When you’re shopping at the cheap end of the used car market, sometimes it pays to look beyond the obvious choices. Sometimes the perfect car is from a marque that you hadn’t even considered, or a model you kind of forgot about until you saw one. Today we’re looking at a couple of those fringe cases to see if they really are hidden gems, or if they’re uncommon for a reason.
I learned two things yesterday: One, I really shouldn’t attend any more rock concerts without earplugs, and two, you all kinda like Volkswagens. Yesterday’s manual Tiguan absolutely massacred its Jeep Renegade competitor, and it looks like Monday’s Golf held on to its slim lead as well. So that’s two stickshift VWs heading into Friday’s final.
I don’t think I’d mind the Tiguan, but I have a feeling I’d prefer the Renegade. I’m very curious about that 1.4 liter MultiAir engine, and even though I made fun of the interior fabric, I think I like its utilitarian feel better. Of course, all that could change after a couple of test drives, but that’s beyond the scope of this little column.
There’s an ass for every seat, the saying goes, and that holds true for cars as well. Even if a particular model may be a sales flop, someone out there has one and loves it. The rest of us barely even remember the car exists, until we see one. These two are like that. Neither one is anywhere close to the first vehicle you think of in their classes, but they both look like they’ve led full lives in the hands of owners who cared for them. Let’s check them out.
Image: Craigslist seller
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, six-speed manual, FWD
Location: Eau Claire, WI
Odometer reading: 194,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I got really confused when I first started researching this car. It seemed like it didn’t exist. I found specs for ’13 Elantra sedans, but no hatchbacks. Then I figured out that if you’re looking for the hatchback, you have to look up Elantra GT, not just Elantra. Apparently Hyundai split them into two different models. With either body style, you had to aim for the bottom rung of the ladder if you want a manual transmission; anything fancier and you’re stuck with an automatic.
Image: Craigslist seller
Power for the Elantra comes from Hyundai’s Nu engine, displacing 1.8 liters. The Nu isn’t one of the really bad failure-prone Hyundai engines – that was the Theta – but it does have its share of problems, oil consumption chief among them. The seller of this one has lavished it with attention, including new rod bearings, a new clutch, and tons of suspension work. It runs and drives great, and it needs nothing at the moment.
Image: Craigslist seller
The interior has received a lot of attention too, though it’s where you can’t see. The seller pulled the whole back half of the interior out and lined everything with sound-deadening, and replaced the whole air conditioning system too. It has leather seats in good shape, and a big-ass sunroof, in case you prefer fresh air to the artificially chilled kind.
Image: Craigslist seller
It lookd good outside, and we can tell from the handy underside photos in the ad that rust isn’t a problem. It does have a little peeling paint, and a wrinkle in one rocker panel. The front bumper has also been replaced for an undisclosed reason. But overall, for a car with nearly 200,000 miles on it, it looks really clean.
Image: Craigslist seller
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Cambridge, MN
Odometer reading: 141,000 miles
Operational status: Let’s assume it runs and drives fine
Mitsubishi played silly name games with this car too. I first looked up the Outlander, and found nothing but CVTs listed for transmission options, and got confused. That’s because this isn’t an Outlander; it’s the smaller Outlander Sport, which is available with a manual. In other parts of the world, the naming isn’t as confusing, because this car is known as the Mitsubishi ASX or RVR. If I remember right, Mitsubishi pulled this same stunt with the Montero and Montero Sport earlier, which were different vehicles too.
Image: Craigslist seller
To get a manual in the Outlander Sport, you had to opt for the base model, which came with a 2.0 liter engine and only front-wheel-drive. That essentially makes this just a really tall Lancer. This one is being sold by a buy-here-pay-here dealer, and you know they’re not big on disclosing a car’s condition, but I always have to assume that it at least starts, runs, and drives. How well it does those things you’ll have to assess for yourself.
Image: Craigslist seller
The front half of the interior is in good shape, but the back seat appears to have been removed and replaced by a carpet-covered platform. For what reason, I don’t know. There’s a bracket on the rear bumper too, which makes me wonder if it had a wheelchair lift in it or something. But that doesn’t really make sense either; you can’t operate a manual with hand controls. Maybe the previous owner used a mobility scooter, but could still manage a clutch? I don’t know. Anybody else got a better suggestion?
Image: Craigslist seller
It’s a great shade of blue, and the paint is nice and shiny, but it does have a couple of rust spots starting to rear their ugly heads. I’m still getting used to seeing cars this new with rust on them; twenty years on the west coast made me almost forget that rust was a thing.
These two cars are both less-common versions of other cars with the same name, made even more uncommon by being base models with manual transmissions. Choosing one of them is like ordering off the secret menu at a restaurant. They’re not really anything special, but if you hate seeing the exact same car as yours coming and going all the time, one of them might be just the ticket. Which one would you pick?