What should i get? Any ideas?

mfennell

Well-Known Member
You guys talk like putting 100k miles on a car without problems is abnormal.
Exactly. My indifferently maintained '93 5 series wagon has 210k miles and shows no sign of slowing down. It replaced a flood-titled '86 528e that had at least 240k miles (broken speedo).

My experience (and that of my friends) has been that BMW does a pretty good job of building the expensive whirring oily bits. As they get older, you have trouble with electrics, front suspension pieces on the 5 series cars and cooling systems, which require a radiator replacement every 60k miles or so. Parts are pretty reasonable and they're generally easy to work on. A huge community of enthusiasts means that a lot of info is easily available. That would be a big problem with a W8 VW.
 

al415

Banned
Exactly. My indifferently maintained '93 5 series wagon has 210k miles and shows no sign of slowing down. It replaced a flood-titled '86 528e that had at least 240k miles (broken speedo).

My experience (and that of my friends) has been that BMW does a pretty good job of building the expensive whirring oily bits. As they get older, you have trouble with electrics, front suspension pieces on the 5 series cars and cooling systems, which require a radiator replacement every 60k miles or so. Parts are pretty reasonable and they're generally easy to work on. A huge community of enthusiasts means that a lot of info is easily available. That would be a big problem with a W8 VW.

Want to buy my 82 528e with red leather interior and fancy sport body kit? :D
 

gtluke

The Moped
There is an old 2002 in my neighborhood for sale I keep staring at.
hmmm
I need to get rid of the 94 grand cherokee which I have for absolutely no reason. Anyone want to buy it? :D Great mechanical condition, driven by an 81 year old Jewish lawyer at 5mph almost it's whole life :D
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
just to add to what i said earlier, honda and acura are the same company. if you want something with balls id suggest a tsx.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Good luck on your car choice. I still haven't decided on mine yet or i don't know if I will. Nothing out there old or new is hitting my sweet spot. :eek:
 
Wow thanks guys for the inputs, this beats any car forum haha. Yeah like mentioned i want a car with a pretty decent size pair. I'm 17 and want a nice car. I busted my ass 40 hours a week for a car and will do the same again this summer. I know i should get a beater for my first car but i'm not that bad of a driver and i live in hunterdon county. It's all highway here. The closest walmart is 15 mins away. I don't have enough money for a brand new car haha, im looking to spend no more then 10k haha. I wish i can get a wrx sedan but it's hard to find one and bmw's are just so nice haha but maybe the 3 series drives a shit load better then the 5 series. Im in no rush in getting a car either since i wont NEED one till about april.

thanks for all the input guys, greatly appreciated.
 

don

Well-Known Member
I think there has been some really great info on this thread although al's comments on the Audi's steering feeling vague I'd have to disagree with :) My previous 3 cars were Audi's - B5 A4, C6 allroad, B6 S4. I thought the road feel on all of them were really good but I ran at least +1 size wheels on all of them. Luke is right they can be maintenance whores although mine didn't need much when I had them save for that B5 1.8T.

At 17, you're not going to want to hear this but, I honestly think you should not get too nice of a ride. At $10K as a max I think that will keep you in the "better than a beater" but out of the "not too dope" area. Also, being young and driving a nice ride will throw some flags to the local law or to the local a$$holes at school.

My recommendation would be to get an E36 sedan w/ a manual gearbox. Get the most basic one you could find. Unless you've had some proper track school or training, at 17 you aren't that great of a driver but a RWD and manual will teach you some things. Get one for $5-6K, save $1500 for repairs and stuff like snow tires. Use the rest of your money for bike parts or some worthwhile mods on the Bimmer if you feel like it.

I'm on the older side, and have driven a bunch of different cars over the years. Some were pretty nice like my father in law's 996 Porsche 911 and others being pretty ratty like my dad's '76 Chevy 3/4 ton plowtruck. One of the ones I remember most was one I had in college: a '74 Mercedes 250 gas w/ 4 speed gearbox. I drove up in VT for 2 years with that going to the hill and delivering food around Burlington. With snows and proper driving that car could make it up and down some stuff. It was old and cheap but had a timeless Euro look and ride. I'd be stoked to drive that car today if I had it.

Whatever car you get, I highly recommend a manual gearbox. IMO, rowing thru the gears will make even the most boring car fun and will make you a better driver.
 

al415

Banned
That’s some very good advice from Don. Every now and then I still catch myself admiring an E36 from the rear 3/4 view. There is something right about the proportions of that car. I had a 1997 318i and a 1997 M3 in E36 and both cars were good to me. I'd go a step further given the information you gave us about experience and budget. If I were in your shoes, with the benefit of hindsight, I'd buy a cheap RWD car (as Don suggests) and spend the surplus on a three-day driving school. The things you'll learn at a quality school with stay with you for years to come and raise your driving to a level you would never reach alone. Personally I'd recommend the Bertil Roos School, www.racenow.com, but there are others. Another advantage of a road racing type school is that the knowledge you gain makes you realize you can enjoy driving ANY car, even at lower speeds.

Hey Don, I like Audi's. My last one was a TT 225Q. I think they are great highway cars and mile eaters. They've just become so heavy that I think there are other cars with better resolved suspension and steering.
 

don

Well-Known Member
I have to agree - the Audi's especially the new ones are definitely heavy. I never tracked mine but heard that was the main disadvantage of them on the track. I think the touring label fits them well - like you said - great mile eaters. Although I took a trip to Ray's in my S4 and was a little ragged after each drive - probably more from worrying about cops the whole time driving at 80+ speeds :) That sucker still had more skinny pedal left at 120.

And I totally agree about the looks of the E36 - one of the reasons I recommend it. Even at it's age, I think it looks great and would be a car a 17 year old would be siked on. Get some nice wheels that match the car - no chrome 19 or 20's - and an exhaust with a good note and that Bimmer will hold it's own against anything his friends have. The E36 M3 sedan is one of my all time favorite autos - just make sure it has 3 pedals.

I also think a 3 day driving school would be well worth it like al said. You always see that listed as the best mod from people on the car forums. I always though, "yeah right - I kick ass driving", but this past summer I was driving off-road in my Rover with a friend that's also an instructor. In a 30 minute climb he gave me a few tips that I had no clue about that really helped. Some of the stuff I brought over to the road and it works too. Like that E36 M3, a good driving course is on my list of things to get done. At 17, the driving course will give you the most for your money as you'll get to use it for more years than someone like me.
 

gtluke

The Moped
I had no idea this was going to be your first car, I would have totally changed my opinions :D
I demand also you buy a stick shift, it makes you so much of a better driver, you get better fuel mileage, vehicle control, and repair costs are considerably less. Plus automatics are for girls.

When it was time for my little sister and brother to get their first cars, I made it a point to get them cars that were worth more or equal in parts for when then crashed them.
I got my little sister a 89 mustang GT 5spd. It was stolen 3 times (I live in a horrible area) and she totaled it 3 times. It finally emotionally took over her life because she loved the car so much but it was such a pain in the ass at the same time, from attention of the boys, thieves, cops, girls, whatever... I sold it in totaled for for $300 more than she paid for the car in mint condition 2 years prior. She had full coverage for the 1st accident and I fixed the car perfectly for 1/4 of the check she received. I think she profited owning that car, ha.
I got my brother a 84 jeep CJ7
It was so slow that he never crashed it, and he learned a lot about how to drive a really crappy car and control it. The motor was horrific and dealing with the hills in west orange he learned a lot about how to make it up them in the snow with NO power and little traction. I eventually fixed the engine but the carbs on those things suck horribly so it never ran right for more than 2 weeks at a time. He took a bath on the sale because of my parents, I had someone coming to look at it for more than he paid but he decided to ditch it for nowhere near enough money because my parents sold the house and he had to move in 2 weeks. bummer, he drives my grandmother's crown victoria now :D
Most people I know with great jobs that they don't technically deserve (like me) had horrific cars they used to get through college, and most of us learned more learning with how to deal with an unreliable car than we learned in college. Scheduling, budgeting, diagnostics...
It's how I got my current job. My boss found out that I had used an early 90's laptop to run the fuel injection on my car and figured if I could figure that bullshit out, I could so what I'm doing now. And he's right :D

So, take my advice and buy something ridiculous like an 86 VW GTI, an 84 240D mercedes, and e30 BMW, or the best car in the world, a v8 fox body mustang.
Deal with owning something ridiculous like that for a year and you'll fall in love, learn a LOT and not lose all your hard earned money buying the car and you'll learn a lifetime's worth wisdom at the same time.

NEVER, EVER borrow money for a car especially at this point in your life. Pay cash, don't take out a loan or finance. Bank you money there are far better things to spend it on later than how you get places at 17ys old.
Or you could be like me and dump tens of thousands of dollars into cars you paid less than $2,000 for. To me it was worth every penny since I'm still driving them 10 years later, and beating the ever living snot out of every honda or camaro on the block :)
I even took the extra extra long way home from work last night so I could enjoy driving my car in the snow. It's still awesome loving that car every day and thinking of all the memories it has given me in the last 10 years. And that exhilaration of getting sideways at 70mph with your foot to the floor around a turn in the snow is something that NEVER gets boring. Or hammering down a closed road in the reservation late at night just to get to the fresh powder. mmmm
:)
 

jkmacman

Complete Nonsense
you want your beamer?

one episode of the simpsons, the dad designed a vehicle to his specs (okay its easy to do in a cartoon)

then in "married with children", the begining of the espisode the guy gets rid of his gilopy (looks like a broke down dode duster), threw the epside tries to get an upgrade then in the end, he's back with old faithful (the giopy duster)

back in the 80's i sold cars for 2 weeks, the manager previosly worked in a dealership that sold beamers and nissan, he said the beamers came back on tow-truck for repairs 10-1

that being said now beamer makes nice suv, sis-in law has one, nice big sun-roof, back seat is cramped

when i got ride of ford ranger pick-up, 7 years ago, i looked into a used volvo, the dealer wanted 20K for a 6 year old car, i'm not sure what i would have gotten for my trade in.

that being said, car's a personnel thing, or the ford guy said, you can have any color car, as long as its black

good luck with your new set of wheels

btw: w/ the vw, i worked w/dudes that went diesel, was okay for long commuter, but i think the diesel prices have gotten crazy lately
 

f2f4

New Member
I'm 17 and want a nice car.
I could type up a whole ton to tell you why not to do this, but instead I'll just tell you to listen to gtluke.

I'd really recommend buying something not-nice but at least mechanically reliable. You'll have a lot of other stuff to worry about later besides car payments...
 
I know a beater is the way to go. But i'll end up tuning a shit car to be nice and spending the 10k which i have cash. I pretty much decided on a 99 Audi a4 v6 with 77k miles and quattro. Unfortunately it is automatic. The guy is asking 7k and i'm hoping to get it for about 6500 or less.
 

al415

Banned
If you buy that car your next post will be asking if it is possible to convert an auto trans to a manual in an Audi A4 :D If you don't know how to drive a manual trans you can learn the basics in 10 minutes. The drive will be much more rewarding than just mashing the accelerator.
 
If you buy that car your next post will be asking if it is possible to convert an auto trans to a manual in an Audi A4 :D If you don't know how to drive a manual trans you can learn the basics in 10 minutes. The drive will be much more rewarding than just mashing the accelerator.

yeah i know, Learning manual is like learning to ride a bike, its easy. Manual would be a hell of a lot better its just i can't find one that i like in manual. Damn i'm prob gonna regret manual but its a good deal.
 

al415

Banned
yeah i know, Learning manual is like learning to ride a bike, its easy. Manual would be a hell of a lot better its just i can't find one that i like in manual. Damn i'm prob gonna regret manual but its a good deal.

You said you'd wait until Spring, so what is the rush? It's none of my business, but since we are all talking about it here... Don't you think you could wait a little longer and get what you really want? I flipped through the local classifieds today and saw an E36 BMW for less than $7K with a manual transmission. The right audi will show up by Spring if you are patient and search often.
 
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