Help Buying My First Car

Ok, i Will be getting my licence in about 2 weeks and my parent gonna buy for me my first car so i am here asking for advice and help

I am no car expert, but i been looking around lot of web site about car for the past week and know some basic things about it.

My parent budget is 8-10 grand and they definetly wont buy like a old sport car like 240sx or 90's honda civic. they want something that reliable and pretty new with low miles on it like toyota, honda.

Myself, i want a car not just reliabe but also look good. I dont need lot of hp to run over 150 mph, i think i will never go pass the 110, 120mph. So i am asking if there are any car out there that suit me and my situation.

I saw on some website about lot of toyota camry 2000's with some rly cool body kit and custom paint job. And after i got the car, i will get a job so i just wonder after i buy a car, how much would it cost to get some custom paint, full body kit, cusom rims etc... and since i dont know much about car so i wouldnt change any of engine part, i will maybe in future if i have more knowledge about cars.

That was pretty long so thanks for taking your time and read it. Any Answer will be rly appearcitied :smile:

hey man, if u are still looking for advice, then i might be of some help to you.
first of all, for 10K you can get a nice ride - be sure of that. that's more than enough cash to get you a decent car and to have some extra for mods/gas.
now, anyone will tell you that in order to get a good all rounder, a Jap car is the best choise, and that's true. i'd first tell you to stay away from american cars, most of them are crap - bad fuel economy, low build-quality, fast depritioation, horrible handling, low levels of safty... the list goes on and on. if you know that you are going to be modding/tuning/upgrading then you are best with either a German car (BMW, Merc, VW, Audi) or a Japanese car. that is because in order for a car to be able to withstand the tuning it needs to be mechanicly solid and with a strong engine (mechanicly wise not power-wise). what i mean is, that if you don't fel like rebuilding an engine from scratch, and just boost it, u need an engine that can handle it - a German or a Japanese engine usually are best suited for this and are usually even built for tuning (mainly Japanese though). if u know that for sure are NOT going to be tuning your engine, then even a nice Korean (like a Hyundai Elantra or something) might suit you. Korean cars nowaday offer pretty much the same as Japs only for a bit less money.
now for some car choices.
personally, i think a good starting point is a Honda. better than a Toyota.
u can get a nice 95-00 Civic these days for as little as 2K. adn since these cars are built so well, even a 150,000 mile car shouldnt intimidate you. other than that, Civics are extremely easy to modify and they will run forever with no probs and without and downside. if you are willing to pay a bit more then you could find a nice Civic coupe from like 04-06 for as little as 8-10K - a good choice.
a Toyota is also a good chice (engine is built like no other) but non sporty ones (Corolla, Matrix etc.) are less able and less modifyable than a Honda.

i know that you didnt want a sporty ride, but i cant help offering you getting an old Impreza WRX/STI (late 80's early 90's), a Mazda MX-5 (Miata) or a Toyota MR-2 - all very nice cars, amazing to drive and are highly modifyable!

that's pretty much what i reccomend; just remember that American cars are usualy temptimg because of their 'big engine-low price' - but that's for a reason - they are crapy. the real chice is between the more expensive German vs the cheap but awesome value for money Japanese.
for me, nothing beats a nice Civic coupe with a gutsy supercharger!

good luck! and ask anything u want if u need some further help.
EA.

hey man, if u are still looking for advice, then i might be of some help to you.
first of all, for 10K you can get a nice ride - be sure of that. that's more than enough cash to get you a decent car and to have some extra for mods/gas.
now, anyone will tell you that in order to get a good all rounder, a Jap car is the best choise, and that's true. i'd first tell you to stay away from american cars, most of them are crap - bad fuel economy, low build-quality, fast depritioation, horrible handling, low levels of safty... the list goes on and on.
Do you have figures to back up what you are saying?? There are plenty of American badged vehicles that get better fuel economy than Japanese or German models in the same class. Low build quality is a thing of the past. In fact Consumer Reports just named some American vehicles in their top choice picks from surveys they send out to readers who actually own these vehicles.Fast depreciation? What about Hyundais, Kias and other foreign makes? They depreciate faster than many American cars. And in the safety department they are just as good if not better than other foreign badged vehicles in their class with items such as side air bags, stability control, crash ratings and Onstar. It's easy to see something like this coming from someone who doesn't live here in the States.

hey man, if u are still looking for advice, then i might be of some help to you.
first of all, for 10K you can get a nice ride - be sure of that. that's more than enough cash to get you a decent car and to have some extra for mods/gas.
now, anyone will tell you that in order to get a good all rounder, a Jap car is the best choise, and that's true. i'd first tell you to stay away from american cars, most of them are crap - bad fuel economy, low build-quality, fast depritioation, horrible handling, low levels of safty... the list goes on and on. if you know that you are going to be modding/tuning/upgrading then you are best with either a German car (BMW, Merc, VW, Audi) or a Japanese car. that is because in order for a car to be able to withstand the tuning it needs to be mechanicly solid and with a strong engine (mechanicly wise not power-wise). what i mean is, that if you don't fel like rebuilding an engine from scratch, and just boost it, u need an engine that can handle it - a German or a Japanese engine usually are best suited for this and are usually even built for tuning (mainly Japanese though). if u know that for sure are NOT going to be tuning your engine, then even a nice Korean (like a Hyundai Elantra or something) might suit you. Korean cars nowaday offer pretty much the same as Japs only for a bit less money.
now for some car choices.
personally, i think a good starting point is a Honda. better than a Toyota.
u can get a nice 95-00 Civic these days for as little as 2K. adn since these cars are built so well, even a 150,000 mile car shouldnt intimidate you. other than that, Civics are extremely easy to modify and they will run forever with no probs and without and downside. if you are willing to pay a bit more then you could find a nice Civic coupe from like 04-06 for as little as 8-10K - a good choice.
a Toyota is also a good chice (engine is built like no other) but non sporty ones (Corolla, Matrix etc.) are less able and less modifyable than a Honda.

i know that you didnt want a sporty ride, but i cant help offering you getting an old Impreza WRX/STI (late 80's early 90's), a Mazda MX-5 (Miata) or a Toyota MR-2 - all very nice cars, amazing to drive and are highly modifyable!

that's pretty much what i reccomend; just remember that American cars are usualy temptimg because of their 'big engine-low price' - but that's for a reason - they are crapy. the real chice is between the more expensive German vs the cheap but awesome value for money Japanese.
for me, nothing beats a nice Civic coupe with a gutsy supercharger!

good luck! and ask anything u want if u need some further help.
EA.

hey, thanks for the advice. Lot and Lot of ppl told me the MR2, MX-5 is very nice car but it my parent's money and i know that they wont buy me those car cause they know that i am dont know much about car and i will strat to mess around with it will result to damage the car and lost the money so i think that i will buy honda civic or maybe toyota, and i think that i wont start screw around with car engine untill i have more understand how the car work. which toyota u think is easy to mod.

still the other question that i had in mind is that if i bought a body kit from some website and they sent to me, it is hard to install it by myself like install headlight, spoiler etc.. or i have to take it out to the body shop and how much it usually cost to install them? also that if i want a put on dual exuast or something like that, is it easy to learn and do it myself or just let the ppl in the shop do it for me and not risk damage the car?

'97ventureowner (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=232082), even though i dont live in the US, i am still very much involved with cars. i myself own a modded Civic which i worked on for 2 years - and i am glad to say that it works like charm. and yes, i do have figues to back me up - look at clssifides and you will see prices of american cars vs. Euro/Jap cars (remember that this guy is looking for an under 10K car, and for that price you cannot get an american car that can compete with "foriegn" car's price, built quality and fuel ecconomy). other than that, i think the guy need to have a good first car, which means a car that can actually handle and stay in one piece - a first vehicle is a fun experience, why ruin it with some crappy wooden american car??

now back to your car question ZeroCrack (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=560606), installing a car kit if you are not experienced at all is not a good idea. you should leave that job to a workshop. a nice body-kit with some nice (maybe HKS...) exhusts should set you back something like 3-8K$ (the latter for a really nice one i would assume). if it is a toyota that u are lookign for,then the corolla is always a good choice though the corollas in your price range are usually a 93-02 models which are usually very ugly. i still reccomend a nice Civic. u could find a low milege 95-00 Civic coupe/sedan for as little as 2-7K$.
a Camry is probably another nice option, but they usually have a bad fuel economy (compared to a civic/corolla) and u will have to either a pretty old one or one with tones of milege in order for it to be cheap.
i might also offer u to get a tC Scion. u can get an 05 model for little under 9K$ and modding that car is easy, inexpensive and in my opinion it looks great (!) - it is truly a good little car.

get a car for 5-7K$, invest for a period of time modding it with up to 6-7K$ and you can find yourself with a hot ride. good luck

'97ventureowner, even though i dont live in the US, i am still very much involved with cars. i myself own a modded Civic which i worked on for 2 years - and i am glad to say that it works like charm. and yes, i do have figues to back me up - look at clssifides and you will see prices of american cars vs. Euro/Jap cars (remember that this guy is looking for an under 10K car, and for that price you cannot get an american car that can compete with "foriegn" car's price, built quality and fuel ecconomy). other than that, i think the guy need to have a good first car, which means a car that can actually handle and stay in one piece - a first vehicle is a fun experience, why ruin it with some crappy wooden american car??

emanunet, There are those that will always be in a group of people who will always condemn American cars for whatever reason(s), whether true or not. Yes, American cars did suffer in the pastwith certain issues that you listed above, but times have changed. I do look at the classifieds and I do see many American cars under 10k that would be a good first car as well. I see all kinds of makes in the shop and each has their own issues that are common. No one is better than the other, especially when it comes to foreign cars. Just look at some of the forums here and online that speak of issues and frustrated owners of Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundais, BMWs, and Mercedes to name a few. They have issues just like we do . On the safety issue, while some of the foreign cars may rank slightly higher in some aspects of safety testing, they still may not be safe in the real world in an accident. You tend to have a better chance of being killed or seriously injured in a tiny Japanese car than you would an American car. When it comes to better fuel economy here are some figures from a site that lists data from 2005:
Last week, someone posted: "In view of rising gas prices, when is GM going to get off the gas guzzler wagon and start building, promoting, and selling more fuel efficient vehicles?

Let's explode that myth with some facts.

* GM leads the auto industry in providing the broadest array of fuel-efficient cars, trucks, SUVs and vans -- according to 2005 data from the Environmental Protection Agency. GM makes 19 models that get 30 mpg or better on the highway, more than any other automaker. Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler are next with 14 and 13 models, respectively.

* Using 2005 EPA data, for trucks there are 69 unique model/powertrain combinations where the top six manufacturers compete. As a full line manufacturer, GM offers 66 of those combinations and is the fuel economy leader in 41 of them. The second place manufacturer has only nine fuel economy "wins." On a percentage basis, GM wins 62 percent of these head-to-head comparisons (41 of 66) while the second place finisher wins 40 percent (6 of 15).

* Using 2005 EPA data, for cars there are 82 unique model/powertrain combinations where the top six manufacturers compete. GM offers 53 of those combinations and is the fuel economy leader in 28 of them. The second place manufacturer has only 18 fuel economy "wins." On a percentage basis, GM wins 53 percent of these head-to-head comparisons (28 of 53) while the second place finisher wins 45 percent (9 of 20).

* Using 2005 EPA data across Ward's Automotive segmentation, GM is the city fuel economy leader in 7 of 25 segments and the highway fuel economy leader in 8 of 25 segments.


What's the bottom line? For a given segment of the market, it's likely that GM sells the most fuel-efficient model available.
source: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2005/01/myths_and_facts_1.html
So don't count out American made cars when deciding on a vehicle by using misinformation and the theory that just because it's foreign made it's automatically better.

'97ventureowner (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=232082), even though i dont live in the US, i am still very much involved with cars. i myself own a modded Civic which i worked on for 2 years - and i am glad to say that it works like charm. and yes, i do have figues to back me up - look at clssifides and you will see prices of american cars vs. Euro/Jap cars (remember that this guy is looking for an under 10K car, and for that price you cannot get an american car that can compete with "foriegn" car's price, built quality and fuel ecconomy). other than that, i think the guy need to have a good first car, which means a car that can actually handle and stay in one piece - a first vehicle is a fun experience, why ruin it with some crappy wooden american car??

now back to your car question ZeroCrack (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=560606), installing a car kit if you are not experienced at all is not a good idea. you should leave that job to a workshop. a nice body-kit with some nice (maybe HKS...) exhusts should set you back something like 3-8K$ (the latter for a really nice one i would assume). if it is a toyota that u are lookign for,then the corolla is always a good choice though the corollas in your price range are usually a 93-02 models which are usually very ugly. i still reccomend a nice Civic. u could find a low milege 95-00 Civic coupe/sedan for as little as 2-7K$.
a Camry is probably another nice option, but they usually have a bad fuel economy (compared to a civic/corolla) and u will have to either a pretty old one or one with tones of milege in order for it to be cheap.
i might also offer u to get a tC Scion. u can get an 05 model for little under 9K$ and modding that car is easy, inexpensive and in my opinion it looks great (!) - it is truly a good little car.

get a car for 5-7K$, invest for a period of time modding it with up to 6-7K$ and you can find yourself with a hot ride. good luck

ok look like i am going for honda civic after all. thanks for all the help mate :)

ok look like i am going for honda civic after all. thanks for all the help mate :)

I read this thread and sorry to say your really green when it comes to being in the know. but then again your young and smart along with your new found buddy in the UK whom has not got a clue about cars this side of the pond

why do you post a question in a forum like this when you have no intension's to listen to expert advice ?

buy your CIVIC but remember this, it's like buying designer jeans, you can buy the same cloth without the fancy label for lots less, and buying American has been like that since 2002, so pay the extra, lol

Well there might be a lot of so call "Expert" out there but i dont see any post, advice from them. If u know more stuff and have advice to give, plz, i'm all ear...

guys, i didn't mean to get you all upset.
the thing is, i am working in a tunning garage for the past 2 years and i have come across a large number of cars up until now. i know that american cars are not what they used to be but still, i see a vast majority of ppl complaining about thier American made cars. i know that europe is not keen on importing American vehicles and that today about 80-85% of vehicles in europe are not American. but trust me, it is for a reason. i am not going on a "bashing-the-american-car-industry" kind of vendeta, it is just that i have seen seen a large number of ppl choose a Japanese car (usually) for thier tuning. now this guy "ZeroCrack" says that in the future he might be considering modding his car. if he woud have just wanted to buy a car for the sake of driving - heck, i dont care, buy a Chrysler or a Dodge or wtvr. but this guy said he might actually be interested in extracting more from his car. now i know, for a statistic fact, that the japanese motors are more relyable - in most cases they are actually built in order to be modified later on. they have a strechier rev band that can accomidate a turbo/s.charger, they have extremely bullet-proof clutches, pistons and cylinders and their engines are usually built with high levels of quality. again, i am not about to say american cars are nothing but plastic toys on wheels, but i am going to say that i have seen american motos which where simply unable to take that kind of pressure (dealing with power boosts without changing major engine components) and not suffer mechnical problems. fact is, american cars are built to be almost "disposeable". they are usually relatively cheap because they are built to be changed after a number (not a big one) of years; while ususally "foriegn" cars are built to last - i am sorry, but these is simply no arguing about that.


so again, i am sorry if someone got offended, but i think that if someone ones to see thier car's full potential without having to spent tons of money on engine modifications, a motor that it built for the just - agian, usualyy japanese mototrs are built just for that - should do the trick. i am no car "expert" i just work as an assistent mechanic but i am pretty involved in that kind of field.


ZeroCrack, good luck to you, and just know that spending another 1000-2000$ on car that came from japan dosnt just mean it is expensive for no reason. it really isnt.


good luck to you, and if anyone wants to comment and "tackle" me with statements or facts - you are most welcome to.

EA.