The car market continues to be a tough place to find a good deal on cheap wheels. Anything remotely good is carrying an inflated premium. While coke is still a dollar, and the costco hot-dog stands firm, one of the great constants of the used car market has been almost eradicated in Joe Brandon’s America… Reliable transport for 1000 dollars. Why must we live in this consumer hellscape if we cannot nibble off of its excess? You should be able to skip town for a grand! 1000 dollar cars used to be their own Craigslist genre, flowing through the great material continuum of American life. Down in the trades, missed connections, curb alerts and sketchy gigs. Unfortunately it may have gone the way of casual encounters, simply too pure and special for the sick world. Currently I found nothing on craigslist that you could drive home for 1000 bucks with any confidence. That really is a crime. But fear not because here at Harry’s OK Used Cars belive in the 1000 dollar car. That car is this,
2000 Toyota E C H O .
Mostly known for their 50 shades of beige approach to automotive excellence. Reliable A—>B transportation without much fuss or personality. Toyotas, blobby practicality was not popular with the youths at the turn of this century. The E C H O was one of Toyotas attempts to appeal to a younger audience.
It is a rebadged version of the Japanese market Vitz. A funky little egg shaped economy subcompact with an excellent 1.5 liter engine. Gaze upon the ocean of grey plastic inside and you can see the funky G3 iMac styling that they thought might appeal to those damn kids. The commercials hoped to attract funky babes or some stoners grad students on a road trip. But the real universal appeal of this car is it's utter lack of features. The car is refreshingly bare bones.
The lack of extraneous features means it is lightweight which gives it better fuel economy than any new gas car sold today. These Toyotas hold up remarkably well and the wheeler dealers are asking 2-4k for high mileage cars. But this car is ready to be a 1000 dollar car, its time has come. It needs to be driven, covered in stickers and taken to the beach. These cars regularly reach 300k+ miles with only basic and inexpensive maintenence.
This E C H O is a beater. It has over 200K miles on the clock. The drivers door does not lock, The fan works but makes quite a racket. It smells old, the interior is a state, the AC does not work, and like all cars in the northeast, rust has started taking its toll on the underside.
But it does have an aux jack…It gets over 40mpg. Its very spacious for its size. When I brought it home it had been sitting for a while so I went through it and gave it an oil change, new air filters, spark plugs, some paint on the hood and wheels, new brakes, and a fresh battery . I also pried the live smiths album that was stuck in the CD player out so the car is now safe to drive.
It is a surprisingly fun driving experience around town, the engine revs nicely through the gears and the small hole in the exhaust gives it a fun growl. It is a great little beater that will zip you around the city with no complaints. It has more personality than an economy subcompact has any right to. So if you know a good person looking for some cheap wheels, send them my way. Manual transmission driving lessons and a free bumper sticker are included for that low low price of 1000 bucks.