CARS!

[Bao]

lol im planning on buying my first car.... soo i need help... and advice you guys can give me with buying a car. all i got so far is: to avoid "as is" contracts. and my budget is like 8k - 10k lol... and to avoid dings, my parents wont help me... so im on my own. oh and superchargers = good

Edited December 8, 2005 by Bao

[Rocketcnj]

First of all...do research, research and more research..then when you are done...do it again

 

google used cars....you will find a ton of sites...

 

2 good reliable sites are edmunds.com and kellysbluebook.com

 

then talk to mechanics...check the blogs and owner comments.....and that's a start.

 

call your insurance agent....certain cars are more expensive to insure then others.

 

there are sites that check for a car's lemon law history....and a car's history in general.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Michael

[Rabble_Rouser]

Another suggestion is that the more common a car is, the cheaper and easier it is to find parts when (not if) something breaks. Also, check out and make sure that the tires are a common size so you have a choice on brand and type... I had a car which had unique tire size that wasn't used on any other car in North America. Unusual=$$$ and never on sale! Try www.tirerack.com for a quick check.

 

And if you want to customize it, that's a whole other story!

[Bao]

lol i know shit about cars... i was looking up dings like pitfalls and dings to aviod and wasnt even looking for a car. now that im done wit dat, i dont know what kinda car should i get. lol any suggestions? and umm... i got more questions but i cant remeber dem lol.

 

lol a stupid thought just hit me. GOOGLE!!!!!

Edited December 10, 2005 by Bao

[Tim the Traveller]

ok so just know this--i am not an expert but here goes. if you want lots of power and a decent sized car, (which i highly recommend for inexperienced drivers, simply for the fact that if an accident does happen, and they do, you are safer in a bigger car vs. a small car) you should look at something like a Pontiac Bonneville(they come with supercharged 3800 V6's that will smoke most anything on the road)and they are relatively inexpensive to repair because all GM/Chevrolet/Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac cars are. in my personal experiences i have had more than a few of them reach the 500K mile mark without any major problems.

 

of course if you really want to have fun with something large go for a chevy silverado or a gmc yukon--they dont have quite as much power but being able to leave the pavement has its own rewards too. my current chevy truck has 250K miles on it and is still like brand new, and my jeep cherokee just flipped 200K miles and is very fun for off-roading the downside is that 4 wheel drive is more expensive in maintenace and most of the time are gas-hoggs but the fun they offer is priceless at times, if you have a place nearby to use it.

 

 

but if you insist on a small car with lots of power and reliability go for a volkswagon jetta wolfsburg edition(i only know what the 5 speed is like-i assume the performance of the automatic is about equal)--before i say any more if you do get one of these i take no responsibilty for any tragic consequences.

these cars are made for the german autobahn. you can achieve 90 mph in second gear WITHOUT redlining the engine. after that there are 3 higher gears=insanity.

i'm not sure of the maintance or repair cost on them though because i've never owned any foreign vehicles but have borrowed many of them.

 

 

 

ok 1 last tip---if you live in the city and want something that will last, the further you go into the suburbs towards the wilderness, the better your chances are for this reason-most of the cars from "out there" have a better chance of having mainly "highway miles" and they are much less traumatic on a vehicle than stop and go driving that occurs with city driving all the time. the one exception to this rule is if you want 4 wheel drive--then i say go for buying from downtown any big city because most of the time you will be the first one to use the 4 wheel drive for anything other than on the road winter or wet weather conditions, and there really is nothing like taking something through the mud for the first time!

 

 

ok hope this helps somewhat and let me know what you decide on!

Edited December 10, 2005 by Tim the Slut

[notTed]

At www.carfax.com you can pay a fee ($25.00 when I did it) for some period of time (I think 30 or 60 days) and then when you are interested in a particular car, enter its VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and get a history of the car....ownership, any major accidents, thefts, etc. Most folks want to avoid cars that have been rental cars, 'cuz customers tend to abuse them ("Hey? What do I care? It's a rental!"); the contrary observation is that the rental company will have professionally maintained it. Definitely avoid cars that have been in a major wreck.

 

I like to check out the Consumer Reports on cars. They categorize them by type (sedan, economy, trucks, etc.) with rankings of individual cars. You have to read between the lines a little w/Consumer Reports, however. They tend to be more interested in fuel economy and reliability than style, sex appeal and "varoom!" factors which are important to me. I still like the economy, reliability, etc., so I review what the like and then try and choose something w/n their picks that still has a bit of style. You can use CR to avoid the clunkers, though.

 

Once you have narrowed the search down to a particular vehicle, ask whether you can have it examined by a mechanic. A decent mechanic can spend a few minutes w/a vehicle and give you an idea of the shape it is in.....not a total guarantee, but, still, better than nothing. Anyone who won't let you do this doesn't deserve your business.

 

Good luck and let us know what you end up w/.

 

pax, notTed

[JamesSavik]

I am going to say that light trucks have a lot going for them. I have driven a Toyota truck for years now. In fact, I have purchased three Toyota pickups and a row. Nissans are pretty tight too.

 

I'm now drive a 2003 Tacoma and I love my truck. I get to spend more time driving it than servicing it.

 

 

[Bao]

wooo. thanks for the advice guys. and really hot truck jamessavik.

ok soo i decided on getting an suv. do you guys have any recomendations on stuff like model, brand, years, ect...

 

some one recommended GM – Tahoe\Yukon\Suburban\Jimmy, but i dont know what that means lol.

Edited December 27, 2005 by Bao

[Bender]

I'd go with a Chevy Blazer. It's what my sister drives, and she loves it. Stay away from Ford, they suck, and not in a good way.

[Myr]

James, Where is the coon's tale?

Myr

[PartsBoy]

Because I work at an autoparts store , I figured I'd put in my two cents worth. (and yes, oddly enough, I am gay) Every day I get to hear how much every car on the road sucks ass. You have to try and figure out who's got a bad reputation for quality, and who just happened to be unlucky enough to get a lemon. :nuke:

 

Depending on what you're comfortable with, you would probably want to stay with the smaller SUV's. The Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, and Yukon are very large vehicles.

 

Myself, I have allways had a thing for foriegn cars (just not a fan of Honda). I have owned three Nissans and have been very happy with all of them. My first I put over 200k miles on. I also had a Subaru Brat (you wouldn't remember those) that I got off of my dad that he bought new, and put over 300k miles on it.

 

The Nissan Pathfinder is nice, and I rarely hear anything bad about them. So are Toyota 4Runners. You just want to stay away from the early models (91-94) of Ford Explorers (Exploders, as we call them ). They have dangerous 4wheel drive mechanisms. I'm not a big fan of the Chevy Blazer/Jimmy because they roll too easily, but they are better than the exploder.

 

Oh well, that's my two cents anyhow....

 

BTW : You can get a newer Nissan Xterra with a supercharged V6

Edited December 28, 2005 by ChauncyToo

[Bao]

ooo that reminds me of another question. what kind of engine and transmission should i get. lol

 

and umm... what kind of milage on a used car should i avoid. like should i avoid things with over 100k miles on it.

Edited December 28, 2005 by Bao

[Stan]

lol im planning on buying my first car.... soo i need help... and advice you guys can give me with buying a car. all i got so far is: to avoid "as is" contracts. and my budget is like 8k - 10k lol... and to avoid dings, my parents wont help me... so im on my own. oh and superchargers = good

 

If you like superchargers, you won't like my comment. lol

 

My son is 26 now. I bought him a new 6 cylinder Firebird when he graduated high school. His insurance was over $2,000 a year. Just being a regular Firebird made his insurance almost the same as a Trans Am. It was still considered a "sports car".

 

It was a 5 speed. He burned out a new clutch within 15,000 miles. Then burned out a replacement within another 15,000 miles. I finally sold it and bought him a used Trans Am. AUTOMATIC!!!!

 

My advice is a nice looking car with leather, auto, great stereo, rear spoiler, no more than a 6 cylinder. Maybe a Maxima SE like I have.

 

Old man's comment. lol