Top 5 Reliable Cars Under $1500 

UPDATE: So as some have mentioned the 6th gen Honda Transmissions have a high defective rate, especially for the V6 model. The #2 suggestion in my video is for the 4 cylinder models but they too have issues with the Automatic Transmissions, especially after 2000. So to clarify you should either get a manual or a 5th gen Accord with an Auto. The rest of the list is perfect as described, no matter what goes on in the comments section :-)

These are all $4000 cars now. = (

5. Ford Crown Victoria (best from '01), 00:42 4. Nissan Sentra (1995-1999), 2:53 3. Toyota Corolla, or Geo Prizm (1993-1997), 5:06 2. Honda Accord (6th gen 1998-2002, only manual; or 5th gen automatic), 7:03 1. Toyota Camry (1982-2005, best from '96), 8:41

I had two 95 Toyota Camrys, 1st one was totalled. Some jackass on his cellphone rear-ended me. Got 2 grand for it. Went and bought another one both ran like champs.😎👍!!

Got a 1998 Camry 1400$.. 200,000 miles.. ac still freezing cold.. power windows.. great car

Had a buddy that had a Toyota Corolla with over 300,000 miles and still running strong.....great vehicle!

I have a 1996 Honda Civic with 325000 miles on it.... been to Alaska , Boston, Florida, California and every state in between. You are right,,,,oil changes does make a difference .... every 3 months on the engine and oil change on transmission once a year.....Kermit (CARS NAME). Doesn’t want to die,,,,so its a family member....

I appreciate you making this list. It was very informative and helpful. You have helped me narrow down my list of "next" cars to get.

'89-'95 Volvo 240/740/940 sohc non-interference 4 cylinder NA engine...rwd transmission...the 7/9's are especially good for the diyer. Very easy to work on.

Smart and handsome ♡ I have a 2002 Toyota Camry, 2012 Honda Accord, 2010 Toyota Tacoma, and a 1990 Mazda Miata.

THANK YOU, this is the best information on RU-vid.!!!

In my opinion the grand marquis is a better choice than the crown victoria. You get grandpa's car with a glove box full of oil change and tune up receipts, and it's never been abused or gone on high speed pursuits. Yes, fleet vehicles are well maintained, but regularly abused. You also get Lincoln luxury in a crown vic style body. I paid $650. for mine 3 years ago. Did tires and brakes, and that's it. Either way, you got it right that a full size ford is (in my opinion) THE best deal out there. Only trucks are made body- on -frame these days, and these Ford's are the last cars to be manufactured in this strong manner.

If you're considering a Crown Vic, take a look at Grand Marquis and Town Car. Same engine and trans, but they're luxurious, have bench seats in the front, usually cared for better and can be found under 2k.

I had a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria and I drove it for 320,000 miles and the engine was still strong. Sole it only because the ball joints went out. But they are definitely reliable vehicles. It's true if you get a police interceptor they are more properly maintained.

my dad’s 2006 Accord has over 240k miles on it. he puts at least 600 miles on it a week and it’s still going strong.

My first car was Toyota Camry v6 1995. I bought it used and had 123k mileage. I drove another 100k without any issues. Now I’m driving Toyota Avalon 2001 v6. It has 245k mileage and runs like new. definitely Toyota is the best car.

Bought a '89 Crown Victoria Brand New.Still Runs.That's why Ford doesn't make them anymore.

I have 304,500 miles on my 1996 Toyota Camry and in near showroom condition. Fully reliable and EVERYTHING works! I may get a 2003 - 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis as a 2nd car.

My wife has a 2001 Toyota Camry with 384xxx and still runs fine. Has other issues, like plastic breaking inside the cabin, it eats inside door handles. The stereo died a 100,xxx miles back, but no loss, we like silence. The engine has been run 2quarts low several times because it leaks in 3or4 places. The clear coat, paint, primer, and the assembly line cuss words have all peeled off to show a world map of Narnia , and the front seats are worn to springs. But it always starts and just goes on. 3 timing belts, 1 alternator, and a water pump because the housing broke. Regular oil changes and new plugs and wires a couple of times. That's been it. She looks like rolling crap, but I'm not trading her off till I hit 500,000 miles. Then maybe.

I LOVE your humor!…… as a ‘gear head’ your experienced technical perspectives, that as well…. but your humor is the ‘ringer’!…😁…!

I got a 1999 Honda Accord ex 342,000 miles. Only problem I had was camshaft position sensor and carbon build up in the egr passages. Get you one

Probably the best video out there on the best top 5 for the price. Do you have any thoughts on the best most reliable suv minivans for Families? Thanks for the awesome video I subscribed and tapped the bell

Thank you for your wonderful videos , I believe the biggest is finding an honest mechanic. Where is your place located? What city? Thank you.

100 %correct about the plastic intake manifold mine cracked and was very costly

Suzuki Samurai XJ (1986 & 87) Toyota Echo (all years) Scion xA & xB (2004 & 2005) Both the Echo &Scions were made by Toyota and had the same engine... which is known to run well up in a 300K mile lifespan. As for the Suzuki Samuri, good luck trying to find anyone willing to sell theirs! It has manually engaged 4wheel drive. In the 2wd mode I got 25/32mpg. In 4wd, I got 15- 20. This vehicle was like a very small Jeep Wrangler (roll bar came standard and dispute Jeep propaganda about roll over, I never dumped it), so a lot depended on the off road terrain. Still it was fun all day long! It was an excellent garage mate for my Honda VF700s Sabre motocycle...but that's another story...think precursor to the Suzuki Strom "adventure bike."

I'll take the Crown Vic above all of them for reliability/longevity.

Camry 95 the best ever.. I have one with 340 k miles on it, and still running like new

Thank you for providing such an informative and clearly presented video. It has real content that is useful, unlike a lot of other RU-vid videos that are all talk and hype. Also, I think your videos are well organized, and you speak very clearly, which is helpful.

Thank you for your interesting and informative video!! I recently bought a 2001 Honda Civic LX with a manual transmission which is GREAT FOR ME with because only 84k miles on it and in beautiful condition, I've been driving manual since 1971 (1959 VW BUG), and since then I've owned more than 8 cars with manual transmissions. I kept my 1985 VW Cabriolet for more than 15 years! It had 100k miles when I bought it in 1995, I did spend a little on it during that time (redid front suspension) when I first got it and changed the timing belt but other than that I really don't remember doing much else besides normal maintenance (20-50) Castrol GTX oil!! The odometer broke at 196k but drove it for about 6 or so years after that so I have NO IDEA how many miles I had on that car when I sold it (shouldn't have) mom didn't like the idea I was driving such a OLD CAR but it STILL RAN GREAT, good gas mileage, performance, didn't leak or burn oil!!! Oh yeah, it was all those miles on the SAME CLUTCH, I know how to use a clutch PROPERLY!!! SO what do you think of the 2001 Honda Civic LX? It's PARKED NOW because since it's at 84k miles, I'm getting the cam belt changed because it is an INTERFERENCE ENGINE, and I have a BETER car 2002 Ford Focus ZX5 with a manual transmission as well but it just turned 211k miles but run strong and economical but it's a little BEAT UP ESPECIALLY the interior but I DON'T CARE, IT RUNS and FUN to DRIVE!!!! 😮😮😊😊

1st gen Lexus ES300 is an incredible choice commonly for under $1500

Thank you for the information you also have a good personality and you seem to be very well versed in the English language you speak very well

My friend swears by Honda. He has a 95 with 450,000 miles. So I scored one and it started knocking right away lol my luck. Back to the 57 Chevy lol

I have a 1997 Mazda Protoge it too has a non interference engine. It is a rust bucket but the motor runs great! Only 120000 miles on her. It was a train car. The original owner drove it 3 miles a day to the train station where he commuted to work everyday. I bought it as a used car years ago with only 34K miles on it for $ 3000.00.

My Honda Accord had engine failure at 160,000 miles along with other issues, the car had no crashes and was well maintained in it's life, and everything just gave away on it.i traded it in for a Ford crown Victoria last year and this is the best car I have ever owned.

I got rear-ended in Providence Rhode Island on the highway. The guy was in a Toyota Avalon. I was doing 70 and he must have been doing at least 85. He tried to leave the scene of the accident. I pursued and he got caught. I have a ripped bumper cover and my tailpipe got slightly bent. His whole front end was hanging off. Thank God I wasn't driving my Honda Accord. My Grand Marquis didn't budge when he hit me.

2012 Toyota Camry SE 105k, still runs like a champ and looks great!

I drive a 1997 camry with the 2.2L and 4 spd AT with 162,000 miles. Not a powerful engine but very smooth, reliable, decent mpg and relatively easy to work on. AT shifts smoothly. No rust. Biggest problem is clear coat is starting to peel in a couple of places. Even at 23 years old, I am hoping to drive this car another 5+ years. New cars are not nearly as well made as this car's drivetrain.

Very helpful video - thanks for posting !

Great Job. All of these cars are great choices. I prefer the crown vic and the camry.

I was watching this with my friend and we got to number 3 and my friend asked “why hasn’t he said Camry yet if you say they are so good?” And I said “because it’s number 1” My friend didn’t believe me but he was wrong! Go Toyota!

For $1500 and good condition, I would look for a 25-30 year old Toyota or Honda. The main issue is how hard it will be to find one though. Even in good condition, a 25-30 year old Toyota or Honda can easily sell for over $2000. A used car dealer I know was able to sell a 1988 Toyota Camry v4 for $1800.

A quick real world eval of the Camry XLE 3.0L 6cyl. Purchased April 2018 254000 miles. No kidding mpg results. city/34, highway/42. leaks miniscule oil from rear valve cover and pwr steering pump, no burning oil. some suspension groans fore and aft and occasional bottom outs on big bumps or gnarly potholes. absolutely no complaints over 1.5 yr ownership. major mech issue both cbs joints replaced. I couldn't believe the mpg performance the first month of usage. I thought it was a fluke. I still get the same mpg numbers. I recommend the 1996 gen 3 Camry XLE 3.0L without hesitation.

If I had $1500. Some vehicles I would buy would be: Ford F150 97 up, 1995-1998 Mazda Protege. 97-01 Mitsubishi Mirage w a stick shift. 91-99 Nissan Sentra or 95-03 Nissan Maxima. There are others I would buy. It's too many to list. BUT I do know these I listed are pretty good cars for reliability. But sure, Dont expect new out of $1500

I got a 2010 hybrid camry about 3 years ago it had 100k+ on it at the time and literally the only work I have had done on it since buying it was change the tires from winter to all seasons, oil changes and brake pad replacement at its nearing 300k right now.

D.U.D.E!!! You are good! Wish I was near your shop.

a new video like this for the models between 2 and 4 years old is needed....

We own right now a 2007 Dodge Caliber, 4 cylinder engine. It leaks oil badly. My husband has to constantly, every day, put at least 1/2 quart of oil before we can go anywhere. Is this car worth fixing or should I start looking? I know very little about these things. Our car looks very nice and gets good gas mileage, but it has nearly 140K miles on it. Easy to handle. Fun to drive and has been reliable. It had only a couple problems over the years and these were fixed. Where should we go to get the oil fixed? We live at the Jersey Shore in Ocean County. I take my friend, who is 93, to the store a couple times a week and she gives me a few dollars for gas. I have a perfect driving record. Oh well, I guess you didn't have to know all this. Sorry. One more thing. Our Caliber is a preowned car which had about 96K miles on it when we purchased it in 2016. The internet price was listed at $5,000. They charged us $7,000! At a well known dealer here. We ran up thousands of miles because every day I had to take my husband to work and pick him up daily from work. We have no children so I had to take him. He never missed work, only when he was either very ill, or had had a seizure. People really liked him wherever he went. He's not allowed to have a license due to epilepsy. We would be lost without a car.

How about top 5 5k and under

The 2001-2006 Camry actually had the 2.4, not the 2.2. The 2.4 models had a problem with the head bolt threads in the block pulling out. The 3.0 V6 models were more reliable than the 2.4

My best car ever was a 1983 Toyota Corolla wagon 5 sp. I bought it used with 70,000 miles. My wife got t -boned at a intersection. The Ins Co. said it was total loss a gave us a choice salvage title or $ 3500 in 1992 with 140,000 miles. I chose the money.

you forgot the the 6th gen civics. 96-2000 tjeese things run forever. 220k miles and blown head basket with sealant ducked up clutch ball joint and still runs like a champ lol

Fun fact: The highest total mileage clocked by a single car is 2,850,000 million miles

Fantastic video. I only trust the advice about reliability when it comes from someone who actually works on the cars.

Thank you. Happy to share. Any advice on cars newer than 2005... particularly for Lyft rideshare driving?

I just bought a 98 corolla ce and it runs perfect. My ex neighbor and I worked at a job together and he would give me rides to work since we live 2 streets away now. He would always tell me it’s for sale and for me he’ll sell it for 500-800 always changing the price everyday on our way to work and back lol. Fast forward 3 month and I quit that job. I messaged him how much he wanted and he said $659.99. I was like okay deal I’ll give you the money when I come back from nc. He messaged in a group chat my cousins husband and his brother and a bunch of my family guy members are in saying 650 and you can drive it today. Lmao my cousins brother in law just came from Mexico and he messaged him saying he’ll give him the $1500 he was asking for and he was like no i tried selling it to you and my cousin and both of you didn’t want it and I already made a deal.

I live in Canada and cars as old as you suggest are no longer on the road. Currently I have a Honda Civic 2012 low mileage at 91,300 miles. But, as a senior I no longer drive very much.

These are some great cars on your list but i'll put the house up on the Lexus brand as far reliability.

Just subscribed. You're the man! Don't forget Hondas.

I Own a 1998 Honda Civic Coupe, 1.6 A/T 105hp. Never breaks down, kinda fun to drive, is very rigid though...

My father had one of those police crown victoria.and he loved and was really disappointed when he totalled it

2.2 Toyota Camry are very popular in demolition derbies because they don’t die

God bless you showing your onesty

Re: 1995-2005 Camry's: If you look up Toyota Camry on Wikipedia you'll find all the specs for all the Camry models. That source says that, beginning in 2002 the Camry did not come with a 2.2L engine, only a 2.4L. So, when you recommend Camry's all the way up to 2005, you are pointing people to a different engine than the one you are praising. And, if you look further on the Web, you'll find that the 2.4L engine had some issues, as even you point out in your video on Toyota's to avoid.

Crown Victoria and awesome cars. Any Holden Commodore also. 3.8 ltr V6. Buick.

Excellent video. Thankyou once again. Scotty Kilmer is pretty good but this is just great!

I had a Crown God 4.6 liter 1992, the car was a Tank! The only issue is "thugs" love to steal these to ride their punk friends around with, then trash the car. A much talked me into switching over the A.C. Freon type. The cars compressor of that vintage was not designed for the new freon, so 2 months later (if that) the A.C. Compressor died Find the old Freon if this applies to your Crown Vic!

I like you and Scotty Kilmer..... The only 2 mechanics I like on you tube

3.8 Buick park avenue and LeSabre are also reliable cars

You're so funny and full of good information. Thanks Do you know anything about Lexus?

Should’ve put the old 90s and early 2000s Jeep cherokees with the 4.0s. Not the grand cherokees, the regular cherokees. They have terrible gas mileage, but they go forever and a year and have power.

Only glitch on the Camry are the door handles are prone to break Prematurely

So basically a Toyota Camry is the car version of a Nokia

When I was looking for a car for my daughter for college, I stopped by a tow truck operator and asked him which cars he never tows. He said "Any Toyota".

90's Toyotas were the Pinnacle of rock solid reliability.

Lol nice job haha. How about a vid on top 5 most unreliable?

Got a 97 Lexus ES300 with 345,000 miles on it. Just won't die.

And there comes another sweet perk when you drive a Ford Crown Vic.......people drive nicer around you-you are not getting tailgated......because they fear that you might be a cop.....

1990s Camry, there is no substitute.

I had 3 of the cars on this list. Your observations are very accurate. My 96 Sentra is still working today and should be close to 200,000 miles.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the #2 choice. I work on Honda's for a living and the bad automatic transmissions in the 6th gen accords keep me in business. They fail, even if properly maintained, at about 150K miles. DONT BOTHER REPLACING THE DAMNED SOLENOIDS, THAT"S NOT YOUR PROBLEM, THE TRANSMISSION IS JUNK!! For $1500 I'd go with the 94-97 accord or any Civic ever made.

Thank you for this info. need to buy my daughter a used car under $2000.

I had a 1997 Corolla my first car. 300000 miles and it ran like brand new.

I like this video as some people are looking for a reliable cheap runaround. Good job!

Got the Toyota camry 1996 2.2 with over 180k miles for like 400$ 202k and still running like it should. Had to replace the valve cover gasket and the fuel neck. That's about it. I love it

As someone who's 16th birthday is right around the corner, and isn't very wealthy, i very much needed this video. Thank you!

How about a top 10 you'd avoid like the plague? I'm sure that's a longer list. ;) Good info here and I can see why you threw in the ones you did.

I totally agree with you, especially the Camry is an awesome car. There's one in California which just hit the million miles

Great video mate! I have a 2000 Crown Vic P71 (police interceptor) and I agree, they're awesome! Picked mine up at a local City auction for $1500. I've owned this car for almost ten years now and Five O must have had an excellent maint. program because it has never given me any problems and has been super reliable. Not to mention, for a car this size and weight, it really hauls A$$!

Do one under $5k and $10k!!

As you are a used auto dealer, how about rating your top 5 suv's, mini vans and light duty (1/2 ton) pick up trucks.

When working at a quick lube place I worked on a 1999 Crown Vic that had over 999,000 miles

Don't you love it when your is in the list. Me 02 Honda accord

Thank you brother you're doing a good service to the public ... you got a new subscriber

My 04 camry has 480,000 miles. Best car I've owned

I work at a national auto auction. I have seen them all. The cars that stand up when they get old: Toyota, Subaru. Kia and Hyundai are coming on strong for durability. The worst: anything German.

1:27 It's got a cop motor... cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks.

I had a 2.2 96 camry and would regularly get 30 mpg but it was a manual transmission. I also currently have a 97 Sentra that my family has owned for 20 years. I can honestly say that that Sentra is probably the most reliable car we have ever owned. It currently has 289,000 miles on it and it just won't give up. No check engine light it's been in a crash but still runs just fine. It would be pointless to sell it because I probably will not get anything for it. So I just keep driving it.

My Crown Victoria has pretty much outlived any other car I've owned.

Anybody that has a nice car should have a junker Toyota as a back up. Because that Toyota is never going to fail you lol.

Had a 2004 crown vic. Put 300,000 miles on it before it got hot and poped a freeze plug. Not that big of an issue but it was time to move on after that. I love those cars. I've owned 3