My brother moved to Boston at the end of the summer to start his studies at MIT... He left his GTI behind, and I sold it for him in late August. Two months passed, and he now says he misses his car too much; and wants something to drive. Since we lost a huge amount of $$ in selling his 2003 GTI with only 20,000 miles (sold for $15,500), my parents have no intention of buying anything fancy for him.

I'm curious if there isn't anything small available, for cheap yet reliable, that would be useful for him in a place where parking is very difficult. You guys have any ideas?

The Toyota Yaris coming out next Spring looks nice; though it's obviously a commuter car-only.

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/future/yaris.html

I wonder what else is available right now for under $10K.

 

Holy shit you guys sold that GTI for dirt cheap!

Used civic ?
Moped?

 

Ay. I had it on sale for almost 3 months. VW's are worthless. Don't buy one!

 

Thats actually a good deal on their side, there are alot of GTIs around here that sell for like 11-13k

 

A 2003 GTI with 20k miles? Show me please cuz 98clchick is looking and we cant find any for that cheap.


edit: Guess there are a few. Wonder why they are soo much cheaper used than jettas are.

 

The Jetta also loses value fast. I traded my '99 GLS model in 2003 for the TSX for only $8K (48,000 miles). It lost $12K in 4 years. In the private market, they weren't selling for much more than that either. I recommend people stay away from the brand altogether, due to poor reliability.

 

What issues did you have with the jetta?

And damn 8k? I dunno they must be selling cheap out by you.

Most by me are selling for 14k with around 35k miles. Not like thats saying it has good resale or anything.

 

The '99 model?

I had electrical, mechanical, engine, and safety system failures. I had to take the car back to the dealer 3 times for a dead instrument cluster (i.e. speedometer, tachometer, etc.). Once, I had to cut a seat belt that locked up and wouldn't let go... and many other things, all in need of repair (major issues). I didn't have any rattles, though!

I'm not buying a VW ever again.

 

vw sucks

 

Yaris looks like the ideal or a Civic. If he is just going to drive it on the east coast now cross-country how about used Civic ot Tercel or Focus?

 

Your brother must be a genius to go to MIT.

As for the car, I'd say a used Carolla-S. Seems like a good car.

 

As a boston person I would recomend something with AWD. Used subaru maybe? Hes going to MIT, give him 15k and tell him to build one!

 

 

slo, you should have him consider used FWD or AWD cars for those Boston winters. Something like a civic, corolla, or impreza would probaby be a good choice. Might also look into a used Toyota Matrix or Scion. If he wants something new, then your choices are pretty limited. Kia, the Chevy Aveo, and the upcoming Yaris are probably your only real choices.

 

You can get a brand new Hyundai Accent for < $10k.

 

I was previously a huge VW fan, however, after owning two complete POS '01's I ended a long marriage to the VW brand and have no intention of revisiting those days until VW gets their act together. The problems are far from isolated cases, they all have them and its upsurd. Having finally jumped onto the honda/acura bandwagon last year the only regret I have is that I wish I did it years ago. It will take a lot to sway me from Japenese cars now, having previously owned a lot of American and more then a few European cars.

 

get an older A4