Car guys: Can you help recommend a car to me?

Dud

Established Member
So it's about time for me to get a car so I can leave this horrible place (my parents house :lol: ), but I have no idea what I'm doing. Not too long ago I didn't know what a hatch was. I can jerk around the salesmen just fine, but I need help picking out a new car that matches this criteria:

• good gas mileage

• under $15,000

• socially acceptable for a male to drive it

That's all really. Points #2 and #3 are most important.
 
I got me a brand new with 7 miles Ford Focus ZX-3 hatch back for 14,200 with 0% interest with a MP3 player in it... it gets decent fuel mileage (I average about 30 miles to the gallon, and on long trips about 37).
 
Originally posted by lordofduct@Mon, 2005-05-23 @ 11:58 PM

I got me a brand new with 7 miles Ford Focus ZX-3 hatch back for 14,200 with 0% interest with a MP3 player in it... it gets decent fuel mileage (I average about 30 miles to the gallon, and on long trips about 37).

[post=134438]Quoted post[/post]​


I just looked the Ford Focus up. That seems like a good buy, what with awards, the good reviews and the features, and the Sony sound system with mp3 and what not.

The only other cars I looked at in that price range were the Mitsubishi Lancer and Chevy Cavalier, but they don't seem as fancy. I haven't ruled out getting a cheap $3000 used car yet, I'd much rather have an expensive monthly payment going to a fancy HDTV...
 
Also:

My psuedo girlfriend (not definate and i've still been sleeping with other girls, but something should come of it, i hope :) )... bought a Kia for 9500 brand new and it looks ok too. It gets about the same mileage as me and if you get a standard even she can make the thing haul ass! No Mp3 player though :(

Oh yeah, and stay far away from the mitsubishi's!!! the tranny's suck in ALL of them on top of being obsurdly expensive to work on. (not Beamer expensive, but still expensive)
 
toyota passeo (or however it's spelt) are pretty decent little cars. I believe they get close to 40mpg. cheap too. You could get a super dooper clean one for like 4-5k.

any older honda. crx, hatchback, coupe, sedan, whatever.
 
Dodge Neon SRT-4 (2003 is about $14,000 for one in good shape)

Rack and Pinion Steering

4 wheel independent suspension

2.4Liter Turbo Charged Engine (Averages 20-30 Miles per gal.)

Front Wheel Drive

I have an old 96 neon and I love the little car, it's fun to drive and quite responsive, even with only 132 horse power it does have some nice pick-up to it.

Now increase the engine size, throw on a turbo and you've got a car that produces 215 horse power and weights just over 2500 pounds... it's a fast little car, with great handling.

Only porblems I see with it are:

- you have to like manual shift

- it isn't seen as a typical "male" car

If gas isn't a huge concern, get a Jeep, reliable, powerful, fun, and they hold their value pretty well as the years go by.

auto.consumerguide.com

^ good website for all kinds of info on cars, new and old.

just my 2 cents...
 
My 97 Saturn SL2 has treated me well. I get 33mpg highway and 24mpg city. It has a fairly small turning radius and while I won't be winning any drag races in it, it's got a fair amount of pep (particularly with the transmission in "performance" mode (I have an automatic)). It's also been incredibly reliable.

No idea how decent the newer Saturns are, but the Saturn ION seems to fit your requirements. I'm not sure what you consider socially acceptable for a male to drive though. I haven't felt any less of a man for driving a Saturn and I haven't heard anyone make comments to that effect. Your standards may differ though.
 
Get a Saturn, then you can put the 'My other Saturn is a SEGA' bumper sticker on it! (Idea stolen from someone at shmups.com forum)
 
Bought my 92 Cadillac Deville for only $3500. The thing is a tank and it can hold ALOT of dead bodies. A giant sofa on wheels. About 20mpg.
 
300zx? a little much I think, lol. v-6 twin turboed is more of a racer than a daily driver. MR2's are nice but any of the early 90's ones (look decent, 80's look like ass) caost tons.

I have an 86 VW golf diesel. 50+mpg. thing has 350+k miles on it, been in a couple of wreck, and it still goin strong..

honda civic? I'd rather be caught in a civic over a neon, lol. and saturns are ok, not gunna win any looks competitions but it'll get the job done.

and jeeps reliable? haha, funny joke...
 
Buy a Mercedes A-Class 160 Avangarde it's really a good car with never problems :rockin: :thumbs-up:
 
Originally posted by Supergrom@Tue, 2005-05-24 @ 08:06 PM

does no one like volkswagens here?


They are fun cars, but lately they've needed a lot of repair compaired to other makes, particularly for electrical problems. It seems my boss needs to get something repaired on his 99 Passat quite a bit.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, I will definteley go back to this when I'm about to get my car.

It's too bad I'm not rich, because I really like this one:

Shaq's%202%20bentley.jpg


:p
 
Originally posted by Pearl Jammzz@Tue, 2005-05-24 @ 03:15 PM



and jeeps reliable? haha, funny joke...


My father own's a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 249,000 miles on it, tires and exhaust have been replaced, everything else is original....

so yes, jeeps are reliable...no joke. :angry:
 
first one I have heard of. all the ones I know of break down constantly and are just a major PITA. Kinda like a DSM, same type of thing. shit breaking every 10 miles, lol, I guess any car is good if it has always been well maintained
 
Not all 300zx's are twin turbo'd. It really depends on the generation of 300zx (84-89 or 90-96) you get and whether it's a turbo car or not.

The 300zx is a nice fast car, but keep in mind it's rear wheel drive, so if you live in snow country or aren't used to driving a car with more horsepower than say a honda that's rear wheel drive you can get yourself in trouble if you're driving too fast (just ask pearl jammzz about driving too fast in a rear wheel drive car in the rain).

Among the cars I haven't seen listed here that would be good choices you might also add the acura integra (used of course since they don't make them new anymore).

If you don't really care about the car being a fast car then I'd go with whatever the most reliable car you can get for the money is. I'd steer clear of anything mitsubishi as mitsubishis have a bad rep from everyone who isn't a mitsubishi driver.

If you want the car to eventually be really fast, I wouldn't bother looking at the hondas too much especially below say the civic SI/prelude SI/integra GSR level.

If you have any friends who are into cars or know any mechanics I'd talk to them to see what they're good at working on, because you can save a lot of money by being friends with mechanics.

What it really comes down to is that before you invest any money into it you need to decide if you care about the moddability of a car or not (and if it's a daily driver like this sounds like you shouldn't be modifying it).

If you're buying a used car you should research the make model and year of any car you're considering so you know what the common problems are (I don't care what kind of car you like they all have problems). For any particular car you should consider getting a carfax report on it. You should also test drive it and have someone you know give it a test drive as well to make sure it drives straight and doesn't have a messed up frame/unibody. If it's an older car (or even if not) you should climb under the car a bit and make sure it's not all rusty and beat to shit as well. When the seller of said car goes to show you the car you should have them start it cold for you so you can make sure it doesn't have trouble starting as well.

Now if gas mileage is really a concern for you, I'd definetly stay away from the 300zx (as it's a 3.0L V6 engine, and definetly stay away from anything with a turbo or supercharger). Your best bet is to look for a small displacement 4 cylinder car. Something along the lines of a toyota or honda or nissan would be my suggestion (I'm into japanese cars). Subaru's been good lately as well, though some of their older cars are junk. You can get a subaru 2.5RS for around $20k brand new. I haven't looked at ford (blech) or GM (saturn/chevy/etc.) much as I don't feel american cars are reliable enough to spend money on.

Wow, that's a lot to read lol.
 
What state are you in? If you're talking about modding cars at all that can be very important. In california for instance, anything made after 1975 will always have to be smogged. A smog check is more than just the numbers your tail pipe makes too, in California you have to pass a visual inspection under the hood and anything that isn't stock needs a CARB number or you fail instantly.

Edit: and stock from another car isn't good enough, if you live in California and want to do an engine swap on a car made after 1975, you better forget it if you want to be able to have it registered here. Even pre-1975 cars still need to be smog compliant, you just don't have to go get it tested, you can still get busted by any cop who wants to look under your hood or by the roadside tests for polluters. We even occasionally have checkpoints where they pull over any pre-1975 car and test them on the spot!
 
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