Official ST:A "What car should I buy?" thread

DyePaintballer2k11 · 03-07-2013, 11:47 PM

Looking for something ~$10k or less. Reliable, good on gas, and not too gay to drive. Bonus points for comfortable and fancy interior. Jettas have some nice leather seats, and I find a few without too many miles on them. Anything else? Somehow I can't find any Camry or Civic with the mileage or price that I'm willing to pay.

IBleed Arbor · 03-07-2013, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyePaintballer2k11

Looking for something ~$10k or less. Reliable, good on gas, and not too gay to drive. Bonus points for comfortable and fancy interior. Jettas have some nice leather seats, and I find a few without too many miles on them. Anything else? Somehow I can't find any Camry or Civic with the mileage or price that I'm willing to pay.

Maybe an 06ish gti? 05 gli? A4s? None of those are really reliable though. Wrx/impreza? I'd say civic for sure but you can't find any.

spinny2559 · 03-08-2013, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyePaintballer2k11

Looking for something ~$10k or less. Reliable, good on gas, and not too gay to drive. Bonus points for comfortable and fancy interior. Jettas have some nice leather seats, and I find a few without too many miles on them. Anything else? Somehow I can't find any Camry or Civic with the mileage or price that I'm willing to pay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBleed Arbor

Maybe an 06ish gti? 05 gli? A4s? None of those are really reliable though. Wrx/impreza? I'd say civic for sure but you can't find any.

GTI and GLI are good choices, so is a Wolfburg Edition Jetta (those are all turbo-charged cars, you'll be happy you picked one if that's the route you go).

I'd stray from the Audi, the least reliable of those, and also the most expensive to repair of them.

WRX/Impreza is a good choice, but the interiors of those cars are lackluster.

The Camry and Civic are economical choices, but not as fun as the others.

If you drive stick, I'd look into a previous body style Subaru Legacy too (not a fan of the auto transmissions in those).

Also, for $10K you can lease a new car for 3 years. If you think in 3 years you will be in a better position financially, this may be a good option. Maintenance is all covered because the car would be brand new, and you probably shouldn't expect any repairs during the lease period. Just a though..

IBleed Arbor · 03-08-2013, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinny2559

Also, for $10K you can lease a new car for 3 years. If you think in 3 years you will be in a better position financially, this may be a good option. Maintenance is all covered because the car would be brand new, and you probably shouldn't expect any repairs during the lease period. Just a though..

Also a great option. I actually just did this, I wanted something reliable to get me through my last years of school with any worries. For a civic si, which isn't the fastest thing on the streets but at least I don't have to worry about it breaking down. A 36 month lease is 10,116 where I am.

spinny2559 · 03-08-2013, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBleed Arbor

Also a great option. I actually just did this, I wanted something reliable to get me through my last years of school with any worries. For a civic si, which isn't the fastest thing on the streets but at least I don't have to worry about it breaking down. A 36 month lease is 10,116 where I am.

That is a great price. I was looking at a GTI and Civic SI, couldn't get either of the numbers to work. I settled for a fully loaded Mazda 3 Sport, which in manual is actually a very decent car. Not slow (not fast though), and INCREDIBLE chassis.

I pay $234/mo, put $1700 down, and I have 45K miles over 36 months.

DyePaintballer2k11 · 03-08-2013, 11:10 AM

If I lease then I'll go to the Kia Soul. Under $200 a month, good on gas, has adequate space, and cheap on insurance.

AABanned · 03-08-2013, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyePaintballer2k11

If I lease then I'll go to the Kia Soul. Under $200 a month, good on gas, has adequate space, and cheap on insurance.

Elantra > Soul if you're going for a cheap lease.

DyePaintballer2k11 · 03-08-2013, 01:26 PM

The thing is, if I spend $10k on a lease then I'd rather buy a car worth that much and be able to own it in the end. Why spend ten grand on something when I'll have to spend another ten grand after that? I've seen some good RAV4s for that price with ~70k or so miles. Since it's a Yota it'll last forever, plus I don't put many miles on my vehicle anyway.

IBleed Arbor · 03-08-2013, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyePaintballer2k11

The thing is, if I spend $10k on a lease then I'd rather buy a car worth that much and be able to own it in the end. Why spend ten grand on something when I'll have to spend another ten grand after that? I've seen some good RAV4s for that price with ~70k or so miles. Since it's a Yota it'll last forever, plus I don't put many miles on my vehicle anyway.

I say yes to the rav4

DyePaintballer2k11 · 03-08-2013, 01:29 PM

I do as well. I'm looking mainly to buy through the USAA used car program they have. The prices are usually well below average, plus I get good APR through them. The only problem is that most of the cars I see were posted 50+ days ago, and the deals are good enough to I would assume they are sold.

MutR. · 03-12-2013, 01:11 AM

well i ended up getting an 06 cobalt LS with an SS engine. couldnt afford any of the options i really wanted but im happy with what i got. FWD should be good enough in the snow.

Liquid Mercury · 04-07-2013, 11:32 AM

Looking for a cheap manual RWD project car. I'm looking at buying car under 2k, I have a small budget, but don't really care for minor problems.

Miata- What I'd like the most, I found a couple I could talk down into my range.

Rx-7- I'd like to have a rotary, I found quite a bit for under 2k asking, but they're higher miled and I think they'd need a rebuild soon. Anyone here ever rebuild one?

E30 325- Not sure on this, I hear different opinions on them and the parts, will parts be a reasonable price?

Silvias- Opinions? I found many of them are clearly drifted and beaten.

Mr2 and Supra- Only ones I can find cheap are automatics

I can't think of any others right now.

Alan777 · 04-07-2013, 11:46 AM

miatas are sweet.

pros. cheap, fun to drive, parts are cheap, easy to work on.

cons. every time you drive on a highway there's a significant chance someone will run you over

e30 parts are pretty reasonable. I just paid around $300 for a new front suspension for my e36

Liquid Mercury · 04-07-2013, 09:50 PM

I'd love the miata and it's my first choice of all those cars I listed. I found a nice 90 miata nearby me for pretty cheap. I was also thinking of getting an econo car for cheap that needs clutch or similar and fix that and then mod it. It would probably be easier with my small budget, but not sure what I'd have more fun with.

tommait2 · 04-18-2013, 01:09 AM

I thinks 2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS is the best. looking bys is so good. and good services. and grate mileage.and MERCEDES BENZ year of the car...............next month i purchase this car.and icici company to finances.

2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS

toolbandfan · 04-18-2013, 10:33 AM

Looking bys.

acoolguy77 · 04-27-2013, 12:17 PM

How is $8K for an 08 fusion? 5 speed manual, leather seats, 100K miles.

edit: http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/3743870979.html Thoughts?

texas86z28 · 04-29-2013, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acoolguy77

How is $8K for an 08 fusion? 5 speed manual, leather seats, 100K miles.

edit: http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/3743870979.html Thoughts?

Way too much, 100k means if the clutch hasn't been replaced it will need to soon so that's gonna cost especially on a FWD car. Don't mean to bash but a fusion is not a good investment. You can find a Camry or Corolla that will be cheaper to drive MPG wise and Maintenance wise.

Lampoon · 05-05-2013, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acoolguy77

How is $8K for an 08 fusion? 5 speed manual, leather seats, 100K miles.

edit: http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/3743870979.html Thoughts?

As someone stated, the clutch hasn't been replaced yet. Secondly, it is in Detroit. It might be stolen. That 8k pricetag would have to come down by a lot. I've seen Honda Civic's with as many miles, if not less, for less cash.

surge101 · 05-12-2013, 12:45 PM

9-12k

Really want something fairly quick/a decent platform to build on. Preferably forced induction.

lowbudgethero · 05-12-2013, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surge101

9-12k

Really want something fairly quick/a decent platform to build on. Preferably forced induction.

F-body is probably the cheapest car to modify to get huge amounts of power. You can get a formula/z28 for about 3-5K now

other wise a wrx is another option, MR2 turbo is another as well

Depending on your knowledge and ability making a forced induction e36 or s2000
can make huge power somewhat reliably if you do everything right the first time