• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Looking for a compact sedan...

I

imported_stev

Senior member
I'm 25 and I'm buying my first car within the next month. I've done a lot of looking around online and I'm a week or two from finally making it out to some dealerships and test driving.

Here's what I'm looking for in a car:
-Used compact sedan
-Manual transmission
-Under 12K
-Reliable
-Reasonable gas mileage (near 30 MPG or higher for highway driving)
-Somewhat sporty in speed and handling (not a big emphasis on this, but it would be nice)
-No spoiler! (I think they look stupid and AFAIK they don't serve a purpose for non-racing cars)

Short list of cars I plan to test drive:
-Toyota Corolla
-VW Jetta
-Mazda Protege
-Nissan Sentra
-Honda Civic

Can anyone think of a car that should be on the list, but isn't? Anyone have a good reason why I shouldn't even bother test driving something already on the list? Any domestic cars that fit into this category that are reliable and don't look butt ugly? I considered Dodge Neon and Ford Focus for awhile, but for the Neon, I'd need to shut my eyes as I walk toward the car to get in and for the Focus I'd need to shut my eyes while inside the car (not good).
 
Originally posted by: Lithium381
are you looking new or used? the civic and the corolla are at least 15 invoice
Click to expand...


Seeing as the Protege is no longer in production and none of the cars listed can be had for 12k, I'd say moderately new but still used.

The Protege is a nice car, what it lacks in power it makes up for in fun to drive, civics are seen as "sorta sporty" while IMHO the Proteges are even better at being an affordable sporty econobox. Fro 2k look fro a rare(ish) Protege MP3 model with the revised front and rear fascias, side skirts, a spoiler(can be removed easily) and a 2.0L engine that puts out 28 more hp than the base 1.8L along with revised suspension tuning.

The corolla is bulletproof and the most popular/highest produced (by volume) car in the world so if anything goes wrong, theres a part to fix it on hand almost anywhere and available inexpensively.

Same to the civic except the civic is slightly sportier

The VW Jettas tend not to be so reliable, especially the 1.8T engine is finicky about matainence and electronics in VWs dont exactly have a sterling reputation.

Late model Sentras look Blah, I dont mean Corolla/Civic blah, I mean like a overstuffed jellybean blah.
 
Originally posted by: mwmorph
Originally posted by: Lithium381
are you looking new or used? the civic and the corolla are at least 15 invoice
Click to expand...


Seeing as the Protege is no longer in production and none of the cars listed can be had for 12k, I'd say moderately new but still used.

The Protege is a nice car, what it lacks in power it makes up for in fun to drive, civics are seen as "sorta sporty" while IMHO the Proteges are even better at being an affordable sporty econobox. Fro 2k look fro a rare(ish) Protege MP3 model with the revised front and rear fascias, side skirts, a spoiler(can be removed easily) and a 2.0L engine that puts out 28 more hp than the base 1.8L along with revised suspension tuning.

The corolla is bulletproof and the most popular/highest produced (by volume) car in the world so if anything goes wrong, theres a part to fix it on hand almost anywhere and available inexpensively.

Same to the civic except the civic is slightly sportier

The VW Jettas tend not to be so reliable, especially the 1.8T engine is finicky about matainence and electronics in VWs dont exactly have a sterling reputation.

Late model Sentras look Blah, I dont mean Corolla/Civic blah, I mean like a overstuffed jellybean blah.
Click to expand...

LOL, I agree with everything in mwmorph's post 😀

Might want to look at a Mazda 3 instead of a Protege...

For the price point of these cars, it's hard to find used that's reliable, or at a fair price.

 
Lithium381: Yeah, I'm looking for a used car

mwmorph: I agree with you on the late model Sentras and I'm not a big fan of the look of newer Corollas and especially Civics. I saw a 2001 Corolla S that was loaded and under 10K, but it was sold before I got a chance to get down there. In fact, 2000-2004 Corollas are really hard to find. I guess everyone is still driving them and when they show up at a lot, they are snapped up quick.

Pliablemoose: I would consider a Mazda 3, but since they are newer, most of the ones I've seen listed fall out of my price range or have way too many miles.

For the price point of these cars, it's hard to find used that's reliable, or at a fair price.
Click to expand...
So, either it's a great car so they keep or they trade it in and it's resold well above 12K? Then if it's under 12K it's likely that something is wrong with it?

I'll check back in tonight!
 
This would be a no brainer for me. I would look at something new for 2k more.

Maybe even slightly used if you can find one. Depends on the area you live but this can be hard. expect to travel around a lot.

I would look at a new/slightly used civic or sentra, out of the options you listed.

I was recently in the market and I bought an 06 chevy cobalt ss coupe for ~14k slightly used.
 
"This would be a no brainer for me. I would look at something new for 2k more. "

I agree wholeheartedly.

Stev, you can try to get a used car with thousands of miles OR you can get something like a base Mazda 3 (with A/C) 5-speed for less than $3,000 less NEW. Money may be tight but consider what is the best value to you.
 
Originally posted by: dud
"This would be a no brainer for me. I would look at something new for 2k more. "

I agree wholeheartedly.

Stev, you can try to get a used car with thousands of miles OR you can get something like a base Mazda 3 (with A/C) 5-speed for less than $3,000 less NEW. Money may be tight but consider what is the best value to you.
Click to expand...

i can vouch for that too. I spent a while looking at new vs used, and after considering the price difference, i bought a new '07 mazda 3 and i have absolutely no regrets. and the 3 itself is phenomenally fun, btw.
 
I think you guys may be right on going for a new (or certified used?) car. It's funny, my original budget started low, around 8K, but as I looked at what was available and studied what I could afford, it crept up. Now, it's really to the point where I'm close to the price of a new car. And since I have to finance anyway, I might as well go for a new car, which usually has a much lower APR.

But back to the Jetta, where do you guys get the impression that they are not very reliable? Is it just from stories of people you know or is there any hard data on that? I hear it a lot so I figure there's probably something to it.

Anyway, I think I'll probably test drive a Corolla, 3, and Civic and see what stands out.
 
Conventional wisdom seems to say "never buy a new car! they lose 20% when you drive them off the lot!" but I'm not so sure that axiom still holds true. The Japanese cars hold their value so well that if you're looking for a slightly used car, it doesn't really make any sense to buy one thats two years old. I remember when we were shopping I'd see two year old civics with 30K miles on them going for like $2000 less than a brand new one with no miles. Factor in that new cars usually have better financing deals and its becomes even more of a horrible deal. Sure, maybe those guys had pie in the sky asking prices and would come down...but so will the dealer on new cars usually. I sometimes think everyone has repeated that whole "buy two years old for like-new condition at way less price" idea so much, that demand has now made it untrue.

You might fair better if you steer clear of Japanese vehicles and go with something that has worse resale values buying used. But you don't seem to start to save any signifigant money with old hondas and toyotas unless they're pretty worn out.

Jettas are just classic German engineering. They're just to complicated of a machine to be reliable...all cars are starting to have this problem IMO, but the Germans invented it. They aren't really cheap and their parts are expensive. I drive a dodge neon and its a piece of crap...but my friend has a Jetta that wouldn't start after 3 years because of some obscure electrical issue and costs way more to fix, and he paid a good deal of money for that thing, unlike my neon.
 
Spoiler adds a rice boi warp factor of 10 at least. Type R sticker on that puppy and you'll be toasting Ferrari's off the line!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top