Still way confused on what car to get for ~ 4k ~5k

UberDave

Platinum Member
Apr 9, 2002
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I was thinking like...

For that price,
a 1991 Mr2 is in range, but those are getting old and people are probably rough on them.
Any year civic is just a disgrace.
1997+ Explorers are just out of range
Trying to look above an escort.
Older mustangs are out of the question for insurance purposes (i'm not filed as a driver on dad's insurance)
1997 Probe GTs are getting old and falling apart- chicks car ? I used to like them. Can't get a decent one under 5k


Well what I guess I am looking for is something relitivly cheap cash wise (i'll be buying a car at a car auction soooo...)..... but also sleek looking. Oh yeah, and it has to at least hit 17 or under in the quarter mile :)


hmmmmm?




 

minendo

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2001
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Dodge Stealths can be had for fairly cheap. We picked up a 1993ES for $3500 on eBay.
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Actually, the MR2 (even the turbo) is widely regarded as just about unbreakable as long as it's stock. See, most of the componants in the MR2 are off the shelf componants slightly adapted from other Toyotas of the period. Because of this, the parts were designed for heavier vehicles than the MR2, which results in the MR2 being rather over-built. A n/a MR2 will last every bit as long as a Civic or Carolla or Tercel, and even a turbo will last a long time provided that the turbo's been taken care of. I'd recommend the MR2, just look for one with good service records and have a good mechanic check it out.

ZV
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: Yield
get a 98 Neon with a DOHC engine and a 5 speed.. go hunting rice... :D
I'm not sure I'd want to go rice hunting in a woman's car. :p The Neon is only a bud vase away from being the most feminine car on the road. ;)

ZV

(For those who can't tell, I'm just kidding around.)
 

boyRacer

Lifer
Oct 1, 2001
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Get the Mister Two... :D 3S-GTE=bullet proof

Oh... not to discourage you but some people don't know how to drive those things... or don't know how to drive at all. :eek: I know someone who just bought one and well... whacked the freeway divider with it. Abrupt lifting of the throttle during heavy cornering is a no-no... :confused:
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
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Get a 626. I got one for $4000 last year, and it was awesome. Then....a stupid idiot slammed into me
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: BoYRaCeR
Get the Mister Two... :D 3S-GTE=bullet proof

Oh... not to discourage you but some people don't know how to drive those things... or don't know how to drive at all. :eek: I know someone who just bought one and well... whacked the freeway divider with it. Abrupt lifting of the throttle during heavy cornering is a no-no... :confused:
Well, that's a no-no with any RWD car. Well, not a "no-no", but you have to know what to expect. It's handy to be able to correct the cornering by lifting off the throttle a bit.

Seriously though, get a Mister Two, they really do run almost forever. I was asking my mechanic about them once and he said he loved the little things. He said they weren't the kind of car that was always in the shop, said they just ran and ran.

ZV
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
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Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.
 

Evadman

Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Feb 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.

Don't let dave see people suggesting a neon or he will come in here and bust some heads :)

 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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Originally posted by: Evadman
Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.

Don't let dave see people suggesting a neon or he will come in here and bust some heads :)

fine then, for my sake no one suggest Toyota cause they are boring and ugly! :p
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.
I'll agree that they are reliable and quick, but they just don't have the same level of refinement that an MR2 or a Civic have. There are a lot of cheap and reliable cars, unfortunately for the Neon, a lot of the competition does not feel cheap too. I've been in Neons and while I'm impressed with how much fun they can be to drive, they just don't feel high-quality to me. I know that they last just fine, but I can't get over the feel.

ZV
 

SherEPunjab

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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Get an integra GSR that is before this current body style, i think 92-93. if they are in good shape they look and run great.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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626 isn't bad and not everone on the planet has one.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
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Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.
I'll agree that they are reliable and quick, but they just don't have the same level of refinement that an MR2 or a Civic have. There are a lot of cheap and reliable cars, unfortunately for the Neon, a lot of the competition does not feel cheap too. I've been in Neons and while I'm impressed with how much fun they can be to drive, they just don't feel high-quality to me. I know that they last just fine, but I can't get over the feel.

ZV
quality isn't good no.... personally i don't care. i like the raw feel, cause it IS fun to drive that way. i like the feel of my car. at least being a 2nd gen the quality was greatly improved.
but for a 2nd hand car, you can get a 98 Neon for like 5 grand, but a Civic would be like 10.
 

darwinyo

Senior member
Nov 10, 1999
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i got a 91 mr2 na, quarter mil miles and still going strong, and i mistreat her (5-8k oil changes, minimum maintenance)
only mods - exhaust, intake, stereo
stock alternator has a lot of umph for a car stereo, was pushing 800w for my setup

although it isn't fast off the line, it's zippy through corners and much more fun to drive than a civic (because of rwd and weight distribution towards rear). beware the snap oversteer on the 91-92 models though. toyotas in general have more torque than hondas, so high speeds on freeways or uphill doesn't seem to stress the engine as much as it would a civic.

bucket seats are comfy (aside from the bumpy ride), good excuse to not drive people around (2-seater), aside from a cute girl or two (if they're asian and small, they'll fit), and if you take the passenger seat out (4 bolts) this thing can haul an amazing amount of stuff (i've carried 27" wegas in this thing).

you can find a good condition, under 100k miles, 91 mr2 na for 5-6k. if you're lucky, you can grab a decent turbo.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
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Originally posted by: UberDave
Originally posted by: Deeko
Get a 626. I got one for $4000 last year, and it was awesome. Then....a stupid idiot slammed into me



What year ??

Mine was a '94, the LX-V6 version w/ all the options, really nice, being a year later you can probably find a '95 for about that price...good car. I love it, now I have a '94 Grand Am SE and it sucks in comparison. In every possible way.
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.
I'll agree that they are reliable and quick, but they just don't have the same level of refinement that an MR2 or a Civic have. There are a lot of cheap and reliable cars, unfortunately for the Neon, a lot of the competition does not feel cheap too. I've been in Neons and while I'm impressed with how much fun they can be to drive, they just don't feel high-quality to me. I know that they last just fine, but I can't get over the feel.

ZV
quality isn't good no.... personally i don't care. i like the raw feel, cause it IS fun to drive that way. i like the feel of my car. at least being a 2nd gen the quality was greatly improved.
but for a 2nd hand car, you can get a 98 Neon for like 5 grand, but a Civic would be like 10.
Yeah, I know a few people with Neons and they like them, but that raw feel gets old to me after a couple hours of cruising. I think that my average trip in a car during the school year is probably something like one hour (even factoring in the 10 minute trips to the store). Even in the summer most of my trips are a half-hour or more. Raw is fun, but for me, I'd rather have refinement for highway cruising.

ZV
 

UberDave

Platinum Member
Apr 9, 2002
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Neons still have that funny plastic look to me.... I mean, if they went back to the drawing board and stopped looking like Moby dick (the white whale) I'd give it a consider down the line of years.

However, I would LOVE to have a MR2... but like I said for insurances it sucks. My friend drives me around in his all the time and i love it to death.

I'm looking at the 626's ....the kind of look like Escorts :Dunno: don't they? Weird.


What makes them so much more special than a 98 escort? (compared to a 98-00 626)
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Yield
Originally posted by: UberDave
Hahaha, no way Jose, i'm not getting a neon :D


hmmmm.....

they're cheap, they're fast. they're reliable.. it's a sleeper cause it's considered girly.. a DOHC 5 speed can run like 15.7 bone stock.
that's not slow considering the rep it has.
I'll agree that they are reliable and quick, but they just don't have the same level of refinement that an MR2 or a Civic have. There are a lot of cheap and reliable cars, unfortunately for the Neon, a lot of the competition does not feel cheap too. I've been in Neons and while I'm impressed with how much fun they can be to drive, they just don't feel high-quality to me. I know that they last just fine, but I can't get over the feel.

ZV
quality isn't good no.... personally i don't care. i like the raw feel, cause it IS fun to drive that way. i like the feel of my car. at least being a 2nd gen the quality was greatly improved.
but for a 2nd hand car, you can get a 98 Neon for like 5 grand, but a Civic would be like 10.
Yeah, I know a few people with Neons and they like them, but that raw feel gets old to me after a couple hours of cruising. I think that my average trip in a car during the school year is probably something like one hour (even factoring in the 10 minute trips to the store). Even in the summer most of my trips are a half-hour or more. Raw is fun, but for me, I'd rather have refinement for highway cruising.

ZV
it never gets old for me.. but then again that's why you own a Porsche and I own a Dodge, and i'd buy another Dodge too.

 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
24,512
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Originally posted by: UberDave
Neons still have that funny plastic look to me.... I mean, if they went back to the drawing board and stopped looking like Moby dick (the white whale) I'd give it a consider down the line of years.

However, I would LOVE to have a MR2... but like I said for insurances it sucks. My friend drives me around in his all the time and i love it to death.

I'm looking at the 626's ....the kind of look like Escorts :Dunno: don't they? Weird.


What makes them so much more special than a 98 escort? (compared to a 98-00 626)
No Escorts! No, no, no. My friend's family has had a couple (lease vehicles for the kids) and they've been nothing but trouble. He hates them. If you can't get the MR2 (which would be my first recommendation) because of the insurance, get the 626. It's a very nice car and it doesn't look like everything else out there.

ZV

it never gets old for me.. but then again that's why you own a Porsche and I own a Dodge, and i'd buy another Dodge too.
You say that like the Porsche didn't cost me less than the cars Dave is thinking about. :p Actually, in the straight line I think that the Neon might even be faster than the 924S (only about 8 sec or so 0-60). I've got nothing against Mopar, my experience with Mopar is that there's almost nothing you can do to one of their products that will make it stop running. I'm just willing to accept slightly higher maintenance requirements for a more "refined" interior. Plus, I'm a Blue Oval guy. :D I want an F-350 Diesel for a tow vehicle some day. To each his own. I will say that a person can do a _lot_ worse than a Neon. For example, that person could buy an Escort. (I like FoMoCo, but the Escort was never that great.)