How about an E30 BMW? they should be old enough not to trip the OMG luxo car reaction your mom seems to be experencing.
What is their objection to a 2 door car? a NA miata would be an awesome little project...
How about a subaru impresa? the 2.5RS is a fun little car...
A new-ish V6 Mustang (sporty car) will cost pretty high to insure.
A new-ish V8 Mustang (fast car) will truely be real high to insure.
There is no perfect formula, call and find out.
In general, older is cheaper
In reply to Capt Slow:
No the better way to say it is NO BMW'S Audi's Lexus' Mercury's etc. No matter how many rust holes or anything its all about what the badge says and her current association of that badge.
They don't want me to need to get a new car because I get one thats only 2 door, maybe they're afraid ill knock up some girl and need the 3rd seat IDK. Like I said before I'd love one of the rearwheel drive Miatas but its 2 door.
I'm up for a Subaru although I dont want to buy a WRX from a dealer or person my age because I wouldnt trust them to maintain it as I would or to leave it fairly stock and not screw up anything. I found a 2.5rs but its kind of far away from me and has way over 100k miles which is another semi-requirement (semi because some cars are babied well past 100k and drive like new rare as that is)
Jrw yeah I'm just going to call now
Just let them pick it, that seems to be what's going on anyway.
In reply to pres589:
Tried that and they went for a 1995 toyota corolla with hand crank windows etc. I'm not spending my money on something I dont want so ill just live with the restrictions and get a car I like and they dont mind.
ok, this isn't necessarily what you were initially thinking, but....
5th-generation (00-03) Nissan Maxima. Gets upper 20s-30 mpg highway (about 20 in the city). Safe, handle pretty good with a few suspension bolt-ons, have alot of room inside as well as biggish trunk, still are fairly sporty.
Plus they do NOT hold their resale value so you can get them cheap.
The 00-01 cars with the VQ30DE-K are less powerful (about 225hp) but have a smoother engine that is essentially bulletproof and pulls strong anywhere in the range.
The 02-03s have the VQ35 with about 265hp. Not quite as refined of an engine but still extremely reliable and has tons of power. YOu'd be surprised that there is a good aftermarket for them (albeit only a few good brands) and a fairly tight "tuning" community.
FWD for all-weather. 01 anniversary edition and 02+ have HLSD also....
Mechanically the transmissions (5mT in the 00-01 and 5mT in the 02+) are both very strong.
Only mechanical issues to keep your eye on are front wheel bearings and a fragile MAF, really. Otherwise they are extremely reliable. My '00 (started stock, ended up heavily modded) put in 180k miles of hard driving, autocross, a few track days, and many ski trips and dirt roads. In all that time, one driveaxle went bad, two wheel bearings, and a rear brake caliper. Was even still on the original clutch with no issues.
(disclaimer: I was a moderator on Maxima.org until recently).
ANyhow, you can find a nice example around 100k miles for probably $5k - nice car for a long commute and a good highway cruiser to boot...
mine...during and after an autocross
plus, you can tell your parents it is a "family car" and not tell them that it runs the 1/4 in the 14s....Nissan not a "luxury" or "sporty" brand in most parents' eyes....insurance not bad......and they're easy to find ones that some soccer mom drove that haven't been abused (like a wrx would be...).
also...the 02+ 6MT gets better highway mileage thanks to the long 6th.
wow EP! What other cars did you run against? Just curious.
If it's your money get what you want. I'd look at an e36 BMW 328is. Buy the nicest one you can find for $6 grand or so and keep the rest for maintenance.
I understand the negative connotation that a "luxury" car can have. However, how much of an image thing can it be when the car is at least 12 model years old (a '99 E36)?
I paid well under 6K for my 115K '97 328is (5spd, Sport Package, leather, moonroof, premium sound, CD changer, etc.) that was a two-owner car. 1st owner leased the car, second owner bought it as a CPO and had it from '99-09 and gave me a stack of receipts with the car. I bought it in VA so I wouldn't have to worry about rust issues. Honestly, the E36 represents a tremendous value for the money. As others have said, you can get one in really good shape that was taken care of for 4-6K and have some left over for maintenance/upgrades.
If the "luxury" car is definitely a no-go, I'd second the Maxima recommendation. Just be sure to check the insurance rates on anything you're considering. That's why I ended up with a Camry instead of a Maxima when I was 22, the Camry's insurance cost 2/3s of the Maxima's insurance.
Xarles wrote: In reply to jrw1621: Yes very true I almost forgot. In anyones experience does the size of the engine make as much of a difference as the car? Or is it more the value of the car?
It has much more to do with the insurance risk factor. Most expensive car I've ever insured was my wife's base cavalier, by a large margin. Easy to steal, get wrecked a lot, and are generally totaled with little damage.
As for cars, don't forget about the Protege 5. Mine was fun as hell with a set of springs, azenis, and good pads. It had no power but just stuck in corners. Worst tank I ever had was 27mpg, and that had two autocrosses on it.
2002maniac wrote: wow EP! What other cars did you run against? Just curious.
The other cars would be describes as "ones that were mostly alot faster than mine" lol...
Actually I only ran 2 events in EP (the last 2 events that car ever ran) and as I recall only a few other cars were in the class: a lady named Grace in a full-stripped Scirocco and a very fast Civic or two...
I got bumped to EP because I had welded-on subframe reinforcement rails that had one too many attachments points for DSP legality (though nobody would have ever known, but I'm an honest guy even when losing). I was testing them out for a company that made them for street use. By the time that car was done, it had pretyt much every available bolt-on suspension, chassis, engine, and brake mod out there aside from F/I.....
dj06482 wrote: . That's why I ended up with a Camry instead of a Maxima when I was 22, the Camry's insurance cost 2/3s of the Maxima's insurance.
I will note that the 00-01 maxima insurance rates are significantly lower than the 02-03 rates for two main reasons:
I personally prefer the 00-01 anyhow - engine is butter-smooth, it has a cable throttle (vs less-responsive DBW in the 02+) , and a smooth rod shifter linkage (vs the cable linkage in the 6mt 02+ models)
02-03 has HIDs, bigger engine, HLSD, and much nicer seats. Otherwise pretty much the same car.
You can probably get a decent early to mid 90's Acura Integra for not too much more than what you would sell your jeep for. You can get a damn nice one for $7.5K.
A GSR sedan seems like a good choice. Leather was available, good gas mileage (like 30mpg), sporty/fun to drive, pretty cheap insurance, 4 doors, reliable, huge aftermarket, did I mention reliable?
Just watch to make sure it doesn't get stolen like every other Honda.
I'm a 20 year old college kid. Been there and done that with three vehicles. Take it from me, what would be best for a college student. You need the utilitarianness of a vehicle. Consider this FIRST.
For me, I would rank the vehicles like this:
Subaru anything
Pick up truck
Crown Victoria (no five speed, but still)
Vibe/Matrix
Maxima (easiest to find with leather and 5 speed, probably)
E30 BMW (seriously, tell her its a dead-nuts reliable 20 year old car that wasn't even luxury back then)
What gives your parents such pull over your selection?
Are you under 18? Are they helping you pay for it? Are they covering insurance?
If you answered no to these questions, go spend you money on something you want to buy.
let me know if you have any interest in the maximas - I know some guys from the Maxima forums down in florida that can help you find a good one/good deal.
btw, I used to have a Cherokee Laredo myself ('90 5MT with 3" lift and BFG 31s) that I drove to work (25 miles away) a few times...so I feel your pain on commuting in that thing, especially 150 miles!!!
No love for Volvo turbowagons? Cheap and fast, can't go wrong with that.
Do what I did when I was in college: Let your parents pick you out a blue, 1979 olds delta 88 for $800.00. Flip the air cleaner. Instant hotrod.
Grand Prix GTP? No stick, fwd and nose-heavy, but still fun as hell. Just make sure and check the recalls. They had problems with the superchargers causing fires after you turn it off and let the car sit.
Alfa Romeo 164? A little older and parts might be a bit more. Kind of straddling that luxury brand image, for those that know what it is.
Heck, they classified my Wrangler as a "high performance vehicle" when I was 16. I could have got a Camaro SS and it wouldn't have cost hardly any more for insurance.
In reply to JeepinMatt:
In the name of manners I will say those are all "interesting" ideas. A college kid that doesn't wrench on his car (or hasn't yet, at least) with an Alfa 164? Interesting! A GM W-body (note: I've been driving the same Olds Intrigue for 8 years now, don't cry for me, I'm already dead inside) being called 'fun as hell'? Interesting!
In reply to irish44j:
Yes I am still very interested I posted a link of one I was considering, and the pain is very deep in my right pocket.
Capt Slow I am no fatty but I eat alot and whatever in the fridge is free(and I dont care much for mcd's or ramen), and they can kick me out now that I'm 18 so I dont want to push any buttons and get myself into credit card debt being behind on everything or anything, I'll just wait till I can get a better job or move in with a friend or soemthing else.
Mtn my brother bought an expopo crown vic and loves it to death he wants me to get one and put a manual transmission in it. Tempting but not exactly what I want I think.
I'm not forgetting the protege 5 BUT it doesnt seem to have as much value as the max.
And Pres589 the only reason my Jeep is still running is because I bring the wrench to it almost every week for something.
pres589 wrote: In reply to JeepinMatt: In the name of manners I will say those are all "interesting" ideas. A college kid that doesn't wrench on his car (or hasn't yet, at least) with an Alfa 164? Interesting! A GM W-body (note: I've been driving the same Olds Intrigue for 8 years now, don't cry for me, I'm already dead inside) being called 'fun as hell'? Interesting!
When you're in college, and your car makes cool whiny supercharger noises... that's fun. Plus there's plenty of room in the back see for the ladies.
I'm going to apologize for mis-remembering the original post, I thought you didn't want to / didn't have experience wrenching, so I stand corrected.
In reply to pres589:
No apologies needed, I just wanted to clarify it, I think there is more blood and sweat on the 4.0L engine of my Jeep than there is oil in it, so I am mechanically inclined but definitely not a mechanic I usually have someone else do my diagnosing or just start replacing likely suspects in the order of cheapest first. The current job of the week is to find out why I have high oil pressure when I start the car and 20 minutes of driving later I have low oil pressure. Just to further clarify the matter
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