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Well, the story is I'm going off to college, approx. 2 hours from my home, and I need a new "used" car for school. My 99 TL-P has over 122,000 miles and I'm having engine trouble. The engine trouble is a completely different story that I'm not going to get into. It's not the reason for the post cuz no matter what the situation with that is I'm gunna get a new car anyways, so fixing it is not an option. What I'm basically asking is, from your opinions, what cars should I look at? I want a car, so no SUV, truck, etc. I want a car that has at least 20 mpg city or 27+ mpg highway. Also my price range goes up to $17,000 although I'd like to stay below $16,000 or less. I'd like to have either a manual or automanual. I don't want an only auto car. Can you guys think of some cars that you would look at if u were in my situation? I've looked at a ton and don't know what to think anymore...lol.

 

You might wanna be more specific.... if I were you with that budget I would look at an S2000. See if you can handle driving it on the freeway at 80 though. If you can't stand it look at some other cars.

 

that's a wiiiide range of cars...4 cyl altima, camry, accord...older obviously. what size are you looking at??

 

cobalt....join the dark side. But yeah, i'm really biased.

 

My personal preferences at that price range would be:

2000-2003 BMW E46
2004+ Acura TSX
2006 Honda Civic Si (not sure you can find one that cheap yet)
2004 Infiniti G35
2000-2002 Honda S2000
2004-2005 Audi A4
2003-2004 Lexus IS300
2004-2006 Honda Accord EX coupe
2003 Mitsubishi Evo VIII (if you are lucky)
1997-1999 BMW E36 M3

 

Reliable, inoffensive choices for $16K> and 20/27 mpg:
Scion tC
Acura RSX
Civic
Mazda3
Accord, Altima, Mazda6 or Camry 4 cyl.
Corolla/Matrix/Pontiac Vibe
Ford Focus

 

04 gto

 

new Scion Tc for the win.

 

why not get a new scion xB?

I am also a big fan of the Honda Element.
Subaru Forester or Outback
Chevy HHR.

All these get good reviews, are affordable, depedable, fuel efficient, fun to drive and add a whole feature of being useful to haul your crap (and friends) around at the same time!

 

Civic, Fit, Mazda3, Corolla S, Altima (coupe is sexy)...

Drive every car people list here in this thread and pick the one you like the best

 

with gas mileage and reliability in mind, new Corolla is an option for you. doesn't really excell in the "Fun" Category though. Mazda 3 is a good option as well.

 

No payments FTW.

If you made the right choice about the college, you will probably come home 2-3 times during the year. If you can patch up the TL to get you through your junior year, then payments are less suck.

College is about beer and pussy and dead hookers in your trunk. Not about car payments and stressing about cash when it's 2:30am and your friends want to drive 4 hours to hit the casinos.

 

How did I manage to make it through college without stuffing any dead hookers in my trunk?

 

What were you doing the whole time?

 

If I were you,

I'd take $10K, buy a late 90's model civic, pocket the rest of the cash. Use that car while you're in college, so that after you finish school, land a decent job you can get a nicer car.

Why get a nice car while you're in school, the maintenence on it will be more expensive and it's just going to be sitting there anyway. Pocket that money, get something that's cheap to maintain.

That's just my

 

very sensible.

 

That would be my choice as well. Maintenance might actually be slightly higher with an older car (more stuff to change- plugs, filters, brake pads) than on a new car, but the entry fee and insurance are a lot less.
That's why I mention the Acura RSX in my post (#6?) above- everything on the list can be bought used.

 

I've narrowed it down to 3 cars, they are:

2006 Honda Civic Si
2002-2005 Acura RSX Type-S (for some reason the 06 has bad reviews)
and 2005-2007 Scion tC SC

I'll test drive all three but was wondering which of these would you choose?

 

The kicker for that though is even if there is slightly more maintenance, the parts are cheap and readily available because of how many civics are on the road.

And if you do your homework and shop around, you cna find a civic in good condition that won't require much maintenance.

 

Civic Si, although the RSX is a good choice as well.

 

go for the Si 4 door and debadge, keeps the thieves away.

 

si, rsx, tc.

 

ever consider an 02-03 6 speed maxima??? they can be had for pretty cheap/ comparable in speed to a 2nd gen tl-s (might have an edge being 6 speed)/ are over 20mpg / and look pretty damn good imo.

 

Civic... RSX is discontinued so the values on those will drop like a rock...

 

honda accord coupe =).

 

05' Legacy GT

/thread

 

i dont think the value is going to drop just because it was discontinued. look at the usdm integra type-r that was discountinued for the rsx type-s and its holding value pretty well.

 

Mazda 3 Sport hatchback FTW!

 

x100000000 i dont like the redesigned ones they look kinda fugly but I see myself getting one some time this year.

 

They made 1600 or less ITR's in any given year... It's a VERY rare and HIGHLY desirable car, and you want to compare the ITR to a lowly RSX type S that they made 10's of thousands of...

Ok...

http://www.itrca.com/FAQ/general/productionnum.php

<=== last 2 cars have been discontinued coupes...

 

Comparing the ITR to the RSX, they are in completely different leagues.

ITR can easily still fetch $20K to this day! and the next gen integra replacement (RSX) is already fetching pricing of 15K and below.

First Example

Second Example

Third Example


By the way, the last two examples are from the shop where I bought my GS-R from. I dunno how they do it, but they alwasy seem to land cars with SUPER low mileage. it amazes me!

 

i'd get a 01 prelude mt... i'm having thoughts of selling the cl-s6 for one. always wanted it since i was 12 (which was 7 years ago)

 

http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/in...marmotorsports

Go there and look at their prelude inventory, it's sick!

 

haha well that was the first example that was kinda in its league that came to my head. but so far all of Acura's canceled coupes are holding value well. ie cl-s,nsx,it-r. i still see the 05/06 rsx-s fetch 20k and havent caught one under 17k yet.

 

and 2005-2007 Scion tC

 

If you buy an Audi A5 ... I kill you!

 

Are you predicting that the A5 will be discontinued?

 

What do you guys think about a 2003 or a 2004 Toyota Celica? Whether it be the GT or the GTS. I like Celicas and might throw that on the list with the Si, RSX, and tC. How would you compare it to them?

 

tc

 

2003 CL-S 6-Speed FTMFW!