5 Best RWD Cars under 10K

[xXKingJoshXx]

I don't think if he's deciding to get a fox-body Mustang he's going to be putting a turbo on it and have 450hp. Your friend's Mustang story is irrelevant. He's probably going to end up with something with 4 or 6 cylinders and front-wheel drive. If he does get something rear-wheel drive, it won't be very powerful, like a Miata or 4cyl Mustang or something.

 

[ImaRobot]

I don't think if he's deciding to get a fox-body Mustang he's going to be putting a turbo on it and have 450hp. Your friend's Mustang story is irrelevant. He's probably going to end up with something with 4 or 6 cylinders and front-wheel drive. If he does get something rear-wheel drive, it won't be very powerful, like a Miata or 4cyl Mustang or something.

not irrelevant at all as it was a reply to someones post. See next quote.

I disagree with the can't take much more power in the motor. 500-600hp is PLENTY with a well built 347......................... Never ever had a problem with any of the foxed. And no I'm not letting my Ford bias get in the way of this. I'm being straight up about it.

I dont think anyone I knew had a "fun" or "nice" car as a first car lol. I wouldnt go to crazy right off the bat. Like someone mentioned, just get something cheap and reliable, and save up in the mean time for something nice down the road.

 

[homeforsummer]

Also, don't tell me you haven't noticed a decrease in the amount of fox bodies driving around over the past 5 years.

To be fair to the car (which admittedly I don't know a great deal about), it might well be that numbers have quickly declined because it's reached a price at which it's available to any old fool, and that's killing them off.

There's the same issue here to some extent with innumerate other vehicles. E30 3-Series, early Impreza turbos, Honda Civic VTis etc - they aren't inherently dodgy vehicles, but they've got cheap enough that Joe Moron can buy them, thrash them and break them. Probably because someone on a forum recommended they buy one.

Which actually leads me on to a good first car tip. Buying something sporty isn't just a bad idea because you're likely to crash/break it yourself, but because the previous owner might have crashed/broken it too. Or thrashed it, at the very least.

The perfect first car is probably something that other people at first-car-buying age wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, because it's probably led an easier life.

 

[Tornado]

Well, a Lincoln LS is RWD, can be had for under 10 grand and is somewhat sporty. And nobody under 55 would have been caught anywhere near one.



Lincoln LS best RWD car confirmed.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I was going to suggest a 1998-2002 Ram Air Trans Am but I see the op seems to be set on the Miata.

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

Lincoln LS

I've not heard too many good things about that car... I'll leave it at that.

I was going to suggest a 1998-2002 Ram Air Trans Am

Why? This is thread asking for ideas for first cars.

 

[White & Nerdy]

I was going to suggest a 1998-2002 Ram Air Trans Am but I see the op seems to be set on the Miata.

>Under 10K

Good luck LOL

 

[McLaren]

I wouldn't say that's true. They are money pits just like any other car.

Fox body Mustangs are not money pits if you're looking for power. Like LS-powered cars, these are the absolute cheapest & reliable engines to make significant power from.

For example, the last of my friends to get rid of his had installed a turbo kit. It made 450whp, which is pretty good. However, it constantly was blowing headgaskets and causing other problems, and that was at low boost. This was after spending $10,000 to build the motor for boost. Power costs money, it's that simple.

The problem here is that your friend bought a POS. There is zero reason to spend $10,000 on the 4.2 or 5.0 V8s just to make the motor ready for boost. You could dump $10,000 on a completed Fox-body now & find one that's running on a small, boosted setup.

$10,000 dumped into a Fox body is enough to make a large amount of power, not 450whp. The key is starting with a decently maintained V8-model.

If you've never owned one, you can't really say they are dependable.

I don't have to own one to know they're dependable, esp. for power. I've seen & talked to enough 4.2/5.0 owners to know they're solid platforms b/c the majority of these guys are all after big power. A rather good portion of these guys are turbocharged as well.

Also, don't tell me you haven't noticed a decrease in the amount of fox bodies driving around over the past 5 years.

I haven't because this city is full of horsepower junkies, & a lot of those guys work with Fox bodys. Granted I haven't seen any new ones, but I haven't seen any less, either.

 

[NCRthree]

I'd be looking for a nice Miata at that price point.
AP1 S2k might be available for that price but for a learning to drive car, uh no.
Early 00's Mustang GT convertibles aren't great handlers but are plentiful.
If you don't mind AWD I'd look for an unmodded WRX. Good in winter weather.

 

[Slash]

not irrelevant at all as it was a reply to someones post. See next quote.





I dont think anyone I knew had a "fun" or "nice" car as a first car lol. I wouldnt go to crazy right off the bat. Like someone mentioned, just get something cheap and reliable, and save up in the mean time for something nice down the road.

I was in response to eunos, not the rest of the thread which I already posted about.

Fox body Mustangs are not money pits if you're looking for power. Like LS-powered cars, these are the absolute cheapest & reliable engines to make significant power from.

The problem here is that your friend bought a POS. There is zero reason to spend $10,000 on the 4.2 or 5.0 V8s just to make the motor ready for boost. You could dump $10,000 on a completed Fox-body now & find one that's running on a small, boosted setup.

$10,000 dumped into a Fox body is enough to make a large amount of power, not 450whp. The key is starting with a decently maintained V8-model.

I don't have to own one to know they're dependable, esp. for power. I've seen & talked to enough 4.2/5.0 owners to know they're solid platforms b/c the majority of these guys are all after big power. A rather good portion of these guys are turbocharged as well.

I haven't because this city is full of horsepower junkies, & a lot of those guys work with Fox bodys. Granted I haven't seen any new ones, but I haven't seen any less, either.

this. And even still you don't need 10k for a fox body to be fast and powerful, many of the ones for sale have 400hp and up with the 302 or 351W's both naturally aspiirated swapped in and still et decent gas mileage. In fact many of the builds actually increase mpg over stock. They go for around $5,000 at most.

 

[McLaren]

I was going to suggest a 1998-2002 Ram Air Trans Am but I see the op seems to be set on the Miata.

$10K will buy a decent Firebird (which aren't terrible for a first driver; could do far worse), but $10K for a Trans Am? Rare, very rare. The cheapest I've found that wasn't pushing 150,000 miles was $12,000 w/85-90K on the odometer.

OP would have to up his budget to $15K minimum if he wanted a solid, will-still-run-ok Trans Am.

 

[Joey D]

I think it depends where you live, in Michigan getting a Trans Am for under $10,000 wouldn't be too much of an issue if you looked around a bit. There's also the Firebird Formula, which is similar to the Trans Am I believe.

I have no idea what it would be like in Canada though, or even how popular they were there.

 

[ImaRobot]

I was in response to eunos, not the rest of the thread which I already posted

Yes I know. Maybe you misunderstood my post.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

McLaren makes a good point. Finding a 1998-2002 Trans am would be very difficult for under $10,000.

So the other much easier option would be 1993-1997 Firebird Trans Am or Firebird Formula. I had a 96 Formula and loved it. V8, 6 speed, T tops, Leather, just loaded. You could easily find one of these FULLY loaded for under $10,000.

 

[playnthru]

You could find a 04-06 Pontiac GTO around 10k(ish)? I wouldn't really recommend it for a first car though.