00 Eclipse....01 Celica

[Gibson486]

So my gf and I spotted a nice 2000 Eclipse on Craigslist for just under $7k. Looks OK from teh pics, but we still need to test drive it. I would tell my gf to look elsewhere because the car has 95K on it, but people tend to hang on to cars when they are white (the car, not the person) for some odd reason. Well...the first thing thatcame to mind when i saw this was crank walk. Does this generation eclipse have the same problem as the 2nd gen?

For the same price, we also test drove an 01 Celica with 118K on it. It was actually a really nice car and I actually wanted to buy it for myself if I had the money. But having my gf spend nearly $7k for a car approaching 120K does not really compute in my head.

Keep in mind that when we originally started looking that she decided that she wanted to spend under $4k for a car. Not a good idea. She started very practical and looked at Civics and Corollas (and Prisms). Man....everything in the range is a POS! WTF...people who had these cars had the mentality to not take care of it. She bumped her search to $5k. No deal. most are salvage cars and when she finds one that is not a salvage, its a POS thats falling apart or it has 180k on it. Decent used corollas and civic don't pop up until you get to the 10K range...but once you get to this range, you get so close to low financing on a new car.

 

[Arkaign]

That Eclipse is the 'Galant' one. Suckage.

There are good Civics out there, just look harder

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...price=8000&cardist=227

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
That Eclipse is the 'Galant' one. Suckage.

There are good Civics out there, just look harder

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...price=8000&cardist=227

Well, its my gf's car. She wants the cuteness factor on wheels. She couldn't careless about how it handle or drives.

 

[Arkaign]

Yikes, that makes things harder. Mitsubishi's are pretty awful for a Japanese maker. Notice you rarely see them out there with ~150+k miles and still running. Resale is also dirt. I see 2000/2001 Eclipses around here for $3-$4k all the time.

Let's see, what does she think of Preludes? Here's a last-gen (nicest!) with 73k miles for $5999. 200HP, ATTS, comfortable, reliable.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...rice=8000&cardist=1158

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Yikes, that makes things harder. Mitsubishi's are pretty awful for a Japanese maker. Notice you rarely see them out there with ~150+k miles and still running. Resale is also dirt. I see 2000/2001 Eclipses around here for $3-$4k all the time.

Let's see, what does she think of Preludes? Here's a last-gen (nicest!) with 73k miles for $5999. 200HP, ATTS, comfortable, reliable.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...rice=8000&cardist=1158

Well...she does care about reliabilty, which is why she is googoo over Toyotas. As for that Prelude...that may not be a good idea. Because if she bought that, I may take that car and give her my Mazda 3

 

[Arkaign]

Hehehe

Well, given her mixture of wants/needs, explain to her that Scion is a Toyota-made brand, and then toss her in a TC. Put ~$5k down, her payments will be super low, she'll build great credit, and she can enjoy a full warranty and her cuteness factor + the Toyota love.

I love Preludes, and having driven the Mazda 3 as well, I think they both handle very very well. The Prelude performs above the 2.3 3, but lower than the Speed3.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Hehehe

Well, given her mixture of wants/needs, explain to her that Scion is a Toyota-made brand, and then toss her in a TC. Put ~$5k down, her payments will be super low, she'll build great credit, and she can enjoy a full warranty and her cuteness factor + the Toyota love.

I love Preludes, and having driven the Mazda 3 as well, I think they both handle very very well. The Prelude performs above the 2.3 3, but lower than the Speed3.

yeah, that is what we were saying. She is about to say fsck and buy new. She can probably get a new corolla for 14k. That's better than spending 9k on an 04 with 50 or 60k on it....and that price is on the lower end of the scale.

 

[Arkaign]

Does she need/want 4 doors? I think the TC may be a better buy for certain types of people.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...rice=8000&cardist=1290

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Does she need/want 4 doors? I think the TC may be a better buy for certain types of people.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...rice=8000&cardist=1290

Man...she doesn't know what she wants Like most woman, she thinks not with her head.

 

[Arkaign]

lol well I can relate to that. My wife is like that when she's hungry.

Q. What do you want to eat?
A. Something good.
Q. Like what?
A. Something good.
Q. Well how about "X"?
A. No.
Q. Well how about "Z"?
A. No.
Q. Hmm, do you want Italian?
A. No.
Q. Do you want Seafood?
A. No.
Q. Do you want Mexican?
A. No.
Q. What do you want????!!???
A. I don't know! Something good!
Q. Like what?????
A. How about 'On the Border'?
Q. But that's Mexican and you just said you ... argh never mind let's go!

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

I feel your pain guys. Girls, for the most part, are illogical. Anyways, I think you should just spend some more time shopping then. Out here in expensive-as-hell California, I've found some pretty nice cars for around the 4-5k range. In that range you can get some mid-late 90's Lexus or Acuras. If they were well taken care of, age (and mileage to a certain degree) shouldn't be too much of a problem.