Inf needs...

[Infernus]

...A car!


In a serious way.

My '93 Cavalier has taken a real beating and it's time to retire it, at least thats what 3 different mechanics seem to think that noise means.

But I don't even know where to start... cars are a whole different language to me, and its one I'd rather not learn to speak.

I don't want anything new, I just want something that can get me around, make the trip between philadelphia and the beach (~100 miles).

The problem is the money... or lack thereof. I can't afford much more then $7000 dollars. I need help.

[Rbstr]

You can get a newer economy car or a cooler older car with that money.
The more practical stuff:
Corolla, Golf, Civic, impretza(the WRX will mean big insurance $$ but it's possible) sentra would be that standard imports to look at. The ford escort isn't a bad American but I don't like any of GM's econ. options Neons are alright. Fixing an American car will be cheaper.
You can also look at older luxury cars. Example: late 80s though mid 90's BMWs are in your price range. The issue here is higher repair costs.

Watch for rust and a poorly treated interior/exterior probably means the car as a whole was treated badly. I'd take a higher mileage perfectly maintained car over a lower mileage thing someone's beat on.

[Peacemaker]

DO NOT TOUCH ANY ESCORTS! A friend of mine has gone through 3, and guess who he called everytime he got a new one that needed fixin.

If you want a good reliable car get a Toyota Camery. I bought and fixed one up for my mom 4 years ago, the only thing that goes bad on it is the breaks. You can get a nice 97 - 99 for 7k. Good on gas 25- 28mpg. The 6cyl has decent preformance. If you change the oil the car will last you 10 years.

[Infernus]

I was looking at VW's... as I said, I don't know a whole lot about cars. I was looking at a Golf... it had a low mileage on it and was around $7500 so I don't know...

[Peacemaker]

VWs are nice and all but they can be major money sinks. If something breaks on it its 500 bucks wether its a radiator or a cigarette lighter.

[Rbstr]

I really like my Passat. It's very comfortable. I wish my sister would actually take care of it when I'm at school.(got in that accident, there's some other dent she "doesn't know about" broken side paneling, rear left tire didn't even register air pressure on a gauge...)

They are much more comfortable and are put together better body and interior wise than a Japanese economy car. (The build quality is in between toyota and lexus I'd say)
If the engine your looking at is the 2.0L then you don't need to worry much about that either.
If your looking at a 1.8t you NEED to make sure it has all the oil change records(and it all has to be synthetic) because that engine can have sludge issues if you don't keep up on the oil(but with records you get a free engine).
A diesel is every bit as stout as the stoutest honda.

+ the car is galvanized so no rust issues.

[Peacemaker]

If the tire isnt giving air pressure your not using the guage right :P

Anything that would cause it to give no pressure would also cause it to go flat.

[Infernus]

Well originally I was looking at a new GTI mkV... my mom's boss was gonna buy it for me... but then his son's house burnt down.

I, however, still want/need a car. I'm still looking at VW, specifically the Jetta or the Golf.


Truth be told though, I'm really not sure what's a good deal. Like there's a used 2002 Jetta for $10,000 with 60k miles... I have no idea, the only language I speak is the money... and did you know, there are 4 zero's in 10,000

[Peacemaker]

Look in the want ads, talk to people who own Golf (the better of the two), go on their forums and find out how much they are selling for. Do some research into what kinda preformance and issues your going to get with your golf and decide if its worth it.

[Rbstr]

It was not all the way flat air still came out, but the gauge was only one of those pen kind, and it wouldn't register any pressure.

[Peacemaker]

Thats nothin she coulda done. Like I said if something was wrong with the tire it would go flat. Either that or it was flat, but you could probably visibly see that.

[Rbstr]

She should have filled it. That's what I'm saying. She takes no responsibility for its upkeep at all.

[Peacemaker]

So there was less than 5psi in the tire? It musta been runnin on the rim.

[OneManArmy]

well first figure out exactly what you want in a car.

a lot of buyers fuck themselves because they don't think it through.

After you figure out what you want in/from the car, start your search there. 7k should easily get you anything 2000 or newer (unless its a sports car)

If you need more help, make out your list and post it here.