“There are two certainties in life: Death and Taxes”- Ben Franklin
When Ben Franklin came up with this line, the world was a much simpler place. There was no such thing as a W2, 401(k), or employer withholdings. Nope, you bought and sold stuff and you paid taxes on it. Sometimes you had to put a stamp on it to prove that you paid tax on it, and that was pretty much it. The only real rub that they had was where there money was going, and not being able to have a say in how it got spent. Once that scuffle was over though, the state and the nation were going to get their cut of the economic activity that took place within its borders, to provide services for the people who live there.
However, now the tax code is extremely complicated and often the government finds it prudent to give some of the money that they take in in taxes back to the people who pay it in the form of a tax return. In 2017, the IRS estimates that the average tax return in the United States for a single, middle class person is around $3000 dollars. Now, there are many things that the IRS suggests you do with this money: use it to pay off credit cards, home improvements, or just hold it and put it into a savings account so it can accrue interest.
However, we disagree with the tax man. We feel that this money should be enjoyed; preferably with large amounts of gasoline, noise, smoke, and fun. We think that you should take that 3 grand and look around for something to drive. So that raised the question: can you get a good car, with a Surfwrench.com used car check (because let’s be real, you should never ever buy a car without doing this first) for under 3 grand?
1994 BMW 325i Convertible
Car: $1350
Repairs (Ball Joint, Used Car Check): $200
What’s not to like about a 3-series convertible? Ok, so it’s the least desirable 3 series ever made, but it’s white and cheap and you can take the roof off. Summer is coming. Everyone makes a big deal about winter beaters, but what about a summer beater? Drop tops really don’t work well in Rochester, mainly because of the lack of sun and abundance of cold and precipitation, but this one could be fun. We talked to our Surfwrench techs that work on BMWs and they said they would take a look at it for $50, and fold that into the bill.
1997 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Liter
Car: $3000
Repairs (Muffler, Floor Board Welds, Used Car Check): $300-$400
Hands down one of the most common SUV’s from the mid 90’s through the early 2000’s, the 1999 Jeep Cherokee is a pretty legendary ride. The XJ was one of the first unibody designed SUV’s and set the trend away from heavy body on frame SUV’s. This would arguably save the people mover in the “Very Expensive Gas” years of the later 2000’s. However, as time has marched on, these very common light trucks have become a favorite of 4-wheeling enthusiasts, college students, and really anyone who needs cheap 4 wheel drive. The 4 liter inline 6 engine is a love it or loathe it sort of piece depending on what Surfwrench tech you talk to. Pick this one up and meet us out at the Lake Alice Mud Bog this summer!
1983 Porsche 944
Car: $3000
Repairs (Used Car Check): $25
Ok I know this one would technically be over budget, but if you can’t have your Surfwrench Technician help you talk the owner of this Brown, Front Engined, almost 25 year old Porsche down a few hundred bucks- I can’t help you. In all seriousness though, this car is pretty ugly. Also, according to many Porsche fanatics, because its front engined it’s technically a Volkswagen. But we’ve driven a few different variations of these and they are a lot of fun. They also make good autocross cars, for what that’s worth. Worst case, it wouldn’t be a terrible daily if you keep on top of the maintenance.
1982 Mercedes 240D
Car: $2000
Repairs: (Used Car Check+BioDiesel Conversion) $1000
This one is not going to win any races, thats for sure. However, if you want to do something awesome for the environment and tell OPEC to shove off, why not a 300,000 mile Merc? Because it’s an ancient, german made, diesel engined: with a few simple changes you could set it up to run on BioDiesel. This is a huge advantage because it’s wickedly cheap to run a car on biodiesel, and you keep an old merc on the road, and you’re being a million times better from the environment than any Prius driver, and it’s good for the polar bears, and I’m pretty sure Al Gore would give you a high five! I think they would make you mayor of Ithaca for green thinking like that, although you will loose a few votes among the Volvo crowd.
1992 Mazda B2200 Rotary 12a Swapped
Car: $1500
Repairs (Used Car Check, Finishing the Build): $500-$1500
Ok, so the one thing that we recommend the least in pretty much the entire automotive world (besides E65 BMW 7-Series) is taking over someone else’s build. In reality, you don’t know how they built it to that point so it truly is a crapshoot as to how it is going to be for you. However, the thought of a rotary powered pickup truck is kind of novel. We can’t call this one consumer advice, because it is hands down some of the worst advice that anyone could ever get, but this is it:
What would you pick for under $3000? Let us know!
These are our under $3000 picks for something that you can have fun with, but we want to know, what would you pick up for under 3 grand, what would you with it, and what would you have to do to make it work the way that you want it to. We look forward to your submissions, and will be giving out free bids to anyone who hits us up!