Rep Power: 258

As some of you know my car was totaled thursday, and I was injured pretty bad too. Now for the fun part, my new car!!

My first choice, the RSX type S, is alittle too expensive for me, although I going to see what my parents, who know some people, can do.

But my question is what are your ideas, I've just started looking at the scion Tc. The reason I like it, is because my family has had good luck w/toyotas, and they're cheaper than the rsx.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=en&cardist=50

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=en&cardist=31

what do you guys think??

please any ideas would help
thank you
-Adam

 
Rep Power: 346

You could get a brand new tC for that price. That would be great. Yes they're Toyota's, but these aren't boring!!! They're nice and pretty cool. I'd say their edgy, but they're still based off of Toyota's so you're getting a car thats a little more on the soft side compared to say... an RSX, but its still worth it for the price.

 
Rep Power: 338

^^^ I agree, generally, Toyota's are 'softer' to compared to others in its class. tC is a good car with lots of aftermarket support. The engine isnt any high tech stuff and gas milleage isnt that great..... but for the price, it's a pretty good car.... till $ start getting used for aftermarket stuff, by that time the price for a Civic Si looks much better.

 
Rep Power: 262

tc is a great car, have you looked into the new honda fit?

 
Rep Power: 379

their nie cars, no where near a type s in power or handeling but alot cheaper. if they ran the 1.9 celica engine instead of the 2.4 camary engine they would be awsome stock.

 
Rep Power: 330

i don't remember a celica with an awesome 1.9, let alone a 1.9 at all.

i just got a tc a few months ago, 7k miles on it already, and no complaints. toyota builds their vehicles very well. the tc is 100% built in japan if that matters at all. the acceleration isn't bad, the gearing is short so its decently quick, there is crazy aftermarket support engine and otherwise.

i'd say, for the price (16,800 after destination), if you're looking for a brand new compact coupe, it's definitely the best value. for comparison, it pretty much has everything that an 06 civic ex coupe has, but 17 inch wheels, a fatty moonroof, bigger motor, more power, etc. the mpg is rated quite low (22/29), but with normal city driving i get 26ish. i took it on a trip to seattle (~700 miles roundtrip), and came away with 32.3mpg.

the braking is fine, electronic brake force distribution is pretty good. the handling doesn't feel like anything too special around town, just a typical soft feeling toyota, but at it's limits the stock suspension isn't too bad. if you buy the car bare from the dealer, you can buy all the dealer options (electronics/suspension stuff) online at trdsparks.com for way cheaper. the trd suspension components are pretty high quality. there's a guy around here that has the full trd spring/damper/sway setup, and has gotten 1st in class (hstock) 2 events in a row now, running on pirelli pzero neros on some 18 inch wheels. the acceleration isn't bad thanks to the short gearing. goes 0-60 in about 7.2 i think from some magazine tests, in the same mag issue they clocked the new si at 6.7.

the only real problem i have with the car is that most of the owners on the forums online are uneducated car noobs, and think they own the best "sport compact" ever made. and also there are a lot of haters of the car, which i think goes hand in hand with the aforementioned ricers. oh, i also don't like the name of the brand, just sounds weird, and people always think you drive the "box car". scion means descendant apparently, so the name is fitting for the company. and it seems like it's working for them by selling cars under the scion name, as sales every month on every model (xa/xb/tc) keep going up.

people make crazy power with forced induction btw, search on streetfire and you'll see a few 11-14psi tcs running low 12s, including one that takes a cobb stage2 sti a few times. the motor seems like very strong overall, since i've seen people boosting 19psi on a stock block, and it holds up fine.

if you do decide to get one, wait like a month or so, so the 07s are out. apparently they squeezed more power out of it, up to like 169hp and 170 ft lbs of torque, and the redline is moved up to 6700 from 6250.

if i could do it all again, i would have bought the 06 wrx i was thinking about (too expensive though), or an xb (not quick, but you can do a lot to them), the latter because i now don't need a quick car, as i have a turbo project im working on with my other new car (92 BG protege LX).

 
Rep Power: 258

thanks alot guys for the help and mandangalo you got repped for your input.

ok so the scion and rsx are in, does anyone else have an idea for a car that's around 16,000. I saw some wrxs at auto trader which were around 16,000 is that a good car mechically wise (I'd rather not pay to fix it all the time). Anyone just some ideas would be very helpful.

 
Rep Power: 0

one thing to look at along with the tC is the nissan sentra spec V. I know its not that great, but my brother was looking at them a week ago and they were trying to get rid of them. They were offering a fully loaded spec V for 17k because the incentives, not sure if they have gone over to this month but if they have its a good deal. Its not a great car but it has good power and torque, comes with good stock wheel size, and also has a limited slip which is really nice. Big problem is the rear suspension is a torsion bar so limited there on how much you can improve it. It does handle fairly well stock. Also has an optional big brake package if you can find one with it. That price my brother was getting was leather and the whole bit if you can get it there its a good deal. Instead my brother decided he rather go into bigger debt since hes getting a good job and get a WRX I think that ended up being 27k cause he likes all the toys, but its a great car. Id be a little weary about buying one used just cause its one of the cars if it wasnt broken in right and if the previous owner went around dropping the clutch its going to have problems, but if its treated right they are supposed to last a long time. And the type-s I think is still a good one to go for if you can find a used one for a good price in good shape.

Oh, I found this when my brother was looking at it. Performs pretty well in their tests, so worth a test drive.

 
Rep Power: 379

sorry i ment 1.8 in the celica

 
Rep Power: 284

TC for the win

 
Rep Power: 365

tc is a nice *** car, but just a little too race-boy looking imo. it's no sti in that regard, but it still looks bulbous; however, that doesn't detract from it being a very nice car built with high quality. i would personally choose an rsx (type s if possible) over a tc, but i would probably shoot for an s2000 if you could possibly make that happen, as they go for 17-18K in the right place.

edit: damn it looks like you're in the wrong place... the s2000's around you for 17-18 have 50-60k miles at least... there's one for sale down the street from me for 17k with 13k miles on it

 
Rep Power: 330

damn, buy that.


bigmurr, i was also looking at wrxs after my civic, and came to the conclusion that most of them out there haven't been treated right. and the 02-05 tranny is garbage.

the new wrxs (06, the ugly one) have a beefier tranny, and now a 2.5l, but since they are new they begin around 24k. the wrx, engine-wise seems to be great as far as reliability goes if they are left stock. there are some guys on nasioc nearing 200k miles in their awd turbo cars, with little or no problems (most say just more rattles), if left stock. you might get lucky and find one that the previous owner cared for well, but that might cost you. the wrx trannies break a lot, mostly because of launching and stupid stuff like that. i mean, if you're revving up and dropping the clutch, all that power (which isnt enough to overpower the diffs and spin) is just going to go back through the transmission, and break parts. there's a big thing about it on nasioc.

here's a link if you want to read up on them: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=533787&

i'd say the only thing that the specV has over the tc or rsx is handling. other than that they aren't built very well, you can feel it when you sit in it, and the resale isnt very high either.

people that are now selling tcs that were bought in 04 are getting more than what they paid, on trade in. the trade in value from KBB for an 05 (which came out in june04 btw) is $17.9k with 15k miles, some $1400 more than what the new price was at the time.

 
Rep Power: 291

yea a TC would be a good idea, but it seems that almost everyone has one. I like the recommendation of a Sentra Spec-V even though the reliability is pretty spotty compared to the TC.

I guess it really boils down to how much time you have to buy a car. You could look around this summer until a RSX pops up, or you could get something now (like a TC) if you're in a hurry.

 
Rep Power: 258

Yeah just talking to the other driver's adjuster and they said that I will get a pain and suffering settlement so that could rise the bar in the rsx favor, but in the way of things to save money the tC seems the best bet so far, unless ya'll can find another car that peaks my intrest.

 
Rep Power: 330

the tc rs2 is nice. it comes in blitz blue mica, alcantara seats (sti style), different wheels, and some other stuff. looks nice, and the seats are awesome. its like 1600 more than a regular tc.






oh, and steering wheel audio controls with ipod plugged in in the center console charging and controllable from the deck/steering wheel > *

if i had an rs2, i would paint the grille for sure.

 
Rep Power: 0

I still think the sentra feels sporty and it does have weight, handling, and that limited slip going for it over the tC. tC probably is a better investment, id just never want to buy a scion most of the ones I see are owned by girls, old people, or wanna be ricers. Where as sentras arent that common and I barely ever see spec Vs. tCs dont seem that exciting either. I know a guy that has one and hes had it for less than 6 months and all he wants to do now is get rid of it. I wouldnt really call it a quality toyota interior that they normally have. It feels pretty cheap, the back seats are horrid, and radio cover thing is dumb its just open all the time.

So much comes to prefrence, but before you buy anything I would test drive: The tC, Sentra spec V, Madza 3, 8th gen civic, type S just to see how they are to drive. Something could be a surprise so try out anything decent in the price range.