Honda Acty Van, BMW 525iT, International 3800: The Dopest Vehicles I Found For Sale Online

Another week has passed and that means another week of sweet cars found online that I wish I could own. I like finding cheap used cars that can either be daily driven right away or daily driven after minor work. Over the past couple of years I've turned it into a bit of a skill.

I search as much of Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist as I can for interesting vehicles that don't cost a lot of money. They may be hilariously unreliable, unique, tuned or maybe something that stops me in my tracks. While I am based in the Midwest, I also see what I can find across the country.

Here are nine vehicles I've found across the country that I'd drive or that I judge to be solidly Jalop. I've resisted the urge to buy something in the previous entries, but this time I brought something home!

You can't go wrong with a Miata. In fact, everyone knows Miata Is Always The Answer. Work truck? Miata. Family car? Miata. Track car? Miata!

This one is a 2006 NC (third generation) Miata in a pretty burgundy color. It even has low miles for its age at 76,000. Rotted-out older Miatas go for more than this asking price in this area. What's the catch? This NC is an automatic. Still, I think it's a neat car.

This Miata is in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for $3,500 on Facebook Marketplace.

The Toyota Previa is distinctive for its midengine layout and spaceship looks. This one adds some further oddities to the mix with what appears to be a custom widebody, lowering springs and mismatched wheels with stretched tires. Sadly, it has the base engine and an automatic transmission, so it's not that crazy. The seller says it has been daily driven.

This one is $950 in Naperville, Illinois on Facebook Marketplace. Normally I wouldn't care for something like this but it's so cheap you could buy it for the giggles to do silly stuff with. Slap an eBay turbo on it and rip burnouts.

H/T – Sheryl Ring

Though I already own a school bus, I always have other school buses on my lists. This International 3800 Blue Bird 65-passenger school bus caught my attention and my heart. I don't often see converted school buses painted in glossy paint, let alone glossy gradient paint jobs. I can't imagine paint of this volume and style is cheap. But this awesome unit doesn't stop there. My eyes spot an air-conditioner and an impressively clean interior.

I searched the VIN to figure out what engine it has and found out that it sold on Copart three years ago with minor damage. The damage has been repaired and the bus upgraded. According to the VIN, under the hood is the International T444E, which by its other name is the 7.3-liter Ford Powerstroke engine. The engine is paired to an Allison transmission, which should make this bus a good highway rig.

So long as the frame looks as good as the body, the $4,500 asking price on Facebook Marketplace is an excellent price. Ditch the seats, get an RV registration from Vermont, and have the coolest school bus project on the block. You can find it in Quincy, Indiana.

As I wrote in my article Friday about my Jetta TDI Sportwagen, a well-cared for diesel will run until the heat death of the universe. This Jetta has fewer miles than my Sportwagen, comes in a snazzy red color and is equipped with a manual transmission. I believe manual is absolutely the way to go with a diesel Volkswagen, so this Jetta checks a lot of boxes.

This example is clean and stock. It has some rust, however, as many people pointed out in emails to me (thank you), Volkswagen has a 12-year rust warranty. This Jetta will be 12 years old really soon, so the buyer would want to get it taken care of right away. Find it for $2,850 on Facebook Marketplace in Itasca, Illinois.

The Mazda MX-5 Miata isn't the only top-down sporty car on the used-car block. Toyota also had an entry with the MR-2. If you're the kind of person who wishes the Miata had its engine behind the driver, then this is the ride for you. It's a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, manual-shift convertible. What more could you want?

This one in Port Orange, Florida, has 105,000 miles and is said to need only a radio. It's for sale at $4,995 on Craigslist. Honestly, rusty Miatas sell for that price up here in Illinois, so I think it's a decent enough deal.

For a couple of years now I've had this wild idea of turning a former city bus into a mobile motorcycle garage. These buses ride low, so loading bikes would be a low-effort task. And as you can see in this ad, with the seats removed you have a decent amount of room to park them. Add in a bed and you can have a camper, too!

The Thomas Dennis SLF 200 was originally the product of a joint venture between Thomas Built Buses of North America and Dennis of the United Kingdom. The SLF 200 series came with a choice of four- or six-cylinder diesel engines. Unfortunately, the seller doesn't indicate which engine is in this bus. That said, city buses aren't usually great fun on the highway, so this wouldn't be a cross-country build.

I felt tempted to sell my Ford E-350 Powerstroke rally van then buy this from Facebook Marketplace for $2,400 until I found out it's in Durham, North Carolina.

I love a high mileage warrior, especially if that high mileage warrior has been well cared-for. This 197,000 mile BMW 525iT seems to fit the bill. It has the BMW M54 2.5-liter inline six transmitting its power to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual. Pictures show a clean interior, clean exterior and what I'd say are tasteful mods. I've considered a BMW wagon more than once (I like more than just VWs), and one day I may get one.

This 525iT is for sale in Bensenville, Illinois, for $3,900. One of these with marginally fewer miles sold for $7,000 on Bring A Trailer, so I think this is a good deal.

Japanese microvans and trucks have been an interest of mine for a while. Every once in a while a microvan like this Honda Acty Street G shows up for a killer price, but I never buy it. As awesome owning one of these would seem in theory, I remember the Acty is powered by a little E07A 660cc engine making only 64 horsepower. Top speed is around 65 miles an hour, but you probably don't want to be going flat-out for extended periods.

Still, even with the downsides I'd drive the hell out of an Acty Street G. It even has a four-wheel drive system so I could make it into an adorable off-roader. This Acty can be found for $6,700 on Facebook Marketplace in Wausau, Wisconsin.

To round out this list is a car that I had a hard time finding both cheap and without significant body damage. Seriously, a lot of my local listings had Scion tCs that were either straight-up totaled or were rusting out. So I branched out.

Scion was Toyota's youth-oriented brand in North America. The brand had some interesting cars under its name, and they tried to cash in on the modding craze brought on by movies and videogames. I found this very clean one-owner Scion tC. It had low miles for its age and reportedly has been checked out by a good mechanic. I've always liked the looks of the first generation tC. It's a practical little compact car with a healthy aftermarket and a solid platform.

This one can be purchased for $3,200 in Alexandria, Virginia, from Craigslist.

And now for the car I purchased this week. While I have been messaging a number of sellers for different vehicles, I ultimately went for a tuned VW Jetta TDI wagon with a crazy custom widebody, and it's slammed using an airbag suspension. I paid $2,500 and it replaces the dying Passat TDI. More on this car later.

Mercedes Streeter

That's it for this week! Tune in next week for the interesting vehicles I find for sale on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Know of a neat car for sale on one of these platforms? Drop it in the comments or send me an email.