Need Your Help and Honest Opinions

[Harrison486]

Well, the time has come to get a new (well used) car.

My daily beater (1995 Saturn SC2) got broken into a few weeks ago and has become very unreliable. The decision has been made that it is time to purchase a new car. I don't really have all that much money, only about $10,000. I am looking to buy from a used car dealer, and hoping that along with my trade in, I will be able to talk the dealer down a little bit. If that all works, I should be able to pull something that is listed from a dealer for anywhere $13,000 and below.

Anyway, I am having some trouble deciding what car to get. I know I probably need to personally test drive each of these, but right now that is not possible. I was wondering if any of you driven two or more of these or had any information or opinions you would like to share.

The current choices are (All would be manual):
2003+ Volkswagen GTI 1.8T
2000-2001 Audi A4 1.8T
2002+ Subaru Impreza WRX
2001+ Acura RSX (hopefully Type-S)
2005 Scion tC

I obviously would not mind a fast car. That being said, however, it is not like I am going to be racing. And honestly, aren't all of these cars fast? This is going to be a daily driver and also be used for the 4-hour long ride to and from college. Im hoping to have this car for awhile. So I guess whats really important is comfort and reliability, but fun to drive is definitely important. Im not sure how much I will end up modding this car, probably not very much, maybe just tint, rims, and lowering it, but you never know.

What do you guys think? Anyone have experience with these? Anything I should add to the list?

Thanks again.

[BlackGT2000]

All nice cars but I don't think 13000 will be enough for any of them with acceptable mileage. Even the TC is still pretty pricey.

[MclarenF1]

Yes… It may be possible to find one of those cars in your price range, but for the most part you would really be scraping the bottom of the barrel. My opinion on each model is as follows:

Audi and VW: Great looking and great running cars- the kind of machines that are a pleasure to see and be seen in. Reliability could be scary though- especially on the higher mileage examples you would be looking at.

Acura: Very nice- but you may have a really hard time finding a nice one in your price range, and many of the affordable ones have been riced to the max.

Scion TC: Ditto

WRX: Awesome (I recently bought one), but sub 10000 dollar examples will be really rough, if you can find one at all. I would also try to avoid 2002 models due to fragile transmissions. (Wider, more durable gears were used in 03+ models.)


My suggestions?

A Mazda Protégé 5 offers lots of room for a traveling college student, looks great, has a nice interior, decent overall performance, good reliability, and good insurance rates to boot!

Miatas are nice, but might not be your style.

Non- turbo Z32s are holding up well, and low mileage examples can be bought in your price range. They are getting old, though, and your insurance company may not offer smile inducing rates on that one. No real backseats are offered, either.

A Prelude may offer better performance than a regular RSX, even if it is not quite on par with a type S. Well taken care of stock models are hard to find, though.

The original 2.5 RS Subaru was a very cool, and relatively rare car. Low mileage 2000 or so models are out there, though.

A mid-nineties 3 series with an in- line six (whether it be a 325 or 328). Classic!


These are what jump to mind at the moment, at least.

[blakscorpion21]

out of those my choice would be the rsx. but like everyone else has said. youd be hard pressed to find a decent one with your price range. some other possible options are

toyota celica: you could get a 94-99 model easily for your price. theyre not very fast, but they have superb handling, good gas mileage and bulletproof reliability. you might find an 00-05 model on your price range which is pretty quick if you get a gt-s. even the base gt will still be an entertaining drive.

honda civic si: i dont know alot about them but they are nice dds, i dont like the previous gen that much(the hatchback) but the model before that i think is quite sharp. theyre decently quick, handle pretty well, and are very reliable.

previos gen z28/trans am: idk if these cars fit your style but they could be picked up in decent condition for that price. they are very fast, but idk how good of a dd they would be as they dont get good gas mileage.

cavalier z24: these cars are pretty nice looking and are kinda quick from what ive heard, although i dont know the specs on them.

im also with mclaren f1 on the honda prelude idea. nice cars.