looking for my first car

[shreder13]

I need a car. My buget is anything from $2000-3000. I want a car, automatic, and it can't be a piece of s*%$. It needs to last me around 6 years as I won't have any extra money till I graduate. Any suggestions on what model cars I should look for used? How many miles should it have? ebay and craigslist links would be appreciated(just to look at, I'm not planning to buy till late summer unless I find an amazing deal). Thanks for the help
-Sean

[CharvelRocker]

Reliability on a budget? Toyota and Honda for sure. Hyundai aren't bad, but they had pretty bad interiors and could be hit or miss.

[shreder13]

96 and newer honda civic.

Maintenece is the key Sean!

end of thread...

I looked up some 97's to see what they go for, seems like the green ones go for $2200 and the black ones go for $4000......dam those green ones are ugly

My friend has one and it isn't bad but its AC is broken. Is that common for them?

[Firebird V]

u could go with a chevy prism and save a few bucks intead of getting a toyota corrolla. toyota made them for chevy in a joint venture. same engine / trans / underpinnings... etc as a corrolla for about $700 bucks less...

[Axewielder]

C'mon, get a frickin old Camaro, dude!

[nhspike]

+1 on the honda/toyota thing
can't go wrong
fixes are fixed and stay fixed when they happen
as safe a dollar as you can spend on a vehicle
good luck brother

[Spivonious]

$3000 car lasting 6 years? You'd have your best chance with a Toyota/Honda or a newer Hyundai. But I'd keep some money saved up as maintenance costs only go up the more miles the car has.

[CharvelRocker]

u could go with a chevy prism and save a few bucks intead of getting a toyota corrolla. toyota made them for chevy in a joint venture. same engine / trans / underpinnings... etc as a corrolla for about $700 bucks less...

Wrong... made by Suzuki, as were all the Geo cars.

[Jason1212]

Wrong again. Prisms were toyota cars. That and Storms were Isuzus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo_Prizm

[Norton]

Why do you want an automatic transmission? Or is it that, noone in the USA can drive manual( manuel ) transmissions ? Automatic transmissioned cars consume more fuel.

[DonP]

97-99 Saturn SL2 is what you are talking with that budget.

I bought a fully loaded (leather , sunroof, 4 wheel disk) 1997 Saturn with 147K miles in April 2005 for $2350. It was up to 202K when I killed it in a head-on collision last year. I think it could have kept on going. It did eat a quart of oil every 1.5K miles as do all Saturns prior to 2001? (ring problem). I think the extra oil slipping past the rings helped keep things lub'd up and made it last so long.

It also still got 38MPG with 202K miles.

Don't get an SL1 - head gasket issues.

The reason I bought mine is that the owner had all of the paperwork from every time it went into the dealership. I could tell that the car was well maintained.

[Norton]

97-99 Saturn SL2 is what you are talking with that budget.

I bought a fully loaded (leather , sunroof, 4 wheel disk) 1997 Saturn with 147K miles in April 2005 for $2350. It was up to 202K when I killed it in a head-on collision last year. I think it could have kept on going. It did eat a quart of oil every 1.5K miles as do all Saturns prior to 2001? (ring problem). I think the extra oil slipping past the rings helped keep things lub'd up and made it last so long.

It also still got 38MPG with 202K miles.

Don't get an SL1 - head gasket issues.

The reason I bought mine is that the owner had all of the paperwork from every time it went into the dealership. I could tell that the car was well maintained.

I thought the Saturn was discontinued after 92-93.


He can get a Nebula instead

[Jacksons Shred]

96 and newer honda civic.

Maintenece is the key Sean!

end of thread...

You took the words out of my mouth.

When I wanted my first car, I wanted some huge raised truck.. I ended up getting a chevy s10 (thank god).. That sucker gets 12 miles to the gallon and gas is $4.75 pg here..

Civics...Own.

[Norton]

You took the words out of my mouth.

When I wanted my first car, I wanted some huge raised truck.. I ended up getting a chevy s10 (thank god).. That sucker gets 12 miles to the gallon and gas is $4.75 pg here..

Civics...Own.

We have two of them.

[CharvelRocker]

Wrong again. Prisms were toyota cars. That and Storms were Isuzus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo_Prizm

Odd. The Geo Metro was the Suzuki Cultus/Swift. The Tracter was the Grand Vitara. How many different deals with Japanese companies did Geo have their hands in? No wonder it isn't around around That said, I think the same parent company used to own a big chunk of Suzuki and Isuzu (and Subaru too IIRC), who then sold most of their shares in both to GM. Now they own just Subaru.