Whats up guys?

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dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

Glad my username can provide some lulz to the boards :P

My insurance is going to destroy me with any car because my older sister has had her fair share of accidents and I'm a teenage male. Thankfully i don't have to pay insurance since I'm paying for my actual car and gas, but I still don't want to bend my parents over with my insurance.

The GTI is one of my top choice for cars, although its hard to find a nice one in my price range. I like the older body style ( 05 and before), but it's damn near impossible to find one with low miles. The newer ones (06 and above) fall into my price range, but only with like 60,000 miles.

The Fa's are pretty big compared to the older EM1's and EP3'. My friend's is an Fa, that i drove. The newer Si's fall into my price range with about 30-40,000 miles. I also found the shifter position in the new Si kind of strange. The older ones are real nice, but extremely hard to find one unmolested :lol:

Six, you always know a car is lots of fun when you have to limit boost in the first three gears in order not to get tire spin :twisted: But seriously, I don't want a car that is too fast. I'm used to driving my dad's car, which is really freakin' quick, but would prefer something a good deal slower.
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FDSpirit
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by FDSpirit »

dangler wrote: The Fa's are pretty big compared to the older EM1's and EP3'. My friend's is an Fa, that i drove. The newer Si's fall into my price range with about 30-40,000 miles. I also found the shifter position in the new Si kind of strange. The older ones are real nice, but extremely hard to find one unmolested :lol:
:lol: . Yeah. I got lucky with mine. You just have to be patient I guess. I too found the shifter position in the FA to be a little odd. That and the car fell out of 3rd well after I shifted, which is apparently something Honda knows about :shock: . I thought the shifter in the EP3 was great. A lot of people dissed it, but it really works. Hopefully you'll find something that is fun but isn't going to try to kill you :lol: .
2000 Honda Civic Si- Slightly faster than your grandmomma's grocery getter......slightly.
dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

Yeah, my friend's had the third gear issues, had the TSB done, and it still does it :lol: And sometimes above like 4500, it grinds going from first to second.

Yeah, I'm looking right now, but I cant really seriously look until like the beginning of August. Right now, I'm just getting a feeler of what my price range looks like. I'm also trying to drive a lot of the cars I'm interested in, so I can see if I like the way they drive. My goal is to find a car that's fun to drive, but also not stupid fast :)
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six
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by six »

dangler wrote:Six, you always know a car is lots of fun when you have to limit boost in the first three gears in order not to get tire spin :twisted: But seriously, I don't want a car that is too fast. I'm used to driving my dad's car, which is really freakin' quick, but would prefer something a good deal slower.
I understand your wanting something that will not overwhelm you. That's a very mature decision. :)
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dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

Six- Yeah, I'm used to driving my dad's car, which is just stupid, stupid, stupid fast, and sometimes you get on it and it's a little overwhelming. I've got plenty of life left to live and have a fast car. I still want something quick and fun to drive, but not to the point where its overwhelming. 8)
Jastreb
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by Jastreb »

Welcome to the site! It's quite an entertaining place. As for possible cars, I see a beige Volvo station wagon or a beat up Hyundai Scoupe in your future. :wink:
dangler wrote: Besides driving and cars, I'm a very competitive hockey player, playing at a pretty high level. I also love music, and am learning to play the guitar!
Hockey is awesome!! I wish I still played. Good for you that you play at a high level. Too bad the playoffs this year turned out lame.
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FDSpirit
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by FDSpirit »

six wrote:
dangler wrote:Six, you always know a car is lots of fun when you have to limit boost in the first three gears in order not to get tire spin :twisted: But seriously, I don't want a car that is too fast. I'm used to driving my dad's car, which is really freakin' quick, but would prefer something a good deal slower.
I understand your wanting something that will not overwhelm you. That's a very mature decision. :)
+1. You're taking all the right steps to finding your first ride IMO.
2000 Honda Civic Si- Slightly faster than your grandmomma's grocery getter......slightly.
dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

Thanks guys. And yeah hockey is pretty sweet. I'm a big rangers fan ( live in Jersey, but both parents grew up in New York and hardcore Rangers fans), so it was a bit disappointing to not make the playoffs. And yeah, I could play at like D3 in college, but my top schools are all D1 schools, so we'll see. Worst cases I end up as a men's league all star :lol:
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theholycow
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by theholycow »

dangler wrote:Not really sure yet. I have like 8500 in the bank right now. My parents want me to do like a 4000 dollar down payment and then have me pay payments. They want me to look anywhere from like 11,000-14,000 for cars.
It is nuts to buy an $11,000 car for your first car. A $4,000 car with no monthly payments would be far better than required.
dangler wrote:I'm mainly looking at FWD due to budget though.
$11,000 buys plenty of decent RWD manual cars.
I'm looking for car that would be fun to drive, but won't kill my wallet with gas and will be reliable enough to get me to work, practice, school, and my friends' houses. It will also need to be able to survive a few road trips a year.
Reliability is a scary issue when you're 16. I replaced my beat-up Cadillac because it had a variety of minor issues and needed a CV joint; I drove 60-75 miles per day at the time on weekdays and went on longer trips on weekends.

I'm a lot older now, and barely any better at fixing stuff, but I wouldn't hesitate to take a car like that on a road trip now. I've only been stranded by a vehicle failure once in over 600,000 miles of driving a variety of beat-up and decent vehicles. The worst part about it was that the tow truck only had room for one person and my wife was afraid of the driver so she stayed there until I was able to get back, hours later.

Anyway, these days it's not hard to get a $4,000 (or $11,000) car that's very reliable...especially if you're buying a stick shift.
My top cars right now are probably a Civic Si, a VW GTI, or a Mazda3. I've driven my friend's Civic Si and the six speed was really nice and smooth. The problem is finding a non-abused one in my price range. I've driven my cousin's GTI and like the handling and interior of the car over the Civic. The clutch in the GTI is really strange and feels video-gameish.
Civic Si: You'll be paying the Honda tax (inflated market value vs. what you get) and getting a car that's been driven like a raped ape every day.

GTI: It's a VW. It may need more repairs and they'll be more expensive than other cars. Fuel economy will probably be less (though if you're willing to work at it you can probably squeeze it the way I squeeze my VW). You get used to the clutch.

3: I imagine it's a decent compromise between those two extremes. According to drivers on this forum, it suffers from a clutch that's similar to the VW's.
In the middle and low end of it, are the Scion tC and a normal civic coupe. I haven't driven either of these, but am trying to find a way to drive them.
The tC probably suffers from the Toyota tax (similar to the Honda tax), though these days that tax may be reduced. It might be a good option.

I know you don't want to buy a domestic name, and they're mostly not offered with row-your-own gears anyway, but what about Korean? A Tiburon ought to be pretty decent, or if you don't need to look cool then a Sonata can cart around all your friends in comfort. An Accent might be too lame, I've never driven one.
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theholycow
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by theholycow »

comingbackdown wrote:
dangler wrote:I've driven my friend's Civic Si and the six speed was really nice and smooth. The problem is finding a non-abused one in my price range and the insurance at that age is probably rape
Word. Insurance on the Si, GTI, and 3 are all going to be about as bad as possible. The only worse insurance could be a big SUV.
dangler wrote:The GTI is one of my top choice for cars, although its hard to find a nice one in my price range. I like the older body style ( 05 and before), but it's damn near impossible to find one with low miles. The newer ones (06 and above) fall into my price range, but only with like 60,000 miles.
If that's what you consider high miles, then a GTI will be plenty reliable. Forget what I said about repairs.
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dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

Trust me, I would have no qualms with getting a cheaper car. It's more my parents pushing that price range because my mom thinks getting the newest possible car will be the safest car.

As for going korean, I'd have no problems with driving a Hyundai. The Tiburons are a nice car and you can get them for pretty cheap around me. Good recommendation :) My grandparents have a Sonata and the build of car seems nice for the money.

The tC also appears to be a good option right now, because in my area, there rather easily attainable for pretty cheap for decently low mileage. How's the clutch on them?
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FDSpirit
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by FDSpirit »

tCs aren't bad. We have a few members on here who have them.
theholycow wrote:Civic Si: You'll be paying the Honda tax (inflated market value vs. what you get) and getting a car that's been driven like a raped ape every day.
:lol: :lol: . Now it's no contest. I still say older Hondas are better. That and well, they seem better built :P (see previous post about that TSB). You can get much more power for less money. And as for the Accent, don't bother. My girlfriend's father has the hatch. F'in horrible. The seats are tough, the interior is bad, and the cabin noise is awful. If anything, look at the Elantra. Much better looking and probably better build quality IMO.
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dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

:lol: Thanks for the heads up. The tiburons don't seem like too bad of cars, though. I'd have to drive one. And cool the tC seems to be a good option at this point too.
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comingbackdown
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by comingbackdown »

dangler wrote:Trust me, I would have no qualms with getting a cheaper car. It's more my parents pushing that price range because my mom thinks getting the newest possible car will be the safest car.
Unfortunately, she is not necessarily correct.

My first car was a beat up, busted up, piece of shit 1994 Cavalier. It survived an accidental (and I might add, totally out of my control) off-road incident. That incident took that car a good 100-200 feet north (my reckoning of distance sucks. More like half-again as much) of the spot where I left the road, and a good 80+ feet away from the road itself with a good 15-20 foot drop. The only reason my strut towers didn't punch through my hood was because the ground was soft, but it survived. After that the unibody started to separate, but it got me through that incident alive and totally unharmed. No airbags, no frills, just a seatbelt and a shell of rusted metal.

Now I drive a 1992 Dodge Dakota Sport.

I have no fear for my safety. I trust the vehicles I drive with my life, and haven't been let down, and I have never routinely driven anything newer than a 2005 model year. 90% of the time, I drive my truck.
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dangler
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Re: Whats up guys?

Post by dangler »

comingbackdown wrote:
dangler wrote:Trust me, I would have no qualms with getting a cheaper car. It's more my parents pushing that price range because my mom thinks getting the newest possible car will be the safest car.
Unfortunately, she is not necessarily correct.

My first car was a beat up, busted up, piece of shit 1994 Cavalier. It survived an accidental (and I might add, totally out of my control) off-road incident. That incident took that car a good 100-200 feet north (my reckoning of distance sucks. More like half-again as much) of the spot where I left the road, and a good 80+ feet away from the road itself with a good 15-20 foot drop. The only reason my strut towers didn't punch through my hood was because the ground was soft, but it survived. After that the unibody started to separate, but it got me through that incident alive and totally unharmed. No airbags, no frills, just a seatbelt and a shell of rusted metal.

Now I drive a 1992 Dodge Dakota Sport.

I have no fear for my safety. I trust the vehicles I drive with my life, and haven't been let down, and I have never routinely driven anything newer than a 2005 model year. 90% of the time, I drive my truck.
Yeah, I know that she isn't necessarily correct :) But you understand how moms can be when it comes to their children. My sister had a experience of where she was rear ended at approximately 45 mph while she was at stoplight, and pushed into the car in front of her, and she escaped with only minor injuries, despite her car being totaled. My mom believes that her car has protected her well and that I have to get a newer car to be safe. I wouldn't mind getting an older car, as they can be just as safe,but this is one point that my mom really won't budge on.
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