Kid sister needs a car any suggestions?

My little sister has finally given up on finding a 05 or newer car like I've been asking her to do, all she says is she wants to make sure it's reliable and would like it to have a warranty. Low and behold she's come to me and asked me to help her find an older mustang that she can play with as a project car, and learn to wrench on, as she's always wanted a 60's early 70's stang. I was at my parents place the other day watching my niece when I found one of those auto advertising flyers with the local used cars from dealerships. She's got a few mid 90's beemers circled as well as a few other makes models, it's been my opinion that she needs to get a Miata, but "it's too SMALL!, not safe" yada yada, it's just her and my 6 almost 7 year old niece, if the miata is a no go I was thinking an E30 or early or mid 90's M3 or 3 series, I think she needs to find a 3 series hatch but I'm asking for other suggestions b4 bringing her those ideas.

So Criteria, less than 5k, preferably less as if it's older she wants to have as much in reserve as possible. Reliable, sporting, safe for a 6.5 year old.

So hit me with your best suggestion and I'll send it her way.

Is this supposed to be a first car? If so, my best suggestion is whatever car the grandparents are ready to be rid of. Also, is this supposed to be an only car? How much does she want to wrench for herself?

I'd say a P71 would be good. Fun, reliable, cheap, safe, and intimidating. Plus, when it's time to leave for college, you can load the dorm room into it.

My second reaction would be E36. You are not going to find a decent M3 for $5k though. E30 is always a good choice.

Reliable and sporty for less than 5K, but bigger than a Miata. Hmm. One of the sporty Civic models? Much cheaper to maintain and more reliable to begin with than a BMW.

Anyone who's so concerned about safety that a small car is too unsafe for them clearly doesn't plan to drive in a safe manner. I second the BMW.

Second the Civic. Or look at some VWs. Jetta or Golf.

Honda Civic

Toyota Corolla

Nissan Sentra/Altima

Subaru Impreza Wagon (outback?)

I hear white Fieros are chick cars...

Porsche 944? 924S?

She'll learn how to wrench in a big hurry.

I think the safety aspect that freaks her out is having her head exposed when the top is down. A roll bar will solve that. Of course any 60's/70's car is going to be inherently less safe than a newer car.

I'll make her a great deal on a Miata. Talk her into one...it's local!

It's almost some kind of cliche, but for a young, single(?) Mom, I'd have to go with a Japanese 4 door sedan.

integraguy wrote: It's almost some kind of cliche, but for a young, single(?) Mom, I'd have to go with a Japanese 4 door sedan.

my wife has a 5dr focus and my girlfriend has a solstice

you can have fun with a P71?

how about a 240SX or a 300ZX?

NickF40 wrote: you can have fun with a P71? how about a 240SX or a 300ZX?

Big 'ol 'Murican V8 up front spinnin the wheels in back? Beefy suspension? Mutha Berkeleyin PUSH BUMPERS? Yeah, I'd call that all fun. If you're gonna troll this board, better get used to the holy trinity: Miata, E30, P71.

240SX is cool, but they suffer from the drift tax. 300ZX tends to be a maintenance queen and they are not friendly to wrench on.

always wanted a p71 idealy with the pushbar and spot still attached... for some reason i think it's a step up in HW cruising over a volvo wagon (which has awesome invisibility mode)... i don't know if i'd get upset at everyone slowing down in front of me all the time though...

What about a mid 90's Audi A4, a step above the veedubs of the same era, pretty well known out there and uses alot of the same hop up parts you can get in the jetta/golf.

A Miata is SIGNIFICANTLY safer than a '60's or '70's vintage Mustang. NO COMPARISON.

Airbags, crumple zones, collapsable steering column, disk brakes, anti-locks, etc. etc. etc.

Tell her to check the crash ratings on a '67 'Stang vs. a '98 Impreza wagon. My daughter drives a '98 Impreza wagon. I bought it for $1500, and I'm thrilled from a safety aspect.

My suggestion would be a 3rd-gen Celica ('82-'85). 22RE, rwd, same diff as the Corolla GT-S. Sure, they're a little ugly, but they'll go forever, and with all the torque of the 22R, it will feel significantly faster than the 105hp it's rated it. Spring for the GT-S, and have the same IRS as in the Mk II Supra.

Get the hatchback, and there's plenty of room for whatever you need to transport. Plus, insurance will be way cheap. Only issues I know of are the 22R plastic timing chain guide issue ($65 for a new timing set and stainless guide), and leaky hatches.

NickF40 wrote: 300ZX?

Or you could just give her a literbike, saves the maintenance of a twin-turbo wangan runner.

There's a nice little 1986 Mustang in here. It looks like a decent place to start, solid, clean and has a big aftermarket following.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2008-classifieds/wtb-car/2628/page1/

Don't take offense to this post, I'm just trying to understand your sister's priorites:

How old is your sister? I ask because it looks like she's a single parent and she wants to get into wrenching on her DD with a 6/7 year old to look after, take/pickup from school, and get to/from work? Come on, tell her to get something SAFE and RELIABLE and tell her to put her time and money into her CHILD, including saving for said child's college fund...

Raze wrote: Don't take offense to this post, I'm just trying to understand your sister's priorites: How old is your sister? I ask because it looks like she's a single parent and she wants to get into wrenching on her DD with a 6/7 year old to look after, take/pickup from school, and get to/from work? Come on, tell her to get something SAFE and RELIABLE and tell her to put her time and money into her CHILD, including saving for said child's college fund...

None taken, As for how old is my "baby" sister? She's 25, at 18 she moved out to goto school, came home 6 weeks later preggers, an abusive boy friend and just a E36 M3 situation later, my parents removed her from it. Did her the favor of moving her in with them, so she could continue to goto school, and help keep an eye on my soon to be born niece.

Fast forward a few years and my sister is a pretty darn good graphic artist, Need proof? look at last years rotary powered RX-7, Tucker told her what he wanted she modified his ideas and gave him the graphics on the side of the car, I know we were all quite impressed with the way it came out. She's done the graphic for the interior of gas station/dunkin donuts here in town, as well as hotels in Disney area Orlando, and a few as far away as LA. Yeah u could say I'm a bit proud of her. And yeah her daugters education fund is already well on it's way.

And I realize my post was a bit vague on its meaning and what I was trying to get across. I'm sorry. What I was trying to say is she asked me to help her to find an older stang to learn to wrench on. She's currently looking for a RELIABLE, and SAFE daily, as she still lives with my parent's and is borrowing one of their vehicles whenever she wants to go somewhere. Not that she has to ask but it's curtesy to do so. If that daily is the right price and needs a bit of work no problem, my dad and I can prob work most the kinks out for her. If not I'm sure I can con the challenge crew into helping as long as it's "interesting" enough. or bribed with enough malty beverages.

That and I agree if the early 90's Z-cars are anything like my old FD, they are a bit of a maintenence queen.

2000-ish Saturn SL2

excellent crash test ratings

epa rated 27-38mpg

easy to work on

may not be exciting enough, but it's the car i'd want my little sister driving.

Salanis wrote:

NickF40 wrote: you can have fun with a P71? how about a 240SX or a 300ZX?

Big 'ol 'Murican V8 up front spinnin the wheels in back? Beefy suspension? Mutha Berkeleyin PUSH BUMPERS? Yeah, I'd call that all fun. If you're gonna troll this board, better get used to the holy trinity: Miata, E30, P71. 240SX is cool, but they suffer from the drift tax. 300ZX tends to be a maintenance queen and they are not friendly to wrench on.

oh trust me, I know

I want an Impreza wagon....BAD......A Turbo brick, Miata, E30, Scirocco/Golf, P71 and an Audi might have a losing chance if I can find one!

yeah, it's hard to find a 240sx or even silvia (S13, 14, 15) that hasn't been "drifted" with it's owner, or has been taken badly care of.

Spinout007 wrote:

Raze wrote: Don't take offense to this post, I'm just trying to understand your sister's priorites: How old is your sister? I ask because it looks like she's a single parent and she wants to get into wrenching on her DD with a 6/7 year old to look after, take/pickup from school, and get to/from work? Come on, tell her to get something SAFE and RELIABLE and tell her to put her time and money into her CHILD, including saving for said child's college fund...

None taken, As for how old is my "baby" sister? She's 25, at 18 she moved out to goto school, came home 6 weeks later preggers, an abusive boy friend and just a E36 M3 situation later, my parents removed her from it. Did her the favor of moving her in with them, so she could continue to goto school, and help keep an eye on my soon to be born niece. Fast forward a few years and my sister is a pretty darn good graphic artist, Need proof? look at last years rotary powered RX-7, Tucker told her what he wanted she modified his ideas and gave him the graphics on the side of the car, I know we were all quite impressed with the way it came out. She's done the graphic for the interior of gas station/dunkin donuts here in town, as well as hotels in Disney area Orlando, and a few as far away as LA. Yeah u could say I'm a bit proud of her. And yeah her daugters education fund is already well on it's way. And I realize my post was a bit vague on its meaning and what I was trying to get across. I'm sorry. What I was trying to say is she asked me to help her to find an older stang to learn to wrench on. She's currently looking for a RELIABLE, and SAFE daily, as she still lives with my parent's and is borrowing one of their vehicles whenever she wants to go somewhere. Not that she has to ask but it's curtesy to do so. If that daily is the right price and needs a bit of work no problem, my dad and I can prob work most the kinks out for her. If not I'm sure I can con the challenge crew into helping as long as it's "interesting" enough. or bribed with enough malty beverages. That and I agree if the early 90's Z-cars are anything like my old FD, they are a bit of a maintenence queen.

Cool, in that case:

I'm a huge fan of the early 90s Mustangs, a 'well used' convertible, 4cyl, 5speed would be a killer place to start cause after you get it all running right with a good suspension and brakes, fix the top if necessary, you can upgrade the engine very easily to a 2.3 Turbo application from an SVO, TurboCoupe, or XR4Ti OR a 5.0 application and since they're cheap used very nice, you can run EFI or Carb and you can use the existing 5speed or w/a v8 bellhousing can still be used on the 5.0 (will require new pilot bushing and it won't be rated to handle as much torque 260ish vs 300 ft/lbs between the 4cyls and the 5.0 T5 trans), and on and on. Plus the after market is one of the largest and cheapest out there for what you can get if you know where to look. Enjoy!