Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
You guys are freaking insane. I am a hardcore car guy and DIY mechanic, you couldn't give me an E36 and I would definitely hesitate on a 944 (especially a $5k one). They are high maintenance old German cars that require an attentive owner to be reliable. These are all bad attributes for a teenage girl who will probably turn up the radio when she hears a bad noise. You have to take off your car guy hat when these questions come around, my wife is the oldest of 10 (8 girls) so I get a lot of car questions from non-car people. Dead reliable and soul crushingly boring is the name of this game.
Personally I wouldn't look at anything but Japanese cars. Honda and Toyota will carry a tax for the name, so don't be afraid of Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru. Suzuki is bankrupt so avoid them, early Hyundai and Kia aren't nearly as good as current models, and Mitsubishi is bordering on broke. Look outside of the most mainstream models, for instance an Avalon vs a Camry. Most people looking for cheap reliable transportation will be thinking Camry/Accord or Civic/Corolla, those will be the hardest to find for $5k. The Mazda Protege/626/MX3/MX6, Nissan Sentra/Altima/Maxima/200SX/240SX, Acura CL/RSX/Integra, Subaru Impreza/Forester/Legacy, Honda Del Sol/Prelude, Infiniti G20/I30/I35, Lexus ES/GS, Toyota Celica/Matrix/Paseo/Solara are all less mainstream choices that might be forgotten by the average Joe when searching Craigslist.
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I stand by my E36 suggestion. I owned a '95 M3 for about 5 years. Aside from a leaky power steering fluid reservoir it was bulletproof. My suggestion that it is an easy DIY was intended for dad and not for daughter. Although, involving daughter in maintenance of the car will, IMO, make her more aware of odd noises and vibrations and ultimately make her a more well rounded driver/operator.
Nothing wrong with Japanese cars, I've owned my share of those too. I guess I just think there are much more interesting but still good choices than a Corolla or Camry, two of the most soulless cars on the road. I do agree with your suggestion to consider the other Japanese brands as there are some decent alternatives that don't carry as much popularity tax. Sorry to all of the Camry and Corolla owners that I have offended but you can't deny that they are nothing more than appliances.