First car suggestions?

[zeturi]

I'm gonna be buying a car pretty soon. Just looking for something that runs well and is decent with gas. I'm hoping to stick with a Ford or Chevy. Anyone know of any good car that I can get for $600-$1000? I'm absolutely clueless here; I've never had to know anything about cars, or even know the streets around me till now.

 

[vskid3]

Can you drive/learn to drive manual? A manual will gain you a few MPGs if its that important to you, and many cheap small cars are manual. I would look for a Ford Escort or Geo Metro. Neither are fast or sexy, but they should get the job done and be reliable (or cheap to fix if needed). As far as price/availability, it all depends on your area. Make sure you have a few hundred left over from the purchase of the car to cover any problems that come up.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

If you get to the point where you can afford a nicer car, get a Subaru. They're very reliable, good gas mileage, cheap parts if anything breaks, and most of them have AWD. Got room for hauling around your friends or any junk you need to move, too. Multiple people in my family, both in the past and now, have owned them, and I've never heard any complaints about them.

I'm hopefully getting one as my first car. It's an older one (a 1986 GL-10 Turbo wagon), but if it can be fixed up and given a desperately-needed cleaning, it'll be badass.

 

[XCVG]

Buy anything but a Hyundai.

 

[Basement_Modder]

1990-1994 ford tempo cars are good, cheap, and get like 40mpg.

 

[epicelite]

Do you have money to pay for insurance too?

Get a Chevy then drive it to a levy.

 

[Mako321]

Toyota Camry's are really reliable, my dad's ran for 440 000 km with no part replacements, over 10 years of driving.

 

[zeturi]

I was thinking of the Escort, I got a friend that buys and repairs those pretty often. I've also seen a few firebirds go for around $1000, but I know the insurance is gonna be higher. I'm not sure if I want to learn how to drive a stick shift, I've heard it's a bit harder to learn.

Also, insurance is gonna be killer. $160 from Progressive just for liability. I pretended I was gonna have an El Camino/Ranchero. I'm probably gonna have to find a smaller company to get better rates.

T_W, I have nothin'. I'm going to buy the vehicle in a month from now, but probably won't drive it or get it insured until September. Down the road, I'd like to get an El Camino and purty it up.

Like I said, Ford or Chevy is what I'd like to stick to. My family has gone through a lot of vehicles, but the Fords and Chevys seem to last. We've had a Hyundai at one point, and a Mazda, and they all crap out. Or we're just a bit rough on our vehicles.

I've been checking craigslist pretty often. That most likely where I'm getting my car.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[J.D]

'95 - '99 Honda Civic

 

[epicelite]

Toyota Camry's are really reliable, my dad's ran for 440 000 km with no part replacements, over 10 years of driving.

My dad has a Camry and for his job drives at least 100 miles a day, not EVERY day, but it has never had a issue.

Well... the power windows stopped working on front passenger side and read driver side...

 

[vskid3]

'95 - '99 Honda Civic

+1 We have a '97 Civic DX sedan stick shift (the base one, no vtec or anything). It has over 200,000 miles and still runs like a champ. Gets 40 MPG at 70-75MPH with the AC on and about 30MPG city. Only reason I didn't suggest one was because of price, most running Civics that haven't been molested by ricers sell for well over $1000 in my area. We are mainly a domestics family, but we have absolutely no complaints about our Civic and plan on running it into the ground, which should be a long ways off.

Stick shift isn't too bad to learn. If you have someone experienced teach you in an empty parking lot you should catch on quick. I despise driving automatics because of the lack of control and they're boring. If you have use of all your limbs, learn to drive one. Even if you don't get one, its a nice skill to have.

Firebirds are sweet, but you would be throwing the "decent with gas" requirement out the window.

Could you link us to the Craigslist areas close to you, so we can get an idea of what the market is like there?

 

[snowpenguin]

Check out the Honda Insight from 2000-2003 or so, they can get 72 mpg and can be found for ~$2000. The extra cost may be well worth the savings on gas.

 

[zeturi]

Sure.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cta/

I know the firebird'll be worse on gas because of the engine, but there's a guy selling several of them for ~$1000. They don't look bad, and they don't seem to have any problems. I figured it should be alright, I just don't want something that'll eat gas like a V8 truck. Like my el camino.

 

[Mister Shuckle]

Just thought I'd suggest a 1970's Volkswagen Beetle, which is what I plan to drive once I get my license. If it's been repaired well, it'll be pretty reliable, and parts are literally everywhere. Seriously. You can go anywhere in the world and they'll have stuff for them.

 

[robm]

Insurance is Heck for kids on those.

I love me my F bodies (Camaros and Firebirds,) I have had four of them:

1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
1988 Pontiac Firebird Formula
1994 Chevrolet Camaro
2001 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6

They're great cars. If you get one older than 1993, expect a headache. They are toy cars, and they constantly need SOMETHING done to them. With that said, they're bucketloads of fun, and you can get a T-top with a V6 engine. You'd still get over 20 miles to the gallon, you could take your top off for summer fun, and you can get them in a stick shift too.

Learn to drive a manual. Trust me, you'll be very glad one day you did.

 

[Mako321]

Toyota Camry's are really reliable, my dad's ran for 440 000 km with no part replacements, over 10 years of driving.

My dad has a Camry and for his job drives at least 100 miles a day, not EVERY day, but it has never had a issue.

Well... the power windows stopped working on front passenger side and read driver side...

My dad went at least 60 or 70 km a day in it, and it finally died late '09. (it didn't have power windows, so I wouldn't know)

 

[grossaffe]

Don't get anything older than 1996, I'd say. See if you can find a Taurus or a Sable with under 100,000 miles on it.

Or, if you really want a good deal, look at an aerostar. Those things are built like tanks. Our last aerostar had over 250,000 miles on it before we sold it. We've now bought another one. I mean, its not beautiful, but it gets the job done, it'll hold all your crap, its reliable and will take a beating. I believe the 6-cylinder is considered a "bulletproof" engine meaning its tried and true and is highly reliable.

 

[vskid3]

Sure.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cta/

I know the firebird'll be worse on gas because of the engine, but there's a guy selling several of them for ~$1000. They don't look bad, and they don't seem to have any problems. I figured it should be alright, I just don't want something that'll eat gas like a V8 truck. Like my el camino.

Not many cheap cars in your area. If you won't be driving more than 30 miles a day regularly, then a Firebird will probably do good enough on gas. The V6 doesn't do much better gas-wise than the V8, so I would go for a V8.

 

[jleemero]

Just thought I'd suggest a 1970's Volkswagen Beetle, which is what I plan to drive once I get my license. If it's been repaired well, it'll be pretty reliable, and parts are literally everywhere. Seriously. You can go anywhere in the world and they'll have stuff for them.

This.
I'm not saying they're the best first-car, but they are AWESOME.

My first car was a 1968 VW Beetle.
My second and current car is a 1972 Super Beetle with a good deal of work put into it.

I love these cars, they're reliable, and cheap to maintain.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Should I buy this???

LINKY