hi everyone im new to this forum it seems to be pretty good everyone is helpful. Im going to buy my first car within a month and I was wondering what you guys think is the minimum I should spend right now for a safe car. no neccesarily looking for anything flashy. at the moment I have 2300 do you think that is enough? there are plenty on newer luminas out there for that much but i have heard bad things about them. ideally i would like a 90-93 newyorker or dynasty but i cant find em anywhere in nova scotia. i have been looking for a long time and i just want to make a good decision. my dad says i need more $$ but I think it is enough. what do you guys think

So I take it that 2300 is canadian, which would be what, about $1800 US? In Nova Scotia do they salt the roads? When they salt roads, corrosion is a huge enemy, so the older the car the worse the corrosion (generally). It seems you are willing to drive american cars, and I would think come $3k US you could get something that runs well, safe, etc.

If you don't salt the roads, I would say that at $1800 you could find something, but it would be a bit older.

I'd steer clear of any early/mid-nineties Chryslers. Chrysler automatic transmissions from that era are very unreliable and expensive to replace. If you want an older Chrysler, what about a Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant. Very cheap and they are almost bullet proof. I bought one with a buddy for $100.00 and we spent 2 weeks driving the (insert colourful word here) out of it...then we left it in a field.

I had a good friend who bought a Chevy Corsica as his first car a few years back. He bought it with 220,000kms (it was a 1990 - he bought it in 2000) and drove it for a few years. He evetually sold it with 265,000km. They're cheap to buy and parts are cheap also, just stay away from the 2.2L. Corsica's are notorious for having poor paint but they're workhorses. Any older GM V6 that is well maintained will last a long time. Just watch out for coolant leaks on the back side of engine.

Also, late 80's early 90's Toyota Camrys/Corollas will easily last until 300,00km with proper care.

If you want something that you won't have to put a lot more money into, listen to your Dad. And don't forget that not only do you have the initial purchase price, but also taxes, DMV fees, gas, maintenance, and insurance.

Basically, better to have more than you need than to need more than you have.

thanks for the input everyone

just thought i would let you guys know i found a 93 dynasty with a redone transmission runs perfect body is solid 1000 bucks.