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Hi,

I'm looking for a car for my sister, and these are the things I look for:
(1) must be decently cheap to purchase (about $5000US, or $7-8000CDN)
(2) must be fairly recent (1998+)
(3) must be decent in terms of build quality
(4) must have plenty of similar cars available in junkyards for parts if I need to go
(5) must be relatively cheap to repair
(6) must be good on gas
(7) must have some sort of modding room (least important)

Based on this, the list of cars I came up with is:
(1) Civic (1998-2000)
(2) Older-style Echo (up to 2000/2001)
(3) VW Golf
(4) Hyundai Accent (around 2000)
(5) Kia Rio or Spectra
(6) Mazda Protege

That's pretty much it... do you have anything else you'd suggest? And what do you think of the cars I have listed? What would you prefer?

Thanks a lot!

James

 
Rep Power: 340

Civic or corolla dude nuff said on that topic...

Ehco = Ugly
VW golf= Money Pit
Accent = No comment
Kia= throw away car
Mazda= problems all around and low resale

 
Rep Power: 346

Civics are cool. VW's have had issues, older Korean cars aren't worth it... ummm Mazda's are also pretty good.

Half that list is pretty good.

 
Rep Power: 277

Mazda Protoge5's- great looking, good versatility, great handling, decent acceleration, nice interiors. I really wanted one, but they are somewhat hard to come by as manuals, and in a specific color.

 
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What's wrong with VW golf?? I thought they're pretty solid...
As for the Mazda Protege5, I've heard plenty of good thigns about them... are there particular problems I should know about? (other than low-resale value, because that's why we're looking to buy one)

Thanks!

 
Rep Power: 277

Consumer Reports said something to the effect of; "We cannot recommend any VW's at this time due to the overwhelming number of customer complaints, and mechanical recalls", or something similar. I don't know a single person with a VW who has gone problem free for too long. I would say to stick with Honda, Toyota, and if need be, Mazda.

 
Rep Power: 330

Yeah, one of my friends has a 2000 jetta, numerous electrical problems and the engine is over 20 years old..they are still using the 2.0l 8valve engine from like 1984. these days the jetta/golf is the only vw made outside of their home country, his is entirely made in mexico. im not rippin on mexico, but i think that they would be better if they were made in germany. just like the 98-99 mercedes ML class that was made over here....sooo many problems with those.

I would say definitely go with a corolla or civic, civic for the gas milage.

 
Rep Power: 277

Yea, I have a friend with an old Jetta and he says their reliability all boils down to where they are made, which is revealed by the VIN.

 
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Ur, Member's Ride?

 
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teh mazda protege that i had was a great car, but make sure you get the 2.0L or 1.8L engine if you get one. the 1.6 is fun but only 103-105 hp

and i am fond of the civics from those years also.

 
Rep Power: 340

I have loved the 99-00 Civics

 
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it makes no sense. why would you want a car that is found in the junkyard but then again you want a reliable car. its kinda like saying "good and bad" at the same time. doesnt quite make sense..

 
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civic hatch, but since its for a chick ull prob wanna go wit either the sedan or coupe. 240 is always a good choice

 
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^^i think jpan home was trying to say that there needs to be a good amount of those cars on the road, just in case he needs some parts. i dont think he wants to get one from the junkyard.

 
Rep Power: 309

Those 2 statements are sort of contradictory. A decent economy car like a Civic or Corolla 1998+ will run around $7,000 in decent shape and decent mileage.

Around 5k you can prolyl get like a 94-96 Civic with high mileage and who knows what shape..

Other cars you listed like Mazda you can find for about $5k being 1998+ but they will be junk and will end up costing much more then 5k.

When I worked at a car dealership I noticed a certain trend in car shopping. For normal daily driving cars you either want to buy a car that is less then $2,000 or more then $7,000 because everything in between is most likely junk. If you buy a cheap 2k$ beater then you invest a thousand or two into it and you got it running good and safe so you got yourself a decent car for about 3k. Above $7k dollars are all decent cars so no problem there.

However, that gap between the 2k-7k cars is where the junk is at most of the time..... these days you cannot find a decent car for 5 grand..... you get a car for 5 grand and it will most likely be at a point where everythign is breaking non stop so you will have to invest a coupel thousnad into it on repairs. So the 5k car will cost you about 7k-8k and you're sitll stuck with a POS.

This is pretty general but this is what I learned form working at a used car dealership. Hope it helps.

 
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Yeah, Fuzzy on top is right... I'm looking for a car that has plenty of following so that in case I need parts I can go to the junkyard to find them (instead of the dealership).

However, my sister apparently has her eyes set on an Integra... damn... so we saw a 98 Integra with about 100,000 KM on it... for a decent price... but I'm not sure what insurance would say about it though, considering she's getting her license in a couple of months...

Thanks for all your inputs though! Appreciate the help!

 
Rep Power: 330

intergra ls shouldn't be too bad on insurance

 
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geo metro

 
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just make sure ur sister dont get a better car than u. my spoiled *** sister got a celica gt's(yes a ****in faster car than mine, but fuglier) after she got her liscence n she has yet to get a job to pay for anythin. i on the other hand was givin the skivic n had to pay for half of it. the worst part is that so far she's hit 3 cars in parkin lots, cant parallel park for ****(she went up the curb n scrapped the hell out of her sideskirt), n she is afraid to go over bridges wit cars on either side of her.