What would you buy if you only had $5000 to spend?

[banchi105]

Well its that time of my life. Time to buy a new car.
And since Im only 16 - Im only wanting to spend around $5000 or so.
Speed is not really major factor - but is a nice extra.
I need something really reliable and wont cost me killer repairs. I dont really want any sort of jap-import - but am open to suggestions.
Thanks in Advance!

[GTRsi]

any little honda civic will do you fine. honestly in my past experience most american made cars dont last real long. I have had VW bug dad and i built, eclipse GSX, and now a honda civic CX. all of which have cost less than 3500 and had great reliablity. one more tip USE CAR FAX.

[THE4TH]

go civic man , it's cheap to buy, cheap to gas, and cheap to keep... then use the extra $$$ for making it a little more comfy...

[azn_iMack]

For $5000, you could buy an old school MG Midget. Super light, pretty original (cuz everybody drives hondas and toyotas, etc). My dad bought my MG for $500 at an auction. You can probably find a pretty cheap MG (around $1000 more or less depending where you find it), but i've heard that they're kind of hard to maintain. They have 1.5L engine or less, depending on the year. If you wanted to do an engine swap, you have a lot of room to work with. It's a really small car though, only 2 seats and maybe someone small can fit in the back. Go look up some pictures of it.

If you only spend about $1000 on buying the car, you can spend your other money tricking it out. That's what I would do. (engine swap!)
oh, also it's pretty good on gas for an old school car.

[banchi105]

Ya the MG's
are pretty cool
My uncle restored one and won alot of awards for it
and was on the front of a few magazine covers. it was pretty cool looking.
but i need something that i know its not going to throw a hissy fit.

im looking at 93 and 94 BMW 325's and such because i dont think they would cause much trouble. I need a reliable form of transportation and then after i have that - im going to start buying fun project cars and stuff
thanks for the input

[CRXkid]

If you want reliability for cheap, then go with a honda. i know you said you didnt really want a japanese car, but i mean, for what your asking for, hondas are the best way to go. Ive had my CRX for a year. all ive done is change the oil and regular maintenance. the car has just over 250,000 miles on it. the engine has like 100,000. i love it. you can get one of those for less than 3K easily.

[banchi105]

But its a CRX :P
I just feel like I can get a nice non-japanese car for around 5k and have it run nice for a while. Maybe like a 93 BMW 318 or something?

[Phr0st]

Originally posted by banchi105
But its a CRX :P
I just feel like I can get a nice non-japanese car for around 5k and have it run nice for a while. Maybe like a 93 BMW 318 or something?

Sure you can, you just better hope it runs nice for a long while, 'cause if something breaks you're going to have to bend over and take it on repair costs. ESPECIALLY on BMW/Mercedes/Jag/Porsche. Just out of curiosity, why so anti-japanese? Just too common or what?

[darklight]

i would buy a mopad it is more realible (and better looking)than a honda and will prolly get more gas milage too.

[CRXkid]

I think hondas are one of the better looking cars out there. I was just giving my input. hondas are cheap and reliable and theres tons of parts for em for cheap.

[Fliquer]

Get a nissan 240. Superb RWD handling for less.

And by the way, civics arent cheap. Their resale value is outrageous and their incredibly popular. Take the road less traveled my friend...

[banchi105]

That 240 sounds nice.
Im not into that whole jap front wheel drive sports car junk. lol
Im just looking around.
And Tyler - I think its Mopehead.

[NeoFreek]

It is possible to get a good reliable car that isn't made in Japan. If you haven't try to get the newest copy of the annual auto issue of consumer reports. They always have good information on reliable new and used cars.

If you really want to go with American cars Fords are the most reliable that you will find. GM and Chrysler cars aren't really anywhere near. You could also go with German cars like Volkswagon.

[banchi105]

Ya - German cars are for me. I absolutely love German cars!!!
But the problem is - is that its hard to find a german beauty for around 5k
I plan on buying a Porsche 944 Turbo S in the next 12 months But first I plan on buying a mode of transportation and have been looking into 93 BMW 325i's
Theyre in the 5000 dollar range - so thats where i think im headed ( i dont know why i did the colours - i guess i was bored! ) :bandit:

[enginerd]

Personally, I'd buy my 95' Toyota Corolla again.