First Car Help

[Hoffer 0]

I am starting to look into buying my first car and was wondering what cars and companies you suggest going with and why. My price range is 8000 dollars and cheaper, preferably cheaper. Some of the companies and cars I have been looking at are Honda prelude, Volkswagen jetta or gti, or Toyota camry. What do you guys think?

[LkptTiger 1]

I'm under the impression that you can't go wrong with a Honda. My brother is an automotive tech at Lexus, but he interned at a Honda dealer for a while and RAVED about the quality of their cars. I also have a buddy who is driving a Civic with something like 185,000 miles on it - the thing runs like a top, and is damn good on gas, too.

I can't really comment on Toyotas, but I can tell you that I've heard some Volkswagon horror stories.

[bdj 0]

Any type of car well taken care of can run super high miles, my friend has a jetta with 330,000km and my Ford F150 has a little north of 380,000km now.

[greech 4]

I'd be careful with the vdubs- their reputation as a reliable car is shady. I test drove a Jetta GLI with 15,xxx miles on it last year and it felt (and sounded) like a bucket. It doesn't speak for the company collectively, but, take it for what it's worth. But, as Lkpt said, Hondas (and toyotas and mazdas) are reliable as anything and sip gas.

[Rustpot 1]

What do you need in a car? You can buy a $500 car that will get you to school and back, dump the rest into a bank account and sit on it.

You can get a used Subaru WRX, a mid 90's BMW, Audi, etc for around that, an older truck, a newer econocar, etc.

I'm 21 and I've been through 5 cars already. The first 4 were family cars that ended up as mine (youngest kid in the family) and I was never happy with them since they never fit what I wanted. My newest car is a '01 Volvo AWD wagon, and I love it, mostly since it's what I wanted, but I'm already feeling the woes of foreign car maintenance..i I just wish the options for AWD vehicles wasn't as limited as it is.

Pick what you want, do your research and find a good deal. If you sacrifice things when buying a car, the decision will quickly turn sour and you'll regret buying it.

Buying cars is a complicated thing, more than just maintenance comes into play, and everyone is looking for something different. (That's why they make so many different cars!)

Edit: Used cars are also a lot about getting to know the previous owner. If you're looking to get a sportier car, chances are it's being sold because the previous owner drove it like he stole it and now wants to steal your money for a time bomb. My friend found an older Geo Tracker owned by an old lady going to church and back (and groceries, etc) and the '91 had 15,000 miles on it, pristine everything, and she bought it for something like $5,000. Be wary, take your time, and research everything!

[EBondo 233]

Hondas are probably your best bet. Some are good for 300,000 miles. I just bought a 98 Civic with 108,000 miles on it for 3600 and it seems to run great.

[Monty22 833]

I vote Honda- I've had excellent luck thus far with them.

[willy0314 0]

The only advice I can give you is to wait as long as possible before you buy something. The longer you can wait and look around, the better and happier you'll be with the car your going to end up buying. When I bought my last car, a mustang - it took me about 4 or 5 months before I found a car that I was happy buying. Drove that car for 3 or 4 years and spent the entire last year driving it looking for my next ride. I ended up buying a 07 ranger in august as an end of the year blowout kind of thing. If I would have bought the same truck a month eariler I would have paid $2000 more and got a worse APR. So yeah wait and look around as much as possible, don't buy the first car you come across.

As for what was said about the Jetta's above, I looked at them quite a bit before I bought the truck. The only negative I've heard is that they are expensive to fix. A side from that they are supposed to be decent cars and hold up rather well. You could always google up consumer reviews and reports on the cars that you are interested, then you can form your own opinions.

[Rustpot 1]

I agree with guys like willy, but I maintain there is one thing to beware of; The car may have excellent reviews and reliability reports, but that doesn't look at what each owner does.

If you want a Jetta and the guy that owned it previously continuously redlined the engine, drove hard, waited 10,000 miles between oil changes... even if he didn't wait 2,000 miles before taking the car above 50 mph- the car will have undue wear that those reports won't reflect. You need to have a mechanic inspect any vehicle, even if it's coming from a used car lot with a "Certified" sticker. The extra $100 for the independent inspection (which you should do once you select the car you're going to buy, not on everything you look at) could save you a few thousand in repairs, or even save you from a premature breakdown that leaves you stranded. Even if you end up have 2 or 3 cars inspected, you will thank yourself in the end.

[willy0314 0]

If you want a Jetta and the guy that owned it previously continuously redlined the engine, drove hard, waited 10,000 miles between oil changes... even if he didn't wait 2,000 miles before taking the car above 50 mph- the car will have undue wear that those reports won't reflect. You need to have a mechanic inspect any vehicle, even if it's coming from a used car lot with a "Certified" sticker. The extra $100 for the independent inspection (which you should do once you select the car you're going to buy, not on everything you look at) could save you a few thousand in repairs, or even save you from a premature breakdown that leaves you stranded. Even if you end up have 2 or 3 cars inspected, you will thank yourself in the end.

true true good advice - theres always a risk in buying a used car.

[Remman 0]

I'll throw a vote in for the Honda. I had a late 80's Acura Integra, which most parts were Honda made, which lasted me longer than my recently passed '00 Cherokee, and my current Durango, which has problems...

[Rustpot 1]

I'll throw a vote in for the Honda. I had a late 80's Acura Integra, which most parts were Honda made, which lasted me longer than my recently passed '00 Cherokee, and my current Durango, which has problems...

To be fair, those are Chrysler products. Their best car was the K car line.

[D aka speck 0]

I'll throw a vote in for the Honda. I had a late 80's Acura Integra, which most parts were Honda made, which lasted me longer than my recently passed '00 Cherokee, and my current Durango, which has problems...

To be fair, those are Chrysler products. Their best car was the K car line.

Just to clarify...

The Acura is a made by Honda Motor Corp.

The Chrysler reference is to the Cherokee (Jeep) and the Durango (Dodge).

Not to discredit the post... just wanted to end potential confusion before it began.

[Chadd 916]

I had terrible luck with my Jetta, total piece of shit. My wife had an 01 or 02 cougar that I started driving when she got a new car. It's actually pretty solid and they're pretty cheap and easy to find around here.

Here are a couple things to keep in mind.

Mileage is usually better with a 4 cylinder engine

Insurance is usually lower with four doors and a four cylinder engine

Avoid any car that says "GT" or "turbo" as well as anything that is going to kill your insurance

Hatchbacks make it easy to load hockey equipment

Like finding the perfect pair of skates, check out everything you can and try them all on for size. Don't rush your selection and you'll know when you find the right car.

[D aka speck 0]

Speaking of hatchbacks...

The Pontiac Vibe aka the Toyota Matrix (they're essentially the same car) gets great mileage and happens to be fun to drive.

[Spreedizzle 1]

My ex-fiance (long story) had a Jetta and it was in and out of the shop all of the time, mainly with electrical issues, which I have heard has always been the achilles heel with VW's. I can put in very solid votes for both the Honda Civic and Toyota Camry. Have owned both cars and never had an issue with either (Civic I sold with 212,000 on it, Camry with 196,000) and they both were manual transmissions. Both had the factory clutch in them until about 140,000 miles. With the Toyota's though.....the 4cly are FAR superior in reliability compared to the V6's, and with better gas mileage and maintenance costs. For hockey....the Accord/Camry will be larger and I have been able to stuff 4 people complete with gear in them, while I could only do 3 in the Civic. This could be both a pro and a con. :D

[rogue 0]

I would highly recommend taking a look a Nissans, either newer Altimas (with a V6) or any year Maxima. If one of those fits your needs and taste it would be a great buy. My family owns probably 50% Nissan's and compared to the other cars in the family, the Nissan's are flawless. The only maintenance I've seen performed on 4 Maximas, a Pathfinder, and a 350z have been routine things such as oil changes and brakes. No dying alternators, blown head gaskets, leaky radiators, bad CV joints, nothing.

The V6 engine that Nissan puts in its cars is really amazing. When I bought my new car I looked for 5 months before I found something. I was set on not getting a Nissan because when my Lincoln started to be too unsafe to drive all I drove were family Nissans for the past year, I wanted something different. Reading reviews for other cars I saw that the Maxima was frequently used as a benchmark for quality and reliability.

For the past 13 years Nissan's V6 engine has been on Ward's Top 10 engine list. Most companies struggle to repeat 2 years in a row, even with different engines, Nissan, only some years making small changes, has been on the list since the first year this engine was available. It is used in everything from the Altima and Maxima sedans to the 350z sports cars to the Nissan SUVs, its very versatile and fuel efficient. I get 30 mpg highway in my car.

I frequent a Maxima forum and there are plenty of people driving Maximas in like new condition and operation that have 200 or 250,000 miles on them. Within the Maxima community it is not uncommon for people to buy a Maxima with 175,000 miles on it because they know if it was cared for it will run like it did new for another 100,000.

The Nissan V6 has no timing belt, it uses a chain. So many of the horror stories you hear about people buying new cars and having them die right away are due to improperly maintained timing belts which will ruin the engine if they fail. These require regular replacement but how many people really replace those things just because the manual says they need to, most people go with the idea that until a problem arises they aren't going to replace anything. With the timing belt, the first sign that there is a problem is also when it is time for you to find a new engine for the car. A timing chain does not however need replacement, it doesn't crack or break, it is intended to last long past the lifetime of the car.

I hope I was of some help, and know that I am not a proponent of Nissan just because of family history, I didn't make the decision to go with Nissan myself until I saw the evidence for myself.

No one else has mentioned Nissan but I think that it is at least worth checking out.

[krwwc6 0]

I'd just like to throw in that if you are looking at cars. . . and come across jettas owners that changed their oil every 10,000 miles. . . . its because that is waht the owners manual says to do.

also, everything is expensive on volkswagens when you need something fixed. I have one now, and I love the car but I don't think I'll be going back to volkswagen for my next car, unless all reviews have changed.

Only reason I still have it is because it is payed for. no car payments is a great thing.

[Jarick 5]

In your case I would buy a Civic or Accord. Hold their value well, run forever, great gas mileage, easy to find parts and mechanics. I would avoid domestic and German cars, the former because they aren't reliable in the long run and the latter because they are VERY expensive to fix.

I bought an 02 BMW 330xi last spring and have already paid out $4k in repairs with a possibly complete transmission failure ($5k+ for a rebuild) looming in the distance. Meanwhile, my roommate bought an 01 Integra and has had exactly ZERO problems with it. Needless to say, I'm looking at a new Japanese car.

[Rustpot 1]

I'd just like to throw in that if you are looking at cars. . . and come across jettas owners that changed their oil every 10,000 miles. . . . its because that is waht the owners manual says to do.

also, everything is expensive on volkswagens when you need something fixed. I have one now, and I love the car but I don't think I'll be going back to volkswagen for my next car, unless all reviews have changed.

Only reason I still have it is because it is payed for. no car payments is a great thing.

Foreign cars are usually dealer serviced and those dealers make the bulk of their profit through their garage. Why do those cars run shitty? Things like telling you 10,000 miles between oil changes.

Take a look at your oil after driving 1,000 miles, it will have debris, be dark and be much more viscous than new. In reality, most cars can go their life without an oil change, but the life will be much shorter.

Volvo says changing the auto trans fluid isn't necessary, yet their '01-03 models had significant transmission problems that many people prevented by following a 20-50k mile changing regimen.

Check the user manual for the euro model. Nine times out of 10 they differ in service schedule since the way cars are taken care of in Europe differs greatly (both preventive maintenance and garage repairs).

[joelnmich 0]

+1 for Honda....

Very reliable, safe, got some pep....only drawback is the service schedule that keeps it reliable...it's a bit pricey.

Wife had one as a college student and we just traded it in a year ago...10 years after she bought it with zero problems,

[precursor 0]

My brother has an 03 Jetta, and he has had ton's of problems with it. None of them were major, but they sure have added up. Even as a write this, it's in the shop for getting his wiper motor replaced.. he's looking at 350-400 just to get that done.

I own a Nissan Xterra, and the quality has been superb. Only money I have put into it was for tuneup parts (plugs, wires, rotor), brakes, and tires. Not that I would buy a truck with gas prices the way they are, but I don't think you can go wrong with a honda, nissan, or toyota.. Japanese > Euro.

[the1gwiz 0]

Add another voice to the consensus. For a first car, buying used, you really can't go wrong with a well-cared for Honda or Camry.

[Fleury2929 0]

How old are you?

Because if you are younger, buy a car for cheap(2,000) and then use the rest towards college or something like that!

You can get good quality cars for cheap.

[rogue 0]

One of the problems/benifits of accord's, civic's and camry's is how well they hold their value. This is due to their reputation, there are other cars that offer just a much reliability but aren't as commonly spoken of as those 3 so they don't go for as much.

Keep in mind how long you intend to keep the car, if you are planning to have the car you buy for only a couple years and then sell it, consider buying one of those cars that holds their value really well, it will stay closer to your purchasing price.

If you plan to have the car for more then a few years buy something that doesn't hold value as much, you will get it for a much lower initial price and since you will own it for so long, the resale value will have dropped significantly anyway.

A practical case of this is me buying my Nissan Maxima.

When I was looking at cars I had about $4500-5000 to spend. In that range I could get a 94-96 Civic or Camry with 90-120,000 miles, a 96-99 Civic or Camry with 160-200,000 miles, or a 97-99 Maxima with 75-110,000 miles.

Honda's and Toyota's have been getting spoken very highly of in the past few years and their used prices signify it. They are still probably worth the asking price, but alot of it is just because reliable has become synonymous with Honda and Toyota. It is possible to find equal reliability in a car that doesn't bear that label.