10 Great Cars for Under $30,000 | 2026 Edition

[00:09] We're back to your dismay with 10

[00:12] amazing cars for under $30,000. And

[00:16] although they may not be what you

[00:17] expect, there's a good mix here, Jack.

[00:20] Look, we live in a world where cars are

[00:21] getting increasingly expensive and

[00:23] people are finding it very difficult to

[00:24] afford a $50,000 family SUV or $70,000

[00:29] enthusiast car. Good news is there are

[00:31] cars under $30,000 that you can buy and

[00:33] be excited to own. And before we get

[00:35] back to some of our more regular car

[00:37] content later this spring/summer, we're

[00:39] going to hit you with a list of five

[00:41] enthusiast cars and five regular cars

[00:43] that you can be excited to buy.

[00:49] Look, before Mark tells you that the

[00:51] Miata is always the answer, here are

[00:53] five cars that I've personally driven

[00:54] and in some cases lived with for a

[00:56] variety of years that you can afford

[00:59] under $30,000. And the first is a bit of

[01:01] a surprise. The S550 Mustang, the 15

[01:04] through 17 model year, specifically a GT

[01:07] premium with performance package is

[01:09] easily bought now for the mid to low

[01:11] 20s. They're very reliable. They are a

[01:13] great daily driver. I own one for 5

[01:15] years. that put almost 80,000 miles on

[01:17] it. You can drive it through the winter

[01:19] with snow tires. It can be your daily

[01:20] driver. And the aftermarket is

[01:22] absolutely enormous. You can turn it

[01:24] into a 800 horsepower monster if you

[01:26] choose. It could be a great longd

[01:28] distanceance cruiser. And if you want to

[01:30] make it an autocross or track day

[01:31] champion, you can do that as well.

[01:38] The next car is yet another V8. This may

[01:40] or may not surprise you. I'm about to

[01:42] recommend a Corvette. While most people

[01:45] will tell you to buy a C5 Z06 for this

[01:47] price point, the C6

[01:50] post 2009 or LS3 powered cars, the

[01:53] narrow body variants are surprisingly

[01:55] affordable and you get a great reliable

[01:58] engine that can be modified. It can be

[01:59] used as a daily driver, a long-distance

[02:01] cruiser. And because it does not have

[02:03] the prestige of a Z06 or ZR1 or even a

[02:06] Grand Sport, there are plenty of them at

[02:08] affordable prices. And the aftermarket

[02:10] and support network is absolutely

[02:12] enormous.

[02:18] For number three, I would recommend a

[02:20] BMW. The M235i and M240i can be bought

[02:25] sub $30,000 depending on mileage and

[02:28] various other factors. The M235i

[02:35] is sadly not a B-58, which caused me a

[02:37] little bit of sickness there. It's an

[02:39] N55 powered BMW. While there are

[02:44] standard BMW related issues with those

[02:46] engines, you can figure out how to deal

[02:48] with them relatively easily and they are

[02:50] a great driving do everything sports

[02:53] car/aily driver like the rest of my

[02:55] list. You can take them to an autocross.

[02:57] They could be a daily driver and they

[02:58] could even be a track day car.

[03:04] The other one is a surprisingly new

[03:06] offering. The first model year of the

[03:08] Elantre N. This was a car that we heaped

[03:11] praise on when it first came out as

[03:12] being that affordable do everything

[03:14] sports car, which is sort of the great

[03:16] value variant of the Civic Type R,

[03:18] offering you 95% of the driving

[03:20] experience with less cost. And

[03:22] unfortunately for those who bought it

[03:23] new, but fortunately for those who are

[03:25] buying it used, they don't have the best

[03:27] residual values. So you can get a very

[03:29] low mileage launcher end for about

[03:31] $25,000 right at a dealer, which gives

[03:34] you a tremendous value proposition in

[03:36] the vehicle.

[03:42] My last option for you, which is easily

[03:44] going to be one of the most affordable

[03:45] cars in this list, is the Veloster N.

[03:48] While again, it is not quite as good to

[03:50] drive as the Elantre N, they are even

[03:52] more affordable. There are lots of them

[03:54] out there, and they are a fun, quirky

[03:57] little do everything sports car.

[04:04] Now that Jack's done spouting his

[04:06] enthusiast nonsense, it's clear that not

[04:09] every single one of these cars are the

[04:10] absolute best option. They're just

[04:12] practical options that bring a lot to

[04:15] the table for your money. So, let me get

[04:17] started. The 2019 or 2020 Mazda MX5. I

[04:22] didn't say Miata yet, but yes, when you

[04:24] look at how many of these are available

[04:26] on the market, it's very clear that

[04:28] there are very few cars on the planet

[04:29] that deliver this much fun. be it an

[04:32] automatic or a manual, preferably

[04:34] manual. You will smile every single time

[04:37] you look at this car and you will smile

[04:39] every single time you go out on just a

[04:41] normal drive where you don't have to

[04:42] pile a lot of things inside of it. It's

[04:45] one of the rare cars on the market. The

[04:46] only thing you have to be a little bit

[04:48] creative with is making sure that the

[04:50] manual transmission hasn't been beaten

[04:51] to death because the earlier models are

[04:53] a bit more fragile, but this is a car

[04:55] you'll easily find in the low 20s.

[05:04] The next car is if you're looking for a

[05:06] family vehicle and you don't want to die

[05:08] inside every time you drive it. The 2023

[05:11] Mazda CX-5. It's a vehicle that has has

[05:15] really been out forever and it hasn't

[05:17] changed all that much, although they

[05:18] have rolled many manufacturing

[05:20] improvements into it. It's one if you

[05:22] get on the lower trimable side around

[05:24] 20. And if you want to get a one that's

[05:26] really, really specked out with a

[05:28] warranty, you're looking at around

[05:29] $25,000.

[05:31] And it's something that when you get in

[05:32] it, when you look at it, it's one of the

[05:34] better driving vehicles on the road with

[05:36] not a ton of drama.

[05:43] The next car is something that delivers

[05:46] something for almost everyone. It has

[05:48] refinement, it has great fuel

[05:50] efficiency, it looks good, and it's

[05:52] super usable. the 2025

[05:54] Honda Civic Hybrid. And depending on

[05:58] which trim you get, it's going to be a

[05:59] little bit more or less, but it's going

[06:01] to be around $25,000

[06:03] for essentially a brand new car with a

[06:06] warranty. It's a great first car. It's a

[06:09] car that you want to drive if you're

[06:10] older and want no nonsense. You don't

[06:13] want to have to do a ton of maintenance.

[06:15] And again, it's just one of the best

[06:17] cars on the planet.

[06:23] The next one is in a very similar vein.

[06:27] This is a car that you buy and like our

[06:30] previous video, you take it to the

[06:31] grave. And while you may not get the

[06:33] fully loaded variant, if you look for a

[06:36] 2020 Lexus ES 350, you're going to find

[06:40] these for under $30,000. That means

[06:43] tried and trueue V6 that has been out

[06:45] for about a thousand years. An automatic

[06:48] transmission that is very smooth. The

[06:51] ride quality is great in this generation

[06:53] car. It has super ergonomics on the

[06:56] inside with all physical controls. This

[06:59] is a car that blends into the background

[07:01] but still feels like you're getting your

[07:03] money's worth. And whatever you're going

[07:05] to pay, the car is going to be with you

[07:07] forever. And this to me, depending on

[07:10] your place in life, is one of the most

[07:11] exciting things about a modern car.

[07:19] Now, the last vehicle on my list is one

[07:21] we've recommended more than any other

[07:23] car we've driven to family members,

[07:25] friends, and that says a lot. This one's

[07:27] a used 2023 Toyota RAV 4. A middle trim

[07:32] or upper trim level will set you back

[07:34] about $25,000.

[07:36] It will also come with a warranty and

[07:37] the updated infotainment which gets you

[07:40] wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

[07:42] The reason why why this is constantly

[07:44] recommended is because the drivetrain is

[07:47] essentially bulletproof. If you keep

[07:49] tires inflated and you change oil, this

[07:52] is another car that's going to be with

[07:53] your family indefinitely. And this is

[07:56] where people want to be in trying times.

[07:59] This is a vehicle that people want to

[08:00] depend on. And while it again, it may

[08:02] not be the most fun, it makes up for a

[08:05] lot of its kind of mundainess with the

[08:08] fact that you can you can count on it.

[08:10] And that's super super important for a

[08:12] family vehicle.

[08:19] Now, there you have it. And our goal for

[08:20] this list was not only to give you 10

[08:23] cars that were sub $30,000. We wanted to

[08:25] hit you with cars that were not terribly

[08:27] old, things that were relatively modern,

[08:30] easy to buy, weren't in terrible shape,

[08:32] and you could get them with fairly low

[08:34] miles. Now, there are other cars out

[08:36] there that are more affordable than

[08:38] these or potentially more fun. And

[08:39] again, yes, you can get a Miata still.

[08:41] You can still get your 350, 370Z's, your

[08:44] Accords, your Camry, your F FRS's, but

[08:47] these are 10 options that we felt that

[08:49] were at least interesting and cars that

[08:51] you could genuinely be proud of.

[08:52] >> Yeah. And if you're a normal middle-

[08:53] class person that doesn't have a massive

[08:55] amount of disposable income, there also

[08:57] a list of cars that you could

[08:58] potentially still buy newer and get a

[09:00] warranty on, either extended warranty or

[09:03] CPOed or we picked safer older cars that

[09:07] you really don't have to worry about if

[09:09] you if you do your shopping. And they're

[09:10] widely available. That's the other

[09:12] thing, too. We don't want you to have to

[09:13] go, you know, searching 25 different

[09:15] sites and get a broker to locate

[09:17] something locally. So, this was a pretty

[09:19] comprehensive list and I look forward to

[09:20] doing another video where we get our

[09:22] hands on the more difficult part is

[09:24] finding things in the teens and like

[09:26] under $10,000

[09:28] >> and where we actually drive them

[09:29] ourselves.

[09:29] >> Yeah, exactly.

[09:31] >> And yours

[09:33] alone.

[09:36] You'll be the lion.

[09:41] You'll be the deer.

[09:46] Be like a tree.

[09:50] Let the dead leaves fall.

[09:55] Let your life become