Integra, Celica, _________ ?

[Fred]

you could pick up a nice GTI for that... Hatchback and turbo ftw!

and you won't find better interior quality anywhere near VW in that price range.

if you go up to 15 you could get a NEW Rabbit...

-Fred (ask me about my new GTI...)

[FreakBaller12]

you could pick up a nice GTI for that... Hatchback and turbo ftw!

and you won't find better interior quality anywhere near VW in that price range.

if you go up to 15 you could get a NEW Rabbit...

-Fred (ask me about my new GTI...)

I heardd you got a gti?

[gmp211]

WRX and tuning - the WRX transmisson has been known to catastophically fail under moderate abuse. Scattering pieces is not a good thing and tends to be more than a little pricey.

25 year old Mercedes. Not a great idea for a daily driver. Nice cars, but even their electronics and vacuum operated controls do not age well.

Don't go exotic for your first car. Look around and find a decent mechanic in your area and see what they recommend. Frankly if the good mechanics in the area don't like European/Japanese / whatever you will find yourself paying even more than the normal extra to repair them. If you have to depend on the dealer your going to find yourself in a very expensive situation. I think my dislike of Audi/VW around here has to do with ultra poor dealer support as much as the quality issues of the VW. Ok - having to pull the front bumper + everything between it and the engine to do a timing belt on a Passat is just retarded regardless of dealer support.

Yeah, but it is a classic so you save a ton on insurance

[themoose]

Ok - having to pull the front bumper + everything between it and the engine to do a timing belt on a Passat is just retarded regardless of dealer support.

WOW! I thought I was the only one that hated this process! I keep telling folks VW/audi's are nice cars for the first three years then all hell breaks loose! especially with the front end.
With all their knowleadge engineers keep making dump designs

[Fred]

and how often do the timing belts get replaced? maybe once in the cars lifetime...

[themoose]

and how often do the timing belts get replaced? maybe once in the cars lifetime...

Yea, MAYBE once in a cars life time

[oneworld]

make sure its something you really like.. i seem to have a problem with this.. i just turned 16 2 months ago... and im looking at buying a 2001 vw jetta right now.. this car would make lucky number 13.... so im really checking into this. and gonna make sure i keep it for ATLEAST 2 years...just dont get into a rush.. drive a few.. do some research.. if your'e gonna go rice.. make sure you have the speed to back it up.

[Bear_Claw]

I see no reason to fear a VW.

I own a 1986 VW golf Diesel with 320,000+ on the clock and still counting. Cars been great too me, it aint purdy and i have been out run by people on bycicals but the car always seems to get the job done. Repair on this thing is Easier most any other vehical i have owned.

I alos have experiance working on my bros 2003 VW Golf TDI LOADED. TOTLY differant beast and tons of fun to drive. LOTS more power (especially after chiping exhuast intake and tuneing with vag-com). Hell even did the timeing belt on it and it WAS involved even for me (im a Diesel mehcanic for a living). But got it done in 6hrs useing only basic hand tools and the two specilty VW tools (borowed from the local TDI Club) for locking the Injection pump and cam shaft. Car was awsome and its only seemed to hve problems with tires ( the tread kept wearing clean off) but im almost shure its a driver isshue LOL.

In fact as soon as i pay some bills i plan to buy a new JETTA TDI myself to replace my old faithfull 86 Golf Diesel and aslo sell my Ranger in favor of getting a big block fuel pig truck again.



Hard to work on eh!! Damn things a sinch.

[Confused+Paintball=Broke]

A Celica would be a great choice, you couldnt go wrong. Check out www.6gc.net and look around, you'll want a Celica real bad after a few minutes of browsing.

Also, how bout a Civic? Sure there one of the most common cars on the market, but thats for good reason. There cheap, easily and infinitly upgradeable, and a great economy car. My grandpa picked up a 96 EX with 60k miles on it, perfect all around for $6000. A pretty good price for a car that gets 30mpg. Stock its nothing special, but civics can be made to just how you like them with ease, and for pretty cheap. Just another car to consider, definatly not to be overlooked.

Good luck, and have fun choosing a new car. My parents have been in the market for years and have come home with nothing.

[skife]

80's cutlass/monte carlo
real, real, real fun to drive.
espically with a small block and no exhaust.

[warbeak2099]

Mazdas are cheasy
American cars break all the time
Old European cars are nice but expensive to fix

From what's been suggested and what you're looking at, a Honda or Toyota would be best. Honda actually IMO. They are incredibly high quality, reliable, cheap and easy to fix, and Honda is known for higher performance too.

Subarus are great too, but more expensive. I'd just go with the Honda. I've been drooling over my after college car for a while lol. Used Honda S2000 (~$16000) w/ throaty sport exhaust, cold air induction system, sport shocks and suspension, cross drilled rotors and sport breaks, etc. Mmmm, an exotic roadster that's cheap, reliable, easy and cheap to fix, gas efficient when driving normally, high performance and almost 300bhp after upgrades, perfect.

[Bear_Claw]

Come on guys lets not make this a debate on what bloddy continet makes a car better is jut ignorant and stupid.

Any real mehcanic will tell you the same thing. They all break and they all need repair every model has their flaws and every brand their lemon.

My little VW is a great little car but its no better or wose than my Ford Ranger or my Old 1977 Dodge Van. It just as cheap to fix as any other vehical and is even cheaper to drive (better on fuel 50-55mpg). BUT on the otherhand its SLOW and not very fancy its a PLAIN JANE Its UGLY Slow and not too comfy but its a car that just seems to work

For comparisons sake my coworker had a 1988 Civic Hatch back VERY similarly optioned 9AKA NO OPTIONS LOL). Both of our cars requierd a new CV shaft and both have approximatly the same milage. My 1986 VW Golf Diesel cost me $75 for parts and about an 1hrs worth of work on the hoist (BUT it requiered use of a special VW socket). MY buddies 1988 Honda Civic cost $120 for parts and took nearly three hours to install but without any special tools. Both jobs were done on the hoist and both bought the parts from the same place. But on the other hand other jobs cost more on my VW than on his honda its all diferant.

[behemoth]

Echo, and Soopa in the same thread? Can we get DJ and ATM, how bout AGDLover

[Chris_automag_07]

second the corolla (or any toyota for that matter)

personally, if you dont mind looking at 40k+ miles and 3+ years old, look at a WRX


For $600 you can get a ECU tuner that you can do yourself, which has some great modes including economy (drastically turns down the turbo and limits your RPM) as well as some more "fun" modes of course . They also have the legendary scoobie reliability as well

thats an sti.....it will be more than 13 k.

[OEM Petey]

I personally drive a 2000 celica GT. I love it. Its a fun car to drive . Handling is AWESOME. Toyota is a very reliable company as you should know. Powerplant in the GT is decent. Its got some nice pep to it. If you are going manual, get a GTS. If auto, get the GT. The auto GTS is the slowest of the bunch. Only thing i don't like is the interior space. The back seat is quite small. Although for the most part i ride alone, when i do have alone lets just say the passenger behind me wont be too comfy. Im about 5'11 and when im driving comfortably, theres barely leg room for the passenger behind me.

check out newcelica.org, you'll find some great info there