Suggestions For First Car?

[TheMackDaddy]

My parents won't buy me a Tesla (sweetest cars ever), so I have to look elsewhere. I just started driver's ed (Almost 17 but had no desire to get my license until now...

Probably looking in the $3,500-5000 range although the more expensive, the more hard labor I will probably have to do LOL.

Has to be:

safe

reliable

low-ish miles

classy

I don't know where to begin and my dad has an irrational theory that only Hondas are reliable. Help!

[bubbagump]

That price range, I say get yourself a little pickup. Throw your golf stuff in the back, fishing gear, hunting anything.

Check out some Dodge Dakotas, Ford Rangers

[TheMackDaddy]

Appreciate the comment, I'm not really a truck guy an they don't get good milage usually.

Volvo s40 or Mazda rx-8? Are those good?

[bubbagump]

Not sure youll find an Rx8 under under 5k, you may have to drop back a few years in models to fit in that range. Volvos are usually pretty solid cars. Its really such a subjective thing, what kind of cars/looks are you into?

Honda Preludes are sweet little cars, you can find one in that range and chances are with some upgrades.
Mitsuibishi Eclipses of all years/variety. the 1999 GSX were a great car.
Im sure you can find tons of mustangs too, Civics, Celicas as well.

Those are just some off the top of my head

[Falang_Golfer]

Hmm that's a tough price range. My suggestion would be to go to autotrader or cars.com and sort by price to get an idea of what you can get. Then go from there, look up safety, reliability of whatever you choose. I've got some pretty good random cars doing it that way as it opens up options you don't think of.

[Petethreeput]

My 5 cents. I bought a $50K S60R and it died at 51,000 miles. That is 1000 miles over the warranty, no help, nothing. Died, not broke, died, the drive train. No help. F em.

Do not buy a Volvo unless you are a sucker...

I bought it because my friends had the old ones that ran forever, but I bought an 05 and it was a POS.

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

Something you can pay cash for. I'd look at used Hondas, Toyotas or Mazdas.

[KPH808]

Around $5k you can get an 04/05 Altima, that'd be a decent first car with good gas mileage. Maybe since you are in the Pacific NW, early 2000s Subaru?

[TheMackDaddy]

Our family has had 3 volvos... They have had their fair of problems.

[gmetcalf18]

for the price range either honda civic, toyota, or a subaru. It's not going to be fancy, if it is there's something wrong with it. I got my girl a nice a6 for 5200 with 102k mile, but it's the wagon so you might not be so keen on that body style, sedan gets you into the 7k+ and the turbo which is more insurance and less reliable. Get a sedan, if you get snow awd is great, don't worry about what it looks like as much as how well it's going to get you around. I spend 9k on an old bmw, looked pretty good and that thing was an absolute nightmare, the guy wanted to be done with it and I was the sucker that got it. My stepdad got a subaru for 2500 in 2008 and he's still driving it with over 300k on the odometer and he's put in about 1000 in the last 5 years including a new set of tires so not a bad investment considering he drives probably 20k miles a year

[sTmGolfer]

Nissan Altimas are very reliable and have a ton of trunk space. Great gas mileage. Similar to a Honda Accord but I prefer the Altima personally.

VW's are great cars but electronics can have trouble in them and then are pricey to repair.

A 5-speed Honda Prelude would fit the bill. Not as much space, but hella-fun to drive. For a first car, will be reliable as you could ask for and are super fun to drive.

[11under]

[quote name='TheMackDaddy' timestamp='1380855922' post='7950661']
Our family has had 3 volvos... They have had their fair of problems.
[/quote]

A Volvo V70 is where it's at. I drive one and the gas milage is fair and you can fit multiple golf bags in the trunk/back if you ever need to.

[TheMackDaddy]

I can't fit behind the wheel of a 97' accord. My legs are too long and I'm not joking. I have to pull myself out of the car. Can't imagine a prelude would be much better... And they look kind of scuzzy.

[Thrillhouse]

Going back to my high school car experience, it seemed like the vast majority of my buddies were trying to get the coolest car for $3500 they could get.

The problem with that is you wind up with something that has 200,000 miles on it that has had the crap driven out of it. It might sort of look cool but its going to give you more problems than its worth.

I know its a boring option, but get a civic or a corolla that hasn't been abused. I'm 6'5", and they might not be the most comfortable, but I can fit in both of those cars so leg room should not be a problem.

[joeshmo]

Lots to choose from.
The most important thing no matter the price range..ALL books, records and
maintenance are up to date.

[highergr0und]

It honestly sounds like you're in for a big letdown if you can't force yourself to get behind the idea of some of these older cars. For $5k you simply aren't going to get a lot. I'd focus on reliability, and yes, that puts you into a basic sedan from the early 2000s models. You may be able to find an older model Ford Fusion if you can't get behind the Honda.

A lot of people end up with beater first cars, and it's not the car, it's the fun you have with it.

[JasonFL]

[quote name='TheMackDaddy' timestamp='1380842301' post='7949543']
My parents won't buy me a Tesla (sweetest cars ever), so I have to look elsewhere. I just started driver's ed (Almost 17 but had no desire to get my license until now...
Probably looking in the $3,500-5000 range although the more expensive, the more hard labor I will probably have to do LOL.
Has to be:
safe
reliable
low-ish miles
classy
I don't know where to begin and my dad has an irrational theory that only Hondas are reliable. Help!
[/quote]

Hondas are reliable.

And that's what I was going to suggest.

10 years ago my neighbor and I built a hatch civic that ran the 1/4 mile in 12.7 seconds naturally aspirated. Even then it never broke.

Back then their main problem was a $100 igniter inside the distributor cap. That was about it.

If I were you with that budget I'd be looking at Nissan Altimas, Honda Accords, or Civics.

[JasonFL]

And one more. I agree with the Subaru comment.

However before/if you buy it make sure the previous owner has replaced all of the gaskets.

The motor will run forever. The gaskets give out at 150k.

[OzzDOA]

In all honesty I would suggest for your first car to get the biggest POS you can find. It'll teach you how to care for and keep a vehicle in running order. The things you learn how to do will save you thousands of dallars over your lifetime. More and more often people don't know how to perform even routine maintanance on their cars. I know countless 30 somethings that don't even know how to check tire pressure. Modern cars make this more difficult because of all the electronics involved but you can get a $20 bluetooth OBDII device that works with a $10 smart phone app that will pull codes from any car and allow you diagnose and troubleshoot CEL related issues.

[hammy83]

important question....Who is paying your insurance? because if you are, honda civics are one of the highest cars to insure. The rx-8 used I wouldnt touch with a 10 foot pole. Those rotery engines are good for high output from a small engine, downside is they are not know for longivity. How classy do you think you can be in a 5K car? no offense but worry about that when you havea career. Right now think about reliability, cheap on gas, cheap on insurance then think about looks. I personally would be looking at an accord, VW golf, camry and an old buick.
Your buying used so think about how much aftermarket parts are. A volvo is going to be expensive to repair. more common cars such as a corolla, civic, accord, etc have a massive aftermarket category which keeps replacement parts low for the most part. I know here I can get a replacement 92-00 civic engine and tranny for less than 1K and install it myself. Dont worry about doing up your ride either. Sure it will make it faster and more fun to drive but you never get that money back and trust me... you will regret it later.

[Thrillhouse]

[quote name='hammy83' timestamp='1380902257' post='7952457']
important question....Who is paying your insurance? because if you are, honda civics are one of the highest cars to insure.
[/quote]

I wouldn't go that far, they are relatively more expensive on the comprehensive and collision portion coverage than other comparable vehicles in their class, this is based on a lot of factors such as rate of incidence, cost of repairs/parts, number of them on the road etc. but its not like a 2002 civic is anywhere near say, a 2010 mercedes S class as far as collision and comprehensive goes, and liability rates are based on the age, gender, past history of the driver, so as far as that goes it completely depends on the driver and not on the car and this is the most expensive portion of the policy anyway.

Plus many people who driver older cheaper cars only opt for the liability portion of the policy anyway, in which case the type of car becomes essentially irrelevant.

Anyway, MackD, you can go to an insurance agency and get quotes for cars you think you might buy to see what the hit is for the coverage you want, its a normal thing to do and they'll have no problem doing it for you. Plus do the drivers ed, it can often lower the rate you'll have to pay as a new driver.

[Yanki01]

don't expect anything "nice" in that price range unless you get lucky. Honda, Toyota, Nissan are all reliable in their older years. check your local used lots (reliable ones, funny I know) and you can sometimes get lucky on checking the VIN on Google to somehow get a free carfax. though if it's an older car it may not have all the history on there. look for good tired, check the dip stick and see how the oil is, make sure it runs good and no crazy sounds coming from anywhere.

[jh19]

I'd vote for an Acura RSX, or older style RL/TL.

[Latt]

I'm interested to see what you end up with considering your large list of requirements compared to small budget

[teeitlow]

At that price range your looking at older rigs with higher miles.
Couple of things to think about when purchasing a higher mile rig...
Mechanical failures, and availability of parts.
Mechanical skills, and the expense of parts.

Subaru and Chevy...I own both
Subaru as stated above just wont die.
Chevy parts are the cheapest cost wise out there and they are stupid easy to work on.

Too bad your not a truck guy because the '72 K5 Blazer falls right into your budget...such a sweet rig!
-D

[deadsolid...shank]

For $5,000, throw the low mileage requirement out the window (unless it's the proverbial old grandma car, church on Sunday and the grocery store, which you won't want), they're just not out there right now. What five thousand buys you now is what $2,500 bought you three or four years ago. The availabilty of older used models has gone down greatly.

On that budget the car I would be looking for is a early 2000's Toyota Camry four cyclinder. Plenty big enough (although I fail to see how anyone under about 6'6" couldn't fit in a older Accord), great fuel mileage, and relatively bullet proof. They also have a timing chain instead of a belt so you don't have to worry about incurring the cost of changing that.

I just boght my son and daughter in law a 06 with 130,000 on it. I'm confident that car will see him through till he's done with school.

[Petethreeput]

So, off the Volvo for a minute, that was quite a rant on my part... sorry, I just had a really poor experience.

I agree with what most everyone said. For your price range, I would drop "stylish" from the equation. The less expensive stylish cars tend to be older and in worse shape. I don't think your folks are too far off with the Honda, Subaru and Toyota are also reliable.

Spend as little on your vehicle as you can at this age. It is essentially a dying investment whose only function is to take you from home to golf course, and then back.

As a father of a daughter, DO NOT GET A VAN.

Good luck and I hope you find something that fits your sensibilities... and your folks.

[TheMackDaddy]

So I told my parents that I deserve a nice car since I will probably be saving them money in the long run if/when I get a scholarship... They didn't go for that.
I'll look into Suburus... Unfortunately Imprezas are out of the picture. Curse my taste.
I tried driving stick shift today and held people up at a light for like 2 minutes trying to get the car to move. Poor people.

[TheMackDaddy]

And why do Nissan Skyline's have to have the steering wheel on the right?! Is that legal because I want one.

[leadfoot_mf]

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lots of old ford vic police interceptors out there as a 17 year old kid this would be the best car you could own plenty of room for your golf buddies and clubs. Even the playing field with the cops and use genuine cop equipment only down side is gas but that's what your friends that don't have a car are for.

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