Looking for my first car. Please help!

[AugB.]

Hi everyone,

I am 18 and I live in Illinois, US (originally from Lithuania). I'm looking for my first used car. I don't really know much about cars and that's I need your help. I'm looking primarily at sport/luxury cars at the moment, but they don't really have to be that fast, since I am not the 'racer' type. Anything that looks good and is reliable would fit into what I am looking for.

Wanted specifications for my first used car:

I am willing to spend $13,000 max on the used car.
Under 80 k miles
I am currently looking at:
1999-2000 BMW 323i; 1998-2003 Mistubishi Eclipse; 2003 Pontiac Grand Am GT, 2000-2003 Firebird, Audi A4, and maybe others which fall into that general category. (I would prefer imported cars, but it doesn't really matter at the moment).

Any suggestions? Please help out, thanks in advance.

Regards,

A.B.

[harrymay]

dont go with a bimmer for your first, theyre a little more to repair if something goes wrong. i recommend this to everyone, but its a damn good car, a nissan maxima.

they fun to drive, look good, cheap, easy to wrok with get good gas mileage, will last to the 200k mark. you can get a nice 5th gen (2000-03) for under 13g's and with less than 80k


but if not, good luck with whatever you buy, itll be much better than a yugo

[JLad10687]

I too was looking in this price range. Maybe a Nissan Altima or Maxima. Theyre nice kinda sporty cars. I was also looking at the Hyundai Tiburon and Mitsu Eclipse(2000-2005 gen). The only reason I wanted the Tiburon was the warranty.

[drdisque]

the Eclipse has a much cheaper feel than the rest of those cars, as does the Firebird, but V8 Firebirds have the performance to make up for it.

Grand Prixs are great cars, incredibly tough and reliable engine and perform decently.