and you were a 15 year old kid with a tight budget of around $1500. what would you get.

Needs to be:
Under 100K miles
good looking enough.(were not talkin challenger good. but you'd drive it.)
good MPG's
MOST OF ALL: IT HAS TO BE MOPAR.
Thats the only request I have when my dad buys me a car. I don't care if I get stuck with a 89 Caravan.(Which my dad had to drive for a while. Nice brown color. Tranny blew. Not a fun story)

I has looking into a 05 neon with the 2.0(of course) and a 4 speed auto.

 

How about a Dodge Shadow ES I still see a few of those running around. I had a 89 Shadow ES White / Red pinstriping. It had the 2.5L Turbo in it, later models had a 6 cyl. engine. Or a Neon and mod it into a SRT-4

 

I thought about a SRT-4 because cause of the turbo 2.4 but then I realized it was a manual. Which kicks it out of list. The most I'll be modding this is maybe some pinstriping and seat covers. Tight budget. And I don't want to rice a perfectly good Mopar.

 

The Neons are a good direction Tanner. They were under priced, and had as much as a 2000 rebate when sold new. Many on the market, and great mileage. The 2.0 is cheap and small. Easy to work around. Parts are the same regardless if its a plymouth or dodge.

I drive my Challenger, and also have a 2008 300C. Thats 2 hemis, and I STILL keep at least 1 neon.
Mopar2ya has 2 SRT8 Challengers, and when he's not driving his muscle, he's in his neon. Not the best car of its time, but a killer deal because they were discounted for so many years. I like my current 2005 neon. It has all power features, and a 5 speed. I get 35 miles to the gallon and put cheap gas in it. I see Neons well below the 100,000 mile mark for under 2500 all the time.
At the money you are looking to invest, you need to give up something Tanner... Looks wont get you home, or better MPG. A hot rod, or anything with power mods would be silly, because you know how it was treated before you got it. Many of the darker colors from the late 90's had a peel/fad issue. This makes these cars even cheaper, but its not something you would ever wax. I would rather have a sound runner, good mileage and decent tunes. Looks are just a plus you cant really use to decide.

I would advise on a 5 speed, but more automatics were made in 97-99, and the stick cars seem to hold better book. The transmission is about 350.00 in a junk yard, and its a tuff auto trans!

Good luck

 

BTW, thumbs up to your Father Tanner! He raised a kid who quotes Enzo, and breaths Mopar... my daughter HAD to have a old VW squareback as her first car... and it HAD to be automatic... Try to find a clean 1970 VW automatic anything!

 

Good looking and good MPG and cheap? My vote would be 87-93 4cyl Mustang. Cool looking car, throw some wheels on it and ride!

 

Hmmmm, not exactly a Mopar, now is it..? And as the legendary Foghorn Leghorn would say, "There's some-I say there's something kinda eeewwwwwww about a Mustang with only 4 cylinders!"

With the criteria listed, looks like a Neon is probably the best way to go. Personally I'd be awfully weary of any Iacocca-era Mopar - I know some swear by them, but I've just never cared for any of them (my family had 2 when I was growing up, and I spent alot more time swearing AT them rather than swearing by them).

 

Sorry that was my ignorance for not reading the Mopar part, for some reason my brain only read cheap/cool. Sadly in that range there isn't alot of desirable Mopars, except Neon, 80's Chargers and Daytona's are cool little cars. Conquest is another one if you can find a decent example of these cars

 

Those old Conquests and Starions were WAY cool cars. There's a silver one near me and I still can't help but stare at it when I drive by.

 

A Conquest/Starion would be an interesting choice, if you can overlook the fact that it's actually a Mitsubishi.