What should be my first car, based off of my wants/needs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MiuraSV777
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With Neons you want low mileage, or you want PT Cruiser engines. This is also the voice of experience talking. Dodge "fixed" the head gasket problem, but it never really went away entirely on the 2 liter and the Neon isn't good enough of a car to consider it over, say, a Civic with that in mind.



And that Jetta would probably be fine if it was a diesel, but many of the maintenance problems with the turbo carry over into the regular 4 cylinder as well. Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole with that mileage.
 
xXKingJoshXx
Miura, are you looking for a car that is in perfect running condition or would you be willing to say (for example) buy a $2,500 car and put $500-$1000 into it? Although that might not be worth the trouble? 💡

:dunce: Just realized it's in Ohio, but just a few miles south of the Michigan-Ohio border, but I don't know how far you're willing to go.
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Although I do prefer perfect running condition, a project car would actually be fun...

Northern ohio (near me), even a littlebit northern (grandparents live there), or on the western side of michigan (hunting location) would be acceptable, as it isn't to hard to get there, but I would really prefer it to be in my general area
 
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Having a project car as your first car is just going to leave you on the side of the road in a cloud of smoke. Only being 16 you won't have a job that can support constantly dumping money into a car to get it running, it's always way more than you think it will be. Even my cheap project car is a horrible money pit.

Something like this wouldn't be bad. 2006 Fusion, has a 5-speed like you want, and only has 89,000 miles on it. Listing

Or something really inexpensive, a 1998 Ford Contour, 5-speed, with 115,000 on it. Listing
 
Hey, I found this incredibly good match with what ypu're looking for, at the upper end of your price range. Very clean Honda CRX, manual, well documented with a good description and photos. The only potential issue is that it has 183,000 miles, but it's a seemingly well maintained Honda, so reliability probably won't be an issue. $3700.
 
That seems really high for a base model CRX. You can get newer, better Civics than that for much less; or a nice Prelude.
 
Miura, what is your zip code? That would help a lot!! I googled Canton, Mi Zip codes but I have no clue which one is yours so I just took the more populated one.


Joey D
Having a project car as your first car is just going to leave you on the side of the road in a cloud of smoke. Only being 16 you won't have a job that can support constantly dumping money into a car to get it running, it's always way more than you think it will be. Even my cheap project car is a horrible money pit.
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I was thinking more along the lines of him paying someone to do it, but you'd have to be really careful on which car you get, and honestly, like you said, it's probably not a good idea.
 
Toronado
That seems really high for a base model CRX. You can get newer, better Civics than that for much less; or a nice Prelude.
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Not in the area that he lives in, if he wants a manual transmission.
 
Josh, my zip code is 48188... But 48162 (monroe), 48134 (flat rock), 48083 (troy), and 49242 (hillsdale) also work, as i have family and other connections to those areas
 
I suggest you get the 2006-present Mitsu LanEvo IX/X. It's not a guzzler and not sporty as a 2 door coupe but it has AWD and the fact that it's better than it's Subaru counterpart, the WRX STi. You can't go wrong with this, I guarentee you. There are some cars that are much underspecced yet overpriced compared to this AWD. It doesn't matter if it bothers you but this is just my statement if you're getting your 1st car.

Cheers!
 
What do you guys think of these, MOST of which are 10 miles or less from me.

**This car is just a bonus... (mainly for slashfan and king josh :lol:) only 2502 miles!**
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1973_Ford_Mustang_166398178_42479

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1989_Ford_Mustang_177218295_8

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/2002_Ford_Focus_182646046_25

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/2005_Dodge_Neon_183337664_83

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1997_BMW_5+series_177574388_84

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1998_BMW_7+series_171156043_179

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/2006_Jeep_Liberty_175047863_198

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1996_Mitsubishi_3000GT_185605412

**Also, what do you guys think about a 2000-2009 body style of the volvo s60? Someone in the neighborhood next to me has a 2004-2009 volvo s60 2.5T AWD turbo.... It looks really nice
 
3000GT, lol. I can't get rid of the 3 Diamond brand. :P
 
S60s are nice. They're somewhat fun but also incredibly safe. As for the cars listed, the Bimmers look very nice, though the Mustang would be nice simply because it's a manual.
 
Yes. :)

That's why my garage in GT5 are mostly filled with Mitsus. There is only one of which is my favorite, though.
 
First off, I wouldn't get the BMW's because maintenence would be way too expensive.

I also wouldn't get the Neon or Focus because the have a lot of miles on them.

I don't even know what you were thinking when you considered a Jeep Liberty :lol:. First off, that one has over 150,000 miles. Secondly, the two cars I used in my driving tests were a 2008 Honda Civic (for my first two, it was a piece of crap) and the Jeep Liberty (for my last four, it made the Civic seem like a Rolls Royce).

There are 1920's Russian tractors more refined than the 2006 Jeep Liberty. The road noise is unbearable, it sounds like you're doing 100mph in a normal car even though you're only going 35mph, on a smooth road no less. It has no power at all. My Lincoln could probably beat it, or at least come close to it, in a drag race. The transmission is jerky, not to mention it's a 4spd Auto, not what you want. There is no space up front, no where to rest your right knee when you're driving (that might just be someone I do, idk, but it's important to me), and I've heard Jeeps aren't the cheapest to insure and to do maintenence on. Although I'm not so sure about the maintenence part, since it probably shares parts with countless other Jeeps, Chryslers, and Dodges.


The really only leaves the '89 Mustang. It's definitely the one I'd have out of all of them, but it's a convertible and I just don't like the idea of buying an older convertible (but you could just try it it since you live close to it). Your biggest problem would be fuel economy, depending on how you drive, I'm guessing you'd get 18-25mpg with it. 25mpg is being generous. Parts would be relatively cheap and easy to find, and the 5.0 V8s are really reliable.


As for the Mitsubishi, I have no clue about it. If you're interested in it I'd say you'd have to either call/email them or find the car in person. Something about the ad doesn't seem right, there are no pics, it's listed with extremely low miles and a very low price.
 
Might as well just get an Intrepid or Stratus or something instead of a non-turbo 3000GT anyway.
 
GTV0819
I suggest you get the 2006-present Mitsu LanEvo IX/X. It's not a guzzler and not sporty as a 2 door coupe but it has AWD and the fact that it's better than it's Subaru counterpart, the WRX STi. You can't go wrong with this, I guarentee you. There are some cars that are much underspecced yet overpriced compared to this AWD. It doesn't matter if it bothers you but this is just my statement if you're getting your 1st car.

Cheers!
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Because insurance for a male teen on an Evo isn't going to cost the full price of the car every year.
 
Pontiac Grand Am 4th Gen. Get an I4 2.4 under the hood & it'll last you a couple 100,000 miles since those engines run forever plus the car is very safe. Trust me on that one since I hit 2 poles, a sign & concrete stairs doing 80MPH with mine & walked out without a scratch.

http://s469.photobucket.com/user/Spoil-t/slideshow/smashed up car

100_0726.jpg

Strong car indeed.
 
Spoil-t
Pontiac Grand Am 4th Gen. Get an I4 2.4 under the hood & it'll last you a couple 100,000 miles since those engines run forever plus the car is very safe. Trust me on that one since I hit 2 poles, a sign & concrete stairs doing 80MPH with mine & walked out without a scratch.

Destroyed pontiac pic
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:eek: that looked like fun *sarcasm* how did you manage to go 80 into... 2 poles, a sign, and concrete stairs :lol:
 
Simple my friend. I hit the stairs at 80MPH & flew into the 2 poles & sign. The car was on it's side a bit after the dust settled. It sucks when you lose a tyre going into a corner.
 
An 80's Mustang is either going to make you look like you belong downriver, or that you sell drugs.

Also good luck trying to find a place in your area that won't completely screw you to the wall with maintenance costs with a BMW. My buddy with a 335 has found AutoEurope up in Birmingham to be the most reasonable, but even then bring money. Plus that 5-series is in Inkster, meaning you'd almost definitely be killed when going to look at it.
 
Joey D
An 80's Mustang is either going to make you look like you belong downriver, or that you sell drugs.
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What in the world made you think that?
 
Spoil-t
Simple my friend. I hit the stairs at 80MPH & flew into the 2 poles & sign. The car was on it's side a bit after the dust settled. It sucks when you lose a tyre going into a corner.
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Oh, it was because you lost a tire... I could of thought of that :dunce:


Also, look what i found :drool:... a little expensive, but its in really good condition, based on its pics... Just over 100k miles:
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/2002_Volvo_S60_175541672_1


Ya, those are the typical owners, as joey said.... Drug dealers like to own and ruin mustangs and camaros :(
 
GTV0819
I suggest you get the 2006-present Mitsu LanEvo IX/X. It's not a guzzler and not sporty as a 2 door coupe but it has AWD and the fact that it's better than it's Subaru counterpart, the WRX STi. You can't go wrong with this, I guarentee you. There are some cars that are much underspecced yet overpriced compared to this AWD. It doesn't matter if it bothers you but this is just my statement if you're getting your 1st car.

Cheers!
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Not a guzzler?

I suppose if you consider 10 mpg in traffic "not guzzling"... The Evo's composite score on Fuelly isn't any better than the Mustang's or the Corvette's.

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The 3000GT is a terribly underappreciated car. Which means that it's terribly hard to find someone who knows how to fix it or carries parts.

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The Focus looks decent. Mileage is fairly high, but the price reflects it.
 
niky
The 3000GT is a terribly underappreciated car. Which means that it's terribly hard to find someone who knows how to fix it or carries parts.
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It still is incredibly amusing to me how Mitsubishi saw fit to build the thing off the Diamante platform to make it easy to produce, then decided to make every version of the car almost completely bespoke in drivetrain and engine from the other ones anyway, so you basically had to get parts for your specific trim level if anything ever broke.
 
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GTV0819
I suggest you get the 2006-present Mitsu LanEvo IX/X. It's not a guzzler and not sporty as a 2 door coupe but it has AWD and the fact that it's better than it's Subaru counterpart, the WRX STi.
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That's opening up a can of worms and a half mate ;)

Especially because as niky said, "not a guzzler" is almost completely false and "not as sporty as a coupe" could bring in some arguing too considering that insurance companies CLASSIFY it as a sports car. And it runs rings around quite a few coupes 1.5-2x the price.

I'm not even going to bother with the Subaru bit :sly:
 
How the hell are you supposed to get one of those for under $4000 in the first place? Unless you pay someone that much to steal it.
 
Toronado
Unless you pay someone that much to steal it.
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:lol:

Yeah, you might be able to buy some panels and an engine for that much...chuck some wheels on it and have a 4G63-powered door?
 
Avoid both of those BMWs, those are starting to get too complicated for cheap and relatively simple repairs. BMWs, if you like to work on your car, is not that expensive to maintain, but once you start taking it to a shop, that's when things get real pricey real quickly, and neither of the BMWs you posted are really that easy to work on without much prior experience.

If you want a BMW, stick with E30/E34/E36 and earlier. Older BMWs (E30s, E28s, etc.) will be easier to wrench on, are mechanically quite strong and don't have much electronics (at least critical ones) to go wrong.
 
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