What is a good first car?

[tonemonster]

pontiac fiero they are less than 10k

[j2379]

in my years I've had, destroyed, abused and blown up a few cars. for reliable everyday drivers, honda and nissan's you cant go wrong with unmodd'd. you may want to check out WRS's and the like. You want fun buy a cheap fox body mustang dime a dozen, quick and parts are cheap and easy to find. for 10G you could buy one already upgraded W suspension, chassis and turbo/superchargers already installed. LS powered mid/late 90's camaro/trans ams are also fun cars in that price, just stick to the LS ones after 94. Sure they look like saturns on steroids, but an SS camaro from that era is in your price range, fun & fairly reliable. & like others have said tracking/racing everyday drivers isnt a good idea unless you have a ton of cash and can fix cars yourself.

[SausageofPower]

16 year old....

...and?

[Alvin_Wilson]

pontiac fiero they are less than 10k

Saw a white one yesterday, first I had seen in years.

[bratfink]

The fastest, gas guzzlingest and loudest peice of poluting steel you can find. Just, you know thowing that out there. Good luck. My years of working on cars has taught me one thing. That no matter what brand it is an idiot can beat the crap out of a car and then find a victim to relieve his problem on too. Look them over GOOD! If you you don't know a lot about cars, find a friend who knows them well and take them with you. Because they all cost way to much to fix.

+1

[bratfink]

Something inline-4 with a manual transmission and naturally aspirated. This will teach you to drive and allow you to learn maintenance items without too much of a headache. Hondas are decent, but have high theft rates and high prices because everyone buys them.

I went with a 1997 Eagle Talon. It was a great car, I learned a lot on it and it ran like a champ. In the end, the timing belt broke (freak accident, it happens) and I decided to upgrade to a 2005 Subaru WRX instead of rebuilding the head.

But this is the more sensible approach. My suggestion was going to be the gen 1 or 2 Eclipse / Talon. Avoid the turbo for now, get a good reliable one (preferably owned by an old lady). Avoid any vehicle that has been modified (for now).

You might have a license but you don't know how to drive yet. Stick shift, NA 4 banger will allow to you to have a bit of fun but not give you enough power to kill yourself.

Keep that car for a couple of years, do nothing to it but put gas in it and regular maintanence, save the money you would have spent modifing it. After a couple of years, sell in it equally good condition that you bought it (i.e. don't crash it), and buy something faster. You will have more experience and be less likely to fuck it up, plus you will have saved some cash and thus be able to afford to get some meaningful mods done on the faster car that is worth modding.

If you want to track day a car forget about adding power, it's all about brakes and suspension. Carrying speed through corners is the key to quick lap times. If you want to drag race then the opposite is true.

[Axegrinder87]

in my years I've had, destroyed, abused and blown up a few cars. for reliable everyday drivers, honda and nissan's you cant go wrong with unmodd'd. you may want to check out WRS's and the like. You want fun buy a cheap fox body mustang dime a dozen, quick and parts are cheap and easy to find. for 10G you could buy one already upgraded W suspension, chassis and turbo/superchargers already installed. LS powered mid/late 90's camaro/trans ams are also fun cars in that price, just stick to the LS ones after 94. Sure they look like saturns on steroids, but an SS camaro from that era is in your price range, fun & fairly reliable. & like others have said tracking/racing everyday drivers isnt a good idea unless you have a ton of cash and can fix cars yourself.

GM didn't unveil the LS engines until 96, and the F-bodies didn't get the LS1 until 98.

[Axegrinder87]

...and?

And? He's 16, you expect him to go build a track car on top of buying a DD? Spend any amount of time on a car forum and you'll see dozens of pre-license teens spouting their internet pipe dreams.

[SausageofPower]

And? He's 16, you expect him to go build a track car on top of buying a DD? Spend any amount of time on a car forum and you'll see dozens of pre-license teens spouting their internet pipe dreams.

Yeah, and I'm trying to bring him down to earth. If he's 16, what real living expenses does he have (assuming mommy and daddy aren't footing the bill)? There's no better time to do something like build a track car and get a reliable DD. Modifying his DD is a bad idea, any person with experience will tell you that. Still, I'm just giving advice from what I've seen and dealt with.

And I know teens spout internet pipe dreams. I've been on my share of car forums for 10+ years. I've also seen idiotic moves from kids that at best are a waste of money and at worst compromise the reliability of their cars (and lots of times result in less power because kids don't know that, for instance, an aluminum wing on a FWD car does jack or a exhaust that's too large in diameter on an NA engine robs you of power). I'm trying to spare the kid that, save him some money and make him look like he knows something among his contemporaries who learned all they know from 2 Fast 2 Furious. ;p

[Shawn Lutz]

Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla. A good first car is a reliable car that your not spending more time and money fixing than driving. They also are i4's so gas mileage is really good. With the cost of gas you don't want one the gets 12 MPG's and taking all of you liquid cash.

You want to stay away from fast sports cars as your car insurance will be far too costly.

[DonP]

GM didn't unveil the LS engines until 96, and the F-bodies didn't get the LS1 until 98.

Third Gen's look better. I'd swap an LS into mine (but then everything else would need to be beefed up).

My first car was a 1970 Challenger. That car kicked ass, went to concerts, whipped my buddy's 65 Stang, etc. Fun times.

[Larz]

A 1985 Camaro.

[guitarguy2237]

Thanks for all the advice guys,keep it coming.

[VitaminG]

for instance, an aluminum wing on a FWD car does jack or a exhaust that's too large in diameter on an NA engine robs you of power).

come on, man. Sponsor's stickers all over your car and a set of dual 4" dumpies look wicked pissah with 22" rims & super low aspect tyres!

don't forget the underbody neons and speed bump scraping suspension. You don't want to be able to get up your driveway anyway. A garaged car is a car that your neighbours can't drool over.

[jacksonkellyfreak]

VitaminG is right. 15 hp per sticker, 75 for the wing, and 900+ for underbody neons. no man seriously, you want rwd, look into the 240sx, the rx7 (maintain the holy fuck out of it. look at ot wrong and it wont start. i know from experience 8 times over lol) NON turbo mr2, altho for a track car, theyre evil evil. mine will go from understeer to snap oversteer before you can blink, then youre screwed because you cant crank the wheel in the opposite direction fast enough. also the older celicas, corrollas, and supras, 80s z cars, (straight six.... aaaaaahhhhhh) or um... camaros, trans ams, mustangs, but youre gonna be paying out the ass for gas in a v8. when i was 16 (27 now) i had a trans am, and everybody thought i was gonna wreck it, but truth be told, i was scared shitless of it. so get something thats unimtimidating at first lol, and definitely a manual