What Car?? First Car For A Girl Going Away To College Edition.

In reply to Cooter :

If you're willing to travel to FL, there's one with a creatively painted roof, it needs a new car though. 

Also, Yaris might be the answer, they don't get the love and resulting resale value that Civics, Corollas and Fits have. A Fit would be great as they can move and haul a lot of stuff. 

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

As a life long car guy and a man with two daughters, this is an easy one to answer.

Whatever Honda she prefers. I put my girls in CRV and Elements. But Civics are fantastic too. There really is nothing to know about them. Get one new enough to have the K engine so there's no timing belt to worry about. Check it for codes. If it passes, buy it. You simply cannot go wrong with an entry level Honda.

I was thinking the same thing. Just buy the nicest condition civic that you see for $3k. The F&F Honda tax seems to have gone away, which is great. I see civics w/ ~100k going for $3000 all day here in the PNW.

Matrix, Pontiac vibe, 03+ 4 cylinder Accords, Base RSX, Sentra Se 2.0, scion anything, 03-11 ford focus, Mercury milan (mazda6 clone),

New car owner, Low budget and no "car family/community" safety net is going to be an expensive issue down the road if there's no one to teach her the ins/outs of car ownership.

 

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Cooter :

If you're willing to travel to FL, there's one with a creatively painted roof, it needs a new car though. 

I just saw that.   I actually have a line on a couple in FLA, but I would need enabling until I could get down there to bring one back north.

lnlds said:

 

 

Matrix, Pontiac vibe, 03+ 4 cylinder Accords, Base RSX, Sentra Se 2.0, scion anything, 03-11 ford focus, Mercury milan (mazda6 clone),

 

New car owner, Low budget and no "car family/community" safety net is going to be an expensive issue down the road if there's no one to teach her the ins/outs of car ownership.

 

Except you forget that her "car family" safety net is the one looking for cars for her.

Plus, there really isn't much to teach.   
Maintain it. /end

Datsun310Guy said:

I'd go with a late model Impala.  

Excellent suggestion.  It will run forever.  The 3500 will move it well enough, the trunk will hold a dorm room's worth of stuff, and the back seat will hold 3 of her hall mates when they need to go to the mall or wherever it is college girls go these days that doesn't involve intoxicants.

[edit]

Also, not quite sure what's driving all the antagonism here?

2nd gen Prius seems to be the shiz in that budget range.  May be a little oxidized but if you want no maintenance other than tires and brakes....

Edit: also for $3k you don't get to pick colors

Sending my 3rd kid off in 10 days with a 2016 rav4. AWD. New tires that are Firestone all seasons that look like blizzacs and recent pads and rotors. Going to my local mechanic to do a Mobil one oil change and have them touch everything underneath. I strongly recommend the best condition AWD rav4 you can find.  

In college I drove an 03 Toyota Corolla which got wrecked by a reckless driver, a 94 NA 300ZX slicktop that I wrecked through my own stupidity, and an 02 RSX Type S that I replaced with a 20 WRX when I graduated. So I'd suggest any of those.

All jokes aside, other than the 4 door requirement an auto base model RSX would be a great choice imo. It has a hatch with fold down seats (which are also usable in a pinch!) and the K20A3 is dead reliable. 

If you REALLY have to have 4 doors, then any of the following with a K24 derived engine: 

Seriously, get a Honda with a K series engine. 

Alternatively, you can get a Honda Fit with the L15. 

Alternatively alternatively, you can get an 8th or 9th gen Honda Civic with the R18A1.

Now, you'll be hard pressed to find these under $3000, but I'm sure you won't have trouble according to some posts in this thread.

Anyways, Honda. When they buy it, change the oil for her, and then change it when she comes back for the yearly Xmas visits. That's all you have to do for it.

E36 M3, you don't even need to do that. High school friend drove a 4 banger accord to the ground, literally 0 oil in it for the 4 years she drove it. I'm impressed it didn't seize and blow up.

I'm not going to get into the need/want of a car because she's not my daughter, but I will suggest someone make sure she actually can have a car on campus. If she's a freshman, most colleges do not allow them. If she's not a freshman, carry on with the search. 
 

Edit; Chevy Sonic can fit the bill if they haven't popped in your head. 

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Nicole Suddard :

Came here to suggest a high-mileage E46 3-series BMW.  Probably a bad idea though.....

If that piques your interest, I've got a higher mileage '04 325i touring auto that I'd let go for 4k to move on sooner rather than later. It needs some cosmetic tlc, but I spent most of the '19-'20 winter replacing everything brake/suspension/drivetrain mount related under it, including billy HD's all around. I swapped similar vintage x3 seats in for the adjustable lumbar, too. Messages through the board software work if you're interested.

In reply to hunter47 :

Everybody says Honda Ks are great because they have a timing chain but unless you keep absolutely on top of oil changes and level top-ups they will eat the timing chain guides and the chain will stretch.  Then you're effectively doing a 100k timing belt job anyway, only it's more expensive.

My daughter's Sonic Turbo has been a very good car. It was $4500 3 years ago so you should be able to find one in the $3k range.

She went to college with a 94 Camaro though. After that was a Thunderbird Supercoupe. 

All of those, including the Sonic, are manuals. I required it on her first car because everyone should know how to drive one. Now she prefers them. 

rustybugkiller said:

I must be the only one on this forum who had issues with 01 -05 civic auto trannys

No, I was going to point that out. Fortunately, the automatic '02 Civic we help a friend buy didn't explode it's 3rd gear clutch pack like it was supposed to, it blew a headgasket instead. Honestly, the manual '03 Civic EX my sibling had put me off Honda's period, it was awful to work on, had the structural integrity of a tin can, and honestly was at best no more reliable than the various other Subarus and euro cars we've had in the fleet.

SWMBO's daughter is heading off next year with the hand-me-down VW Beetle she's been driving for a year.

I sent my three kids to college with 8th gen Civics 4 doors and they've all been super reliable.  Highly recommended and good for 250K+ miles.  Buy the nicest, lowest mileage one within your price range. 

Civic

Chevy Volt is where my head went first

With the explosion in prices for NEW and used cars in the last few months, from what I have seen locally $3,000 won't get you much of a car.

That said, I recently picked up a very low mileage, for the year, Ford Fusion.  I bought this car because it struck me as being a sort of ancestor of the Falcon.  The 2.5 is used in lots of Fords and it seems to be dead reliable.  Parts should be easy to find and It can be easily serviced.  Insurance isn't too bad.   And it gets decent mileage for the power the engine produces. 

Bad points: if you live in a state that uses salt on the roads the electric steering in 2010 and newer models (not in your price range anyway) is prone to breaking the bolts for the steering motor and when they break the rack and associated motor are replaced as a unit.

I am surprised by the assembly quality, and maybe I am fooling myself but I feel that I got a car almost as good as a Camry without the "Toyota tax".

In reply to Carsandbikes :

A friend that was a former owner told me about transmission troubles, he had many and I just Googled some Lemon Law cases.

2005-2007 Saab 9-3 is a great car.

Volvo 240 would be cool but might be a bit long in the tooth now for a first time car owner.

The latest model Malibu that fits the budget is hard to go wrong with.

In reply to chandler :

Ehh, I had one of those that I purchased for the price range OP is looking at a few years ago. It had fatal issues that left me stranded on the side of the highway multiple times and GM refused to honor the warrantied parts that were causing the problem. Would not recommend that experience.

In reply to Jerry :

Aren't these the later models 2012 and up ?

Nissan Versa Sedan or hatch.