What car to buy for about $3500
 

Hi,

Its time for me to look for car to commute to school and around the town.

I want it to be a stick shift.

I narrowed down my options to a 90- 96 Honda civics or VW golf/ jetta of similar age.

I would go for a diesel MB but its really hard to find a good one with 5spd for 3500.


Thanks for reading and lets hear your ideas.

If you can get a TDI for $3,500 I would jump on one of those. With diesel and gas getting close to $3 a gallon; 40mpg+ is a good thing!

Other then that Civics are dirt cheap to run; I hate the way they drive though.

I second the TDI suggestion, but finding a good one that cheap may not be easy.

A properly maintained Camry is a good bet as well. :)

Civics are cheap to run....but in certain areas they bring a steep premium in prices...........

if your looking at civics i'd also take a look at integra's. You could definately find a good shape 90-93 in that price range(generation 2 body style), and possibly even a 94(the G3 bodystyle). They handle/ride a little better and also have more punch.
Ryan

TDI for $3500? :rolleyes: If I roll mine several times at high speed I'll give you a call :D .....It's not titanium or gold but I suspect my '01 TDI with 100K miles would fetch $10,000 +/-...

for a commuter get a Honda, if you have space needs, dogs, skis, camping gear, an LP collection....whatever....I know nothing about but would look into a ford taurus (wagon maybe) becuase I bet there are tons to choose from and used parts must be plentiful....good luck!

A diesel VW of the vintage you describe could be an awesome vehicle as well...I suspect anythoing diesel is popular right now though....

I don't know about the Taurus..unless you found a rare stick shift model.....(they exist I drove one once) becasue the auto transmissions in those cars are junk...and the 3.0 engines are even bigger junk (head gasket issues)

100,000 miles is the point these start falling appart.

LOL maybe I need to buy a taurus to march onward in my automotive H-E-doubnle hockey sticks pursuit.


Scratch the taurus idea I guess.....

THey were a very popular car...but that one engine and all the automatics were junk...

Subaru Impreza. Top notch on everything except gas mileage. My wife's 1997 Impreza (2.2 litre engine) got somewhere around 25 mpg. Tremendous modification potential, but also very nice stock. Absolutely unstoppable in snow. An SUV ran into the wife's Impreza and we replaced it with a Honda Accord. The Accord is very nice, but the wife and I both commented the other day that we would take the Subaru over the Honda any day of the week. Much more fun to drive.

I would stay away from VW. They are great for the first 100,000 miles or so, but then don't hold up as well as the Japanese cars, IMHO.

The 4 cyl stick Taurus was indeed crap. But the SHO, with the Yamaha V6, is a GREAT car. Still had the usual Taurus gremlins body and interior-wise, but those are livable. If you can find an SHO that hasn't been beaten, they are reasonably-priced, and run like hell. I sure miss mine. Weakenesses are tranny (buy one that was adult-owned and cared-for) and improper maintenance (timing belt and valve adjustment). Check out www.shotimes.com for all the info you could ever want.

I was reffering to the 3.0 V-6 which had head problems from hell....

THe 4 Cylinder stick was pretty durable and long lived in compairison.

The SHO had a wonderfull engine....but the trans was a different ballgame.

3.0 V6 -- tell me about it. POS. The g/f's Taurus is a total piece. It misses under slight deceleration (i.e. on a mild downhill with partial throttle), it weeps coolant from SOMEWHERE (I can smell it but can't spot it), and the transmission flares something fierce in OD.

The 4 cyl was durable-ish, but a DOG.

And yes, the MTX SHO had its problems, but was still better than the ATX. Mine (a '90) was just fine, but I suspect I was one of the lucky ones. That car was FAST from a rolling start, but a dog from the line. Once you got to about 3000rpm and it really started breathing... wow!

Wow... that surprises me; I'm no expert on either car, though, so I'll defer to your expertise. As a rule, I find that MTX cars are always more durable and easier/cheaper to fix than the ATX models. But like I said, I don't know a thing about Toyotas or Subarus (other than I really wanted a Subaru AWD wagon back in high school -- cool cars!).