Advice needed for a first car.

[Anathema]

Can't think of a better title, and didn't want to make it sound like 'another one of those threads', although it undoubtedly will. Ugh.

Alright. Here's the situation. I'm looking to buy a first car with these qualities - the place where I'm going to be working is too far for me to bike to (I'd be doing that instead if it was a shorter distance.) Budget is $5,000.


-Manual.
-Can deal with the winter months that Pennsylvania experiences.
-Is reliable.
-Good on gas (25 MPG preferred.)
-No modifications whatsoever, or modifications that can easily be undone.
-Is relatively easy to work on and can be worked on without having to take it to a garage for all but the seriously major things.

I want something that will get me from point A to point B safely and reliably. My father's car (a Del Sol) is getting up there in mileage, and problems are beginning to become more than the car is worth to fix. Plus, that thing's a temptation to 'hoon' with (it is a Si...)

Drivetrain does not matter, although I'd prefer FF or 4WD/AWD in order to deal with the winter season better.

Lowest quote I got from the insurance company is $140/month - this is with a 'Good Student' discount along with completing a driving safety course.

I've been looking at things like Volvo 850's, Civic Ferio DX/EX's, and first-gen Neons. I have mechanical experience with Volkswagens and Hondas - family used to own two different VW Jettas (an A2 and an A3) plus the aforementioned Del Sol.

Eventual plan (maybe around 3-5 or so years down the road) is to find something I can enjoy more, a more 'performance-oriented' car such as a Fox Mustang or a Miata. I've got no intention of buying a sports car as my first car - I don't need one. What I need at this time is something to get me from A to B safely and reliably.



Opinions and thoughts would be more than welcome.

 

[Parker]

Impreza Outback Sport gets my vote.

Manual? Check.
Deal with winter months? I had my '02 OBS almost bottomed out in snow last year and I got out with zero problems, without winter tires.
Reliable? Mine has over 210K miles on it with just general maintenance. It hasn't let me down yet.
Good on gas? I get right at 30mpg on the highway, 26-28 mpg with mixed driving. This is with the completely stock automatic.
Easy to work on? In my opinion, yeah. I haven't ran into anything really difficult to do.

The car pictured is an '02 but you can get a few years newer in your budget for sure, I just love the bugeye Scoobys. In the summertime AWD vehicles are generally cheaper to buy because no one needs them so this is the perfect time to purchase.

 

[homeforsummer]

How much practicality do you need, in terms of seats? Only my very first thought was a late 90s/early-2000s Toyota Tacoma or Ford Ranger. Both available manual, both available with AWD, both strike me as being pretty simple/easy to work on, and in four-cylinder form each should just about scrape 25 mpg.

 

[Slash]

My friend has a 2.3L ranger with a 5 speed manual and he gets 28 so thats got my vote.

 

[Anathema]

I will say that I am not a fan of trucks (even the small ones.) If it is the best pick in my situation, I would get one.

However, for the longest time my dad did have a Mazda B2300 - the damn thing had rust all over, left little piles of rush in each parking spot, but it was darn near bulletproof. Engine never gave us any problems, and I know we abused the 🤬 out of that thing. It took it all without flinching. Got rid of it when the brakes started to go out, and, considering we didn't pay a dime for it (relative gave it to us) it actually did get some profit.

Wasn't as good in the winter, but was serviceable. I'll consider that and the Outbacks. (Time for research...)

 

[Xilor]

First gen. Mazda 3

Manual? Most of them are, probably one of the easiest cars on the market to find with a stick.
Deal with winter months? I never had any problems with mine, and our winters make Pennsylvania look like a suitable winter holiday destination. If you invest in a set of good winter tires, you'll be fine.
Reliable? Well, its a Mazda, that should say it all.
Good on gas? I averaged 30MPG mixed, 40+MPG highway.
Easy to work on? Yes. I only did minor work but the engine bay is clean and well organized. Parts are relatively cheap.

You can get it in hatchback form like the one pictured, which is quite versatile. Its also great fun to drive, base model is 148HP, but with the bigger 2.5L engine it goes up to 168HP.

 

[Doog]

Mazdas are notorious for their rust issues, which could be an issue with Pennsylvania winters...

 

[Venny_]

Probably a 2.5RS or a Legacy.

 

[Harry6784]

Crown Victoria.

Dirt cheap, indestructible, very safe especially if you get the beefed up P71 Police Interceptor version.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

A Honda Civic sounds like a good idea. To be honest, you seem to have a very good idea of what a first car should be like, unlike some of the people who've made threads like this. I don't see why a small FWD car with a manual gearbox wouldn't be perfect for you.

 

[RVDNuT374]

1996-2007 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable-

You can easily pick one up in great condition for around $1500-4000. Despite what you may have read, these cars actually handle fairly well for what they are, especially with better tires. Power is adequate with the more common Vulcan V6, plentiful with the higher output but less common Duratec V6. These cars never came with a manual transmission, only a 4-speed automatic which is a bit on the fragile side, so pay close attention to how the transmission shifts if you decide to test drive one. Other trouble spots are the factory coolant tank in the 96-02's develops cracks in it after while; OEM replacements run about $60. Don't even bother with the cheap Chinese aftermarket tank which will more than likely fail in just a few months. Also, change the coolant in the Vulcan engine at no longer of an interval than every 2 years; it is infamous for rust in the cooling system which can lead to very bad things. Finally, watch out if the rear of the car is sagging, that means the struts/springs are shot and replacement is apparently very expensive. If anybody asks why I am a strong supporter of this car, I've been the proud owner of one for nearly nine years with little trouble. 👍 The only non-maintenance items I've had to change out were the fuel pump (very expensive , but I'm fairly confident the Motorcraft replacement unit is not made in China) and the mentioned coolant tank. Replacement parts are readily available and reasonably priced. Also, insurance rates should not be any issue considering it's a family sedan.

 

[JMoney]

Once again, I will recommend the Volkswagen Golf! Easily meets your criteria, and you should be able to find a MkIV or maybe a MkV for around $5,000.

 

[Anathema]

Managed to get quotes for most of the mentioned vehicles. Listed numbers are per month. Learned a few things about how the prices work with my demographic (young adult males.)

-Outback Sport/Impreza/Legacy; Oddly enough, the insurance for cars like these is higher than the insurance on the Del Sol, at $200... the 2.5 RS is classed as a sports car so that jumps it higher. With my age and the general demographic, the newer the car is, the higher the insurance gets. Older ones rust quite a lot as well.

-Light-duty trucks (Mazda B2300/Ford Ranger/etc) - $140-175. 4WD variants can be had, apparently, so that's something to consider.

-Mazda 3 - $200. (This is because of my age.) Debatable on this, but can be found (unmodified might be an issue though...)

-Crown Victoria - if this is anything like a Mercury Grand Marquis (it should be, but I'm not sure) then I know that this is a no-go. Cheap, sure, but they aren't very fuel efficient.

-Civic; I can get these insured for $140 up to around the 2000 model year, then it starts getting higher (this is base EX/DX version. I do know what I'm doing when working on these (Ferios at least) and from experience, they're easy to work on although some of the placements for things like transmission fluid are awkward to reach.

- Taurus/Sable; These are everywhere here, and most of them have the rear of the car sagging (even the newer ones!). $140 base, for the older ones; slowly going up based on year. Good option... if I could find ones without either a sagging butt or rust.

-Golf/Jetta; I'll put these together because they're similar in terms of insurance costs; up here, though, the problem is finding an A3 or A4 base (non-GTI/GLI) model without mods. (A3 and A4 are chassis designations, not Audis. Jeez...)


I'm beginning to find the main problem with smaller cars that fit in my budget; more than 80% are auto. I want a manual, but if I would have to I would get an auto. (Specifically with the Ferio Civics, the auto transmission is a lot heavier and bulkier than the manual is...)


Only other real option (although very crazy) is the 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon we have sitting in our driveway, but that does need some major work done to it...

 

[Mary Stone]

I would suggest you go for the Toyota Agyo 1.0 as it best suits your specifications. This Toyota model is also available in voiture occasion i.e a used cars and you can then get them at reasonable prices as well.

 

[Bopop4]

The car you want is a mid 2000s Ford Focus.

Winner of over 60 awards around the world.
The early and mid 2000s were not a good time for American manufactures, just look at the Cobalt and the Neon, a horse and carriage is a more reliable method of transport.
And in a sea of mediocrity and cheapness came the Focus.
Sure it still had that plastic feel (Just feel the doorhandles.), but mechanically it is a very good car. It's not often when a car sells well in the USA and in Europe.

I was looking within the same criteria you are a year ago, and the Focus was the best car that I could buy for under 5 grand.

At first I never would consider anything American from that era, but it surprisingly has less problems than the Japanese equivalents.

The later the year the better, shoot for at least a 2005. I have an 07 5 door hatch and it's awesome.

Cheap to run, simple, and I get over 40 mpg.
I've never had any problems with snow either, just get a good set of snow tires and you're set.

 

[Leggy1]

I would recommend something German if possible, high quality and very solid feeling. Reliable too. A Mark IV Golf should be good, easier to work on than later generations. But as you say finding a standard one is hard, which is a shame.

Also, I can't believe how cheap the insurance is for a young driver in the US. Cheapest quote that I've found is £1000 for an old Beetle, about £2000 for a Golf or Focus

 

[Bopop4]

I would recommend something German if possible, high quality and very solid feeling. Reliable too. A Mark IV Golf should be good, easier to work on than later generations. But as you say finding a standard one is hard, which is a shame.

Also, I can't believe how cheap the insurance is for a young driver in the US. Cheapest quote that I've found is £1000 for an old Beetle, about £2000 for a Golf or Focus

German cars have awful reliability over here.
Being made in Germany and being made in Mexico lead to very different outcomes.

 

[BKGlover]

Where abouts do you live in PA, @FireEmblem10 ?

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

The car you want is a mid 2000s Ford Focus.

Winner of over 60 awards around the world.
The early and mid 2000s were not a good time for American manufactures, just look at the Cobalt and the Neon, a horse and carriage is a more reliable method of transport.
And in a sea of mediocrity and cheapness came the Focus.
Sure it still had that plastic feel (Just feel the doorhandles.), but mechanically it is a very good car. It's not often when a car sells well in the USA and in Europe.

I was looking within the same criteria you are a year ago, and the Focus was the best car that I could buy for under 5 grand.

At first I never would consider anything American from that era, but it surprisingly has less problems than the Japanese equivalents.

The later the year the better, shoot for at least a 2005. I have an 07 5 door hatch and it's awesome.

Cheap to run, simple, and I get over 40 mpg.
I've never had any problems with snow either, just get a good set of snow tires and you're set.

As a driver of a 2001 Focus Wagon, I concur with this 100%. 👍

My only gripe with it is that the alternator was annoying to change.

 

[Leggy1]

German cars have awful reliability over here.
Being made in Germany and being made in Mexico lead to very different outcomes.

Ah yes, forgot about that

Probably still better than French cars, but you don't get those.

 

[Anathema]

Focus is looking like a good possibility - my dad's been looking for them himself, as we want something more practical for him to drive (meaning something with more seats - del Sols are not practicable.)

There are actually a good number of German cars that were made in Germany and imported to here - the first Jetta we had was one of them (I think it was a 1986 one, A2 chassis). Shouldn't have gotten rid of it - it'd probably still be on the road if we'd kept it. Finding one of those again would be quite the challenge, but might work.

Then again, the Vanagon is also from the German factory, and that never did anything stupid... but it's not good in adverse weather.

Still looking around a bit, mainly trying to see how much I don't have to spend for something that fits the qualities I listed above... since this is going to be paid with my own money that I worked/saved for, and with no assistance from my parents, I want to be fully sure that what I find is what I need and is not a hidden time bomb or some dodgy repaired job.

 

[Tornado]

The car you want is an early 2000s Toyota Avalon

I want something that will get me from point A to point B safely and reliably.

I've been looking at things like Volvo 850's, Civic Ferio DX/EX's, and first-gen Neons.

My dad had a first generation Neon. Bought it new in 1996 to replace his Cavalier. Fantastically fun car. I learned to drive in it. Great traction/handling. Good in the winter despite the low height. Nice transmission. Great engine response (in the 150 hp ones like his. The base engine ones are dogs). Pretty easy to maintain and very easy to repair.







Literally replaced the head gasket every 3 years. Might as well buy a Seville.

 

[Joey D]

As someone who owns a first-gen Neon, I can pretty much echo what Tornado said. They are great fun to drive and really easy to work on, but there are very few cars I can think of where a head gasket is a common wear item. I've gotten pretty good at replacing them though since the last engine blew up rather spectacularly on the highway due to a faulty head gasket and I don't want another repeat of that.

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

First gen. Mazda 3

Manual? Most of them are, probably one of the easiest cars on the market to find with a stick.
Deal with winter months? I never had any problems with mine, and our winters make Pennsylvania look like a suitable winter holiday destination. If you invest in a set of good winter tires, you'll be fine.
Reliable? Well, its a Mazda, that should say it all.
Good on gas? I averaged 30MPG mixed, 40+MPG highway.
Easy to work on? Yes. I only did minor work but the engine bay is clean and well organized. Parts are relatively cheap.

You can get it in hatchback form like the one pictured, which is quite versatile. Its also great fun to drive, base model is 148HP, but with the bigger 2.5L engine it goes up to 168HP.

This.

And the rust should not be a problem if you treat it well.
Plus if it has a complete service book, Mazda gives 12 years warranty on rust (at least here in Austria)

Plus for a better fuel economy you could go for a diesel. Mazda Diesels are very good cold starters (Don't know how cold it is in Pennsylvania... A petrol car might also be the better option)

 

[TheBook]

We didn't get diesels in the first gen 3 in the States, and the best engine on offer was a 160-HP 2.3 (which I have in my '06, but good luck finding one for less than five grand).

Second the Focus idea. One of those should be pretty much perfect. Barring that, something like a Toyota Corolla would work well too, if you can find one with a manual.