About cars: I think that you should try and find a car that is rather economical on gas, one that gets good reviews for being reliable (so you're not constantly paying someone to fix it). I have heard super things about Scions, and they're not outrageously expensive, and they're like, made by Toyota, which has really good reliability and resale value, so it will probably last you until you can *afford* to buy another car. (But I can't afford one yet, I'd rather put down more money and have lower payments. ^^;;) Like everyone I work with who's young drives a used Toyota, some of them like 10 years old, and they have had minimal problems with them, repairs seem to be not too bad. Also, you should probably try to get something with front wheel drive (lots of cars have it, the more sporty & performance oriented usually are rear-wheel drive, though) bc that is better in the snow; rear wheel drive cars tend to fishtail a lot and have even less traction bc they're pusing instead of pulling the car (i'm sure there's an awesome physics explanation that I'll never understand for it) and as a person who doesn't have the option of tons of car storage space or the luxury of a car for "bad weather", or the option of calling out just bc there's bad weather coming, you need something that is going to get you through the snow at least sometimes, right? my 2 managers Jim & Leslie both have "sport" cars, (a Firebird and a BMW) and both are just awful in the snow, and they've left early several times bc of the shitty weather. Jim actually often drives his mom's neon to work when the weather sucks.
I have the neon bc my dad likes Chrysler cars and feels they're the easiest to work on if you're doing it yourself. But the repairs to my car would've been extremely pricey (even though there were only 2 really bad problems) if he'd been paying someone to do it. So I think the neon is a good car, but if you get one that wasn't well-maintained then you're in for a whole bunch of trouble with it.
Things I would not reccomend buying under any circumstances: anything from Family Ford in Netcong (that's where we bought my car, and they purposefully and spitefully broke things on it and lied about the necessary repairs.) anything with a light on the dashboard that the seller (even a dealer) assures you is a sensor issue that they're about to correct. A used Saturn; just don't do it. (my sister's needed a new engine 1 year later) An old convertible. They start leaking, and the tops aren't cheap.
And, although everyone wants a new car, I think it's good to get a used car as your first car...everyone has those little accidents, even just bumping into your mailbox or something, and a used car is not going to compel you to go out and get that tiny little scratch fixed etc. But a used car isn't perfect anyway, and you can just focus on keeping it running well.
I wish you'd been looking 6 months ago, I could've sold you my gmma's civic, which was in super fantastic condition and was really well maintained and everything. ^^;;
I personally am totally in love with the 2006 Eclipse convertible, but it's sorta expensive, and it's not very economical. I like the Scion tc, but I want a convertible (although sunroof is standard)...and I would like to have a hybrid car, but I want to be able to work on it myself a little (which i'm not sure you're supposed to do bc of all that voltage and stuff)and I think all the hybrid cars are kinda ugly (except for the Highlander, and I don't really want an SUV...and my neon actually gets better gas mileage than the Highlander hybrid, so what's the point?)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 05:27 pm (UTC)I think that you should try and find a car that is rather economical on gas, one that gets good reviews for being reliable (so you're not constantly paying someone to fix it). I have heard super things about Scions, and they're not outrageously expensive, and they're like, made by Toyota, which has really good reliability and resale value, so it will probably last you until you can *afford* to buy another car. (But I can't afford one yet, I'd rather put down more money and have lower payments. ^^;;) Like everyone I work with who's young drives a used Toyota, some of them like 10 years old, and they have had minimal problems with them, repairs seem to be not too bad. Also, you should probably try to get something with front wheel drive (lots of cars have it, the more sporty & performance oriented usually are rear-wheel drive, though) bc that is better in the snow; rear wheel drive cars tend to fishtail a lot and have even less traction bc they're pusing instead of pulling the car (i'm sure there's an awesome physics explanation that I'll never understand for it) and as a person who doesn't have the option of tons of car storage space or the luxury of a car for "bad weather", or the option of calling out just bc there's bad weather coming, you need something that is going to get you through the snow at least sometimes, right? my 2 managers Jim & Leslie both have "sport" cars, (a Firebird and a BMW) and both are just awful in the snow, and they've left early several times bc of the shitty weather. Jim actually often drives his mom's neon to work when the weather sucks.
I have the neon bc my dad likes Chrysler cars and feels they're the easiest to work on if you're doing it yourself. But the repairs to my car would've been extremely pricey (even though there were only 2 really bad problems) if he'd been paying someone to do it. So I think the neon is a good car, but if you get one that wasn't well-maintained then you're in for a whole bunch of trouble with it.
Things I would not reccomend buying under any circumstances:
anything from Family Ford in Netcong (that's where we bought my car, and they purposefully and spitefully broke things on it and lied about the necessary repairs.)
anything with a light on the dashboard that the seller (even a dealer) assures you is a sensor issue that they're about to correct.
A used Saturn; just don't do it. (my sister's needed a new engine 1 year later)
An old convertible. They start leaking, and the tops aren't cheap.
And, although everyone wants a new car, I think it's good to get a used car as your first car...everyone has those little accidents, even just bumping into your mailbox or something, and a used car is not going to compel you to go out and get that tiny little scratch fixed etc. But a used car isn't perfect anyway, and you can just focus on keeping it running well.
I wish you'd been looking 6 months ago, I could've sold you my gmma's civic, which was in super fantastic condition and was really well maintained and everything. ^^;;
I personally am totally in love with the 2006 Eclipse convertible, but it's sorta expensive, and it's not very economical. I like the Scion tc, but I want a convertible (although sunroof is standard)...and I would like to have a hybrid car, but I want to be able to work on it myself a little (which i'm not sure you're supposed to do bc of all that voltage and stuff)and I think all the hybrid cars are kinda ugly (except for the Highlander, and I don't really want an SUV...and my neon actually gets better gas mileage than the Highlander hybrid, so what's the point?)