What would you buy as a pizza delivery car?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

OK, I am planning on purchasing another vehicle soon for the purpose of pizza delivery and have narrowed my choices down. Some of the cars on my list I have lusted after for some time, and some are just good and practical. I will keep my Frontier and Cutlass but may get rid of my AMC Spirit because I am tired of it. Basically, I believe my Frontier is on it's last legs and don't wish to use my G body to deliver pizza with again after I have spent all this time rebuilding it. Here is the basic criteria for a pizza delivery car as I see it having done the job for 12 years: Reliability on little maintenance. Any day I can't work costs me a minimum of $80 to a maximum of $180, so whatever it is must be rock solid. Ability to be repaired by me, a competent shade tree mechanic. Must be able to see 40-50k miles a year, and the engine must be able to see a minimum of 250k miles with no internal work. Fuel economy. Handling and braking should be good, but parts for these systems need to be inexpensive when they fail. Ability to have maintenance ignored when finances and my schedule do not allow time to do it. Must be able to see constant driving at or near the redline on every 1-2 and 2-3 shift. Must be comfortable and have air conditioning. Manual transmission is also a plus. Hills and snow are not relevant because it is flat and does not snow here ( it was 84 today and it's mid December). Timing belts are a disadvantage as they make major service intervals short compared to timing chains. The Nissans and Mercedes Benzes use chains and the VW's and Hondas use belts. Also, acceleration is important but must be balanced by fuel consumption since money spent on gas is money not earned.

Lest you think this not possible, my current Nissan Frontier has 275k on it and uses virtually no oil between changes and is beaten hard on a daily basis. I have owned it since new and it has held up well. Most cars where I work are Hondas (3 civics, an Integra and an Acura RL) and it speaks volumes about their reliability.

 

[Tony_SS]

Outside the timing belt issue a Civic would be right up your alley.

Also, I don't know what your price range is, but a used Cobalt or HHR can be had for pretty cheap. They get 24/30 mpg and the ecotec is a great little engine IMO. Arent they made in Japan anyway?

 

[kevinrocks]

the b13 sentra would be he most fun. you could swap a bluebird into it with ease later on if you retired it from deliveries, or just wanted a super fun beater car.

 

[Tony_SS]

Or if you could get ahold of a 89-92 Suzuki Swift GTi.... those things are a blast and 40mpg to boot. I had an auto in college... always wanted a 5speed.

 

[CutMonRegMan]

Gotta stick with GM

I would go for a 5 speed cavalier z24 there pretty easy to work on in my opinion.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

No GM products-especially Cavaliers! They have a VERY bad reputation in pizza delivery. Plus, I see so many Ecotec cars in my local U pull it that I would not risk buying one. Everything from the 2 06 Cobalts they had to Saturn LS200's and Malibus show up with too much regularity. The Sentra is what I lean towards because I have had 2 B14's and they were very engaging to drive and dead reliable. The B13 is a better car than the later B14. Plus, I have a CD player and subs from my last one sitting in my spare parts bedroom and have the upgraded brakes from a 1993 NX2000 that never got installed on my last one before I wrecked it at 150k miles. You just don't want to ride with me in a Sentra because I will scare the sh*t out of you with what I can do with one...lol The B13 SE-R is on my short list of cars I must own before I die along with it's father, the PL510. I won't get the SR20DE engined SE-R for a delivery car, not good enough on gas. It would be the GA16DE engined model, preferably the SE with the better seats and spoiler. The 1.6 liter cars get 30-34 mpg with a 5 speed in the city and over 50 on the highway in my personal experience. You're lucky to get 25mpg city in the 2 liter cars. The Sentra also uses a timing chain with auto tensioner that needs no servicing. The KA24DE in my Frontier has never been apart and has it's original chain at 275k.
Oh, and yeah... I would start getting the swap parts for a SR20DET swap when I came across them. I actually wrote a thread on Nissan Forums several years ago on how to make one AWD using parts from a Pulsar GTiR. So, I would probably get the AWD motor set and try to source the fuel tank, driveshaft and rear suspension subframe and parts to eventually make a Sentra GTiR. It has been done once that I know of, so I would want to try it too. If I didn't, I would rebuild a SE-R 5 speed trans and just use that. I figure I would need the mounts and harness from a B13 SE-R and the engine and ECU from a U12 Bluebird. The ECU and engine sensors are plug and play with this configuration, so it would be my easy way out. Sorry for all the Sentra stuff, but the B13 Sentra is one of my more twisted automotive fetishes....

If I were to buy a domestic shitbox, it would probably be a Ford Focus SVT as the build quality is pretty good and they are supposed to handle well. However, they are not cheap and I am unsure how reliable they are past the first 150k miles or so. No one I know has ever had a Focus. The Swift GTi is a very cool little car, but it is old now and quite rare to find. One of my other ideas that I deemed too time consuming was to take the drivetrain from a Swift GTi and put it in a 1959-2000 Austin/Morris/Leyland/Rover Mini (you know the one that actually deserved the name, not the newer BMW built pretender.) It would give it more power, but more importantly make it reliable as the BMC A series engine with the gearbox in the oil pan was never a robust design.

The Benz is just pimp to be driving around and delivering pizza in. It's a classic and useable on a daily basis plus parts are in the local U pull it yards often enough to be cheap to run. However, I wonder how good it is on fuel compared to a 1.6 liter Sentra or Civic.

 

[455OLDSMAN]

I'd go for a sentra. A couple of my friends have had them. Excellent on gas and pretty reliable. We beat the crap out of them regularly even as far as off roading and getting it airborne. One of my buddys dad has the car now and my other buddy scrapped it after we wrecked it into a tree at 5-10mph. They definately dont hold up well in a rear end collision lol.

 

[wolfs1959]

were's the 22R ? I have seen many 80's celicas with well over 200,000 with nothing more than oil changes and tune up's. above 2700-3000rpm they actually have alot of torque for a 4cyl. mid 80's were rear wheel drive. they can be had for little to nothing and if you look around you can normaly find one in really nice shape for under $2000. just me though I have had 2 22r's and they took more punishment than i could give them. if you knew me thats alot .

Joe

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The only thing about the 22 R is that the engine is too big for my needs, and too old as the 22R was replaced by the 22R-E around 1985 or so. I want to stay below 2 liters if it is a gas engine, and want sequential fuel injection too. The oldest car on the list is a Mercedes Benz but it is a mechanical injection diesel and known for it's toughness and fuel economy. I agree that the 22R is an excellent engine, but there are not enough cars with them that are in good condition for it to be easy to get parts for in the junk yards local to me. The list is not made up of every possible car, but a few cars that I personally have a thing for. Some great cars that are economical and on my "must own" list were left off due to difficulty in locating parts. Those would be the original Mini and the 1968-73 Datsun 510. The Mini, while plentiful in Great Brittan, Australia and New Zealand, is difficult to get cheap parts for in this country ( last sold here in 1968 or 69) and while great on gas ( 40-50mpg is not unheard of) is not very reliable. The Datsun is easier to get stuff for, but they are drying up as it is a 40 year old Japanese shitbox, after all. Hell, I could even include the Fiat 500 if I wanted, but again-same problems as the Mini. My "must own" cars on the delivery car list are: The Mercedes 300D, BMW 318is, Nissan Sentra, and EG Civic. These are the most practical of my favorites. Other cars I love not listed include a 1969 SS396 Chevelle 4 speed, 1968-69 AMC Javelin, G body El Camino, 78-82 Malibu Coupe, 1982 Toyota 4x4 truck and a few other quirky choices that don't meet delivery car criteria. I also considered a first gen CRX with a D16Z6 SOHC VTEC swap as a 1500lb car with 125hp would be a rocket. There again, hard to find cheap parts for.

 

[Derision]

If I were to buy a domestic shitbox, it would probably be a Ford Focus SVT as the build quality is pretty good and they are supposed to handle well. However, they are not cheap and I am unsure how reliable they are past the first 150k miles or so. No one I know has ever had a Focus.

My girlfriend has a 2003 Ford Focus. She drives it every day and, prior to knowing me, she never checked the fluids, tuned it up or had any maintenance done to it and it has held up well (it started idling rough over the summer -- a quick change of the plugs and wires fixed that).

I don't like the car because it's not entirely comfortable to drive in for extended periods, but it has proven itself to be reliable, at least in my eyes.

Otherwise... we use Toyota Siennas at work. Yeah, I know it's a minivan, but they get beat on regularly, get huge amounts of miles put on them and only get serviced when absolutely necessary, and they've held up great. They've also got some decent pickup and they're pretty good on gas (comparatively speaking, anyway).

AJ