best old-ish cars

I'm new here. I'm the 'poor college student' type and I'm looking to buy a car for when my parents take back the 1995 Neon Sport they're lending me (until May).

I'd like something that's, well, reliable of course. Also, something I can get with a manual transmission. I'd like something I can tune (new air intake, exhaust, maybe headers or something) fairly easily. I hear Civics are good for that, and old VW Beetles. I'd like a car with decent miles per gallon, the Neon sometimes gets up to 40mpg and I love that. Oh, and remember I'm a poor college student.

Suggestions?

A civic is probably the way to go. Reliability + Fuel Economy = College Car

celica
civic si
integra
prelude


any of these cars from the 90s will get good mileage, be reliable, and still fun to drive and moddable.

A Celica would be nice... thanks for the ideas guys

Yeah Prelude Si or Civic Si.

A mid 90s maxima is pretty cheap and they are really reliable, plus they look pretty nice.

you could also consider a
nissan 200sx se-r
2000-2001 nissan sentra se (includes the venerable sr20de which is good for tuning)
infiniti j30 - very cheap, but parts can cost $$$
infiniti g20 - very cheap, good on gas and pretty nice
acura integra

there are some others that I can't think of...

I have to agree Honda Civic mid to late 90's any model will do.. Great college car and it will keep you busy with easy bolt on mods..CHEAP CHEAP..If you have any questions shoot over to the Honda section we'd be more then happy to assist.

And Welcome to AF!!

4th gen (95-99) Maxima. Quick, handle well, get good fuel economy (recently averaged over 27mpg on a trip, with an auto in my fiance's 98 I30, which is the same car). Engine sounds great with a few mods, and they look WAY better than same gen Accords and Camrys. Also have very good reliability, and will run for a long, long time if cared for.

If you want something a little smaller, I would consider only a Civic. They're fantastic.