Advice on a first car.

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

If your monthy car allowance is $0 you cannot be realistic about fuel, maintenence, and repairs. For any car.

[Ampl1tude]

My first car was a BMW E30 325e a few years ago... definately a great find.

they usually go for $10,000+ restored, but you can find them for 1000-2000...

they have a great engine, for the price. and will last you for along time.

Lastly... you wouldn't be ashamed to drive it.

but then again, buying the car is just the first part, around 10% of the total cost of driving it.

after getting it you gotta get it certified, tested...etc. then you gotta pay up your ass for insurance, and god.. do I dare to say? Gas...

Then when it breaks down, you will also pay up your ass on that too... (Cars break down... more easily then headphones)

I'd save that money, invest it, then get a car after you saved around 3000. thats what I did

[raymondlin]

Judging from Top Gear last month with what you can get for $1000 in the States, I wouldn't hope to get something good, and especially in Ohio. Isn't that a state with no law regarding vehicle road worthy standard ?

[SayNoToPistons]

Originally Posted by 450

Plainsong, I don't think the stuff of TG applies here, I mean they didn't have much time to look around.

http://autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/deta...RvcyZtaz0mbW89

1275 for a pretty nice Probe in Ohio. Probe = Mazda MX3 right? So reliability should be good.

Uh.... Where did you get MX-3 from? It's MX-6

[wafflesomd]

So I guess it's safe to say I'm not getting anything but a really nice bike...

This is the most irritating thing. I have two sets of parents (divorced and remarried), and I had to beg them both to even consider the thought of helping me get around.

Let's not forget the fact that they bought my brother an $11k truck...

My dad did buy a 93' escort, but he decided to drive that for a year before I got my license, and well, it will cost roughly $400 to fix. He wants me to pay for the repairs, even though he's the one who drove it.

This whole ordeal is pissing me off to no end. First, my parents will yell at me at how I'm lazy, and don't have a job. I'm so sick of waiting at school, hoping that someone will give me a ride home. I've even offered my freinds gas money, but for some reason, they'd rather take money...

Look's I'm just getting the shaft big time.

[SayNoToPistons]

How old are you? Just work for the money so you can use it on whatever you want. I think you should stop crying and just buy your own car, thats a good way to show it in their face.

[pne]

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

So I guess it's safe to say I'm not getting anything but a really nice bike...

This is the most irritating thing. I have two sets of parents (divorced and remarried), and I had to beg them both to even consider the thought of helping me get around.

Let's not forget the fact that they bought my brother an $11k truck...

My dad did buy a 93' escort, but he decided to drive that for a year before I got my license, and well, it will cost roughly $400 to fix. He wants me to pay for the repairs, even though he's the one who drove it.

This whole ordeal is pissing me off to no end. First, my parents will yell at me at how I'm lazy, and don't have a job. I'm so sick of waiting at school, hoping that someone will give me a ride home. I've even offered my freinds gas money, but for some reason, they'd rather take money...

Look's I'm just getting the shaft big time.

if you are serious about getting a car your monthly budget cannot be $0. how do you expect to pay for gas? My monthly gas is about $100 and thats only driving myself to the subway and taking the subway to school. Insurance for me is about $1000 a year as an occasional driver underneath my parent's insurance. Your budget is not even enough for GAS money per year, if you have no income how do you expect to drive a car?


If you're serious about getting a car then get a part time job for crying out loud. Quit whining and expecting your parents to buy you a car. Work weekends and pull in a few hundred a month. Don't expect things to be handed to you on a platter, brother or not. I'll tell you right now there is no way you will be able to drive on $1000. You have insurance costs, gas costs, costs to register the car, costs for the plate. I would say at least $2000 initial, and $300 a month to keep driving. My parents would not support me buying a motorcycle so I saved up a summers worth of pay for a $5000 bike, $350 lessons, $460 insurance, $70 registration, $500 protective gear, and pay my own gas. If you want to have grownup privaleges you should at least be willing to pull your own weight and get a part time job.


From what I see, your options are as follows..
-get yourself a bicycle or a 50cc scooter
-pay for the repair of your dads car and take a job, pay for the upkeep.
-keep taking the bus

[plainsong]

It's an age where everyone is out of line. Chances are you probably sound a bit whiney and aggressive when you talk about this with them, and they're just as out of line and unreasonable in return. I still say puberty ain't just about the changes in teens, but the adults around them get just as, if not more, crazy.

My parents would pull this stuff too - get angry that I was too lazy, and then refuse to let me drive the car in my name. UHH - contradict much?

I think you know what you need to do and that's get them both to the table to solve this like the group of adults you're supposed to be. It can only be you that figures out how to do that though. The advice of "STFU and get a job" only works if you can get there.

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

So I guess it's safe to say I'm not getting anything but a really nice bike...

This is the most irritating thing. I have two sets of parents (divorced and remarried), and I had to beg them both to even consider the thought of helping me get around.

Let's not forget the fact that they bought my brother an $11k truck...

My dad did buy a 93' escort, but he decided to drive that for a year before I got my license, and well, it will cost roughly $400 to fix. He wants me to pay for the repairs, even though he's the one who drove it.

This whole ordeal is pissing me off to no end. First, my parents will yell at me at how I'm lazy, and don't have a job. I'm so sick of waiting at school, hoping that someone will give me a ride home. I've even offered my freinds gas money, but for some reason, they'd rather take money...

Look's I'm just getting the shaft big time.

[uzziah]

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

So I guess it's safe to say I'm not getting anything but a really nice bike...

This is the most irritating thing. I have two sets of parents (divorced and remarried), and I had to beg them both to even consider the thought of helping me get around.

Let's not forget the fact that they bought my brother an $11k truck...

My dad did buy a 93' escort, but he decided to drive that for a year before I got my license, and well, it will cost roughly $400 to fix. He wants me to pay for the repairs, even though he's the one who drove it.

This whole ordeal is pissing me off to no end. First, my parents will yell at me at how I'm lazy, and don't have a job. I'm so sick of waiting at school, hoping that someone will give me a ride home. I've even offered my freinds gas money, but for some reason, they'd rather take money...

Look's I'm just getting the shaft big time.

you pay the $400 to fix the escort and then it's yours? what R U complaining about? i take back all my previous advice; buy a pinto, they're fantastic, won't let you down; i have a lot less patience for ingratitude than i used to

on the flip-side, i think the escort is the most-sold car in the world or some weird statistic like that

if that's the deal (fix the escort and it's yours) then why not?


but really, i have no idea what's really going on, if the grand is actually yours, if you have any money for gas, repairs insurance, what your parents are paying?

insurance as a young kid will blow you down, it's not cheap; for an old car you want liability, but still expensive


anyway, just talk to your folks and figure out what's best for them and you. personally, my parents couldn't wait for me to drive so they could have me do all the errands and not have to take me anywhere anyway, you'll forgive me for being cliche, but be grateful for what you've got, which trust me, is A LOT, even another sibling is getting more parent-cash

[taylor]

I'll throw in a suggestion for a car... try to find an 80s domestic with a V8 and RWD. They're tough as hell. If you can live without the little comforts, those cars can take a beating. The drivetrain is rock solid. Check the alternator, tho, they go out on those cars.

I got an '89 Olds is really nice condition for like $1300. I had to replace the alternator a few months later, but other than that, no essential repairs. Keep in mind that the Olds is the nicer model, and '89 is one of the newer ones. It's completely reasonable to look for like an '81 or so Caprice in that price range.

Lots of room for all your friends, as well. Gas is costly if you do a lot of distance, but just bopping around town, it isn't completely horrible on gas. For quite some time, I paid less than $100 a month in gas. From a safety perspective, you've got a full frame car with a lot of steel around you, so insurance isn't as bad.

[XxATOLxX]

For a couple hundred more you can probably find an MKI VW GTI. The engine on that thing is pretty much indestructable and is basically a street legal go-kart.



This one has a 1.8T engine on it.

[Uncle Erik]

The '93 Escort is not the end of the world. I had a '95 for several years... got 142k zero-problem miles from it before it was destroyed. (Not my fault and the responsible party is in the can.) But it got 35/42 MPG and was a song to insure. Personally, I think the '94-'96 is the best version, but the '93 is fine. The 1.9L Mazda engine is bulletproof (same one used in the SCCA Spec Racer) and Ford engineered these cars to be wrenched on.

If you need money, a job isn't that bad. I worked through almost all of high school and got together $800 to buy my first car... that was in 1988 and I got an old Mercury Comet. I still have that one.

The best high school job I found was at a movie theater. Almost 20 years later, it was more fun than just about any place I've worked at since. The pay was a little over minimum, but we got free popcorn and soda and all the free movies we wanted. Not only that, but our immediate families got free movies (any time, even when we weren't with them) and we could sign in something like 8 friends while working. I got two good friends hired, and our parents (also friends) were up there constantly for the movies. They loved it. When my friends were also scheduled, we could get in 24 people we knew- almost the entire social circle. It was awesome. Lots of other great people worked there, too, so I never minded showing up for work. It is possible to have a good time and make a few dollars.

[Jaska]

My vote goes for the '91 Honda Civic. This was my first car, bought new in that year. I drove it for 10 years and put nearly 300,000 miles on it. I maintained it myself, which fortunately didn't involve much. I never once had to take that car in for any repairs, and when I got rid of it (donated it to a charity), it still looked and operated like new.

Hondas are mighty popular in Ohio, too. In fact I don't think I've ever seen more Hondas on the road than in Ohio, so an old car like this ought to be pretty easy to find.

Good advice for buying inexpensive used cars is to look for something simple. And that Honda Civic of mine was pretty spartan.

[Ampl1tude]

Originally Posted by XxATOLxX

For a couple hundred more you can probably find an MKI VW GTI. The engine on that thing is pretty much indestructable and is basically a street legal go-kart.



This one has a 1.8T engine on it.

Hey is that your Mark1 VW? looks pretty nice. are you a vw dubber? great condition

[Ampl1tude]

And for the person looking for a car:

Man, you need a job first. Thats a given. Its like making a sandwich without the bread, totally pointless. and your dads escort for 400, thats a greaaat deal. but i'd hold off on any spending until you get a car. If your parents are giving you $1000 towards the car, why not put it in a savings account, let the interest build up, and by the time you made enough money from your job, take it out and get yourself a nice, durable car.