240SX? For me?

[Wolfe]

Porsche 924/944: I've seen a few around here in the $5,000 range. No, they're not 911s, most don't even come with turbos...but they're Porsches.

It doesn't matter if they aren't 911s, you can get pretty much any car that has been recommended in this thread, in pretty good nick, for the same price as a totalled, rusty, engineless 924/944. As you said, they're Porsches. It's practically impossible to even find a 914 for a sane price.

Trust me -- in highschool I believed I could have a 944 for a first car. That idea changed to the 924 and then the 914 before I gave up on it.

 

[Vonie]

Thanks everybody for your advice. I've read it all and will adjust my noggin cognitions accordingly.

I'm not too picky, my only real requirements are in the first post. Cheap (no Porsches), fun, and cool. The list of acceptable cars is getting longer and longer.

How about Eclipse GTS-Ts or Talon GSis (or whatever the equivalent is)? It shouldn't be too unreliable if unmodified and not riven hard, right?

 

[Jim Prower]

It doesn't matter if they aren't 911s, you can get pretty much any car that has been recommended in this thread, in pretty good nick, for the same price as a totalled, rusty, engineless 924/944. As you said, they're Porsches. It's practically impossible to even find a 914 for a sane price.

Trust me -- in highschool I believed I could have a 944 for a first car. That idea changed to the 924 and then the 914 before I gave up on it.

Really? there was one in my high school parking lot. and I live in a rural area, mind you.

Ah, well. the others work.

The Eclipse might be a good car...IF you can find one that hasn't been bastardized. Around here, I've seen a lot of Eclipses (mostly 2nd gen) that would be good candidates for the "Questionable Modifications" thread.

 

[a6m5]

I don't know about Mitsubishis. In Japan, they had a reputation for electrical problems. They are not known for reliability either, though my family's had great luck with them. Early 90's Mirage, mid 90's (2)Monteros and Plymouth Reliant with a Mitsubishi motor.

 

[Wolfe]

How about Eclipse GTS-Ts or Talon GSis (or whatever the equivalent is)? It shouldn't be too unreliable if unmodified and not riven hard, right?

"Not too unreliable" indeed. I've never heard great things about DSM or Mitsubishi longevity, modded or unmodded. One of the 1.8L naturally-aspirated models would be better in that category, but 92hp isn't much to write home about, especially with nearly 2600lbs to haul around.

Really? there was one in my high school parking lot. and I live in a rural area, mind you.

I don't live in a rural area, but there were many 00's cars in my high school parking lot. Never underestimate the amount of money a well-off family will spend on their kid's first car.

Anyway, it is possible to find a nice 4-cylinder Porsche for a good, sane price...it just isn't easy. And unless Vonie has an emotional attachment to the Stuttgart-Württemberg coat of arms, he'll still be able to find better cars for less money.

 

[rotary_freq]

How about Eclipse GTS-Ts or Talon GSis (or whatever the equivalent is)? It shouldn't be too unreliable if unmodified and not riven hard, right?

To be fair, I was assuming you wanted a rear-driver. An Eclipse or a Talon would be quite acceptable, but these cars have also been injected with the recent inflation of the ricer craze. It would be too hard to find one of these cars at a reasonable price.

Gil was on to something earlier, take on a car that you can afford to damage a little. You're not going to be takumi on your first day here, get something fun and easy to drive. My 300ZX is solid, but rather tricky to control. Wolfe has an old Beamer, a 318i (E30) and I've had the chance to drive it on numerous occasions, it's a more than acceptable car, fun to drive, practical, and rwd. It's light and easy to toss around, you might want to invest in something along this vein.

Just a suggestion.

 

[Vonie]

To be fair, I was assuming you wanted a rear-driver. An Eclipse or a Talon would be quite acceptable, but these cars have also been injected with the recent inflation of the ricer craze. It would be too hard to find one of these cars at a reasonable price.

It's not too impossible, I found a stock <100k mile Talon GSI for around $5k. Not a bad deal, except it's white, and white cars are refrigerators, apparently.

Gil was on to something earlier, take on a car that you can afford to damage a little. You're not going to be takumi on your first day here, get something fun and easy to drive. My 300ZX is solid, but rather tricky to control. Wolfe has an old Beamer, a 318i (E30) and I've had the chance to drive it on numerous occasions, it's a more than acceptable car, fun to drive, practical, and rwd. It's light and easy to toss around, you might want to invest in something along this vein.

Just a suggestion.

That's probably a good idea, I may get it as a second car. A friend has another 240...Volvo that I could get for very cheap. I dunno, I'll figure it out over the summer.

Oh, and an E30 is out of the question. My brother has a 325i.

 

[breakpoint]

5k for any DSM is too much. I have had 2 DSM's, a 1990 Talon and a 1994 Eclipse. Only thing about these cars that are bad are the transmissions really. The Talon was a plain N\A front wheel drive. My Eclipse was a AWD T. If left stock you won't have much trouble from them, but soon as you get the boost around 12lbs then you might as well drive it to the junkyard to get another tranny soon...lol. But one great thing about the turbo models is that you can free up allot of hp for free! There are a handful of tricks\mods that are free that can get the boost up easy. I had my Eclipse running at 13lbs for free. It was also a quick car at that point. The AWD is great, launches will stick you in the seat hard and quick. Also there won't be a ricing civic that could even stay with you at all. Here are the few things that are cons about the DSM's. One: tranny, two: sometimes you might have an idle problem, no big deal. This can be fixed easy with getting another IACV. They tend to go out on them, cheap fix. They have good engines that respond very well to upgrades and best of all the car will be great if you don't mod it. 4g63t, god sent.