small car, good price?

[evergreen96]

Don't forget about the toyota Echo... Consisting it has fabious gas mileage and has decent power all for a base price of 10,995-12995

 

[evergreen96]

Don't forget about the toyota Echo... Consisting it has fabious gas mileage and has decent power all for a base price of 10,995-12995

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Determining the right car for your brother is not going to be easy. Everyone is going to give their own personal opinion and we're all a little biased. I'd say ask your brother to register to the Anandtech forums so he can participate in this thread.

He's registered and he's been reading the thread.

 

[N8Magic]

Having driven a Sentra GXE this past week, IT WAS A PIECE OF CRAP. Personally, I was ashamed that this gutless plasticky car even beared a Nissan badge. Having driven the SE-R Spec-V and the SE, I was seriously disappointed in the run-of-the-mill GXE.

The Hyundai Elantra GT is the clearly the best value in this group and comes with a spectacular warranty and service program. (and it looks the best IMHO)

At least go and test drive one and you won't be disappointed.

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Another vote for the Sentra.
I drive one and it's not perfect, had a bunch of tiny problems here and there, but nothing major like burning oil, or transmission failure.

I'd recommend Corollas and Civics too, if they weren't so damn pricey.
High resale value, reliable, blah blah blah blah...

Got my 1995 GXE with 45k miles 2 summers ago for $4600.
My friend's 1996 Civic LX with 50k miles had more problems than mine, and she paid $7800 for it the same summer :Q

Nissan is the auto industry's best kept secret.
Reliability of Toyota's and Honda's at a fraction of the cost

Nissan ~ Driven

Would that be the Nissan that just fell behind GM in terms of intitial quality?

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Another vote for the Sentra.
I drive one and it's not perfect, had a bunch of tiny problems here and there, but nothing major like burning oil, or transmission failure.

I'd recommend Corollas and Civics too, if they weren't so damn pricey.
High resale value, reliable, blah blah blah blah...

Got my 1995 GXE with 45k miles 2 summers ago for $4600.
My friend's 1996 Civic LX with 50k miles had more problems than mine, and she paid $7800 for it the same summer :Q

Nissan is the auto industry's best kept secret.
Reliability of Toyota's and Honda's at a fraction of the cost

Nissan ~ Driven

You can't generalize reliability based on two case studies of two used cars. That's probably the worst possible way to decide if one car is more reliable than the other.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: wyvrn


Would that be the Nissan that just fell behind GM in terms of intitial quality?

Yeah it did, I think VW actually matches nissan now for intial quality.

Sucks cause now I can't rip on VW unless I rip on Nissan in the same breath. :Q

 

[OS]

As for the original topic, get either a Corolla or a Civic. You can't go wrong with either. To be brutually honest, I personally wouldn't look at any other cars in this class besides those two.

I've checked out the sentra before, but it's alot smaller inside than the civic, and not as good resale since we seem to be talking new cars here. The new corolla also got alot more interior room now.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

For as cheap as possible, the Sentra XE gets my vote. Can be had for under $13000 with the package added (AM/FM/CD+AC) in a manual. About $13.5 in an auto. Good resale value too.

 

[wyvrn]

I would say Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. In my experience, either one would be a solid buy and well worth the money spent.

 

[abaez]

Read the latest Motor Trend, They did a shootout of sub 15k cars and sub 10k cars.

Corolla gets an A+, Honda has shotty brakes got second, Ford Focus and Mazda Lancer? or something tied 3rd. Corolla out handled, out accelerated, out braked all the other cars, and is cheaper than all of them to boot, looks good too.

 

[metaxasm]

Just got a civic ex coup for 14,888. Must say it is quite a nice car. Price included abs, sunroof, and slightly more hp vtec engine. Check all the cars out on cars direct. com. The prices they post are pretty low. Oh yea make sure you test drive them.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: OuterSquare

Originally posted by: psteng19
Another vote for the Sentra.
I drive one and it's not perfect, had a bunch of tiny problems here and there, but nothing major like burning oil, or transmission failure.

I'd recommend Corollas and Civics too, if they weren't so damn pricey.
High resale value, reliable, blah blah blah blah...

Got my 1995 GXE with 45k miles 2 summers ago for $4600.
My friend's 1996 Civic LX with 50k miles had more problems than mine, and she paid $7800 for it the same summer :Q

Nissan is the auto industry's best kept secret.
Reliability of Toyota's and Honda's at a fraction of the cost

Nissan ~ Driven

You can't generalize reliability based on two case studies of two used cars. That's probably the worst possible way to decide if one car is more reliable than the other.

I'm not basing anything at all on these 2 instances.
I'm just saying that I bought my car for less than hers and she's having more problems with her car than I am with mine.

In fact, I said that Honda's and Toyota's are very reliable cars... just that that reliability comes at a premium.
I'm recommending Nissan's as an alternative that costs a little less for almost the same reliability.

 

[StattlichPassat]

I can't think of a better one off-hand right now than the new Hyundai Tiburon- sweet little car, very well put together, high quality, fast, cool styling, cheap pricetag, and did you see that warranty???

 

[StattlichPassat]

I admit I do like the new Civic coupe styling (not the new Type R though! blech!), and they actually have the coolest wheel covers I've ever seen... anyway, my vote would go to the Volkswagen Golf IF and only IF you can afford the 1.8T model. Any Nissan or Honda would be a great choice as well, as would the Tiburon, like I mentioned in my post above.

Actually, my vote is to go pre-owned a few years back and let your possibilities double. Then you can get a loaded 2000 Volkswagen Jetta!