Car under $25,000 (and request for general new car buying advice)

[SomethingClever]

1) Your car will probably be recovered.
2) Used Hondas, Toyotas are a great, practical suggestion.
3) If you want something a little more exciting....

$8,299

[joeblack]

[ QUOTE ]
This thread has been done to death, but I'll give out my quick suggestions for decent cars:

Full size cars:
Nissan Maxima - great power & reliability
Nissan Altima - can get same engine as maxima for cheaper
Honda Accord - reliable, decent power, good resale
Toyota Camry - most reliable, decent power
Mazda6 - good mix of power,reliability
Pontiac GTO - tons of power, should still be reliable (basically corvette engine in it)
Subaru's are also solid.

Economy Cars:
Honda Civic - good resale. 4cyl
Mazda3 - based on Volvo S40 C1 chassis - pretty solid

Mini's are great cars, but I personally think they look gay.

[/ QUOTE ]

List QFT

I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima and I love it.

p.s. Mini's are ghay. I rode in a Type S and was not impressed.

[revots33]

I love Hondas they are great and as others have said they last forever. I also think the interior finish of Hondas are superior to Toyota.

I love my Civic but you also might want to check out the Fit. Cheap, versatile for storage (thanks to the hatchback and flat-folding seats) and comes with most the safety features standard. Needless to say it's small and not very powerful, but it's cheap and gets great mileage, if your wife just needs a commuter car it might be worth looking into.

[blinden84]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This thread has been done to death, but I'll give out my quick suggestions for decent cars:

Full size cars:
Nissan Maxima - great power & reliability
Nissan Altima - can get same engine as maxima for cheaper
Honda Accord - reliable, decent power, good resale
Toyota Camry - most reliable, decent power
Mazda6 - good mix of power,reliability
Pontiac GTO - tons of power, should still be reliable (basically corvette engine in it)
Subaru's are also solid.

Economy Cars:
Honda Civic - good resale. 4cyl
Mazda3 - based on Volvo S40 C1 chassis - pretty solid

Mini's are great cars, but I personally think they look gay.

[/ QUOTE ]

List QFT

I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima and I love it.

p.s. Mini's are ghay. I rode in a Type S and was not impressed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then your driver sucked.

[oddjob]

hondas for reliability. my 92 civic runs super good after much neglect from me after 160k

mini S is super super fun to drive. handle so damn good. very peppy... small, obviously.

maybe i'm gay or something, but i really love the scion xB. it's toyota, so you know it's reliable. and they just put a 2.4 liter 160 HP engine in them. not the greatest on gas mileage. i think they're 22city/28 highway, so it's not bad either. they're like $17k too.

i test drove a mazda3, and they're pretty fun. not ridiculous, performance wise, but they're more fun then a regular honda.

[TripleH68]

[ QUOTE ]
The first car we'll probably look at is a Honda Civic sedan.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a Civic Sedan EX. Drove it for nearly eight years without a single breakdown and only one unscheduled maintenance. Sold it at 150,000 miles for $2,900.

Tip: take it to your own mechanic and ask him to follow the suggested maintenance schedule. You will save $$$ over taking it to the dealer.

[Reef]

a Honda Civic/Accord will last forever (make sure you have a brake lock for security)

[KotOD]

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately, my and Mrs. L's car was stolen from across the street of our apartment on Saturday. For those familiar with Pittsburgh, I live in Squirrel Hill which I can say fairly confidently is the least crime ridden neighborhood in the city. Apparently the 1998 Dodge Neon was irresistible.

If it isn't found in the next few weeks we'll need to get a new car. We were hoping our car would last until I finish grad school next year but it looks like that's not going to happen. Since I'm not balla like some here, we're looking to spend less than 25 grand, preferably somewhere in the 18-23 band. We would much prefer to get a new car to a used one.

Before getting into specific vehicles, this will be my first time buying a car. My wife bought ours used about 4 years ago when I was in Pittsburgh and she was in Oregon. Any general buying tips would be great. We have already secured a loan at 6.2% so unless we get some special deal we're good to go on financing.

The primary use of the car is for my wife to use for work. She works at multiple preschools around Pittsburgh and does a lot of city driving. For this reason and because we're hippies, fuel efficiency is more important for us than the average person for whom it matters little. Reliability and overall performance are important as well. I'm not looking to race or anything but don't want a total slug.

The first car we'll probably look at is a Honda Civic sedan. We are also considering getting a Mini, which I suspect I'll take [censored] for. We have a friend that has one so we're somewhat familiar with them and I'm familiar with Hondas as my parents have had a couple Accords and I know a few people with a civic. People seem pretty happy with them. Having looked at random reviews the Mazda3 looks like a possibility as well.

What other cars would you guys suggest?

Any and all comments appreciated.

Jared

[/ QUOTE ]

The new Dodge Avenger.

http://www.dodge.com/en/avenger/features/interior.html

Mygig onboard for DVD, CD, Mp3, and navigation - 20 GB hard drive, USB hookups. Rear DVD players for the kids. Big engine. Nice looking car. $24,600 loaded.

[private joker]

I never see Jettas mentioned in these threads. Any opinions? My friend has had one for 9 years and it's still going strong. Looks fine, drives well (I've driven it plenty of times), etc. I still like my Civic but I'm wondering if the Jetta is just as good.

[big D]

I'm biased, but I'd get a used Audi A3. In terms of ride quality and engine, a civic or corolla isn't even in a similar class. The materials and finish of the car are at another level too. I got a certified pre-owned '06 with leather, automatic, 13,000 miles for less than 25K. Audi CPOs have a bumper to bumper 6 year or 100,000 mile warranty. The DSG transmission in these cars is also ridiculously awesome.

My car