Older Civic or newer Elantra?

[alexgs]

Hi,

I'm looking for a used car and can spend $6000.
I live in NY but go to school in St. Louis so I need to be able to go there and back at least twice a year for the next few years.
I figure I can go two ways with my purchase. I can either find a new elantra or sentra thats an '01 or '02 with about 30-50K miles or I can look back into the 90s for a civic, altima, or similar that has a better reputation for reliability but will proably have 60-70K miles.

So do I go old and reliable or new but a cheaper car?
I'm relatively new at this so any input would be greatly valued.

Thanks a lot,
Alex

[jabby_jabby]

Based on my own personal experience, neither. If you're looking for reliability, get something brand spankin new that has a warranty on it so you don't worry about it breaking down on you. If that's too expensive, lease it.

This is what I did with my Cobalt just this week. I need to get from Saskatoon to Toronto at least twice a year (3000kms each way) and my 95 cirrus just wouldn't cut it.

Unless you're mechanically inclined. Then I would go with an older civic as my understanding is that they're pretty damn reliable. If you can fix it yourself, by all means go with an older car. But if you're going to be paying someone else to fix it WHEN it breaks down, you're going to spend the same amount I did on my brand new car.

That's just my two cents.

[alexgs]

Hey. Thanks for your quick reply.

I definitely can't get a new car with $6k and I would really rather just pay cash and own a car rather than lease or finance or anything like that.

I guess my question is really about reliability and how long these cars will last. Does the excellent quality of Honda make up for the fact that I'd have to get one thats several years older than a Hyundai?

I always thought Hyundai had a pretty bad reliability record but now I'm hearing the cars are decent. Does anyone know how long a Hyundai is expected to last vs. a Honda, or Nissan?

Thanks again.

edit: I'm not sure if this is true or not but I've heard that it's not wise to buy a used civic if you don't know the previous owner since many civics are driven really hard by kids and are seriously worn. Is this true?

[drdisque]

if you get a newer hyundai it should still have alot of warrantee left on it.

yes, many civics are beat on by dumb people or poorly maintained because the owners think they're reliable regardless of how well they take care of them.

[siege911]

If you have $6000 to spend, go with a 2000 or so civic. These can be had for relatively cheap, and they're hella reliable. Definitely go with a used Honda, but you might wanna make sure that there wasn't some stupid kid driving it before, as was said above. I got my 98 civic ex 4dr for 2 grand, but it had a lot of bodywork that needed to be done. A decent civic could be had for under 6 grand though, you just need to be patient and look.

[NUCLEUS.ONE]

Don't Get The Hyundai. Period. Let Someone Else Find Out If A Newer Hyundai Is Reliable.
Go For A Certified Pre-owned/used Honda. Very Reliable And If You Have Some Kind Of Warranty, You'll Be Covered Over Major Breakdowns. Great On Gas, Too.
Don't Lease, Especially If You're Going To Put Alot Of Miles On The Vehicle, As Most Lease Contracts Limit The Amount Of Mile You Can Drive Per Year.

[fredjacksonsan]

Agreed on the anti-Hyundai. The Honda will likely last over 200K without major problem of any kind, if you take care of it.

[drdisque]

saying that ANY car will last 200k without a problem is just asking to cram your foot in your mouth. Things break, no matter what plant they come from.