so a girlfriend of mine is looking to get a car for her son
5500-6500 bucks is her max.

What do you guys think are good choices in this range? I've seen small pickups, Jettas, GTI's and a plethera of other cheap sedans. My major issue is a lot of these cars in this price range have 100k plus miles. What are your thoughts on Toyota, Subaru, VW's etc and how expensive will these little gems be to maintain?

 

Mara has had her jetta for I think 3 or 4 years. She bought it high mileage as shes pretty stubborn. I think she has put 100k on it, it has total 200k on it right now and maintaining it is too easy. Oil change, tires, the norm. The only thing about the jetta is they take a weird oil filter so thats something you need to look at when going to get the oil change, but its still running strong and God knows Mara has done her best to destroy that car. BTW its a 2000 jetta vr6.

Also in that price range you can look at nissans. They are decently priced and go for ever just like vw's and toyotas. I don't have much experience on subarus.

 

If he isn't a car guy, a Honda, Toyota, or Subaru is a great choice. Just put gas in it and go. If he's a car guy, get something with some style, maybe E30 BMW, or C280 Mercedes.

 

I'm not even sure how to spell it...Hyundai?

Anyway, Larry loved his and my mother has one. I lived in korea and they are literally every where. They are well sorted, safe, econoboxes. Front wheel drive, little power, but low gearing. The one my mother has anyway, is so low geared that I'm not sure the top end on it is over 85mph. Which is good for a kid that is likely to get on the freeway at somepoint.

 

i like jetta's they are cool. there are also late 90's A4 Audi's in that price range. Is that a stupid car that would require a gazillion bucks a year in maintenance.

subaru's are cool but he'd want the racer boy wrx and none are in that price range.

he wants my Mini Cooper S but it's way out of their range and truly Mini's don't get cheap very quickly.

 

don't get a late 90's audi, yes they will have lots of maintenance cost, so would 90's VW's. Subaru's, Toyotas, Hondas are all awesome for that price range

 

Hondas are car jacker targets though. I'd stay away

 

No euro cars!! Also American is crap, pre-bail out, I think is still pretty bad post. Ill give the focus a pass. Hyundai, kia, Suzuki and the like all may be appealing with 100k warranties but they are throwaway cars if they make it that far. I see them all the time with blown engines thanks to broken timing belts. Parts are not cheep when taking into account the value of the car, they have to be imported remember.

Vw are the worst. Lots of girls get them for their first cars, never change the oil, then the oil pickup screens get clogged. On the older ones, the air pumps go along with many other plastic expensive parts. Tune-ups are not cheep and check engine lights will probably come on every once and awhile as sensors go out. Even to have them checked is an hour of labor to just plug in the scanner to see what turned on the light.

An Audi was my first car and is perfect for the NW climate, but I know how to work on cars and get parts for next to nothing. They share many of the same problems as vw’s including, timing belt services ever 90k or 5 yrs or so. That doesn’t sound bad until you get the bill and see water pump, thermostat, crank seal, cam seals, tensioner, idler pulley etc, then a days worth of labor. 700-1000 no problem.

John is right on, agree 100%. If possible try to extend the budget slightly more to get one with lower mileage and service history, also get it inspected by a 3rd party shop before making the purchase. Hondas are great, so are Toyotas. Suburu’s are great if you find one in good condition, the head gaskets tend to seep and are prone to warping. If you can find a Volvo, awd with service history and timing belt having been done, I would say that would be a good NW car especial from a safety standpoint. It’s a sweede/ford so it is an exception to that first rule. Probably not a popular cool car among kids though. Oh and stay away from saabs too.

 

Yeah Audis are fairly expensive to maintain. Seems like every time I take my B6 A4 in for service the bill is over $1000.

I used to own an Acura Integra that I commuted back and forth everyday with. I neglected that car but it still ran like a tank. I was caught in some bad snow storms we had here, and with the front wheel drive I had no problem getting around even without snow tires. Even though I am partial to Euro cars, that car was cheap to run, maintain, and super reliable. Too bad it was stolen right from the parking lot at work.

 

My first car was a 1992 Nissan Maxima. Body has 300+K on it, new motor has around 150K on it. I'm looking to sell it. Its not a bad looking car, its just the speedo doesnt work because of a broken sensor.

I only drove it to school, which is like 10mins away. Always used 91 octane gas, did oil changes every 6-7 months with Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec.

 

I'd get a Honda Civic, they are indistructible if you find one unmolested by F&F wannabes and they are reasonably fun to drive, plus good gas mileage.

 

lease a vw for $300 per month nothing down
brand new
reliable
no maint
lease ends - teenager can buy the car with his own scratch or turn it in

mom is off the hook when lease ends

or

just have some charity and let the kid drive your mini

 

Straight 6 BMW 3. Either a E30 or E36. Can be costly to maintain but for the most part those straight 6's are pretty built proof.

 

great info guys. Thank you all. i like it all. he gave her a list of things he wants. some of them 5 times his budget lol R32 or something like that I looked up and average was like $26k. He likes Subaru WRX only. None priced accordingly. He did say he liked a couple Hondas. Civic SI or a Integra GSR. Seems to be the cars closest to his Budget. I've heard that VW's get stolen as well. Is it the same for the Hondas? They live in Federal Way. I like PJ's idea but aren't leases like 3 years minimum? If so she'd be spending like 10k for the car. I had a new car when I turned 16 because my dad didn't want a middle of the night I'm broken down call. Seemed to be a good idea at the time plus I got a new ride

I'm going to mention the VW lease thing and I've emailed her a few Integra's GSR things. They seem to be the closest fit.

Nope not going to let him drive the MINI. CV's been driving it around and I have as well. Perfect fricking car for this time of year. Maybe Barolo will park it out front tonight

 

Good thing the WRX is out of the price point. I had nothing but issues with mine and sold it with only 25k miles on it. Others had the same issues I did.

Should be able to find a Honda with a wing, fart can and bald tires for the budget =)