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If you are handy, the 1980's watercooled VW cars are still a viable choice, but I would recommend them only to someone who's reasonably handy with electrical troubleshooting, based on my own experience with them. Another car I have expereince with is the 2nd generation (late 80s) Camry, if you find a good one they are a fairly low-maintenance car, some service, like changing spark plugs, is not much harder than a lawn mower.
If you want to get into the old car game and will have a garage to keep the car, a first-gen Mustang or Camaro is a bone-simple car, very easy to work on, you will find the really nice ones with "king of the hill" powertrains to be way expensive, but the less attractively optioned cars are not too expensive. If you buy the right car and get a good deal on it, you won't lose a dime when you sell on, you will pay for gas, tires, and oil, and that's it.
Subaru cars from the 80's and 90's are reasonably bulletproof, although they are not that common in Texas as you don't generally need the AWD.
In general an older pickup, although not so great on gas, is a handy car to have, they tend to be very easy to maintain. Parts are easily available, you can get trim parts from specialty vendors, but wear parts like brake shoes, carb rebuild kits, etc. are typically in stock even in small town auto parts stores down south.
I'm not saying that you should or must buy an older car, I don't know what you want/expect in the way of a car, and older rigs will be more maintenance intensive, it really helps if you can bend your own wrenches, or find a shop that caters to older cars, it's not for everybody but it works for me.
Actually I am not so handy, honestly saying I am not handy at all as far as cars are concerned. That said I am looking for something reliable and not requiring a lot of maintenance. The body styles I'd preferred are sedan and crossover/SUV. Should I raise a budget or I would be able to find a decent car within $5000 (plus-minus) range?
Actually I am not so handy, honestly saying I am not handy at all as far as cars are concerned. That said I am looking for something reliable and not requiring a lot of maintenance. The body styles I'd preferred are sedan and crossover/SUV. Should I raise a budget or I would be able to find a decent car within $5000 (plus-minus) range?
Perhaps you should think seriously about a Toyota Corolla. They seem to have a pretty stellar reputation.
Actually I am not so handy, honestly saying I am not handy at all as far as cars are concerned. That said I am looking for something reliable and not requiring a lot of maintenance. The body styles I'd preferred are sedan and crossover/SUV. Should I raise a budget or I would be able to find a decent car within $5000 (plus-minus) range?
Honestly, you do not even need to spend anywhere near $5,000 to get something reliable. I only paid $600 for my car, and I have had it for 2 years with no problems at all, just routine maintainance. I drive this car 5 days a week to work, and not even once has it not started. Your best bet would be to find an early 1990's Toyota Camry or Corolla. You could get one in great shape, with low miles for around $2,000. The sad fact is that they are way better built than the newer ones too. A lot of people think newer and more expensive means better, but this is simply not true. To give you an example of what I am talking about, look at the difference in reviews for the older Camry, compared to the newer ones....
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as far as cars are concerned. That said I am looking for something reliable and not requiring a lot of maintenance. The body styles I'd preferred are sedan and crossover/SUV. Should I raise a budget or I would be able to find a decent car within $5000 (plus-minus) range?
