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Selecting and Buying My First Car

764 messages,  Last post on Aug 17, 2009 at 12:29 PM

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#11 of 764 Spacious, nice interior.... by prodigalsun Nov 02, 2003 (7:39 am)
Hmmm...I'd go with a mid 90's acura Vigor. Legend to, but you should find some bargains on the Vigor.
#12 of 764 chevy prizm, its the way I'm heading by mn_pat Nov 03, 2003 (2:54 pm)
As a replacement for my recently crashed Legacy, I'm looking at the Chevy Prizm. The Prizm is a rebadged Toyota Corolla. Is cheap buy, cheap to run, cheap maintain.   I've see several examples for with 35-45k priced from $6k to $7K
#13 of 764 original poster's statement by allhorizon Nov 03, 2003 (3:52 pm)
I think a Corolla / Prizm as well as a Civic or Impreza would be good suggestions for a first, used car except they certainly don't satify the OP's cars that look good, that are spacious, have excellent interiors by a long shot.   I wouldn't count an Altima in there either. Perhaps a 626.   - D.
#14 of 764 mn_pat: consider the prizm carefully by asafonov Nov 04, 2003 (8:39 am)
Yes, the ubiqitous Prizm is probably still the best used-car bargain (had a 96, now drive a 02 manual). Mathias mentions it in his excellent car buying guide - I'll let him repost the URL if he wishes. But make sure you like it before you buy since you may be stuck with it for a long time. My 02, while bought inexpensively, reasonably peppy, ok on wet roads, and very economical fuelwise, has very cheap looking and feeling interior with annoying squeaks, and a substandard stereo (the latter can be replaced, of course). Its that interior of the 98-02 generation that's bugging me more than I expected it would. To be fair, the Corollas of that vintage are no better. Also, the insurance on the Prizm turned out to be unexpectedly high - more than on a 03 Accord!   In retrospect, after driving in friends' cars, I realized I should have shelled an extra X thousand and bought a new or almost-new Protege . Also high insurance, parts and repair costs are greater than on a Prizm/Corolla, lower fuel economy, but a nicer car to drive, and hopefully (almost) as reliable as the Primrolla.   Watched a private seller eBay auction recently for a 02 Pro5 with 25k that sold for 8.5k; I was very tempted to bid on it and try to sell the Prizm, but was able to restrain myself, as car trading is usually a very expensive hobby for an individual.
#15 of 764 by ateixeira Nov 04, 2003 (12:37 pm)
A lot of compacts are being mentioned, but you did ask for spacious so I'd stay with mid-sizers.   Altima, Maxima, Accord, Camry, Legacy/Outback, and 626. Half of those even came as wagons, if you want more space and a roof rack.   Caveat on that last one, avoid 4 cylinder automatics, that CD4E tranny is awful.   You could look at Acura and Lexus, but to be honest they'd have to be older and/or higher miles.   -juice
#16 of 764 I'd add a Galant to juice's list of midsize cars by asafonov Nov 04, 2003 (12:53 pm)
Late 90's seem to be better made than the more recent ones, 4 cyl in 140 and 160 hp available. Can be had (much) cheaper than all of the midsizes on the list with a possible exception of a 626.
#17 of 764 by ateixeira Nov 04, 2003 (12:58 pm)
One things I hated about cars from the early 90s was the motorized mice seat belts that came on some cars with no air bags. They were so incredibly annoying, you could not give me a car with those (if I had to drive it).   I think the 626 got air bags in 1993. Not sure about the rest, but for $8k you should be able to find a newer model that isn't burdened with those silly belts.   I passed on a Galant VR-4 for that reason.   -juice
#18 of 764 Two Words by prodigalsun Nov 04, 2003 (1:37 pm)
Daewoo Leganza
#19 of 764 by ateixeira Nov 04, 2003 (1:47 pm)
They were giving those away, used. I was worried about parts, but they were so cheap you could basically buy a spare car and scavenge the parts! LOL   They've updated it and renamed it a Suzuki, BTW.   -juice
#20 of 764 juice: not an EARLY 90s Galant by asafonov Nov 05, 2003 (10:37 am)
I was actually thinking of a 97-99 Galant, those did not have motorized belts AFAIK, and definitely had both airbags.   Back to subcompacts/Prizms: two ads in a local newspaper car classified section, one right under the other: 1999 Prizm, $4500, 50k miles, bla bla, and then 1992 Geo Prizm, $3500. If only some cars depreciated by only 1k$ over 7 years...

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