Beginning Car

Hey, Im new to this site and I was wondering what car you guys think would be best for a beginner to start off with. I don't really know much about cars and I want a car that I would be able to learn with. And also if you know of any books that would help me out I would really appreciate it.

A honda Civic in the 1998 range will do nicely.

Civic is nice, but I don't like driving a car that I see on the road all the time. I've been thinking about a Nissan Sentra SE-R Spev V to replace my daily driver, would also be a nice starter car. But it also depends on your budget and what your looking for. And as far as learning, nothing can really replace just going out in an empty parking lot and just practicing.

well id usually say go for personal preference everything except a honda that is. Though ive started to warm up to the crack boxes and am seriously considering buying one. So id say go for an 88-94 hatchback and swap the motor cheap hp and good gas mileage :2cents:

I asume that your just starting to drive so i would say get a pickup truck with a manual; like a work truck. Because even if your a good driver your probably going to wreck.

My first car was an f-150 6cyl and it had bad shocks and had such a long throw and a heavy clutch. It was slow, turned bad, pain to drive; leg hurt after like 5min of driveing. Hard to park; so i got good at parking. Having a
car like that made me a better driver. I had to negotiate turns, switich lanes and park more cautiously then if i had a small car.

But if you really want a car. A couple cars for beginers come to mind...
Ford tarus SHO, fours doors,5-speed,225hp,cheap insurance..
Nissan maxima-5-speed, four door, good mpg fun to drive....
Honda civic hatch- 5speed- good mpg, pretty slow..stock
Saturn sc2- 5 speed- cheap insurance,good mpg....
Volkswagen jetta- 5-speed, four doors, good mpg...

All those are 5-speeds because it good to know how to drive a manual and it will be better to learn early. Most are good on insurance. Good mpg. If you want to you can mod all those cars as your skill and knowledge progress.

Best books....some of those for dummie brand books are ok. I got auto repair
for dummies,but i could have learn most of it on the internet. This website has lots of info on cars. just search the web for more info. also the best book of all is a..tv i know its not a book but its is a good learning aide.they have cars show that you might pick up a thing or two while watching.

good luck and never stop learning.

im gonna say '02 or higher ford focus. fantastic handling, and great mpg. plus the 3 door looks pretty good imo.

if looking to go the RWD route, im gonna get criticized for this, but a v6 mustang is great for just getting used to RWD. then you can move on to bigger and better things and have confidence in being able to control it.

A honda Civic in the 1998 range will do nicely.

:werd:

Something old, something you don't mind getting bent up. When you're young, you make mistakes... you bonk into shit. We've all done it, whether we would like to admit to it or not.

Something old, something you don't mind getting bent up. When you're young, you make mistakes... you bonk into shit. We've all done it, whether we would like to admit to it or not.

this is very true. i started with a 1990 escort, it was reliable, and it needed to be. i beat the living piss outa that car, and i loved it. one time we tried to run over a snow drift after wrestling practice... lol it kinda got stuck, and that wasnt even the worst thing i did to it. ramming my friends shitty cars was fun too.

better car------

ford tempo....

very realiable, not too fast, great gas milage, everything u need in it and also they are dirt cheap. uysusally found under 1k. just do a tune up and u should be fine with it. plus, they are a sedan so can hold people. cheap insurrance too. u could also get a toyota tercel, but its basically the same car but a toyota bage. 80hp...what else could u ask for under 1k that actually runs?