[intoflatlines]

Members' Lounge, I am in the market for a used car to get me to and from work. The location is not easily accessible via public transit. Since I do not have much money, I am looking for a used car around the ~$6000 price range. No vans, trucks, or SUVs.

Preferences:
1. Must be Japanese or European. From my experience, American cars (especially older ones) break down way too much.
2. Must have decent fuel economy. I don't expect to find a cheap used car with 40+ MPG, but I don't want to go much lower than maybe around 30 MPG highway. If this is unreasonable let me know.
3. Should be manual transmission. Yes, I can drive manual. I live in Chicago so steep grades aren't really an issue. It allows for better control of the car, and is supposedly cheaper to repair and allows for generally better gas mileage. If I am wrong, let me know.
4. Should not be huge. I want to be able to parallel park with relative ease. The car shouldn't be tiny, but it should be able to fit into the spaces that vans and SUVs pass up.
5. Must be safe. I don't want to be driving in a death trap.
6. Should have decent driveability in snow/rain. Considering where I live, this is pretty important.
I'm kind of freaked out about getting reliable reports/history from owners. How do you deal with this?

Anyway, basically I am wondering if any of you out there can suggest any particular makes/models/year ranges for me to look into. If you think I'm being too picky, let me know. Also, for those of you in the Chicago area, are there any used car dealerships that you have good experiences with?

Thanks in advance, Members' Lounge!

edit: added preference 6

 

[Uncle Erik]

I had a 1995 Ford Escort that I loved. Yeah, I know it's American, but it has the 1.9L Mazda engine. Ran great for 145k miles until totaled (not my fault). It got about 35/36MPG in the city and 42+ MPG on the highway. Best I got was 45 MPG on flat highways at 55MPH. Mine was the two door hatch which was supremely practical. When you fold down the rear seats, it only has one cubic foot less space than the station wagon.

Only problem I had with it was a melted wire in the ignition that somehow happened and kept it from turning over. They charged me $60 to find it and $5 for a new wire. Other than that and routine maintenance, it went for 145k miles on the same brake pads and clutch, even. Great little car. Would have bought another, but couldn't find any for sale.

You could probably get one in great shape for $3k. You could put the rest into some nice audio equipment.

They made this model from 1994-1996. The Mazda engine is tough and won't let you down. Also, my brother-in-law owned a '96 that was bulletproof, too.

You're not going to win any stoplight races, but they're some of the best transportation around.

 

[oogens]

I'm a bmw guy (95 m3 here), but i can't really suggest the e36 3 series. they're loads of fun, but maintenence can be a bit harsh. maybe the pre 92 318's (e30's), dunno what maintenence is like

i fancy the older miatas too. amazing cars if you can get over the effeminate stigma.

there's the quinessential civic and corolla too, but watch out for beat up ones. they're popular first cars and get beat on by new drivers and by kids looking to "tune" their cars with cheap parts.

golfs should be in your range too, but i don't know about the reliability of european cars. might break down less than american counterparts, but the parts are twice as expensive so you break even

sorry i was kind of rambling there for a bit i think

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Preferences:
1. Must be Japanese or European. From my experience, American cars (especially older ones) break down way too much.

(you can snag a newer 2000+ ford Focus for the cash you have... just check the engine bay and look for the Z motor. The other motor was the old one they used in torus's that always blew head gaskets. Also 2002+ are better than 2000-2002 as the first two years had some break wear issues. Nothing safety related just wore through their rotors faster than normal.)

(also check out Miata's almost all are manual and you can find them in a 2000-8000 dollar range very easily. Good gas milage cheap and easy to repair. Downside is convertable and small. Fun as hell to drive.)

(bypass your local honda Civic as you will pay far too much for what it is worth. stupid honda's never drop in value thanks to TO FAST TO FURRIOUS same goes with AE-86, 240SX, Rx-7, etc.... look into Nissan Sentras, Infinity G20 (Nissan Sentra with a Infinity badge) also check out Corolla's)

(as guy above said Golf's are good and so are e36 *NOT e30's unless looking for a project car* but when they break they are pretty spendy to fix.)

2. Must have decent fuel economy. I don't expect to find a cheap used car with 40+ MPG, but I don't want to go much lower than maybe around 30 MPG highway. If this is unreasonable let me know.

(reasonable just expect to pay a bit more for the car as with the gas price increase inline-4 eco-cars have skyrocketed in price)

3. Should be manual transmission. Yes, I can drive manual. I live in Chicago so steep grades aren't really an issue. It allows for better control of the car, and is supposedly cheaper to repair and allows for generally better gas mileage. If I am wrong, let me know.

(Manual's cost just as much as your normal auto tranny to deal with. With a auto all you need worry about is the tranny going out. Manual gotta worry about clutch life, tranny, syncros so on and so forth. Either way the big selling point is making sure you get the car from someone who didnt drive the living piss out of it. Manual tranny that was clutch dropped from 4k everyday or hard shifted all the time will have issues with the syncros, diff, clutch were a auto that had the same done will have internal tranny issues with the bands and so on. If a Manual tranny 100% goes out it is cheaper to replace vs an auto but still again matters on the previous owner as most autos *minus trucks that haul stuff* will go for 200k+ miles. also they dont get better gas mileage it is just you can bog the engine and choose when to shift so you can short shift and bog your eninge all the time to in effect get better milage. Some of the new autos like CVT's acually get better milage then manuals do)




Hope this helps also always check both Kelly Blue Book and nada.com for price avg of a car. Also check craigslist in your area as it seems to be a good price reference point for buying from others or a dealer.

If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM just got out of Automotive Skewlings.

 

[XxATOLxX]

Sounds like a 90's Honda Civic hatchback is what you need. I miss that little car.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Carfax.com for a vehicle history report.

Take your pick from any of the foreign (and USA-designed and manufactured but foreign labeled) cars. Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Infiniti, Subaru. Possibly Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo.

 

[frozenice]

The first thing you should buy is a book like Lemon-Aid, it goes for twenty bucks at Amazon.

The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic were best in class for the years you are interested in. Sure you pay an extra grand on the buy but you get most of the grand back on the way out.

Having said that you could probably get a 4 year lease return from an American manufacturer cheap,cheap, cheap. If you buy something like that and there is trouble dump it as fast as you can.

 

[Dutchess of York]

As a carguy, you could have alot of fun with 6000, but if you need something reliable and good on gas, ill second 'miata mans' mazda (miata) suggestion. They have a great track record, hold their value well, are good on gas and are reported to be every bit as good (and better because it doesn't break every 5 miles) the the Lotus Elan it was based on.

Cons are the
limited seating
convertible top (but aftermarket hardtops are available i think)

I have never driven one, but ive heard only great things.

Another option would be the Civic, which is another reliable, available manual, worry free car.

Also, I would stay away from the german and Japanese premium badges (BMW, Audi, Lexus). Not that these cars are less reliable (the germans are), but service and parts on an older premium car will end up costing more then the price of the car.

 

[Snicewicz]

Just curious since you do live in Chicago, are you looking to a car with AWD?

I live in Ohio and my parents forced me to get a car with AWD because of the winters.

 

[jgonino]

I third the Miata, only because I recently drove one, and it was a real blast! I had to choose between the leftover 07 miata, and the 08 Mazdaspeed3. I chose the speed, because it is more practical, and was even quicker than the miata.

 

[intoflatlines]

Thanks for all the pointers so far!

Uncle Erik - Hmm.. never considered a Ford Escort. If I find one for a really good price I might have to check it out.

oogens - I was looking at the older (mid-90s) BMWs because I heard that they didn't break down very often, are supposed to be safe, and I like how they look. My girlfriend scared me because she kept going on and on about how her grandparents say it's so expensive to repair, though.

DanTheMiataMan - Wow, I guess you really like Miatas?

I'll probably check some out. They are definitely small enough..

XxATOLxX - Hatchback, huh? I'll look around. But, weren't the 90s Civics really unsafe? Or, am I thinking of earlier models?

infinitesypmhony - Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely take that into consideration.

frozenice - What's a 4 year lease return?

Dutchess of York - Another vote for Miata, hmm.. There must be something to it. However, I was thinking.. how would a Miata drive in the winter?

Snicewicz - AWD definitely would be great to have, but isn't that a serious damper on MPG? Also, isn't there much more that could go wrong in an older car with AWD compared to FWD or RWD?

Does anyone know where to find mileage ratings for all (or most) models of older cars?

 

[jgonino]

Edmunds.com

Best site I know of for finding info on older cars.

Also, the miata is rear-drive, and while not the best in the winter, it can hold its own.

Plus RWD is way better for fun driving than front!

 

[frozenice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoflatlines /img/forum/go_quote.gif frozenice - What's a 4 year lease return?

Quite often now people will lease cars for a period of two, three or four years. At the end of the lease they return them to the dealership and buy/lease another car. The dealerships then have to sell the cars. For instance, I am sure a 4 year old Ford Focus lease return would be going for about the price you are looking to spend.

 

[intoflatlines]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgonino /img/forum/go_quote.gif Edmunds.com Best site I know of for finding info on older cars. Also, the miata is rear-drive, and while not the best in the winter, it can hold its own. Plus RWD is way better for fun driving than front!

Thanks for the link. My old van was RWD and it was terrible in the snow. Really terrible. But yeah, RWD is fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frozenice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quite often now people will lease cars for a period of two, three or four years. At the end of the lease they return them to the dealership and buy/lease another car. The dealerships then have to sell the cars. For instance, I am sure a 4 year old Ford Focus lease return would be going for about the price you are looking to spend.

My dad told me never to buy a leased car because the previous drivers probably drove them like crap because they knew they would get a new one in a couple years anyway. What do you think?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoflatlines /img/forum/go_quote.gif My dad told me never to buy a leased car because the previous drivers probably drove them like crap because they knew they would get a new one in a couple years anyway. What do you think?

That's a chance you'll take with any used car. Many people drive horribly even when they own the car.

A lot of people who lease these days just like to have newer-looking cars. That's been the case for everyone I've known who has leased, and I wouldn't call any of them bad drivers.