need a car

[canadageek]

alright....i'm the not-really-proud owner of a '93 Ford Escort station wagon. it has 315k kilometers, so its not in good condition, to say the least
anyway, i can trade in the wagon (affectionately nicknamed "the green hornet" by a few of my friends) and i have a few hundred bucks....but i need something cheap on gas, decent looking, and CHEAP. i really prefer import cars, be they japanese, german, french, or english, as long as its a decent brand.
can anyone give me any ideas of a good car to look out for?

 

[FrequencyX]

If you can run into any 80's Honda's for that price you will be very lucky.
Look for CRX's .. they are a blast to drive, and get at least 40 mpg.
At the least if you find an import that cheap, it most likely will need some work.

Good luck

 

[CraigRT]

I think you should stick with Japanese, as only they will be more reliable or equally as reliable as the Escort..

Do you have any requirements at all?

 

[Midlander]

If you only have a few hundred bucks, you won't get much. I agree with Craig. Stick with the best Japanese car you can get for that amount.

 

[canadageek]

yeah....but it's not like this car doesn't need work...brakes are shot, shocks are limp, heater core leaks, transmission squeals (but only when my black friend drives it), steering is hooped, and the ignition shorted, so i have to replace it
CRX definitely sounds cool, though....i've heard good things about golfs and corollas. apparently the GTS corollas were pretty sweet

 

[frank84]

Originally posted by: canadageek
yeah....but it's not like this car doesn't need work...brakes are shot, shocks are limp, heater core leaks, transmission squeals (but only when my black friend drives it), steering is hooped, and the ignition shorted, so i have to replace it
CRX definitely sounds cool, though....i've heard good things about golfs and corollas. apparently the GTS corollas were pretty sweet

corollas.... good
crx .... good

they all same, considering they are all 20 yrs old

 

[canadageek]

anyway, i'll be needing to save...but i'm trying to get an idea of what a decent student car is. and since distances around her are fairly high, most domestic cars (ie, anything with a V6) use lots of gas, i don't want one. a fun car would be great, but reliability is paramount

 

The only advise I can offer you is to never listen to Ornery.

 

[canadageek]

lol
why's that?

 

[mugs]

Funny how a Canadian refers to American cars as domestics...

 

[FrequencyX]

Originally posted by: canadageek
anyway, i'll be needing to save...but i'm trying to get an idea of what a decent student car is. and since distances around her are fairly high, most domestic cars (ie, anything with a V6) use lots of gas, i don't want one. a fun car would be great, but reliability is paramount

My last cars have all been imports, and to be quite honest they were some damn good cars. They are very reliable.. Basic maintenance procedures, and they will run forever. The only repairs that were done were basic 90,000 and 120000 maintenance repairs.. Waterpump and thermostat, timing belt etc.

Go Honda if you can find one cheap.. You will not be disapointed. Even though I don't mind domestic, I think in canadageeks situation an import would be best.

Just My 2 cents

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: mugs
Funny how a Canadian refers to American cars as domestics...

It's all the same thing... one company builds their cars in multipe different countries, but is still "American" roots. DCX for example, builds cars in USA, Canada, Mexico... They're American. period!

 

[jotosuds]

corolla is good.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: SampSon
The only advise I can offer you is to never listen to Ornery.

Lies. Everything that's unibody sucks.

 

[PandaBear]

a good reputatable reliable japanese car will cost more than a few hundred bucks, regardless of age.

Learn how to fix your shocks and buy a bellows to bypass the heater core, shouldn't be hard. Steering, just ignore it, ignition, well, thats a bit hard, buy a book and learn how to troubleshoot it, more than likely either the coil is worn or the ground is rusted out.

Meanwhile start saving money to buy something in the range of $2500 to $3000, they are the sweetspot of reliable cars that keep their value there for a long time.

 

[RiDE]

Originally posted by: SampSon
The only advise I can offer you is to never listen to Ornery.

lol