Best car for 8k, newbie driver?

[TridenT]

lol, I love these kinds of threads.

"I want to spend X and get one of these."

And then the OP goes out to spend double that and on an entirely different car altogether.

 

[Jimzz]

Lol. You're still not saying what they're getting fixed on the thing.

How the hell does anyone spend $2000 on repairs that don't involve the transmission, complete engine rebuild, or similar? There is only so much that can go wrong.

Specifics would mean a lot here. I just don't see how spending a total of $5k (yours and the buyers spending included here) is even remotely possible on such a car.

Alternator? $100ish + labor = roughly $200

Water pump? $100ish + labor = roughly $200

Battery? $80ish, generally installed free

Tires? $500 for a decent set, maybe $600 installed.

Brakes all the way around? $300-400.

Radiator? Maybe a few hundred.

Transmission? $1500.

Engine? Drop in replacement is probably $1000-1500 as they're everywhere.

Specifics or GTFO. I think your and his mechanic knows a sucker when they see one. Something really does not add up here.

If I remember correct he lives in NoVA, same as myself. What some shops here charge is crazy. I took my MiL's car for a state inspection and they said the rear brakes needed to be replaced. Just to swap out the shoes, no drums or anything else, was around $360 at the shop. I did it for $20 as nothing else was bad, the shoes still had life IMO but $20 was cheaper than trying to fight it.

I still do a little work on the side in NoVA and the estimates I see can be crazy. One person thought I did not understand what they were asking as my price was less than 1/3 what another shop wanted for a front brake job.

 

[Sidekicknichola]

$8,000 with good mpg, good reliability, and resale value I would suggest the following:

Honda / Acura just over 100k (with the 105k service already done) or something at ~50-60k so when you're selling it, it is still under 100k
... you'll add 20-30k in your next 2/3 years but the drop from 100k to 130k won't be as sever as if you're the driver that puts it over 100k.

With that said, I would look
06+ civic (timing chain at this point)
05+ RSX (I just bought one for my winter car) - 2005 (not type-s) with 70k miles for $6,000 out the door (including TTL)
Accord Coupe with the 4 cyl. (adding a headunit or AUX input on these are a PITA though - keep that in mind)


... other cars I would consider that are not Honda / Acura:
Honda Prelude
TC like you mentioned
2000s Toyota Celica
Toyota Solara (I've seen newer body style ones with under 100k for well under $8k)

 

[mvbighead]

If I remember correct he lives in NoVA, same as myself. What some shops here charge is crazy. I took my MiL's car for a state inspection and they said the rear brakes needed to be replaced. Just to swap out the shoes, no drums or anything else, was around $360 at the shop. I did it for $20 as nothing else was bad, the shoes still had life IMO but $20 was cheaper than trying to fight it.

I still do a little work on the side in NoVA and the estimates I see can be crazy. One person thought I did not understand what they were asking as my price was less than 1/3 what another shop wanted for a front brake job.

I suppose that must be the missing factor then.

I am just floored at being able to spend that much on a run of the mill Chevy. If this were a specialty model of some sort I could maybe see it, but it is a model that probably every shop across the country has encountered, likely down to the year and sub model. There are tons of these cars out there, and there is nothing special about them.

All that said, I still have seen no specifics on what has amassed a total of $5k. Aside from body work, I don't see how it is possible.

 

[kitatech]

lol, I love these kinds of threads.

"I want to spend X and get one of these."

And then the OP goes out to spend double that and on an entirely different car altogether.

yup....

 

[BlitzPuppet]

OP How old are you?

 

[Sidekicknichola]

OP How old are you?

From his original post -

I don't have a family, single 24 year old male, coupe is preferred