HELP!! Best car for a high schooler-under $15000

Hey guys!

wondering if you could help me out with picking a car for high school, used, german or japanese. Im a huge car fanatic, and I need to break the norm(civic, escape). Can you guys help?? Thanks!

Mike

 

Subaru WRX, BMW E36 M3, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 928S4, Miata, C4 Corvettes, Volvo 850T5-R (sedan and wagons). etc... There are a lot of choices out there. You might want to be somewhat specific about what you want.

 

im looking at a 323i, X-type, 9-3, 3.2 CL

OR

A 2001 BMW X5 3.0 manual with 54,000 miles (family friends car)

 

So apparently you don't want a fast/sporty car?

 

Is this for you or for your child?

 

Yeah, I didn't even look at the profile as they are almost never filled in on new posters.

 

Focus SVT's can be found for less than $15K. Also check out used VW GTI's (1.8t or VR6) or maybe even a used Jetta. I had a 98 GTI VR6 and I loved it. I put 50K miles on it and never had a problem with it. If you are buying a car for more show than go I would go with the 323i. It will cost a lot more to maintain but if you won't have to maintain yourself that wouldn't be a problem. Used 02 WRX's are out there too in your price range but insurance costs are pretty high.

 

...except your life. How many people do you know personally that have wrecked a Miata and lived to tell you all about it?

 

Looking that most folks today want transportation and cheap to run. I couldn't find anything better for a friends kid than a 2wd Suzuki Aerio SX wagon (they do make a 4x4 version). In fact the thing impressed me enough I bought one as the daily driver. All summer my wife and I argued who gets to drive it rather than the 4x4, XJ6, 911, or 308.

Try to find one that is a year old with just under 20K miles on it. I got mine for just under $10K "out the door" with the extra 100K mile Bumper to bumper everything Suzuki waranty. Now it's just gas, oil, minor maint, and tires to 125K miles.

This leaves you with 5K on extra toys like fancy wheels, suspension upgrades, and a boom boom stereo if you want to go deaf. BTW the car handles fantastic and is quick enough. It also has alloy wheels with perf tires on it OE. It just sips gas as well (Toyota Matrix does better but it's a slug.) And best of all the thing can haul more stuff than my 4x4. Suzuki really did the homework on this one. Get a yellow one;-)

The only other real car I can think of is a used older Porsche 944. You can get them cheap now and you won't be under the hood all the time like a BMW.
Parts are not cheap but hey I took a 924 to almost 200K miles before I sold it and it just kept on going. Only major problems were an alternator and water pump.

 

I used to have a Prelude. Very fun car, loved its look, but hated FWD.

When I was in HS, I bought a 6 series BMW. Their prices are very low now.

 

If your lucky maybe you can find a C5 corvette for around 17k. I remember 3 of my class mates had them thats not to mention other class member had a Hummer H1 and a brand new BMW of some kind. I found a ZR1 corvette for sale going for 7,450$ cheap. Its kind of difficult to find a rock bottom deal but as soon as you think you have the car you want then you find another one that you truely want for less price.

 

Oh, please. I mean, I wouldn't want to get rear-ended by an Excursion in mine, but it's not significantly less safe than, say, a Civic of similar vintage.

Voting Miata, assuming you don't need the extra space. I'm biased, of course.

 

You could buy an older M6 for about $4K. Very reliable, and with some mods to get rid of pesky 1980's restrictions, can add about 40hp. quick, planted, and very solid. Good car IMO.

 

Frankly, I'm not sure you'd want anything too complicated or powerful. Something like the car I recommend is fairly cheap in terms of repairs, and is, in general, a fairly simple vehicle. It's pretty entertaining: a well balanced, light, and RWD vehicle is pretty fun, in my approximation. It would also suck to see an M6 hit a tree, which is a risk with any inexperienced driver, and this coming from a high school student. Also, assuming you're paying for gas, the car I recommend can return decent mileage, assuming you aren't running it hard.

 

Please tell me where I can pick up a half decent ///M6 for 4k and I will upgrade my 633.

 

For a high schooler I would think that you are as concerned about maintanance costs and insurance. That being said, sports cars are probably out of the question. I would think that you don't want to pour very much money after the fact into this car (so you want something reliable).

I would say that the Miata is a great bang for the buck (spec racers go for $10-12,000). Another car to consider is the SRT-4 Neon. Aside from being FWD it's a great value for your buck.

You can also consider buying an old American car and dropping a crate motor into it.

Brad

 

srt-4's are roughly 20k-23k after dealer markup

 

Auraraptor, pm sent

 

1. Buy the best 4 cylinder Toyota you can find for $5,000

2. Put $2,000 in savings for any unforseen repairs.

3. Open a Ameritrade acct with the remaining $8,000

a. Buy a broad ETF such as SPY or (better) IYY with the $8,000.

b. If you feel fancy, take $2,000 (of the $8,000) and buy a global ETF.

4. Thank me in 30 years.

 

If your in High school don't invest a lot of money.
There are advantages to having a beater.

If you are wanting a sports car a Miata or 944 would be your best bet.
Be prepared to do a little work on it yourself.(you may have to look a little for a nice 944)
You could drive either of these cars through HS and probably sell them for what you paid if you take care of them.
If you are looking for something to haul the gang around, get a mid to late 90's jeep Cherokee or Ford Explorer, there are many around and they can be bought right.

As far as me, I was very practical in HS and drove a Healey 3000.

 

I don't think his parents are going to let him take a free $10k off of them. I doubt his parents are going to say "You're 17 now. Here's $20k. Do with it what you will."

 

2 Seater - a Miata. If you do not flip it over (and this is not easy to do) - they are actually very good in crashes. Obviously if an 18-wheeler gets into you - you are toast. But the same is true for a Suburban.

4 Seater - a 2000/2001 Subaru Impreza RS. Good looking, reliable, fun to drive and not the usual Civic/Focus.

 

'72 Duster with high back seats...

 

mercedes W124 series, or the 86-95 E class, cheap and if you get the good engine, very fast..., and very reliable

 

actually, i was in an accident with my 94 miata.. first off, the miata is only good for auto cross..nothing else.. believe me.. unless you through in a SR20DET motor from a sylvia (nissan..in japan) in there, it isn't anything..once you turn the ac on you not even pushing 90 at the wheels. anyways, i was going about 60mph on a road.. and this lady just decides to run a red light and turn right.. she started turning right as i entered the intersection.. i slam on the breaks miliseconds before i hit her.. the frames on those things are super strong.. it had extensive damage but i was totaly totaly ok..except for two 4 inch by 1 inch burns on my palms left form the steering wheel spinning at lighting speeds.. oh, also, i told my ex girlfriend (not ex at the time) to put her seatbelt on no more than a minute before the crash. she complained and finally did it.. then boom..it was scary..