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Is Taking the Train Your Idea of a Nightmare? This Kia Spectra Will Spare You for $1000

Suppose your city is one of many in America without an extensive public train or bus network. Or perhaps one that's pathetically small or in a miserable state of disrepair. In that case, you essentially own a car or never leave your home.
Kia Spectra 9 photos
Photo: Tropical Chevrolet
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If you live in one of these cities, be it Pittsburgh, parts of New York, or Los Angeles, this clapped-out 2005 Kia Spectra is the cheapest way to avoid dirty and potentially unsafe subway trains.

As for the Spectra, even in its heyday, this little economy sedan never excited so much as a goldfish. If you were too frugal for a Corolla or a Civic, this was the car for you back in the mid-2000s.

Sporting a two-liter, four-banger under the hood paired with an automatic transmission and front-wheel-drive, there's a sense that a car like this was designed by accountants first and engineers a very distant second.

The plastic of the interior trim is of such a laughable quality it's hard to believe what a miraculous turnaround Kia underwent as soon as the Spectra was in the rearview mirror. Even so, we do believe there is a place on the roads of America for old clap-traps like this Kia.

With the prices of new cars skyrocketing like never before, maybe the time is now for us all to learn how to change oil, do our own maintenance, and keep ourselves on the road without taking out a massive loan for a certified pre-owned or even a brand new vehicle. At 158,000 miles (254,276 km) and change on the odometer, things are bound to be old and worn out here and there, missing door handles not withstanding.

But to the bare bones commute to work or be fired crowd, the only thing that matters is making it to the office, the job site, or wherever it is you work before it's time to clock in, lest your boss rains their wrath on thee and make you unable to make rent this month. For these kinds of people, a check is written for $1000 to Tropical Chevrolet of Miami Shores, Florida would be worth every penny.
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