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Help Me Pick a Used Car!!!
darkKNIGHT
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Hey guys,
Im looking to buy a used car and I really have no idea which way to go. Im a young, single guy who is looking for a cool first car. I have about $15,000 to spend. I want either a sporty SUV or a coupe. So far here are a few of my favorites:
BMW X3
Lexus Rx 330
Nissan 350Z
Infiniti G35 Sport
Let me know what you guys think!!!
Im looking to buy a used car and I really have no idea which way to go. Im a young, single guy who is looking for a cool first car. I have about $15,000 to spend. I want either a sporty SUV or a coupe. So far here are a few of my favorites:
BMW X3
Lexus Rx 330
Nissan 350Z
Infiniti G35 Sport
Let me know what you guys think!!!
darkKNIGHT on
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Eh, I'll add something positive: You may be able to find an older-model (8th gen) Civic Si around 20-25ish. BMW 3-series can get into that range too, but everyone and their brother drives one. You could probably find a Mustang around that general price range, as well. Maybe?
Edit again:
350z goes in the 20-25k range
G35 goes for 20-30k
X3 will run you 30-50k in good order
RX330 is probably 18-30k
If that's not your cup of tea, I'd go with the G35 sport over the 350z because it's better equipped and has a back seat. They are essentially the same platform so you aren't really losing anything going with either of them. I did a quick search on autotrader and pretty much all of those cars in that price range all had pretty high milage. For the same money you can get yourself a nice low milage civic coupe. I know it's not exactly sporty but they are extremely reliable. If you really are looking for something sporty I also saw a bunch of Mustangs, Ultima Coupes and even a few BMW's and Mercades. As for sporty SUV's... yeah I'm not a fan of SUV's.
But the FR-S is a motorist's wet dream. I wish it had more in common with the 86, though.
If so, I would advise against getting one you like, because you will break the car. It's pretty much inevitable.
Also, how young is "young"? This forum has a wide variety of ages on it from people just entering high school to retirees. If you're just starting to drive (age 16 or so), anything with the words "sporty" or "SUV" are going to have huge insurance bills attached. If you're responsible for paying these bills, you'll want to take that into consideration before you get saddled with an insurance payment and a car payment and filling the gas tank. If your parents are picking up the tab, then you should discuss it with them.
My personal recommendation would be to hit up the used car lots and see what they have to offer. There's a lot of good cars that never make it into the trade magazines because they're not a company's headline model. Also, check the classified ads (yeah, they're still around) and see what's available. You might get a good deal from someone there.
Where on earth are you getting these prices?
Steam ID
You'll probably ignore this advice. All first drivers do.
Don't come crying back though.
That's the general range from cars.com in my area. Locality will change the numbers, but I doubt by too much. In that initial list I'd be hard pressed to think that one could find any of those four for $15k and in decent enough condition for a "young" person's "first car". Those numbers could be way, way off but I don't think by much if you're talking about the general population purchasing through conventional means.
I got my 8th gen civic brand new off the lot for a little over $15k back in 2005. Great car.
$15k is way reasonable here for a first car, generally. Expecting to find any of the listed models in decent enough shape for $15k would, in all honesty, probably lead to a lot of money in repairs and such.
consider going a peg down
plenty of fun used Mazda's at that price
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
@Jasconius' comment is where I'm coming from. The OP could get any of those listed models for $15k, but I wouldn't advise it for a "young" driver's "first car". The risks are just too high unless he wants to be shelling out another 15K in a few years for either repairs or a new car.
And that's all aside from the fact that I really wouldn't suggest any of those machines for someone who is a newish driver.
I'm in the same camp that says 15k is way to much for a first car. Buy some cheap beater used car and then proceed to learn your lessons of things that you shouldn't do on that. Take the remainder of that money and use it on a second car when you either run your first car into the ground from doing stupid shit, or run your first car into some other object from doing stupid shit.
Honestly if your going to be spending that much I'd look into a Volkswagen Golf Diesel (manual trans). It might not be "cool" but they tend to have a better overall track record for reliability and they get very good gas mileage to boot.
This is something your not really grasping like most people, a V8 is crazy fun but when you have to pay for gas its not. Back when I was a kid (and now I feel old) gas was under a buck a gallon, that meant that we could do stupid driving with a V8 and it didn't hurt. However my first car was an old compact that got thirty or forty miles to the gallon, it was not "cool" and I think I may have started the whole "yoga" trend when trying to mess around with girls in the back. It might sound like a shit car to start with, but honestly it was the best for a broke kid who got gas money by driving people around, and when we would ditch school to take a trip across state to watch the schools sports team play a day game I could fit three people in, have each of them kick in two bucks for gas do the entire round trip and still have a half tank left over.
Point is this
A) You will do stupid shit in your first car, a cheap car to fix is a good thing
C) You will do stupid shit in your first car, a cheap car that easy to work on yourself teaches some valuable lessons
D) Your first car is "Freedom" and as such its worth looking at something that gets really good gas mileage, that way you can spend more time out driving and having fun then begging your parents for gas money or dumping your paycheck into your gas tank.
if the dude can afford it then whatever
just don't shoot for a luxury car for 15k or less. It's gonna have 80k miles on it at minimum
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Yeah, 15k is about right in my book for a good, reliable first car. Honestly, I'd look around to try to find something new for that price, it isn't too difficult. The Fit, Civic, Yaris, Versa, Altima (not Maxima, right? do they still produce Maximas?), Corolla, Golf, etc. can all be found, at times, new off the lot for around 15k. I haven't been shopping in awhile, but I doubt too much has shifted price-wise (is there still a demand issue for Japanese models?).
I love driving, and I want something peppy and fun. The first car I had as an adult was my '06 Civic which was 15k off the lot. My next car, now that I make actual money, is most likely going to be something a bit more "fun". I'm looking toward a lightly used Infinity sedan (if I can't afford a GT-R I'll try to get close).
It's similar to people who buy a Civic and then toss a bunch into aftermarket. You're almost always better off buying a better car at stock than something cheap to build up. In reverse, it's better to buy a new/slightly-used "boring" compact than a well-used, high-mileage luxury for the same price.
Oh, and stay away from the new 9th gen Civics. No idea if the 8th are still on lots, but there should be tons selling as used that are barely touched.
they are somewhat high maintenance vehicles
but damn I think they're cool and regret not buying one all of the time
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
?
The 86 is a perfect car to learn car control in. Light, low powered front engine/rear drive with good suspension and brakes, a good safety rating and a bunch of airbags, Japanese reliability and build quality...
What more could you possibly want?
More power, and make it a convertible.
Eh, I'm tainted by being up in New England where anything RWD is garaged until spring. I'd still, for a "young" driver's "first car" try to steer them toward a FF for the sake of safety. Especially in a situation where said "young" driver is obviously dreaming of a lot of little horsies. I'm also neurotic and overly cautious.
what's the problem with 9th gen civics?
They cheapened... everything. I don't know if the newer models fixed this. I was skeptical that the 9th gen was as crummy as people were saying, initially, until I got a chance to poke around in one. Across the board everything is of lesser quality. Upholstery, trims, paint, dash quality, etc., If you have a choice between a gently-used later 8th gen and a 9th, I'd push toward the 8th.
The mechanical guts are about the same, per reports, but the rest of the car just feels "cheap". My civic has held up really nice for a messy owner and seven years, but the same wear and tear on the 9th's insides would have made it look like a disaster-zone really quick.
Amen. Cash for Clunkers ruined the used car market.
OP: The cars you listed are probably outside of your range since they're mostly top end sports cars. So you may have to go a tier or two down in selection. However I would discount the advice from those saying you'll beat on your car/drive it off a cliff. Only YOU know how you'll treat your car.
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Saabs are extremely safe. I used to know a few people who worked at a Saab dealership and they would have people come in with pictures of their wrecked Saab's while buying a new one. The customers swore they where still alive because of those cars. Only real problem with Saabs is that they are pretty expensive to maintain especially now that they aren't in production. That being said, they are fast (if you get a turbo) and unique looking.
Those things are both coming. Or you could just get a 370z convertible.
To be honest, I haven't liked the Z's after the 350. I don't know exactly why, but the styling, the heavy, piggish nature, really turn me off.
But any of the Z cars might be a good suggestion for the OP.
I ended up behind a 370 with Nismo tags the other day and I was enthralled by the bodykit. Understated and sleek. The Nismo tag was also a pretty damn nice touch assuming it was actually their work.
But the Z's are far from a good starter car for anyone. Haven't these kids seem Tokyo Drift?
Also and this goes regardless of what car you get. Look into Autocross as it is a great and safe way to race while also learning the limits of car and talent.
For what you seem to want out of a car, I'd look for a Subary Legacy GT or a Mazdaspeed package mazda 6. Both are manuals.
Another car you might look at is a Hyundai genesis. Very nice car for the money. (beamer drivers please read the italics before chiming in with hate). I have a 4 cylinder '11 legacy and I love it, it is the roomiest car I've driven but I'd kind of like to have the bigger engine. I take a lot of long road trips so the 30 mpg won out over displacement. The body style of legacies and outbacks got much bigger in '10, and the imprezas did the same here recently. A regular, non "STI" impreza is a fun car you can speed up over time if you want to tune on it a little. Don't overlook cars with four doors because you want "a coupe" - there are a LOT of cars that shoehorn a second set of doors on to make them a little more practical to insure or so they can be sold as an ostensibly more practical car.
The sensible alternatives you probably haven't thought about are the nissan altima, and maybe maxima. They seem like "ordinary" cars but the upper trims offered are still very nice. A maxima IS essentially a g35/37.
The high-end you missed is Audi, and Audi makes some nice cars. An a4 is decent, an a6 is cool, don't even drive an a8 or you'll be ruined for lesser interiors and have to drive audis and bmws forever. An accura might be worth looking at as well, like a TSX.
SUVs: the infiniti RX and EX are every bit as nice as a Porsche cayenne.
Domestics you should check out: Cadillac CTS, maybe a 300. They aren't really MY thing, I don't like the whole "poor man's rolls royce" thing they have going... but a 300 technically meets your list of qualifications.
They are very hard to find, but if you want a killer sports car, I mean something FAST that a lot of people don't even know about, and is right in your price range, look for an 05 pontiac gto. Exactly an 05. not an 04, or an 06. What's cool about these is most of them were owned by classic GTO fans ( meaning they were summer cars for older men) who took care of them. Exterior is a little drab but it's a demonically quick platform underneath, and the interior is one of a kind (you'll either love or hate it). If you can find a low mileage one that's been well cared for, it's some of the cheapest speed on the road right now.
i don't know what you make, but if you're spending this much on a first car, tell me it's a cash purchase.
One thing you MUST NOT DO is buy a high end performance car with a rebuilt or salvage title. ONLY do this if the only reason you want the car is to you think girls give a shit and you never intend to drive it at interstate speeds.
I host a podcast about movies.
As to recommendations, you can get an early to mid '00s Mustang GT or Cobra in that price range and if you're patient, you can even get one that's been well maintained and has fairly low mileage. You might also have a look at the Mazda 6 or the Mazdaspeed 3, not technically coupes, but fast enough to be fun and more likely to be found in your price range while still in reasonable condition, although even that will take some looking. In my adventure above I ended up paying $15k for a Mazda 3i Touring, which is not fast at all, but does a good job of pretending to be a sports car until you actually try to drive it like one.
For similar reasons, I would not recommend a BMW. Even if you got a 1978 5 series sedan, parts alone are stupid expensive just because of the stupid badge alone. That's not mentioning labor, because they know they can charge more. If you can do the work yourself, the labor isn't an issue, but parts for any generation of BMW is going to be stupid fucking expensive. I know a guy in college who had an 1980's BMW 5 series, and he ended up selling it, because as it broke, it would make him go broke for the stupid part. There's only so much innovation a guy can do himself.
And what's wrong with a guy not liking the 370Z? It's just not my style.
OP: have you thought of something like a newer Camaro, GTO or Mustang as well? Right-wheel drive, decent power, and they can, at times, get decent gas mileage...
1. If a used car has more than 15K miles per year it's been out that means it's probably been heavily driven. These tend to be riskier as its better to spread miles out.
2. A car tends to depreciate most in price but least in quality in about a 3-6 year range. As a result, anything from 2005-2008 will probably be decent.
After that, I suggest just checking out local dealerships to see which cars you like. Once you are more sure on the kind of things you like (it might be a Toyota vs. a Lexus) you can then narrow down from there looking at private owners (which will save you so money) or more off the beaten track places.
SteamID: devCharles
twitter: https://twitter.com/charlesewise
Wow, for a guy who founded a cult and died rich, you say the word stupid a lot. Unresolved anger issues, perhaps?