Review about cars that I've owned. From first to current
2000 Ford Taurus. I bought this car with 53k miles for $5300 back in December of 2003 and sold for about the same in July of 2004 with about 57k miles.
Good
-Good highway cruiser for long trips
-Lots of space
Bad
-Horrible gas mileage. I remember getting mid teens in the city during the winter
-Plain
-Boring
Overall, it's a plain, boring car that I wouldn't recommend for anything. There are better choices out there.
1991 Honda CRX Si. Bought in August of 2004 with 182k miles for $1100, sold in January of 2005 with 204k miles non-running for $500.
Good
-40 mpg at 100 mph. Find any new car that will beat that.
-lightweight
-cheap insurance
-cheap parts
Bad
-mine had quite a bit of rust because of age
-mine had no ac
-mine was really loud because of the fart can exhaust and later on because of a lack of exhaust
-not sure how safe it is
I would highly recommend this as a starter car for everyone. Everything about the car was cheap, the purchase price, gas, insurance, parts. It was a great car for me.
1991 Toyota MR2. I paid $750 for this car in February of 2005 with 138k miles and a bad engine. Sold it in February of 2006 for around $2000 with 139k miles. I rebuilt the engine.
Good
-MR platform
-Pretty loud, because engine is behind you
-
Bad
-felt a bit underpowered
-Bad in snow
I can't really comment on much else, because I didn't drive it much. It was a project car that was sold upon completion. Probably not a good first car, but would make a good second car. Watch out for snap oversteer though.
2001 Honda S2000. Bought in February of 2006 with 19k, still have the car. It has 24k miles on it today.
Good
-perfect neutral handling
-best NA 4-cylinder engine made to date, 9000 rpm redline
-convertible
-perfect transmission
-fun to drive factor better than almost every car
Bad
-very little interior space
I'd highly recommend this over the competitors (350z, rx-8, evo, sti). I've driven the 350z and the RX-8 and have ridden in both an evo and an sti, and neither of them have the same handling or the same fun-to-drive factor. It is not a beginners car though, you really should drive something for a couple of years before getting an S2000.