good crack in the windshield; you’d have to see whether or not it blocks your vision. Wisconsin doesn’t have inspections, and I doubt anyone would pull you over for it.
What I don’t see is much in the way of rust, which is impressive for a twenty-year-old car in western Wisconsin. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any; there may be some nastiness hiding behind that plastic lower cladding, but it isn’t advanced enough to peek out yet, so it can probably be ignored.
2011 Dodge Avenger SE – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.6 liter dual overhead cam V6, six-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Anoka, MN
Odometer reading: 210,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Dodge Avenger was the replacement for the four-door Dodge Stratus, after the Stratus was the replacement for the two-door Avenger. This was before Dodge started recycling old names and brought back the Dart name for its compact sedan. I don’t know why it didn’t bring back more of the old names; there were some great ones: Polara, Coronet, Aries (just kidding).
Most people, if they have had any experience with the Avenger, it was in the context of a rental agreement. Avengers were the official “it’s all we have left” car of rental counters all across the country for quite a few years. But most of those had the base 2.4 liter four under the hood. Not this one. In 2011 – and I didn’t realize this – the optional six-cylinder was Chrysler’s then-new 3.6 liter Pentastar V6, sending a whopping 283 horsepower to the front wheels, and probably giving a whole new meaning to the term “torque-steer.”
The V6 Avenger also got a couple extra gears in its Ultradrive automatic, for a total of six. Again, a stick would be better, but I’ve never seen one of these with a manual either. This one runs and drives just fine, according to the seller, and has surpassed 200,000 miles, so the transmission must have been serviced properly.
Inside, it has held up well, but it’s a bit grubby and there are some weird stains on the seats here and there. It might clean up, or it might not. Outside, it’s got a split lip in front, some minor rust along the bottom of the trunk lid, and those dumb cheesy stripes that I guess are supposed to look like the stripes on the similarly styled Charger Daytona. Whatever; for this price you can embrace a little cheesiness.
At this price point, you can’t get too picky. Condition matters a lot more than brand, or style, or reputation. If it runs and drives well, and isn’t about to fall apart, that’s about all you can ask for. The fact that these both have working air conditioning is a bonus, and the fact that they aren’t riddled with rust holes is even better. If you had to choose – and you do; that’s how the game is played – which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I drove a handful of rental Avengers through the last decade and all I can say is this having the Pentastar and the refreshed interior (soft plastics, better build quality) made it almost a whole different car compared to the early ones with the scratchy hard plastics and buzzy 4 cyl. The front end looks tragic but so does the Outlander with its broken bumper and windshield.
Neither might be the most reliable companion, but the Avenger can provide quite some fun while also being more modern, roomier, thriftier on gas and safer than a 20yr old piece of non-Toyonda CUV. And those Pentastars are quite good engines, I sold mine with 288K.
I will take the Mitsu and beat the shit out of it and see just how far into the woods it will make it.
Don’t get me wrong, you could also do this with the Avenger. But I think the Outlander will make it farther.
I was thinking the exact same thing in going with the Mitsu. . . Plus I will take old Mitsu reliability over old Dodge reliability.
Back in 2018 I bought a second-gen Outlander V6 beater for $3k. I beat the absolute shit out of it, off-roaded it, and it never let me down until a mysterious electrical gremlin popped up. I traded it in for a $1k, it definitely was worth a grand a year to drive. And it felt damn solid too, really a decent model of vehicle.
I picked the Dodge to live out my inner Kahn.
Cleaning up the car after purchase. “You shall be avenged.”
Being left at the traffic light. “You shall be Avenged.”
When it finally dies on the road. “You shall be Avenged!”
Can’t say I’m a fan of Chrysler products from this era, but it’s a vote for the Avenger. Familiar with driving the Pentastar-6 speed auto: it’s definitely torque steer-y but has plenty of oomph to have some fun with it. Avengers were fairly popular in this area so parts should be pretty easy to find to clean it up.
If I was buying the car with my head, Mitsubishi all the way. Mind you, they weren’t great cars, but they were cheap and never let you down. If I wanted cheap thrills, Avenger all the way. Considering the sort of buyer these kind of cars attract, it would be the Outlander I would recommend. It has less chance of breaking down.
I’ll take the Avenger- despite it’s reputation. I like the body style better than the Mitsu”bitch”i (The lists making fun of car names is just too fun) which has that ugly hood/front end
Also, Dodge Aries? (That’s a great joke Mark!) Ha ha my brother and I used to totally make fun of the Plymouth Reliant/Dodge Aries since they were one of the worst cars around…something like oh well, you might as well burn your $ instead or buy it and then drive it straight off a cliff, jump it into a dumpster or take it straight to the junkyard where it belongs so they can crush it into a million pieces
Now, I’ve warmed up a little to K cars but only certain ones that have been featured here and also Jon Voight’s LeBaron of course! (pencil included)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
I have a friend with a nearly identical Avenger – 2011, V6, white with the silly stripe, but alloy wheels instead of steelies. I am his designated “call when you have car problems” person, so I have spent way too much time wrenching on that garbage. While the Pentastar was a huge improvement, the packaging in that chassis absolutely sucks, and at this age all the plastics that make up key components like the coolant expansion tank and brake master cylinder are now cracking and need replacement (ask me how I know). As much as my friend likes his, and strives to maintain it, I have no desire to own one myself.
As for the Outlander, hard pass.
And as a former Minnesotan who also worked in Wisconsin, both are at least 50% rust and just haven’t shown through the body panels yet.
Having put nearly 200K on a 2006 2WD Outlander we’d inherited with 40K already on the clock (these things happen), and it’d still be in the fleet ias a wee hauler f someone hadn’t gone and totaled it some years ago, got to stick with what’s reliable. Only 179K miles, kinda can’t beat it.
At least the Avenger gives you a choice. You can leave it the way it is and pretend you are driving a racing car, or you can remove the trunk spoiler and the stripes (but keep the black steelies) and cosplay security patrol.
Mitsubishis make me sad…
But Zero Mitsubishis would make me mad.
That’s when a squad of Spitfires would make me glad.
Mitsu loves BBC.
Big Battle Cruisers
That’s it. Dive right in.
How would an Avenger do against them?
Mitsu all the way. The interior appears way nicer which is where you’ll spend your time. Also as un-fun as that 2.4L World engine is, it has a solid reliability reputation as far as I’m aware.
EDIT: I’m wrong this is the Mitsu 4G64 “Sirius” engine. No idea on its reliability but it appears to have been used in quite a few vehicles worldwide
For some reason, all I could think about was David’s horrifying experience with his brother’s decrepit Dodge something when I saw this matchup. But no! That was the Caliber! That steaming pile of crap was a Caliper! https://jalopnik.com/three-hours-of-terror-in-one-of-the-worst-cars-sold-in-1786691071
That also says something about this era of Dodge crappiness. Just a bunch of chunks spewed into the ether that weren’t worth remembering.
I rented a Dodge Caliber once and immediately vowed never to drive one again. Plus, they are way smaller inside than you would guess from looking at the outside of the car.
By Grabthar’s hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be Avenger!
I won’t go out there, and I won’t say that stupid line one more time…
(I can neither confirm nor deny that I have a hammer in my MG’s tool kit with a label on it that says “PROPERTY OF GRABTHAR”)
The only manual JS I can recall was the export-market (Europe) version with a Volkswagen TDI and 6-speed. I drove one of those on a trip once, and it was nice for a JS, and efficient. Possibly the manual was available on the base 2.4, but not in the US.
i think JSes are terrible cars, so I’d go for the Mitsu.
We have plenty of instances of “both” and this is one of those rare instances of “neither”. What’s with the machete cut in the hood of the outlander? That’s on top of it being one of the most crappy CUV’s ever made. Uncomfortable (sit in one…ugh), slow, and CVT. Then there is the avenger that did nothing well at all. It looks all right but that’s all it has. In a pinch in this instance, I’ll take the avenger. A detail plus some maintenance, and with my 8-10k per year it might live another couple. I have zero faith in the lower mile outlander.
This is the automotive equivalent of a Saw trap and having to choose between dying immediately or spending the rest of your life wanting to die.
The Outlander. I have no use for an SUV, but it is a forgivable commuting device.
The Dodge is completely awful. I can’t get past how cheap they look, as if they were post-soviet Dacias made for mid-tier Eastern European football players and “businessmen”.
I chose the Outlander. It’s not pretty but I would hope that it might survive a few years until I could upgrade or go to the next crapbox. The AWD is a bonus and it has some storage space.
I was already leaning against the dirtbag inspired Avenger. I mean I guess it would come in handy if I wanted to knock over an Arbys and have the front end bouncing around as I tried to get away.. And “weird stains” are never going to lead anywhere positive. I guess 1500 is the new 500 as far as a functional beater you hope will last a little while.
woof.
First, I must say that I can’t quite wrap my head around anyone ever actually pinning for a Calais. Then again, mine was, I think, a 79 with a 260 v8 sporting maybe 80ish reluctant hp.
I kinda like the cheesy sticker on the Dodge, but don’t care to be part of the crowd that drives those round these parts. I ain’t all (or much, really) all that, but ya gotta have some standards. I’ll vote for the jacked-up Lancer
Ever hear the stories of people from other countries who think the United States is a place where people just leave a car on the side of the road when it runs out of gas and buy a new one? That’s these two. I’d drive either to the E mark on the gas gauge and then leave it for dead.
On a serious note these both actually look better than what I initially expected. I picked the Dodge for the V6.
A high school friend of mine went to Cambridge back in the 90’s. He said he just bought cars that fail MOT examination, drove them till the registration expired, then bought another one. They were about 100GBP a pop.
In a way it’s not too different from the story you mentioned.
Tough choice. Both are certified “other side of the tracks” cars, but the Avenger more so than the Outlander. Guess it all comes down to the area you’re in and if you need AWD or not.
The Dodge comes with a pre-owned wife beater in the glovebox.
Really nice interior on that Mitsu, but the overall car just doesn’t do anything for me.
The Avenger is a piece of crap, but with that big 6 it’s a pretty fast piece of crap. I wish I could transplant the Mitsu’s interior.
The Outlando d’Amour gets my love. I hate working on transverse mounted V6s and I’m really not out to Avenge anything
That Avenger is from the exact time frame that Sergio Marchionne looked at the interiors of his new car company and said something to the effect of “This shit simply will not do.” The Pentastar is stout, though, and the rest of the parts for that car would be cheap and readily available either over the counter or at a junkyard. If it’s not full of rust holes, for $1500 it’s a good Beater With A Heater.
In fact, the 2011 is the first year of the upgrade from the Cerberus-era, recycled-milk-jug-plastic interior. I’m not saying it’s “nice,” per se, just niceR.
For that, plus the V6 that’s probably worth some laughs, we’ll take the Doge. As for the Mitsu, I want to put a giant Band-aid on its nose and give it a hug.
Thanks for the correction! I thought that the 2012 model year was the first for the new interior, but I was mistaken.
I had come to the comment section to say exactly what you did — wasn’t trying to “well, ACTually …” you.