Final First Car Thread!

[john doe]

Throw the idea of getting any type of luxury brand right out the window. You will be paying for that name and you can't afford that. Avoid anything "special" as well. 240sx, Si, SRT, ect. The all command a premium for the image.

You think have $4,500. NO! You now have $3000 for the car, $200 for tools and $1300 in a savings account to fix what ever breaks. Also learning to work on cars is a skill that will save you crap loads of cash your entire life. (because of my skill I was able to buy an $1100 minivan for my work as a courier and drive it over 50k miles putting less then $500 into it.)

Find a car with some sort of community behind it. The reason for this is because any problem you have someone on there will know exactly how to fix it. I would personally recommend the Neon community because it is where I learned 90% of my automotive knowledge that allowed my Neon to easily pass inspection at 230k miles.

Drive anything and everything in your price range. In the used car market all cars become more or less equal. Be patient and do you research on what you find.

Oh and get a AAA subscription. An old car will break down and knowing the tow is paid for is a huge relief.

[mojo maestro]

Keep on doin' the "drugs" and flip your sista the bird. Steal a bike........problem solved!

[SPAZ]

Originally Posted by henry06x

1) It's cheap: The cheaper the better on your first car. Don't lock yourself into payments and go for the high end of what you can afford. You still need money to go play around on and dick off with your friends.

I've looked at cars under 2k and found a 02 chevy impala that was keyed and had mad dents. needed tires and a catalytic converter. turned it down bc i didn't feel like driving a money pit. we negotiated to 1500 though.

Also checked out a 1996 thunderbird down the street that a guy was asking a grand for. talked him down to 800, and it only had 62k. but the rust was bothering me, didn't know if it was going to pass inspection. also needed brakes and the ctl was on for some reason.

i agree with your advice 99.9%, mileage and reliability are a must. but with the 700 bucks i got right now, i wouldn't even find something to last me through the winter. i'm hoping a family member or friend tries to sell a car and offers it to me cheap, i'll take it in a heartbeat.

and to everyone telling me not to get a loan: i've had my job since last july and make just under 10 bucks an hour. working 12-15 hours a week (that's not hard, at all) i can pay back the loan in 1/3 the time so i avoid interest. if i pay back 300 a month, i still have money to save and spend. the reason my parents won't help is simply principle, they know as well as i do i can pay this off no sweat.

Originally Posted by IdahoFreshies

I didn't read it, didn't feel like it, but are you seriously asking for advice on buying a car in ANOTHER thread? didnt you come to some consensus in the last one?

i know, i'm just a pain. i know that everyone there gave me some bomb advice, i'll read it again later and see if i rethink my first post.

Originally Posted by C.B.

nah the back seats are solid and fit to give more leg room, however you can fit 3 boards and a person in the back seat comfortably, with gear in the trunk. I do this all the time in my TL.

thanks, thats exactly what i was looking for. sort of lowers the acura on my list, but like you said the back seats fairly big.

Originally Posted by slyder

This right here shows me that your sisters money is still at risk of being lost. She is doing you a HUGE favor and you question her charity because she is putting conditions on you. If I could show her this I would, as it appears you still haven't learned your lesson nor thankful that family is helping you out

Most cars with 100K+ that have had zero suspension work will more than likely be needing that. Have you priced out that work/parts. Even if you do the labor yourself, front suspension and all new struts $700+
Also most cars in that range will need a timing belt and that averages $1k if you don't have the knowledge to do it yourself. That isn't including all the pulleys and water pump that should be done if you are in that area of the motor.
Used luxury car, in the $4500 range well over 15yrs old and I doubt you can afford the parts let alone the labor cost.

I could go on for quite some time on similar issues.

shit she doesn't care i smoke weed, i'm just showing her i'm serious about this. it's sort of a cruel joke on her part, lol. i accepted it with no but's. here, 4500 won't get me the prettiest thing but i'll easily get 5 years out of it with minimal problems. i can do some repairs myself, as i said. and i'm trying to have a few hundred on the side after this as something is probably going to fail three weeks down the road.

Originally Posted by Qball

You live in NY, get a honda accord or something like that and throw some snow tires on in the winter. FWD is all you need to get anywhere in snow around there. No car will get you laid you idiot! My advice...don't take any type of loan what so ever, pay cash for a car you can afford, buy snow tires, shred as much as you can.

i'd pick a acura over a honda for the heated seats, lol. and the part about me getting laid was moreso a teen angst overstatement. but i don't want a piece of shit, or i would have bought the thunderbird.

Originally Posted by ETM

get one you can sleep in

fold flat rear seats, or a wagon

Originally Posted by dreampow

Dude, you had an epic thread last year where you got good advice from lots of people. Seems to me then you weren't able to take most of that advice.
So I'm guessing you won't take it now but here goes.

Understand the difference between wants and needs.

i know, i probably should have reread that before this thread. i bolded your second statement as i completely agree with it, and i'm not worried with repayment at all. i'll have this paid off in less than a year. it actually builds me some credit for college loans and makes life easier in that respect.

and i do need a car for an internship i'm starting soon.

Originally Posted by john doe

Throw the idea of getting any type of luxury brand right out the window. You will be paying for that name and you can't afford that. Avoid anything "special" as well. 240sx, Si, SRT, ect. The all command a premium for the image.

You think have $4,500. NO! You now have $3000 for the car, $200 for tools and $1300 in a savings account to fix what ever breaks. Also learning to work on cars is a skill that will save you crap loads of cash your entire life. (because of my skill I was able to buy an $1100 minivan for my work as a courier and drive it over 50k miles putting less then $500 into it.)

Find a car with some sort of community behind it. The reason for this is because any problem you have someone on there will know exactly how to fix it. I would personally recommend the Neon community because it is where I learned 90% of my automotive knowledge that allowed my Neon to easily pass inspection at 230k miles.

Drive anything and everything in your price range. In the used car market all cars become more or less equal. Be patient and do you research on what you find.

Oh and get a AAA subscription. An old car will break down and knowing the tow is paid for is a huge relief.

i said 4.5 after most of that, i'm only going to keep 500 on the side for repairs and add to it as i go. luxury cars don't necessarily have that much higher resale, too. take saab for example, and both the ones i mentioned are better engineered and the same cost as their midrange counterparts.

i agree with your statement regarding a car with a community. troubleshooting advise can save me 1000's at the mechanic. and i might be able to do it myself.

thanks everyone!

[snowklinger]

honda civic or toyota corolla. great in snow. theres a corolla in my family we got for $500, and we've had it for like 15 years - my sister still drives it.

all the other choices will cost you money in repairs and shit. wife and I had a great '87 tercel that I used as a roofing vehicle till i killed it.

have 2 civics now 97 and 99, doing great, require very little attention.

honestly you can't afford anything else.

nissan sentra is not a bad choice either.

don't buy american, european, korean or mazda, or any suv or truck(there are exceptions to these but you can't afford any of them).

toyota, honda, nissan, period. stay with the base models and smallest vehicles.

[ShredLife]

you will pay 2-4 times as much for parts for any European car that you would for Jap/US parts... jus sayin.

[poutanen]

Originally Posted by snowklinger

honda civic or toyota corolla. great in snow. theres a corolla in my family we got for $500, and we've had it for like 15 years - my sister still drives it.

all the other choices will cost you money in repairs and shit. wife and I had a great '87 tercel that I used as a roofing vehicle till i killed it.

+1... My first car was an '82 Celica for $1300... Still wish I never sold it! Had a '92 Camry base model that did 455,000 km then I sold it for almost $1000.

My GF just bought her first vehicle. I fronted her the money. I told her to get a corolla/camry/celica or similar. She wanted a Subaru or a 4Runner. Ended up paying $5k for a really nice 4Runner in good shape, but with high mileage.

The truck has been great, but she had her first off road adventure (not on purpose) and now it needs $1000 worth of body work. Where does that money come from? She still hasn't paid off the truck to begin with...

For a first car START SMALL!!! In upstate NY you should be able to buy a 90's Camry with low mileage for a reasonable amount.

2000 Toyota Corolla LX-silver-auto powerdoors,windows,tilt&cruise-125K | Remsen | eBay Classifieds (Kijiji) | 21707113

[Clarion]

I bought this during high school in 1995.

Red '88 Tercel for $700. Needed new breaks and a distributor cap to pass inspection but my dad taught me how to change them myself. I was also anal about changing the oil regularly during it's life. Learned how to drive standard on this beater too. It had 120K on it when I purchased it and then I put 150K more in 5 years until one cylinder blew. When the second cylinder blew I sold it to scrap yard for $200.

My friends and I had some amazing times with that crap box.... Believe it or not, this car picked up chicks, perhaps a couple were fugly but that was because my buddy lost a bet. The rest were definitely not fugly.

[slyder]

I 2nd the neon. They are dirt cheap parts are readily available new and bone yard. Easy to work on and with snow tires on mine goes like a raped ape through snow.

[poutanen]

Originally Posted by slyder

I 2nd the neon. They are dirt cheap parts are readily available new and bone yard. Easy to work on and with snow tires on mine goes like a raped ape through snow.

I would stay FAR FAR AWAY from a Neon, Cavalier, Sunfire or other domestic econobox. Seen too many of them turn into money pits! While the engine in a corolla or civic can and will go on forever, the domestics are not so lucky.

Of course now I've opened up a ball of wax any everyone will tell me about their uncles ford escort that went 800,000 miles, but the stats don't lie. Toyota's last longer.

[slyder]

Originally Posted by poutanen

I would stay FAR FAR AWAY from a Neon, Cavalier, Sunfire or other domestic econobox. Seen too many of them turn into money pits! While the engine in a corolla or civic can and will go on forever, the domestics are not so lucky.

Not to jump on the band wagon but I have to tell my experience. The neon platform is solid and much more affordable than a corolla or similar. The community Neon.org is there should he need help or great information on how to fix something. More than likely this kinda network isn't there for low end Toyota's. Again a great cost savings if $$$ is truly an issue.
Parts and insurance will be cheaper as well and readily available
I have a heavily modified SRT neon, it is the same motor as the 2.4 and 100k miles and it doesn't burn a drop of oil. Routine maintenance and only failure was a starter this spring. The 2.0 is also a super strong motor, easy to work on and great gas mileage.

Again just trying to find best bang for buck if this is what he is looking for.