The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
First Car. Starting College. D:
Mai-Kero
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I need a car for college, and right now I have three main options:
1. 1994 Mercury Topaz. Said to be in working condition with a few problems, and about 80k miles on it. Asking price is $700, but my offer will be lower, although I have to see it first. I have a few family members who know quite a bit about cars, and one of them should be able to tag along to inspect the car before I make a decision.
2. 1994 Ford Tempo. Said to be in working condition without air conditioning, plus a few other minor problems. 120k miles. I'm supposed to talk to the guy later today about seeing it/inspecting it and a price. I'm expecting it to be close to the Topaz.
3. Vaguely defined mustang. 120k miles, I think it's a fairly recent make, my friend's brother wants to sell it for $3000. My friend wasn't clear on the details, but gave me a number to call the brother at so I should have more information about it later today.
With the first two, I can buy them outright in cash. With the third, I'd need to look into a car loan. I bank with National City, but I'm not entirely sure on their rates. I'm currently employed full time over the summer at a really easy job that gives me a lot of fuck-around time, but pays minimum wage. I'll have to switch jobs once college starts in August since I can't work at this one around my schedule.
So, what should I do? Go for a cheap, possibly shitty car, or get a loan and buy something newer and presumably better?
1. 1994 Mercury Topaz. Said to be in working condition with a few problems, and about 80k miles on it. Asking price is $700, but my offer will be lower, although I have to see it first. I have a few family members who know quite a bit about cars, and one of them should be able to tag along to inspect the car before I make a decision.
2. 1994 Ford Tempo. Said to be in working condition without air conditioning, plus a few other minor problems. 120k miles. I'm supposed to talk to the guy later today about seeing it/inspecting it and a price. I'm expecting it to be close to the Topaz.
3. Vaguely defined mustang. 120k miles, I think it's a fairly recent make, my friend's brother wants to sell it for $3000. My friend wasn't clear on the details, but gave me a number to call the brother at so I should have more information about it later today.
With the first two, I can buy them outright in cash. With the third, I'd need to look into a car loan. I bank with National City, but I'm not entirely sure on their rates. I'm currently employed full time over the summer at a really easy job that gives me a lot of fuck-around time, but pays minimum wage. I'll have to switch jobs once college starts in August since I can't work at this one around my schedule.
So, what should I do? Go for a cheap, possibly shitty car, or get a loan and buy something newer and presumably better?
Mai-Kero on
0
Posts
Is there some reason you've settled on these particular cars, beyond price?
They're the first options I've found. I really have no idea what I'm doing here. Should I try shopping around at a dealership? I found the first two on my local craigslist and the third was suggested by a friend, like I said.
Shogun Streams Vidya
The mustang is most likely a bad idea. Like Thanatos said, it's gonna be expensive to repair. And if you're getting a deal on it, it's most likely an abused and fucked up car, and the person selling it has had an epiphany about the amount of money they would have to invest to make/keep it reliable.
I'm in the Akron/Canton area of Ohio. I've been looking through Craigslist a lot but there don't seem to be a lot of imports.
If you can make it to Columbus you can find anything you want. This I assure you.
Dude the 3.8L Ford V6 is a notoriously iffy engine.
The reason is, it's cheaper to borrow money to purchase a working reliable car than it is to borrow money to repair or replace car parts after the purchase.
You're a teenager, so if you even have a credit card, I'm going to guess it's about 15-19% APR? You can get a used car loan for like 7%, maybe get parents to co-sign to keep the rate reasonable.
Another reason is, you're new to vehicle maintenance and ownership. You don't want to have a high-maintenance junker that's in/out of the shop a lot. It would be an expensive lesson in automotive repairman rip-offery. If I were you I'd like to start easy and not have to deal with major repair issues until I really knew all about engines.
91 Nissan Sentra $1500 Mileage not listed, I would hope under 200k.
92 Honda Accord $1550 227k
91 Honda Civic $1750 It's at a dealer though. I would try to buy from a private seller. They might try to screw you too, but at least they aren't a practiced professional at it.
92 Toyota Camry $1750 Mileage unlisted =(
88 Honda CRX $1900
98 VW Jetta $4200 I know it's out of your range, but the good thing about VW's is that it will still be worth really close to what you paid for it in 4 or 5 years when you're done with college.
90 VW Jetta $1000 Could be worth a look.
Well, that's just a quick look around. Nothing that jumped out as super awesome to me, but it's a start.
Edit: By dealers I mean like the used lot at an actual new-car dealership.
This one actually looks pretty cool to me. It's on ebay, at about $1000 and has a day left. Good thing about ebay is you're competing with a majority of people that are factoring in shipping, which on a low end car can almost double the price. If you get one that you can go pick up you can get a great deal. Anyway, here it is: 1995 Honda : Civic LX Sedan
This is not true of foreign cars.
My 1990 Honda Civic has 208k miles on it, and is still going strong.
You need to shift your eye to something that won't die on you before you're pulling enough pay to buy something shiney and new. That being said, both the Topaz and Tempo won't be lasting much longer. The shelf life of mid-90's low-end Ford models has pretty much expired. You'll be making a bet. A bad bet.
I'd up my price tag to the ~$2000 range and look for '96+ Accord/Civic or Corolla, an '02+ Hyundai Accent/Elantra, or anything else that was made after 2000.
As it has been said, the simple reliability of the Japanese market will be worth more in the long term. I drove a 1990 Camry into the ground... for 16 years after it drove off the line. You'll find a shitbox, don't worry... the last thing you need is a shitbox that doesn't start.
And you've never had to put a decent chunk of change into fixing anything on it?
edit: I doubt I'd ever pay over $1000 for a car 15 years old. Unless it was a classic, or something.
My '98 Nissan Pathfinder has so far cost me about $1000 since summer 2005, which includes 2 new tires, 2 new batteries, and diagnostic fees to find out that it's going to cost $1000 to fix the ABS system, but I don't really need ABS).
That's an unfair question. The answer, simply, is "yes."
The more complete answer is "Yes, but not nearly as much as if I had an American block under the hood." What you'll need to fix on a '90 civic will be rust spots (if yr up north), muffler degrading, basic maintainance (plugs, transmission, etc), brakes. The issue is that a Honda/Toyota will fall apart on you while the engine still runs strong, whereas an American block (especially low-end v6's) will drop out while the rest of the body is having the same problems as an import.
Basically, owning a car is expensive.
You can get those things to run on "a coke and a smile," right?
Nope. Bad, bad idea.
At this point, maintaining a car older than 20 years (and that's pushing it) is an expensive thing that we all like to call a "hobby."
Now this isn't entirely true. Really anything GM makes that has the 3.8L v6 in it will most likely fall apart before the engine dies. They use that engine in lots and lots of cars, so it's not terribly difficult to find one that has it.
In the OP's range i'd suggest an 88-91 Buick LeSabre. They're practically bulletproof if you do the basic maintenance, and pretty easy on gas too. Should be easy to find sub $1500
GMs 3800 is a good engine. A lot of the Buicks from the period you're talking about have them set in there sideways which can make it hard to get at plugs.
Hell, the engine was still running great on my 87 Riviera up until my sophomore year in college when one of my dumbass friends decided he would 'fix' my brakes for me by putting transmission fluid in my brake fluid. Of course he didn't tell me until it was all said and done and I couldn't break at a red light.
Everything else about that car was great though.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Yeah, this is bad. Bugs are "simple", but that doesn't mean they are reliable. I've had 2 bugs and a squareback, and while I could generally get myself where I was going, there was always something wrong with them. On one I got to where I could swap out an exploded generator pulley in five minutes in the dark. The trunk will be full of spare parts. It's true that they are a hobby first and a mode of transportation second.
Ideally, you want to find a car that some old folks drove to and from the grocery store and to church once a week. Even better would be if they took it to the dealer for all the preventative maintenance. I got lucky in 1992-93 and bought an '80 Civic from the original owner for $600. It was a beautiful car. If I hadn't driven it like I was in the Paris-Dakar Rally I might still be driving it.
When I last got a loan for a used car it was pretty easy. The loan was for around $5000, I went to my bank, filled out a few papers and left with a cashier's check. I think I went in before to make sure I could qualify, but I didn't get the money until I knew exactly how much I needed, when I found the car I wanted. HOWEVER, bank experiences will vary wildly. If you try to do it on your own, and you've had very little credit, it might be difficult. However, if you can go with someone (preferably a parent, or at least a relative) with good credit, a $3,000 loan should not be hard to get.
Whichever bank you do use, I think the policy is that you have to be a member first. Sometimes this is as easy as opening a savings account with $5. When you get a loan, ask about automatic payment discounts. National City Bank, for instance, gives a 0.25% discount on the loan if you let them auto-debit the car payment from your bank account. If you can manage not to overdraw your account with this method, it will save you some cash.
Awesome, I can probably do that.
I have a 1996 Acura Integra with just under 170k on it. I bought it from the previous owner earlier this year and it has run like a damn top. My parents have owned a similar model, a 98 civic coupe for about 4 years and have had zero problems with their car besides basic maintenance. Our early 90s Mercury Sable has been a friggin' nightmare on the other hand with multiple transmission rebuilds, coolant and oils leaks and just generally being a poorly designed car.
The only thing that you will have to worry about with a civic is replacing things that will wear (brake items, oil/fluids), the muffler (this is a common problem on civics but is fairly cheap) and the timing belt roughly every 70-100 thousand miles.
So what I'm saying is buy a civic. They have a reputation for a reason. The only complaint I've ever heard of them is that they're pretty pedestrian in style and are just not powerful cars so if you're looking for a sports car, don't buy one.
With your price range, I HIGHLY recommend a Toyota or Honda, that will be your most reliable bet.
if you can spend a little more, look for a ~97 or so Subaru Impreza or Legacy. I'm a suby fan though.
The car runs like a champ. Plain and simple.
edit: and I bought my car from a private seller for 6k if that helps. You can get a cheap solid honda for a really good price if you're willing to be patient.
Shogun Streams Vidya
Would a 96 Chevy Cavalier do okay?
CRXs are very tiny and light. They're fun to drive but they don't have alot of room, not sure how much that matters to you.
Stay away from dealers if you can. Sorry if it's already been said, but that alone adds a hefty chunk of change versus buying from a private owner, and needs to be understood.
As for specific vehicles, the only thing I can offer is that all of your current options are Fords, which are notoriously bad high-mileage vehicles. That and if you live anywhere in the midwest, especially Michigan, it is advantageous to buy a domestic vehicle so that you can find a competent mechanic.
Edit: The '96 Cavalier would probably last you quite awhile, and I've not heard a whole lot of complaints from people who own them. Even if it does have some problems, the parts are so widely available that it shouldn't be tough or expensive to have repaired. If you can find a GM car with a Buick 3800 motor in it, jump on it. They are practically bulletproof.
CRX... yum. The d-series under the hood there (assumed) is a fantastically unbreakable engine. Toss one of the newer K-series, or even a B under there are you have yourself one of the greatest autocross machines ever. Haha...
But in seriousness, don't let my hard-on for Hondas get in the way.
A CRX isn't something you're really going to want to deal with. I have never seen a daily-driver CRX in good shape, and that's for a good reason. You're talking about a twenty year old discontinued Civic-based two-seater. Getting parts won't be too much of a hassle, but there are few people who know the CRX inside-out anymore. Buying one starts to creep in on the whole "hobby" side of things, unfortunately.
The Cav would probably be fine. It's a so-so car in general.
Hold out a bit for something in the '94-'00 range, you'll be surprised at what you can find when you just wait.
Volvos are a mixed bag. They run, and damn the run well. My father is driving an almost 12 year old s70 that's still chugging away, 200k miles etc. The downside is that while some card will either dull themselves out, or just plain old stop working, Volvos have the strange life-cycle of sort of "degrading" after too long.
What I mean is that when a car goes it's usually either major or minor. It's a "R" sticker for inspection because of rust or emissions, or its the steering column dropping out or the engine overheating... Volvos sort-of... take their time. What I've seen with a number of Volvos is that things break as they do on any other car... sometimes minor sometimes major. But the engine and drivetrain kinda fade out, get very sluggish and inefficient.
If it's got LOW milage on it, it would be a good shot, but I'd stay away from Volvos after their 120k birthday. They become a little bit of a crapshoot.
As far as maintainance, the bearing shouldn't be bad as long as labor costs don't eff you up. Their parts (if I remember correctly) tend to be on the higher side of the consumer auto market.
If you've got more info I may be able to offer better advice, but right now I'm thinking it's a bad idea.