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Tell me about good first cars
Mortal Sky
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
Alright PA, I'm slowly working towards getting my first vehicle. I've just gotten a license, but all I really have to drive is my dad's '97 Honda Civic. At some point or another, though, I'd rather like a car of my own. I'm thinking something sub-$4000, because above that price point I may as well buy my dad's Civic. At the moment, however, my parents are having difficulty with the finances, so them getting a new car while I'm in school may be difficult. I don't really *need* this car for another couple years, and I know a vehicle/gas/insurance is a huge money sink, but it's an important step to take and I'd like good advice.
Basically, don't worry about the financial matters for now. I just want to know the following:
What is a good car that typically sells for about 1-3000 dollars, which happens to be decently reliable with good mileage? Comfort and cool factor is secondary, but all the better if there. Japanese imports are preferable, but if there's an oft-overlooked American or European car that fulfills the criteria I'm looking for, then awesome.
If you want my thoughts on the matter, I'm liking the look of the Honda CRX, since its super efficient (50 mpg holy shit), cool looking, and really cheap.
Basically, don't worry about the financial matters for now. I just want to know the following:
What is a good car that typically sells for about 1-3000 dollars, which happens to be decently reliable with good mileage? Comfort and cool factor is secondary, but all the better if there. Japanese imports are preferable, but if there's an oft-overlooked American or European car that fulfills the criteria I'm looking for, then awesome.
If you want my thoughts on the matter, I'm liking the look of the Honda CRX, since its super efficient (50 mpg holy shit), cool looking, and really cheap.
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Since it sounds like you'll not be driving a lot purchase price and insurance will properly matter more than mileage which leads me to suggesting that looking at high mileage cars may be worth considering. Simply because if a car is in good condition when you buy and you're not gonna put much wear into it then you'll not really get any benefit from perfect reliability.
I would definitely not buy an American car in that price range. 90s Detroit iron has not aged especially well. Some (some!) older VWs are quite good though, 90s Jettas do alright.
Check out kbb.com and nada.com to see what used cars tend to cost, then look at inventory online at dealerships in your area / Craigslist (though I'd stay away from CL for actually buying your first car, honestly).
Yeah, they haven't made the CRX in 20 years. Goddamn awesome car. My best friend had one in college, but you're probably beat on finding one that isn't going to cost $TEXAS in maint
So don't get anything too unique or rare, just your average 90s Japanese shopping trolley will do. Something like a Mazda 323.
My auntie has a Volkswagen golf 2008 and its a great car (a downright sexy car) the only problem she had with it all of the information on the computer was in German so she had to go back to the garage and get it translated. its a flier on the road and handles well even on very wet and icy roads
My friend had a Mitsubishi Colt and it was a great car. it had all the good points of a micra without the old lady image. But it was much faster and the handling was slightly better
If you want something dirt cheap, you can find k-cars all over and drive them till they fall apart. For non-japanese used cars, they're fairly robust. One of mine made it to 315,000km only needing a new alternator, batteries, and general maintenance, before I traded it for having a house painted. My other is still my daily driver (as my mustang breaks down constantly and my suburban is for the mountains,) bought used, with 100,000km put on the clock since then without issues.
Looks like Honda Civics for that year go for about $3,500 - $4,500 according to Bluebook.
Micras have never been sold in the U.S., btw.
Chevy Prizm, Pontiac Vibe, etc
These cars were made at the same plants as their Toyota analogs and have Toyota engines.
I have a '94 Prizm that is still going strong after hell and high water. You open up the hood and "Toyota" is written right on the engine.
I bought a 94 prizm in '05 for 3 grand cash. You can probably find a late 90's or 2000 for the same these days I am betting
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Hyundai has become really fantastic, as long as you shy toward more recent models. Anything past the 2004-5 (I think?) mark will put them on par for overall value. They really have become the "new civic".
As far as newer cars, the Fiat 500 looks to be a real impressive smaller vehicle.
But I'd really steer toward low-mileage Honda/Toyota/Hyundai that are ~3-7ish years old as a really, really good place to start. Adjust based on budget and you can really get a good spread.
EDIT: I'm going to second guess myself because I usually go ultra-conservative with stuff like this. The 7th Gen Civics are damn good, and the hatch is a really, really nice little car that has a lot of utility. They're going to be far closer to that $4k mark, as well, even if the 8th Gens have dropped a bit, recently.
My first car was a 1984 Honda Accord. It had 175,000 miles on it before it died. My current car is a 1994 Toyota Camry. It currently has 275,000 miles on it.
In short, you have to know and accept that any vehicle you purchase will degrade in value quicker than a call girl having a bad night. Nothing you would buy will keep value, so the best advice I can ever give to any sort of non-performance "I wanna buy a car" threads is going to be that you also need to consider how long you need the car. In example, I bought a new, new Civic when I turned 21. That was six years ago, and the '90 Camry I drove before that was, well, 27 years old when the steering column finally fell out and we junked it. Suffice to say that (skipping a few steps) the most economical way to own a car is to drive it into the ground, more or less.
Now, also take into account that because of the rapid loss of value you're usually better off, when you get toward that last 20% of life, spending a bit to keep it passing inspection (in most states a car will run fine but fail inspection rather than the latter) than jumping for a new car that will lose value quicker than the clunker.
So if you want to make a sound decision, also take into account the fact that an $8k car at 4 years old will probably last, dollar for dollar, longer than an 8 year-old car which was a shorter price at $4k.
Everything is relative, but saving and buying something outside of that "sell, sell" range of $1k to $8-9K may actually, regardless of up-front cost, be a better investment when you take the next 10 years into account. Somewhat like the need to factor insurance, maintainability/repair and tax into the pricing.
Just a thought. A 3 year old car will last, expected, 7 years. A 7 year-old car will last three, and paying $4k for a 7YO isn't as good as the 7 years for $8K, etc. It's a lot more complex than that, but that's the general idea.
And Chris, I haven't driven the 500, yet, but from the spec and the long-standing rep that Fiat has I'd be surprised if the 500 Sport Trim is lagging based on the numbers and their equivalencies in the domestic market. The biggest thing is that, I think, it runs about 1800 at curb weight, which is kinda a huge number when it comes to a ~100torque engine. Not a contender, but really well done for a US market car. Makes me consider if MINI and Honda merged the Civic and the Cooper. Handling is nothing that I can speak of, but it is Fiat.
But she has me driven mad to get her a fiat 500.
What's it like living in the future? Has the economy finally settled? Did America collapse under the weight of its debt?
Anyway I'll echo your sentiments but I'll add that the majority of a vehicle's lost value happens between the moment you drive it off lot and in the first 2 years, so it being 2011, buying a 2008 or 2009 model would end up giving the best return on investment if you plan on selling it in the future.
Being young and foolish with a great job I ended up buying a brand new $37k car for my first. I know that in a year's time it'll be as if I simply burned $8-10k of it but I justify my purchase because I plan on keeping it around for as long as possible, and if you write off that value over say 10 years then it's really not so bad (provided you can at least maintain your income of course)
It would be really hard to go wrong with a Toyota Camry or Honda Civic as your first car. Poor man's insurance.
I'd go for a 5 year old Japanese make, ideally averaging under 15K miles a year, but you'll probably see a psychologically-driven price drop just after the century mark. If service records are spotty expect some maintenance in the near term after taking ownership (timing belt, brake job, new tires, tranny flush) to bring it into ideal condition; such expected maintenance (if needed, or already done by seller) should be priced into the negotiated purchase price.
Spend more than $4K (unless it's something that was dirt cheap when new), or just buy your dad's civic off them when it makes sense for him to sell. If you can get away with just occasionally borrowing dad's car, then do that for as long as you can, so you can save up more money.
TL, DR: If you never bought a car before the biggest takeaway from that infographic is "your car is in no way a positive-dollar-value asset, but rather a life sentence of penury and obligation to minimize."
Go to a dealer, take one for a test drive. You'll be disappointed.
I have a Toyota Matrix and besides the three or four weird safety recalls for shit like "sticking floor mats" it's been amazing.
My car I own now is a Toyota Avalon that has 150k or so miles. I've had it since about 135. It has its problems, but nothing serious.
Hell, you can get a brand new Ford Fiesta (a pretty amazing little car that gets 40 MPG) for near 10k nowadays.
Make sure your doing the proper maintenance (oil changes, checking tires, rotating, etc) and you'll get a decent like span out of a focus.