YACT - Good car for me...

[Excelsior]

Hey everyone. Ive had my license for close to a year now, and with the money I have saved up I am interested in buying a car. Im not sure what to get though, or what to look for. I want something fairly sporty (2 door would be fine), manual transmission, pretty reliable, and decent mpg (20-25). Is there anything that fits that description for around $7000?

Thanks a lot.

 

[CraigRT]

Acura Integra maybe?
how about a Honda Prelude?

 

[notfred]

Good luck finding an Integra or Prelude for $7000.

 

[psy44]

You can choose from quite a few cars with 7,000. First, how many miles do you want on it?
You could get a used....MR2, integra, Mustang, Camaro, Civic, Accord, Celica, Supra(?), BMW 3 series, can't think of any others right now...

 

[Mr N8]

Maybe an older RSX or Eclipse for that price.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: MogulMonster
Maybe an older RSX or Eclipse for that price.

How old is an "older RSX"? 2002 was the first year for them.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: Tyler
Good luck finding an Integra or Prelude for $7000.

There's tons Integras out there for under $7000. The blue book value on my '94 Integra is about $4000.

I get about 26-27 mpg in the city, and well over 30mpg on the freeway.

Insurance might be a problem though, seeing as how they're the #1 stolen car in America..

 

[Viper GTS]

Integra or Prelude would both be good bets, but don't expect to find a good quality, most recent generation of either for that price.

Viper GTS

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Tyler
Good luck finding an Integra or Prelude for $7000.

Hmm, I searched for Honda Preludes on autotrader.com with a 7000$ max price and "any distance" and got 20 pages of results.

I also found lots of mid to late 90s Integras for 7000$.

Definately not impossible.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

how old are you? if you're 18 or so, i would use they money you have saved up as a dwn payment on a new car, like a civic or even possibly offering full cash for a kia. this way you get a new car with warranty and kia's are reliable.

 

[Mr N8]

Originally posted by: Tyler

Originally posted by: MogulMonster
Maybe an older RSX or Eclipse for that price.

How old is an "older RSX"? 2002 was the first year for them.

My bad. I was thinking of the integra, I guess. My bet is '95 is about as new as you'll find for that price, but the '95 is still a nice looking car.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Tyler
Good luck finding an Integra or Prelude for $7000.

Hmm, I searched for Honda Preludes on autotrader.com with a 7000$ max price and "any distance" and got 20 pages of results.

I also found lots of mid to late 90s Integras for 7000$.

Definately not impossible.

How many of them were less than 10 years old? 10? 20? That's in the entire country, remember.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Tyler

Originally posted by: MogulMonster
Maybe an older RSX or Eclipse for that price.

How old is an "older RSX"? 2002 was the first year for them.

as if you didn't know what he meant...

 

[BatmanNate]

I would get an MR2.

 

[Zenmervolt]

In that price range you could get an excellent Porsche 924S or mid-late 80's 944. You might even be able to get an early 944S in very good condition with that money. 924S is rated at 20 city, 29 highway with the 5-speed (I average 25 mpg). 944 should be about the same. Only catch is that they are demanding of maintenance, they are really reliable if taken care of, but you need to do everything that the maintenance book even suggests.

The 924S only has 147 or 158 horsepower ('87 and '88 models respectively) so it's not a terrible handful. And despite what people say about a light RWD car in the snow, my 924S had no problems running around in the blizzard this winter. Sure it wasn't as good as a FWD car, but it certainly wasn't bad.

ZV

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Tyler
Good luck finding an Integra or Prelude for $7000.

Hmm, I searched for Honda Preludes on autotrader.com with a 7000$ max price and "any distance" and got 20 pages of results.

I also found lots of mid to late 90s Integras for 7000$.

Definately not impossible.

And several of them might even be good cars worth buying! :Q

Originally posted by: Tyler

How many of them were less than 10 years old? 10? 20? That's in the entire country, remember.

It's 2003 now. Hmmmmmmm. . .

 

[halik]

My picks:
95-97 Eclipse GSX / Talon TSi AWD
94 5.0 mustang
90+ 300zx <<<-- im getting one at the end of the summer
90+ mr2
94-95 Integra (GSR is you can find one cheap)
90+ 240sx ... huge tuning potential
90+ cellica all trac turb (super rare, keep crazy resale value)
97+ impreza 2.5 rs
94+ camaro
87-89 porsche 944s2 or 928 if you can find oen for that price

 

[RgrPark]

As all the above people have already mentioned, you can find tons of great used car deals for about $7000...
However, I would not look at anything with over 80k miles / or over 10 years old for $7000...
Ebay motors is also a great places to check out the going rate on used cars...

I recently purchased a 91 300zx 2+2 w/ 78k miles for 6500 on Ebay...
I've spent about a $1000 on replacing the timing belt, water pump, accesory belts, fuel pump, spark plugs, air intake, etc... all for preventive maintenence...but they do add up.
So it would be nice if you can find a vehicle that recently had 60k maintenence or any other preventive maintenece done on it to save you money...

BTW don't get a fast car...you'll just want something faster and find yourself speeding....from my experience.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: halik
87-89 porsche 944s2 or 928 if you can find oen for that price

Don't touch the 928. Not for a first car. Maintenance is rough enough for a 924S/944/S/S2, it would be lethal to the chequebook of a younger person to pay maintenance on a 928. I wouldn't recommend an S2 either just because of the extra insurance. I'd say nothing more potent than a 944S, especially since with the maintenance on these cars you will want to buy the best example you can possibly find. (Learned that one the hard way...)

ZV

 

[notfred]

Autotrader lists 265 preludes 1993 or newer for $7000 or less. That averages out to just over 5 cars for each state in the country. That also includes a lot of "motor is rebuildable, body is in good shape - $2500" cars.

With the Integra, I had to raise the year from 93 and newer to 95 and newer to get under thier limit of 500 cars found. There's 373 95+ integras available for under $7000. Maybe 1,000 or so back to 1993.

Like I said, good luck finding a quality example of either car for under $7000.

 

[slikmunks]

*AHEM*2nd gen rx7 turbo w/ blown motor & straight body 2k, rebuild, port, reliability mods 5k = i'd do it *AHEM*


but rx's are not for all



hell, for 5k, you could get a 2nd gen turbo in mint condition and start from there too....

 

[johneetrash]

mk3 vr6 gti

you'll spank almost everything mentioned in this thread (the newer porsche 944's will take you)

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: johneetrash
mk3 vr6 gti

you'll spank almost everything mentioned in this thread (the newer porsche 944's will take you)

The 924S and the early 944 will take it in the twisties though. The GTi is a great little car but it's still FWD.

ZV

 

[ElFenix]

looks like late 90s subaru imprezas are going for about 7K

 

[Nyical]

Your better off just useing the 7k for a down payment on something new that dosent have god awfull miles on it and will nickle and dime you to death in parts and labor.

Granted it won't be a sporty car but at least it will be new and with a warranty.