What can of car should I buy?

[b0mbrman]

Well then again, if some shady Sicilian type offered me a TT that fell off the back of a truck for $22,000 then I'd take it

 

[LAUST]

If your in New York it can prolly be setup pretty easy.

 

[b0mbrman]

Or better yet, I can get a cheap bug, find a TT body at the junkyard and pretend I have a TT

 

[kaytwo]

Okay, I'll bite on this thread. You're an ebayer - ebay has a GREAT selection of civics, usually about 60 at any given time, all across the US. Flame me for liking it, but I found via ebay a '97 civic for $6000 that is the best-running car in my family (right now at 106k miles, bought it at 92k in Dec), besting a 20k-mile domestic and (obviously) a '94 corsica with 210,000 miles on it. So my $0.02 is similar to a lot of others' - Civics have a great resale value for a reason. They run forever and are beautiful used cars. I would consider one "brand new" all the way through 40k miles, and you can find them for a song if you look in your local paper. And you can find "honda certified" civics at your local dealership, spend that money (you seem to have rather much for a college student, so no reason in skimping while buying smart) you'd be throwing into a new car on a 100k mile extended warranty... if everything lives up until that point, and you replace your water pump and timing belt, be ready to see that odometer turn 250,000 or even 300,000 in a few years, provided you take care of it (all i'm talking here is oil and filter). Of course, if you're looking for something a bit more flashy, and you can actually stomach a payment on a 14,000 loan plus insurance, sit on that money for a few months and buy a 2002 Civic Si (only available in hatch) - for a few glorious months almost NO ONE else will have one, and it'll be a very unique and uppity little automobile (2.0L 160HP http://www.rideanddrive.com/autoshow/nyc-01/honda_02civicsi-hatch-501.html, for those who want specifics... imho the rims/chassis=ugly, i'll stick with the 1999-2000 era Si's, but that's because I live in Indiana where NO ONE else drives a civic for miles around).
k2

 

[etmann]

<< No matter what kind of car I get, I'll for sure at least get the $6000 back when I sell it (probably quite a bit more) so I see the payments I'll have to make as more like &quot;rent&quot; on the car. >>

That depends...It'll get dings and scratches, and in two years someone will probably spill a drink on the carpet or upholstry, which you won't get out in time, even with the ScotchGard (sad voice of experience...) IMHO, you can plan on your &quot;rent&quot; being at least:

$4k on a KIA Rio or Saturn SL-2
$5k-$6k on a decently equipped Civic,
$6k-$9k on anything else in the $0-20000 range,

over the first two years; if you get seat covers and plan on a $200+ detail job before selling. Since you plan on keeping it in the family, you'd be morally obligated to not take advantage of your sister. She might overlook dings and stains, but your folks won't<G>

Understand, the Rio is gonna lose ~60% of its value, the Civic and Saturn ~30%, and everything else will be somewhere in-between...Are you really certain you want to buy new?

Note kaytwo's post above mine. I hardly consider a car that loses 50-60% of it's sticker price in 3 years to have held its value, but the person from whom she purchased is the one who ate the depreciation. She will probably have a nice driving experience for several years with her Civic, and it'll be worth $4k-$4500 when she sells it...

 

[Poncherelli]

Honda S2000

 

[superkeith]

for $20000, you can forget the wrx. but why not an impreza rs? they all look the same. you can always buy the wrx tag for $10 from the same guys who sell those 'Type R' stickers...

 

[b0mbrman]

What makes you think I'm one of those sticker types?

 

[b0mbrman]

Holy crap! 220 HP?

Now wait a second. The Impreza WRX is MSRP $23k fully loaded which means I could probably find one less stacked for under $20 at some dealer. Or failing that, I could wait a few months and easily get a spiffy certified used one for under $20.

Plus, the 220 HP + handling easily blows anything comparably priced out of the water. The inconspicuous looks are ambiguous...Flashy car would be good for getting the attention of the ladies, but a non flashy car would be good at not getting the attention of the ladies (the ladies who steal cars that is)

I'm calling this the frontrunner right now.

Stuff with a foible that I'd get if they lacked it:
Focus ZX3 is 2nd with an MSRP of half that price but a hatchback
MR Spyder beautiful Mid engine but a 2 seater
Elantra value and size but a Hyundai

 

[BigSmooth]

Unfortunately, you're probably going to pay close to MSRP right now for the WRX, there are only so many (10,000, I believe) being imported this year and they are in demand.

Also, I wouldn't call the WRX &quot;inconspicuous&quot;... I'd call a Camcord &quot;inconspicuous&quot;, the WRX has a little more flair than that.

 

[Fubak]

3000GT all the way!

I don't own one, but I'd LOVE to!

 

[b0mbrman]

3000gt is out of the range it would seem

 

[loup garou]

You can't remove the &quot;options&quot; from the WRX. ~$23,000 is the base price for it, although it includes almost everything you'd want.

 

[b0mbrman]

~21 is the base price from what I gathered on Autobytel...

 

[rufruf44]

What about Acura Integra? The GS-R coupe can be had for around that price.

 

[b0mbrman]

Again, Acura would fall into the too commonplace among friends category.

 

[loup garou]

Straight from Subaru.com:



<< Impreza WRX Base MSRP: $23,995 >>



You were probably looking at the 2.5RS on Autobytel. Trust me, you won't be doing much wheeling &amp; dealing for a WRX, since they're limited &amp; new.

 

[Cooltech2k]

I Cast a solid vote for a wrx... I am going to be getting one soon...

 

[crzyc]

although you would probably get the impreza, what about a volvo s40? or acura rsx....

how about a 3.0l 182 hp saturn ls

 

[b0mbrman]

Ah I see. Well screw Autobytel and their lies then.

 

[Fubak]

3000gt is out of the range it would seem

Actually, they are in the $10-20k range.

 

[b0mbrman]

The new Acura is too far out of my price range

 

[rufruf44]

What about the Toyota Solara (Camry 2coupe version) ?. It looks nice and drive comfortably, and you actually have room. 21K will be quite pushing it for the SE-V6 though..... I like the Accord Coupe as well.

 

[b0mbrman]

Hmmm...I should have said this before but I'd prefer a car my parents wouldn't buy. Just turning 21 already made me feel kinda old

 

[BigSmooth]

Reading this thread again and looking at your requirements, I feel like I should reiterate my recommendation of the Sentra SE-R. Link 2

I know you don't like Nissan, but heck, I owned an '89 Hyundai Sonata (aka The Worst Car Ever) and yet Hyundai's recent improvements have me actually almost not hating their cars.

Seriously, the Sentra SE-R is compact, definitely sporty, reliable, not everyone has one, the design is pretty conservative, your parents wouldn't buy one, and it will supposedly cost less than $20K, even with tons of nice standard features.
The only downsides are that the gas mileage might not be fantastic with the 170/180 HP engine and the rear seat is pretty small. But you wouldn't be sitting in the rear seat...