Hello c/cars
tl;dr: I'm looking for knowledge of a cheap simple car (with cheap parts) to break/fix/learn.
My apologies if this is semi-rambley. I've been forever stuck at "too afraid to break my daily driver" and only really feel comfortable changing the oil and refilling various fluids.
I want to change that.
Problem is... I'm a hands-on type of learner. I need to break/fix something to really get the knowledge (and confidence) so I was thinking of getting a project car to work on and dispose of. Something I would be proud to repair over time but also not care if I miserably fail and have to get it scrapped. My neighbor highly recommended that I don't touch anything past the 90s, as the electrical systems in modern cars are apparently terrifying even to skilled mechanics, but I feel like the older the car gets the rarer (more expensive) the replacement parts would be. I want it to be as cheap and simple as possible. I'm only trying to learn... I'm not restoring a show car.
That's why I'm here. Do you have any suggestions at what I should look at?
I'm thinking something compact or subcompact just so I don't have to take up a huge portion of my garage storing the vehicle itself. (and yes, I realize there will be plenty of parts and tools involved). My neighbor recommended I look at various auctions to choose one of the totaled vehicles available at clearance pricing, which... seems a little extreme for me. I'd rather choose something neglected and go from there. I want to figure out how to replace a window by disassembling the door. Find out to plug a leak in the windshield washers lines. Replace the alternator and recharge a battery. Flush the brakes and change the rotors. Restore a headlight or brake light unit. Change the stereo. Fix a seatbelt. That kind of stuff.
My knee-jerk reaction is an older Toyota Corolla or Camry, or a Honda Civic or Accord. These models are built like tanks (not that the new ones aren't) and are a great way to learn. Also helps that they get great gas mileage. Look for models that have a serviceable transmission, I can speak from experience that 2013 Corollas are not designed to be self-serviced.
This was one of my first thoughts... the gotcha being: they don't die. I guess if I'm not going hardcore into the powertrain, it'd be fine.
Definitely lean into old Toyotas. Can't kill older ones.
I drive a 32-year-old Honda Accord.
It's true, they don't die. However, that doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with them!
Last year, mine had a variety of weird issues that had it in and out of the shop. Nothing too expensive on its own. Every fixed thing was one more thing that eventually would have had to get replaced, anyway.
Turns out, it was a bad replacement sensor. The initial diagnosis truly did find the cause of the problem - but the replacement part was faulty! Took us a year to figure that out, haha
So even though the car is nowhere close to dying, there's still plenty of stuff to work on. Including the body panels.