Okay.....I know I am going to get a lot of laughs out of this, but I just would like to know. I am mainly into Fords (Mustags, F-150's, Escorts, and etc.). I just bought a 1986 Chevy Cavalier Wagon. I am going to use it for a run around car and going to a from school. I checked it through and test drove it. It is mechanically sound as far as the engine and trans. It shifts hard when shifting from either park or neutral into drive or reverse. That tells me a mount is busted and the exhaust system is shot. Rusted all to hell along with the kick panels. Other than that nothing else is wrong. I am going to replace all of it in time. I mean what would you expect for $250.00 right?

Now here is the stats that I know of
1986 Chevrolet Cavalier
2.0 Liter 4 cyl.
111396 miles I believe. Engine is in too good of shape for much more and of course there is no marking for thousands on the odometer
Automatic.

I just want to know what everyone thinks about this year, make, and model of car. Are they reliable, should I not bother to fix it, or what?

If it's rusted badly I'd be more worried about the ball joints and suspension than the hard shifting. Usually engine work is a lot cheaper to do yourself than suspension work. But I'd take a look at what it would sell for in good running order then decide if parts+$250 will bring you in that ball park or not.

The only problem is that I do need a car that is good on gas and this is the only thing that I could afford at the moment. I looked it over a little more and found that the driver's side door is rusted all the way through. I think you may be right on the suspension, but I am able to do that as well. I replaced the entire front end on a few cars before. The car is originally from Kentucky and is now in Texas. Body wise it is in good shape except for the lick panels and the driver's door. I am not worried about that at the moment. When I test drove the car, there was nothing wrong other than low tire pressure. I live like 15 mins away from where I bought it.