Looking for College Car

Hey, new to the forums. So I'm looking for a college car that meets the following specs:

-Reliable
-Manual is damn near a must. Will make exceptions for decent RWD or AWD cars
-RWD or AWD is preferred, FWD is acceptable only if manual is option or standard
-No preference of origin (American/Euro/Japanese etc)
-Preferably a sedan for insurance reasons.
-Styling is last of my concern, but would be a nice bonus.
-No power/sportiness preference. I want a decent car that will last (not some junker, but I don't need a sports car either). Again it would be a nice bonus

Cars I've been looking at in order of preference:

-96/97 Audi A4 2.8 AWD (M)
-00 Lincoln LS RWD (M/A)
-97 Cadillac Seville SLS RWD (A)
-00 Olds Alero GLS FWD (M)
-97-00 Mazda 626 V6 LX FWD (M)
-98 VW Pasat GLX V6 FWD (M)

Any comments or other suggestions?

Don't buy an A4 if you want the car to last. Well, they will last, but it takes a good amount of money for proper upkeep, and 99-up is the better choice of A4s. Insurance tends to not be great either, even if it is a sedan.

I'm not gonna recommend those domestics. If anything, i'd pick GM and if i go GM for cars, i'd look at Pontiacs.

I don't know anything about the 626.

Passats are nice. I'd prefer a newer one personally, but still great cars.

I strongly recommend jsut about any Subaru you can afford, possibly look at mid-late 90s Legacy GT (most sporty Legacy of this time), Forester if you need cargo space, Impreza sedan/wagon, or a fully loaded Limited Outback Wagon/Sedan maybe (dunno your budget). These babies last forever. Up here in the Rockies it's common to see early 90s wagons with 250k+ miles and still running strong. AWD is different between manual and autos, but still great either way. Just plain terrific machines IMO.

I'm a little curious why you want RWD/AWD so much if you don't care all that much about sportiness. RWD for the sake of RWD isn't very good. The Lincoln and Cadillac are absolute boats and won't be very good no matter where the power went.

For reliability in a sedan, the ultimate go-to cars are the Accord and the Camry. Both can be had in a V6, and I know that at least the Accord is available with a manual. They are both FWD, but they are also probably the most reliable things you can buy.

I dont mean to be biased or anything but I think a Civic sedan would be a good choice. I have a 96 LX, auto, but they were avail. in manual. Low power, reliable as long as you take care of them. Im 20 and my insurance is about 1300 a year. The only thing that has actually broken on mine is the radiator, (hairline crack) It has 130,000+ and still runs really well. Other choices are Integra sedans, Subarus are good as well and was one car I was looking at (Actually I would love to get a wagon) Most Euros are going to be a little more work than you probably want. The main thing is to make sure the car is very clean inside and out. That shows that it probably wasnt driven hard. But avoid cars with a just-cleaned engine bay as you wont be able to tell if its had a leak. The seller should be more than willing to let you drive it and answer your questions.

I am curious why you are so averse to FWD and auto transmissions. From your description, you want a good, realiable car for which the primary focus, I assume, is to get you where you need to go without much trouble. I can't imagine why FWD would be a problem in that regard.

As for me, I am just about to graduate and have found my '94 Saturn SL2 to be a great car. My mom bought it new, but 90% of the nearly 200,000 miles on it are mine. Its been very reliable, only requiring the replacement of parts that just wear out over time with normal use. No major issues. For instance, just this weekend I replaced the upper engine mount. I had forgotten just how smooth the car really is.

My SL2 isn't the most amazing thing on the road (far from the worst), but it's powerful enough and handles well enough to have some fun. If you look the Saturn route, go with a DOHC engine, you'll be much happier.

Whatever you choose, there's nothing wrong with FWD. Sticks are fun, but no one's ever died from not having one. Just get something that was well taken care of and take good care of it yourself and you should be happy. Remember, that the older the car, the more work you can expect to put into it. No matter how reliable it may be, parts wear out and need to be replaced.

Strongly strongly strongly agreed except for auto (Autos and 4 bangers don't mix well IMO). And i'd give a kidney away for a stick shift in my Blazer.:banghead: Maintenene tends to be quite cheap on Saturns also if you work on it yourself. Plus ANY Saturn will be good on insurance (coupe, sedan, wagon).

I was just thinking, if you are going away to college and will be moving in and out of dorms like I did at least 1/2 dozen times as an undergrad, you may want something with plenty of cargo space for your stuff. Keep that in mind with your shopping. You may find some kind of wagon or even a compact pickup would be more practical for your needs. Just food for thought. And good luck with school.