First Car Help! UPDATE: Celica Vs. Eclipse!

[Spitfire599]

Civics are good, but my dad already has one. Any thoughts on a Celica?

[adamd]

Which year?

All are pretty competent cars, the Gen7 is one of the best FWD cars of it's time. Depending on year, same thing I said about the Corolla, over there at that price range I guess you will be looking more at the GT than a GT-S? The two engines fitted are very very different beasts.

[nialloftara]

01-02 Infiniti g20t, about 3k for a good one, 145hp sr20de and a limited slip diff with a pretty strong gearbox.

[VicVictory]

If you want a Corolla without being a Toyota, there's always the Geo/Chevy Prizm... which is a Corolla. With a bowtie. Literally.

To whoever said the Lexus ES earlier -- my first reaction was "because any one you can get for under $4k in the US is going to be thrashed to utter hell".

There's a point at which reliable cars with high resale value end up being worth much less than the market value dictates.

Honestly as butt-ugly as it is, the Aztek makes a certain kind of sense. The worst part about their reliability was the intake manifold gaskets on those V6's, but even that can be mitigated through proper maintenance.

Another performance-ish sedan I haven't seen on this list is the Contour SVT. A little bit of a sleeper, and they can be picked up cheap. Though they're a bear to service.

Of course, I'm a fan of post-merger Hyundais and Kias (2004+). Their reliability quickly rose around that time, but their resale value remains low. Low mileage, maintained examples are still a huge bang for the buck.

[Spitfire599]

If you want a Corolla without being a Toyota, there's always the Geo/Chevy Prizm... which is a Corolla. With a bowtie. Literally.

To whoever said the Lexus ES earlier -- my first reaction was "because any one you can get for under $4k in the US is going to be thrashed to utter hell".

There's a point at which reliable cars with high resale value end up being worth much less than the market value dictates.

Honestly as butt-ugly as it is, the Aztek makes a certain kind of sense. The worst part about their reliability was the intake manifold gaskets on those V6's, but even that can be mitigated through proper maintenance.

Another performance-ish sedan I haven't seen on this list is the Contour SVT. A little bit of a sleeper, and they can be picked up cheap. Though they're a bear to service.

Of course, I'm a fan of post-merger Hyundais and Kias (2004+). Their reliability quickly rose around that time, but their resale value remains low. Low mileage, maintained examples are still a huge bang for the buck.

First off, that thing about the Prizm - Besides the Aveo, that's the only Chevy I WOULDN'T buy. It's just too.. plain. And plus, once you slap the bowtie on there, the reliability drops by about half.

I totally agree with you about the Lexus. No way. Plus, insurance costs are going to be pretty high for that thing.

The Aztek makes a "Certain kind of sense?" It makes complete sense! If you're willing to get past the ugliness, it's a decent car.

I can't find a Contour SVT, not in my budget or in my area.

Let me tell you why I will never buy a Hyundai or a Kia. About a year ago, my grandmother, who is 90 years old, suffered a 10 mile an hour crash in her 2009 Hyundai Sonata. She crashed into a small house, and while the house was largely undamaged, the car was totaled. After a ten mph impact. I'm sorry, but I really don't want a car as flimsy as that one.

[Spitfire599]

Also, what's your opinion on this?

http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventoryl ... =106685342

My opinion: Ricer much?

[07CobaltGirl]

  Code:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=60603&endYear=1999&vehicleStyleCodes=CONVERT%2CCOUPE&modelCode1=3_SERIES&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=67719&startYear=1992&makeCode1=BMW&searchRadius=100&showcaseListingId=0&mmt=[BMW[][3_SERIES[]]]&listingId=379761605&Log=0

You'll have to paste it into your browser but....

Your First Car

/thread

[VicVictory]

Let me tell you why I will never buy a Hyundai or a Kia. About a year ago, my grandmother, who is 90 years old, suffered a 10 mile an hour crash in her 2009 Hyundai Sonata. She crashed into a small house, and while the house was largely undamaged, the car was totaled. After a ten mph impact. I'm sorry, but I really don't want a car as flimsy as that one.

Then either your insurance adjuster was a jack*** or she hit the house in a very VERY bizarre manner. Or it was more than 10 MPH. We had an '05 Tucson that my wife rear-ended a guy on the freeway at about a 30 MPH speed differential, shoving his pickup into another pickup in front of them. The sandwiched pickup (a Nissan Frontier) was totaled. The other truck (also, oddly enough, a Nissan Fronter) suffered minor damage. Our car was pretty jacked up in the front and had to be towed from the scene due to a cracked radiator, yet cost wise was only half of the threshold necessary to total it, thus it was repaired and soldiered on for many more trouble-free years (before we had to trade it in on a minivan)

But I digress, to each their own.

You ask of the Celica. I think Celicas are a fine vehicle. That said, I would take THAT particular Celica to a mechanic for an inspection before even considering it. See that lovely 2-tone paint job? (or maybe it's vinyl, I can't tell.) 99% chance that was owned by a tuner. Which means it's been flogged. So those 145k miles are probably closer to 300k on a normal car.

[oppositelock]

My opinion: Ricer much?

Yeah, that's terrible.

I'm not a Mustang guy per se, but this would likely be one of the cooler rides in your school parking lot. Looks fairly clean, too.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/4889124917.html

[Spitfire599]

Okay, maybe I should elaborate a little. My 4000 budget INCLUDES insurance costs, so I'm essentially cutting my budget for a car in half.

[Spitfire599]

Your First Car

Hey, at least it's a Bimmer...

[VicVictory]

Well... what about this? http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/4889633082.html

[Spitfire599]

UPDATE: I have finally narrowed the hunt down to two cars: I removed the Aztek because it was rediculous and someone at my school already has one. So the cars are: 2001 Toyota Celica GT vs 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS! Post your thoughts below.

[VicVictory]

Celica. Parts are more common, as are mechanics familiar with them. Motors are better built. Also they're a lot lighter; the Eclipse is a pig. I used to work for a Mitsu dealership and HATED having to move them around.

[Slim Jim]

+1 for the Celica. My neighbor has one.