I'm borrowing a vehicle from my parents at the moment for work but will be needing to buy my own in the next few months.
I've never bought a vehicle before and my family has always driven SUVs, so now that I'm looking for a street car, I have no clue where to begin.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, though if you're feeling up to it, they're all below. I'll summarize all that in this list:
- I've learned that Nissan, Toyota, and Honda are good brands and that Civics are a good place to start.
- The availability of cars in my area makes it easy for me to find a specific model, so recommend whatever.
- I'll need something reliable enough to last me the next 5 or 6 years, and will be cheap or easy to maintain.
- Gas mileage is a second to reliability.
- Lots of aftermarket parts would be ideal to improve the aesthetics of the car later on, so I'm heavily considering the Civic. However, this is not necessary.
- My budget is in the $2.5~$4k range.
- Doesn't have to look nice, but if possible, it should.
- Should be a car, not an SUV or truck.:]
My budget is going to be pretty low, $5000 at the most but preferably somewhere between $3000~$4000.
The gas mileage isn't as important as the maintenance costs and I'm hoping for something that will get me through college, though if it doesn't it's no shame.
I've been reading these boards a lot and see that Civics are probably a good place to start, but I was hoping for some advice on other possibilities.
Someone told me to look into Monte Carlos, but after some research I wasn't that impressed with them.
I've also seen a lot of people on here talking about WRX's, and I was wondering if one of those would be a good place to start?
It seems as if Honda, Toyota, and Nissan are some of the best brands. I can vouch for Nissan in that I'm driving an 03 Nissan Xterra and it runs like the day we got it, and it's gotten us through some of the worst winters Chicago's seen in decades.
In any case, price and reliability are the determining factors. 2-door, 4-door, hatchback, I really don't mind anyways, but I really would like a sporty car if I can manage it. Fortunately this city is a big place and there's always someone looking to get rid of their car, so patience is the only factor when it comes to looking for a specific model. I'm also willing to drive up to two or three hours for the perfect car, so again whatever you guys recommend I will find.
I'm an O.K. driver and have handled high horsepower cars before and wouldn't mind something I could impress my friends with. You know how it is being in highschool and all.
I also plan to learn to do maintenance on this car and a number of aftermarket parts for customization would be ideal, though again that's only a quirk and again reliability comes first.
Sincerely,
loxr