Good First Car, 7000 dollar or less budget

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: beatle
Miata! Outstanding reliability, cheap to maintain, operate AND insure, even for a younger driver. They have a big aftermarket and one of the best forums on the net. Dang, I sound like an evangelist for the car.

You know you can fit an LS1 in one of those too? That'd be even funner then my project car I want to do. Holy Christ a Miata with a worked LS1.... :Q

A 302 is a more common swap

I don't see why someone would swap a GM engine into a Miata. It would make more sense to swap in a Ford, Jaguar, etc. Would you swap an LS1 into a Mustang?

A reason why someone would pick an LS1 over a 5.0 is because the LS1 puts out about 100 more horsepower to the wheels.

Now do you see why someone would use a GM engine?

 

[Actaeon]

For those interested in the V8/LS1/302 Miata.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: Actaeon
For those interested in the V8/LS1/302 Miata.

That's gotta throw the weight distrobution way out of wack though. How much does that engine weigh and how much does the stock engine weight?

 

[ultimatebob]

For a first car, I would recommend getting a "land yacht" like a Ford Crown Vic or Mercury Grand Marquis. Sure, it isn't much to look at, but it's comfortable, powerful, relatively safe, and big enough to fit both you and 5 of your friends!

Not to mention that the trunk is large enough to store that Civic or Corolla that Skoorb is recommending, just in case you decide to get one later

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
For a first car, I would recommend getting a "land yacht" like a Ford Crown Vic or Mercury Grand Marquis. Sure, it isn't much to look at, but it's comfortable, powerful, relatively safe, and big enough to fit both you and 5 of your friends!

Not to mention that the trunk is large enough to store that Civic or Corolla that Skoorb is recommending, just in case you decide to get one later

haha i was actually looking at one of those, they are one of the few cars that still have a real metal frame and real bumpers too. I decided against one of those, though, because I would get mistaken for a cop or something lol. Anyways right now im comparing a Ford Mustang V6 to the Dodge Avenger V6 cars, please dont bother saying i should get the V8 mustang i cant afford the insurrance or the car. I really like the looks of the Dodge Avenger over most anything around right now, there isn't a huge number of them in circulation which makes it more unique, no offense but i couldnt stand driving a civic, there's just so many of them around! Anyways Mustangs seem to have decent prices on them, and I'm going to take a guess the 3.8 liter engine will do me a bit better than the 2.5 avenger engine? lol so it's looks vs performance right now i guess.? Anyone have any other input?

 

[Actaeon]

Hah, the Avenger looks nice, but it is pretty weak. Theres a reason why they call the Dodge Avenger a Dodge Pretender.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: Actaeon
Hah, the Avenger looks nice, but it is pretty weak. Theres a reason why they call the Dodge Avenger a Dodge Pretender.

It's still got bigger engine than a lot of Eclipses out there though and those are supposed to be fast or something so that kind of confuses me.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: wetcat007

Originally posted by: Actaeon
Hah, the Avenger looks nice, but it is pretty weak. Theres a reason why they call the Dodge Avenger a Dodge Pretender.

It's still got bigger engine than a lot of Eclipses out there though and those are supposed to be fast or something so that kind of confuses me.

It's all about the horsepower and torque an engine makes, not it's displacement.

 

[Jumpem]

WTH?

 

[Jumpem]

 

[ElFenix]

holy triple post batman!

 

[Thegonagle]

Learn to love. . . The Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable.

OK, you won't love it, but for a first car, the parental approval factor is high (very high safety ratings), the insurance will be cheap as dirt (relatively speaking), you'll be able to get a fairly new/low-mileage one for the money, and when you bang it up, you won't feel too bad. (I know, you're sure you won't ever put a scratch on it, but since it takes someone at least 5 years to become a really competent driver, the smart money says you're going to scrape some doors and bumpers at some point when you're trying to be slick.)

I suppose a Dodge Avenger wouldn't be a bad choice either, but insurance might be more expensive.

 

[djNickb]

Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: djNickb
Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

But how is that 3.5 L engine? The durability of the good 'ol 3800 is well known. I know most GM engines are fine these days, but they've also had some legendary duds not easily forgotten. (Quad 4, anyone?) Personally, if there were two Intrigues side by side, same condition, price, and mileage, and one had a 3.5 and the other had a 3800, I'd chose the one with the 3800.

That's just me though.

 

[djNickb]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb
Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

But how is that 3.5 L engine? The durability of the good 'ol 3800 is well known. I know most GM engines are fine these days, but they've also had some legendary duds not easily forgotten. (Quad 4, anyone?) Personally, if there were two Intrigues side by side, same condition, price, and mileage, and one had a 3.5 and the other had a 3800, I'd chose the one with the 3800.

That's just me though.

Really? The 3.5L is a much more sophisticated engine than the pushrod 3800. It also puts out more HP & torque than the 3800. It's basically a northstar block with 2 cylinders chopped off the back.

edit: As for reliability on the 3.5L the DOHC are drive by a timing chain, distributorless ignition system, and a basically indestructable bottom end. I have read and heard many good things about the 'shortstar' and my experience with it has also been positive. Plus its a fun car to drive, not a 330i or an A4 but IMO a nice good balance of size/power/reliability/price

 

[CChaos]

Well, my advice was going to be don't ask here, but now that this thread has gotten so many responses you can probably see that for yourself.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: djNickb

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb
Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

But how is that 3.5 L engine? The durability of the good 'ol 3800 is well known. I know most GM engines are fine these days, but they've also had some legendary duds not easily forgotten. (Quad 4, anyone?) Personally, if there were two Intrigues side by side, same condition, price, and mileage, and one had a 3.5 and the other had a 3800, I'd chose the one with the 3800.

That's just me though.

Really? The 3.5L is a much more sophisticated engine than the pushrod 3800. It also puts out more HP & torque than the 3800. It's basically a northstar block with 2 cylinders chopped off the back.

I know all that. But this is GM, and that engine is not yet such a proven product as the 3800, which is well known as an easy 200,000 miler.

 

[GasX]

if you are spending $7000, then you are obviously budget concious. Do yourself a favor and get a honda civic or something similar with 4 doors. It will be quality reliable transportation, won't use much gas, won't be expensive to insure and will hold some resale value. In fact, if you go with 4 doors, you can probably up your budget because your insurance will be less.

 

[JACKHAMMER]

 

[JACKHAMMER]

Get something newer, slower (easy on insurance), and reliable. My suggestion would be a ~2000-2001 Mazda Protege. A very nice little car, that is reliable, and has a poor resale value (which is good for you b/c your buying second hand). IMO it would be stupid to buy something older and fast, just to be fast. This is a 1st car afterall and you don't want to be dumping money into it.

 

[djNickb]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb
Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

But how is that 3.5 L engine? The durability of the good 'ol 3800 is well known. I know most GM engines are fine these days, but they've also had some legendary duds not easily forgotten. (Quad 4, anyone?) Personally, if there were two Intrigues side by side, same condition, price, and mileage, and one had a 3.5 and the other had a 3800, I'd chose the one with the 3800.

That's just me though.

Really? The 3.5L is a much more sophisticated engine than the pushrod 3800. It also puts out more HP & torque than the 3800. It's basically a northstar block with 2 cylinders chopped off the back.

I know all that. But this is GM, and that engine is not yet such a proven product as the 3800, which is well known as an easy 200,000 miler.

So the northstar is not a proven engine?

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
if you are spending $7000, then you are obviously budget concious. Do yourself a favor and get a honda civic or something similar with 4 doors. It will be quality reliable transportation, won't use much gas, won't be expensive to insure and will hold some resale value. In fact, if you go with 4 doors, you can probably up your budget because your insurance will be less.

$7k is budget minded!?:Q MY cars have cost $1500(85 Celica GT), $700(89 DOdge Omni), $2000(91 Dodge Spirit).

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: JACKHAMMER
Get something newer, slower (easy on insurance), and reliable. My suggestion would be a ~2000-2001 Mazda Protege. A very nice little car, that is reliable, and has a poor resale value (which is good for you b/c your buying second hand). IMO it would be stupid to buy something older and fast, just to be fast. This is a 1st car afterall and you don't want to be dumping money into it.

Those are good, but not that easy on insurance. Strangely (or perhaps not--look who generally drives what, and how they drive), smaller cars are usually more than mid-size cars.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Also, I know it's heretical around here to recommend something other than a Honda civic or the like, but honestly if I hadn't had an unreliable car when I was a kid, I probably wouldn't know how to work on them. Get an 80's Dodge. It may not be reliable, but damn if you won't be handy with a wrench after awhile.

Yep, dodge's are unreliable pieces of crap. I should know, I drive one. My neon developed a beautiful oil leak at 50k miles. The dealership was nice enough to basically tell me to fvck off when I asked them to repair this common design flaw out of warrenty.

Toyota Tacoma when we get a pickup, toyota corrolla for a car. (My girl has a chevy prizm, I've heard its the same car and she likes it. Still going strong at about 100k miles '94) I learned my lesson, I'll pay a little more up front for something that doesn't fall apart at 50k miles.

I'd buy a Chevy Berreta if I were looking for a domestic sporty car...AND they still made them. My friend had a ten year old one of those...I couldn't believe the beating it took from him and kept on purring.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: djNickb

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: djNickb
Might wanna check out the Oldsmobile Intrigue. Since they quit making them in 2002 the resale on them has plummeted. The newer ones have the "Shortstar" 3.5L V6. Pretty nice cars for the money. I drive an '99 Intrigue GL picked it up a year and a half ago for $7,900. Should be able to find a good deal on one.

But how is that 3.5 L engine? The durability of the good 'ol 3800 is well known. I know most GM engines are fine these days, but they've also had some legendary duds not easily forgotten. (Quad 4, anyone?) Personally, if there were two Intrigues side by side, same condition, price, and mileage, and one had a 3.5 and the other had a 3800, I'd chose the one with the 3800.

That's just me though.

Really? The 3.5L is a much more sophisticated engine than the pushrod 3800. It also puts out more HP & torque than the 3800. It's basically a northstar block with 2 cylinders chopped off the back.

I know all that. But this is GM, and that engine is not yet such a proven product as the 3800, which is well known as an easy 200,000 miler.

So the northstar is not a proven engine?

I was referring to the 3.5 L. I'm not a mechanic and I'm not in the car business anymore, so it takes awhile for news about what's good over the long haul to trickle my way. Although the 3.5 L engine sounds promising, I still lack first hand knowledge of 3.5 L engines (and Northstars, for that matter, even though I've not heard nightmares about them either) that are running strong after 200,000 + miles without costly repairs.

The best I can say about them personally, today, right now, is "inconclusive."

That's all I was really saying. Therefore, given the choice between one that I know is good, and one that might be good, I'll go with what I know. (If I was seriously shopping for a mid-size used car, I'd probably ask the opinions of as many mechanics as I could about 1 vs. the other.)