What's the best piece of advice for someone buying a car for the first time? What's the main thing to consider when buying a car? What was the first car you bought and why? What is a good mpg for a college student in your opinion?
Save money, build credit, LONG before you think about purchasing a car. Have at least 20% of the cars total value for downpayment. Do not lease unless you are wealthy. I bought a 1996 dodge dakota with 5.2 liter v8, ate a shit ton of gas. Get a toyota corolla. Cheap and will last a long time if you maintain.
so many things... age, mileage, price point, style of auto, negotiating, financing... best advice... use the available tools, cars.com, autotrader.com. track prices and trends... good luck.
Knowing what I know now about cars, I'd go with an import...Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai..... Probably buy one about 10 years old, and with between 100,000 and 125,000 miles.... Most of these cars will last up to 250,000 miles, parts are cheap and they're easy to work on.... If you stay with a 4 cyl you'll likely get upwards of 30 mpg.... Stay away from any that have been modified...what you want is granny's car, not her 17yo grandson's car..... Good luck....
Buy something nobody will steal that will get you from point a to point b. Thats what i tell my kids. Works for other life questions as well
Might I suggest Honda? A 88-00 Honda Civic Ex Coupe was my choice. The Ex comes with a D16Y8 4 Cylinder Motor with either Auto or Manual Transmission. They are tuners and easy to work on. I have owned three Hondas (94 Accord Lx (F22A1), 94 Civic Ex Coupe (D16Z6), 00 Civic Ex Coupe (D16Y8)), and if you take care of them they will last. All of mine are 4 cylinder motors with highest at 190,000, but the V6 Accords with the J30A Motor is a lasting motor to. My gf has one with over 300,000 miles 98 Accord Ex V6 J30A1 Motor so, if you want to talk about a lasting car. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I second the above post Honda's and Acura's are solid reliable cars. I have been buying, fixing, and selling them for years. And im a technician at a Chevrolet dealership. A few others newer ones to consider would be a Prelude or RSX. I personally have a 99 Fully built turbo Prelude with around 400HP. Daily driven. Sent from my DROID3 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I did sell a 6 year old civic si for $16k, purchased at $22k. It was slightly moddifed, but just suspension and ecu. They have great resale value. It averaged 32 mpg, but was really made to burn gas with its near 9000 rpm. I once went through half a tank going up and down a steep twisty mountain road, about 14 miles total hahaha, I was in 2nd or 3rd gear nearly the whole time at redline. Miss that car.
Here's a brief list of things I try to consider when buying a car: Check title status. Salvage will effect value. Also makes cars cheaper. Be sure to look under car for any bent rods/metal, dented frame rails, or anything hanging loose that doesn't look like it should. Check oil if you can... Dark oil is a sign that the motor may have not been taken care of if they wont even change the oil before selling. You can also take off the oil cap and look in the head to see if there is any build up in there. Build up can be semi-common, but can also be a sign of bad maintenance. Dark oil isn't a sure sign of bad maintenance, but it does make me question if someone understands it's importance when not changing it out before selling.. Also check for ANY leaks and/or signs of leaks in the past (is the engine bay/block wet or look coated with fluid?) Check belts on the front of motor. Cracks in the underside of the belt means it needs replacement. Also pay attention to alignment when test driving. Not only is a bad alignment just annoying, it can be a sign the wheels have been curb-checked or damaged along its lifetime. Ask what maintenance has been done on car since owning. Sometimes less major, but it's always interesting to know how many previous owners the car has had.. Pay attention to the transmission when test-driving. The transmission going bad is something that can be over-looked when buying, but can be very expensive if it needs replaced/is mis-shifting. Consider mileage on vehicle. Sometimes you can use mileage as a selling point, but you also don't want to get too high of mileage on a vehicle as it usually includes higher maintenance more often. A good mpg for a college student just depends on how far you have to drive everyday, but generally anything over 20 mpg I would say can work for daily driving... of course anything over that is even better, but if you're driving 20 miles to school, then I'd definitely say look for something higher. Like said before, Honda's are very affordable cars with relatively low maintenance and good gas mileage. Toyota's are great cars as well. Stay away from most European cars... they are great cars, but are also doomed to high maintenance. Not all, but I just don't recommend them for a daily/first car.