Need to find a car for an 18 y.o. girl.

Ugh, my friends sister has come to Chicago to go to school and they want to get her a car for around $3000-3500. They asked me if I could do some research. Also my friends Fiance is in Afghanistan right now, so it's left up to me to fix it if something happens.

Their Criteria: Not Boring, Reliable, Cheap to fix, Automatic, Good Fuel Mileage, Late 90's to Early 00's

I am having a hard time finding anything within this criteria, within the price range, so I think there will have to be a compromise. I have searched Auto Trader and Craigslist, but I think I'm gonna pick up some AutoTraders at the gas station tomorrow.

It has also been said that she would possibly like a pickup, so I'm gonna look at a couple Rangers and S-10s.

Any Ideas?

Well, I don't see how a compact pickup avoids being boring, but I can assure you that you don't want an S-10. They were just never really well built, and some are truly awful. The value choice is the Ranger, maybe a Tacoma would be better if you get a deal on something.

May I suggest that you try to get her to drop the automatic criteria?

-Overall, auto transmissions are not as durable as manuals, I frequently replace autos in the low 100k mileage range

-The gap is closing, but for most cars the manual is going to get better fuel mileage

-The stick shift forces the driver to be more aware and plan ahead further, anything that might get an 18 year old driver to pay closer attention to the road and traffic could be a life saver

Wait, now I'm curious. What constitutes not boring to an 18 y.o. girl? Seriously?

Just say Neon.

Before you get deluged with Miata/E30 BMtroublyous.

So are you saying it's too late to say Miata?

What about a '93-97 Mx6? Sporty looking, reliable, and Mazda is always a good choice.

Early Focus?

Pre-Accelerating Toyotas are very reliable and available in that price range.

My sister has had a 96' Tercel for 4 years/60k and not a single major repair. Sitting around 150k now.

My girlfriend has been driving a 96' Corolla for a long time and it has accrued 200k with very little proper maintenance. Still gets her to and from work reliably.

Both are weak fours behind automatics.

One thing my friend keeps doing, is steering me towards VW Jettas.

I don't know about that. Don't VWs usually have electrical gremlins?

I did however find an automatic Infiniti G20 Touring. I know they are rather cheap to fix and get rather good mileage. It looks good and is the right price.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/2141124635.html

97-99 Camry. Except for the boring part. But boring is good when it's related to a vehicle that needs to get you to school, work, the store, etc. For less boring, a later model Celica.

I'd say 2.0 Jetta, Mk4. Its easy to work on, reliable, and within your price range. I cant say they arnt boring, most likely are...

I had a late 90s Nissan Hardbody with a 4 banger and a 5sp that was honestly not boring. It had a great motor and gearing/suspension that was fun on a twisty road. Note I didn't say fast, or even capable as a sports car. I said "fun". It hauled 1400lbs of tar paper and shingles up a mountain in a foot of snow once though so it was capable as a mini-truck.

I expect that you will have to search the south for one as any owned in the salt belt returned to the earth 5yrs ago. Mine was toast by '02.

Saturn SC?

I think that Infiniti G20 above looks great.
I think you need to talk to the girl. The definition of not boring is likely different for an 18yr old girl. Also, keep in mind wants and needs. She may "want" a car that is interesting but she "needs" a car that she can count on and afford.

I'm sure I'll take some E36 M3 for it, but Consumer Reports is the closest thing to valid and reliable empirical data I know of regarding auto reliability (not to say it doesn't have myriad methodological flaws.) I've pasted the Volkswagen section of their "Used cars to avoid" list and, as you can see, it's most of them.

I'm still wondering what 'not boring' means to a teenage girl, so far we've found that Volkswagens and compact pickups are 'not boring.'

Volkswagen Cabrio '00-02; Eos '07-08; Golf '02; GTI (4-cyl.) '02, '06-07; Jetta (4-cyl.) '00, '03-04; Jetta (turbo) '01-04, '07; Jetta (V6) '00-01; New Beetle '00-01, '03-08; New Beetle (turbo) '00-04; Passat (4-cyl., AWD) '04; Passat (4-cyl., FWD) '00-08; Passat (V6, AWD) '01; Passat (V6, FWD) '00-04, '06; R32 '08; Touareg '04, '06, '08

CR Used cars to avoid

That G20 does look good. They are like a Sentra SE-R but a little heavier and nicer, and the 2.0 in it should run forever.

I've had Imprezas for my young teen driver, and they seem to make a very very good first car. I suggest a '00-'01 Impreza or Outback Sport. 2 generations old but still fun to drive, AWD for that Chicagoland winter, and easy enough to fix.

DSM? Sure as hell not boring, AWD for safety, and easy to fix when they need to be.

Sorry, but it's almost impossible to separate reliable (do you really want to get phone calls at all hours of the day and night about breakdowns?) and boring. Also, the suggestion about a pickup would only be okay if you lived in an area that gets almost no snow for much of the winter....tho I do agree about the S-10 vs Ranger.

Of ALL the cars mentioned so far, I think you are best off with the G20. I have owned one, they are (usually) very reliable, and are basically just a Sentra underneath, so parts/fixing problems shouldn't cost an arm and/or leg. They are solid built and drive quite well. If she takes care of it, you may want to buy it from her when she's finished with it. And go for an automatic G. They are reliable, even with auto, and it will help keep her "out of trouble". Like when she tries using her 'phone while driving.

I thought for sure someone would back come with "I need an 18 y.o. girl for my car."

mndsm wrote: DSM? Sure as hell not boring, AWD for safety, and easy to fix as they are broken.

Fixicated that for you.

Dr. Hess wrote: 97-99 Camry. Except for the boring part. But boring is good when it's related to a vehicle that needs to get you to school, work, the store, etc. For less boring, a later model Celica.

94-99 Celica GT Auto should fit the bill. It's a "cuter" looking camry with a slightly less squishy suspension. I don't know how easy it'd be to find a really good one in that price range, but you could also look at the 90-93s, they're the same thing but with flip up lights.

I'll also +1 the MX6 suggestion. The MX6 LS is probably quite a bit less boring than an Auto Celica if i have to be 100% honest.

JFX001 wrote: Saturn SC?

Also a good choice, but i wouldn't wish it upon Synthetic Blinker Fluid to work on the damn thing.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: 94-99 Celica GT Auto should fit the bill. It's a "cuter" looking camry with a slightly less squishy suspension. I don't know how easy it'd be to find a really good one in that price range, but you could also look at the 90-93s, they're the same thing but with flip up lights.

I'm a Toyota guy, so that's kinda where I went too. But really, it's a pretty good choice. Only thing I'd add- might look for an MR2. Two seats might be a good way to keep a teenage girl out of trouble. No, seriouslly. Can't have too many friends in the car while you're driving. That's a good thing.

Civic.

VW automatics are terrible. The manual ones are ok, except the older ones pretty much always need a new clutch as it has gotten full of oil from the valve cover gasket leaking. If it has to be automatic, celica or infiniti sound decent, not having a timing belt is probably a good thing too, because i doubt it will get changed when it needs it on a 18 year old girl's cheap car.

fast_eddie_72 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: 94-99 Celica GT Auto should fit the bill. It's a "cuter" looking camry with a slightly less squishy suspension. I don't know how easy it'd be to find a really good one in that price range, but you could also look at the 90-93s, they're the same thing but with flip up lights.

I'm a Toyota guy, so that's kinda where I went too. But really, it's a pretty good choice. Only thing I'd add- might look for an MR2. Two seats might be a good way to keep a teenage girl out of trouble. No, seriouslly. Can't have too many friends in the car while you're driving. That's a good thing.

+1, my wife had a 90 Celica when we got married. It handled very nicely we sold it just shy of 300K on it.

In reply to fast_eddie_72:

if they arent all gone, a civic del sol could accomplish that same task without the lift throttle possibilities.