I have a budget of about 7-8k to work with on getting a car. I want something with good gas mileage, good reliability and it has have a bit of a fun factor. I have to brainstorm a list of cars, but so far the ones I have come up with I can only get under the 8k if there are tons of miles on the car already.
What I've brainstormed so far...

Honda Prelude
VW Gti
Focus ZX3
Honda Accord coupe
Honda Civic
Subaru WRX
Nissan 350ZX

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Christoph

 

You mean the Nissan 300ZX? because you won't fine any 350Z's for 8k unless it's damaged or undrivable. My choice there would be the WRX but you won't have good gas milage, my 2nd choice would be the Prelude that car is fun to drive and gets really good milage.

 

^^ yeah so far the Prelude is my number one choice. But you cant really get a low mileage Prelude or anything for that matter for 7k

 

yeah bro...if you're lookin for a 5th gen lude for around 7-8k, except it to have quite a few miles on it - say 120k+

I love my 'lude, and if you can get one, go for it. The WRX would be fun as hell too, but the gas mileage won't be as great. Do yourself a favor and test drive them all; it will help you make your decision a lot quicker.

 

What about the last gen Integra?

 

That would be good too...tough to find one with low mileage though.

 

I was just searching for some Acura Legend LS's and I really couldnt find much...if I could find one in good condition that would be the car, even though its completely off of what I want in a car.

 

Yeah, some of the old legend coupes are nice... I started looking at those after I bought my CLS

You can find a civic w/ decent mileage for that price range... Might take a little while to find the color/transmission you want, but I know I've seen some decent ones locally on autotrader when searching for stuff for my neice...

Don't forget to hit up craigslist.com too... and get the http://www.thewantad.com/ every week at your local newstand... The want ad is a good way to browse a bunch of local cars especially in that price range...

 

^^ thanks a lot...I'll be sure to take your advice.

 

Craigslist is awesome. I foundy my 97 Jetta on there. 52000 miles, clean carfax. I paid $4500 for it. The prelude is good, but the last gen ones take premium gas A 4 door Integra would be nice or a Civic. An Accord in that range is doable, you can find a 95-97 model with low miles for about that. That would be my choice in that range, its more roomy than the others you listed and very reliable. I was looking for an Accord, but the mileage and price for the Jetta was too good to pass up.

 

how about a 1gCL ? 98-99 model?

 

M2 miata with a hardtop.....

 

How about maxima?

 

My 2001 Integra with 91K miles wouldn't be in your price range.

 

Prelude!! THose things still look good.

 

One vote for the Subaru Impreza WRX...

 

Thanks for all the responses...we're going to a used car place soon and hopefully find something worthy.

 

Absolutely test drive all your candidates...

And also, if it can be done, look up the cars in the Classified as they may likely be going for less than at a used car lot. G'luck!

 

We just got back...the weather here is awful. We found a 1996 Cadillac DeVille with 28k miles on it for 6,900 in perfect shape. It was a family owned place so the guy told us that the guy that used to own this car, had a lot of other cars and just never drove it. So I'm thinking that even though it doesnt meet many of my requirements, this deal is too hard to pass up. What do you guys think??

 

siucks on gas. this type of car kills all your requirements of a reliable, gas saving ride.

 

Integras and Preludes will always look good. A saw a couple of 240SX today, but man people beat on those pretty badly.

 

Congrats! yeah the Caddy is way off on your list of cars that you posted. They won't fit any of the requrements that you wanted from a used car besides the $6900 price tag heh. It's the kind of cars that my gramma would drive no offense, And they do eat alot of gas since they're V8's. If it was me i'd shop around a little bit longer.

 

early last generation Si.

 

According to Consumer Reports it is a reliable car. When it comes down to it, I think I'd rather have a 96 DeVille in perfect shape with 28k miles over a 98 Civic with 70k miles for the same price. All that I have read about the car have been pretty positive, the one not so positive is the gas mileage and maybe even the image but I'll deal with that.

 

do yourself a favor and cut the GTI off that list... you dont want to deal with the headache and cost of repair of a VW...

 

Goin to test drive the car today...we'll see how I like it

 

dont do it!!!!!


what did you end up gettin

 

the 96 deville...just to last me till I can buy my own car. Only has 29k miles on it and all the girls at school love it

 

would they tell you if they hated it?

 

Man that is a huge car.