good starter car

[texasmom]

Thanks for the tip CAP =)

[Vudak]

If you gave a budget, that would help... 

As others have stated, you could get a safe, reliable Toyota or Honda for cheap.  Camrys and Accords both run 200,000 miles + .

Also, no matter how nice and responsible of a young man you are, you WILL dent and scratch and possibly smash that car.  It's just going to happen.  Good intentions are no replacement for experience.  Go with something cheap.  You can get something nicer in a few years when you won't have to heed your parents' requirements, anyway.

[68Wooley]

HAVE A CUSTOMER with a 99 beetle. 1.8L turbo. the waterpump took a dump. same old VW bs. the impeller came off, just like they all do.
 only REAL problem though, was that this person drove it 10 miles whileit was over heating. it cost him a cylinder head.
 i let him get his own parts(which i rarely do). he got them at "autohaus" i think it was called. they're in arizona.

 be advised.....if you look at one of the lower end audis, they share the same engines as the vw's. they all suck. they have problems that they shouldn't have at times that they shouldn't have them.

 if you have to have a european car, then bmw is the ticket. other than that, stick to honda or toyota.

I'm currently on my fifth Volkswagen. The first three were bought in Europe and were faultless. The fourth was a 2003 MkIV Gti bought for my wife when we moved to the States with the same 1.8 Turbo. With 55K on the clock - the impeller went. Luckily I was driving at the time and noticed the temp going through the roof. Had Mrs Wooley been driving, we'd have been after a new cylinder head as well. As it was, it still cost me over $1K to fix on a car 3 and a half year old.

The fifth VW is an EOS. Its built in Germany and has been (knock wood), rock solid.

In short, the only one I've had problems with was the only one not built in Germany. In fairness, both BMW and Mercedes have had quality problems with their North American built vehicles as well. Just ask anyone who owned the Alabama built first-gen M-Class Merc.

[CAP1]

I'm currently on my fifth Volkswagen. The first three were bought in Europe and were faultless. The fourth was a 2003 MkIV Gti bought for my wife when we moved to the States with the same 1.8 Turbo. With 55K on the clock - the impeller went. Luckily I was driving at the time and noticed the temp going through the roof. Had Mrs Wooley been driving, we'd have been after a new cylinder head as well. As it was, it still cost me over $1K to fix on a car 3 and a half year old.

The fifth VW is an EOS. Its built in Germany and has been (knock wood), rock solid.

In short, the only one I've had problems with was the only one not built in Germany. In fairness, both BMW and Mercedes have had quality problems with their North American built vehicles as well. Just ask anyone who owned the Alabama built first-gen M-Class Merc.

i had asked beetl1 over on fw about the audis. everyone seems to say the same about them. it seems that the ones generally sold here are built to a lesser standard.

 i imagine you did the timing belt, and tensioner along with the pump?

[Dimebag]

icccc......

ht4100 was a junk motor. never liked them. too many things went wrong with them. saw a lot that spent more time in my bay than in the owners driveway.

Not sure what the HT means here but if it's a 90 front drive Fleetwood, it should have the 4.5L, not a 4.1L... Last year of the 4.1L was 87 I believe.  And no matter which you have, you can always long block a 91-93 4.9L in place of either of those, and they are a dime a dozen.    And Mason, you cant go wrong with a 94 up Accord or 96 up Civic with a 5spd  

[Babalonian]

talked about a civic (like 95ish) and she said no right off bat, talked about toyotas, ahe said SUV right off bat (mom dad and brother all have trucks, why would i need something big like an SUV or a truck too?)

Oh geez, you have my sympathy, your mom is one of those "bigger is safer" people.  Go with your civic man, and just drive with awareness all teh time.  Every other day here in LA I'm dodging incompitent SUV, pickup and semi drivers in my '97 civic (previously a '87 accord (good car), a '94 ford aerostar (it handled like a boat, and while solid on the inside for I guess family trips, it's outside and powerplant weren't the most reliable/solid) and a '84 civic (for a hooptie, it was a damn good hooptie.  safety wise: solid car, but still was very small... but it did kick-ass being able to drive under half the pay-for-parking gate arms though )) . 

If I wasn't an aware driver driving a light (but solidly built) and nimble car I would have an accident record as long as my arm.  But thankfuly, I've only been in one accident my whole life (got rear ended by a 16-yo talking on her cell phone while driving her mommy's brand spanking-new lexus SUV )... and in the end, the SUV lost big time to my dinky '97 civic.  Her driver bags went off and her front end got smushed up enough to start dropping the engine... I could drive home, and my car was only in the shop for three days to get the trunk lid, rear bumper and a rear quarter panel replaced.  No damage to my frame thankfuly.  She did hit me hard enough though to grind a gear in my car seat which forced it to collapse during the accident though...  and no frame damage (I looked myself I couldn't believe it) and after i yanked my rear bumper out of the rear wheel-well I was good to drive home.

[ariansworld]

You will tear the clutch out of a new VW jetta.  They can be a real pain in the arse to get moving some times.
also, some are made in mexico, and some germany.  The wolfsberg edition vw are made in germany for sure.

[Meatwad]

My first car was a 1998 Ford Contour

My parents didnt get it for me. I saved every penny I made from work and got it when I had more then enough for a down payment and cost of full coverage insurance. My mother only had one car so I had to walk to/from work (about 35 minute walk.) I didnt have enough to pay it off, so it went on a 60 month contract from the local ford dealer. (got it in 2000).

I didnt abuse it or do any stupid careless stunts in it. I used my hard earned money to get it and I was going to treat it with care and respect.

I have a paid in full truck now, it never gets mistreated or abused either.

[Ruah]

I know a lot of people will laugh but:

the Mazda Miata (its called the Roadster here)

reasons:

its got one of the best stick/peddal positions in the world for any car, so its great to learn to drive maual.
its got very little power, but you learn to use the full range of gears, engine and performance
its cheap, and can easily be modded to do a lot more
its not a turbo-charged engine - so you don't have to learn about the pitfalls of 'fake' power
its a convertable so its a joy to drive
its a proper roadster, so its actually a lot of fun to drive
it has good resale value for a car. . .which is actually not saying much

I raced a Miata here in Japan 5 years ago in Rokko, it had some changes, a roll cage, fatter tires, totally changed exaust and air-intake, nice racing wheel, bucket seats and a few ither goodies - it was a good deal of fun because I could really push the car and learned its limits quickly.  it was good to learn heal&toe tricks and other 'basic' race stuff. . . I then sold that and changed to the S2000 which is also a great car and I still drive the s2000 (it needs a lot of weight loss. . .) but I remember my Miata with fond memories.  It died on the 'Uji Line' a race area with a cliff on one side and a mountain wall on the other. . .busted my head open, but the car was a gonner. 
thats my suggestion.

[Masherbrum]

Not sure what the HT means here but if it's a 90 front drive Fleetwood, it should have the 4.5L, not a 4.1L... Last year of the 4.1L was 87 I believe.  And no matter which you have, you can always long block a 91-93 4.9L in place of either of those, and they are a dime a dozen.    And Mason, you cant go wrong with a 94 up Accord or 96 up Civic with a 5spd  

"High Technology 4.1L"

They are prone to aluminum oil pump failures, intake manifold gasket failures, cam bearing displacement, weak aluminum block castings and bolts pulling the aluminum threads from the block.   My buddy had two Cadillacs that had all of these between two engines.   

[Furball]

[RTHolmes]

ah yes the DeTomaso Pantera - an ideal first car

[MaSonZ]

I saw a post (didnt read them all) that asked who would buyuing, and a few posts asking my price range. I would be buying, and lookin to spend at most no more than 10 or 11k. I saw i think it was Moot who asked about the whole SUV question, something to the effect of "it sounds like Mom wants you to buy an suv, and you want something sporty, maybe a Honda CRV"; dont get me wrong moot, but im not a fan of sedan / suv mix. I saw another post about nissans. I like nissan, nice lookin little cars, for the most part sporty (and though i havnt done my research) I feel they're safer than not. on the first page i saw banshee's post about his Fords, and well, I love fords. but a 2000 250,6 speed 7.3 4" exhasut K&N air filter i may be getting later on after my dad gets a smaller truck or kicks the bucket (hopin not for another 30+ he kicks) id sell my car i had at the time. Saw a post by Spikes about Hyndais, same thing as a nissan I feel, nice lookin, sporty cars and I feel safe. BMW's ive seen a few posts about I dont want...yet. gettin a couple porsches and BM'rs when my aunt and uncle kick, not for a while will they be though. these are some thoughts that come to mind now, any others ill make another post, maybe finish reading the last 2 pages later.

[MaSonZ]

ah yes the DeTomaso Pantera - an ideal first car

  my brother was hooked on em for a while (before he ever thought about getting a car though...thank god) Balance, you said you have a 2000 dakota, so does my brother, and his is all colors of the rainbow, 2 accidents in it, totaled his '99 toyota 4runner, got his license supended in the 4runner, got a citation for speeding in his dakota he has now...and the list goes on. Someone had mentioned that SUV's / truck's suck in the snow, and thats when my brother got his 3 accidents...in the snow.

I know a lot of people will laugh but:

the Mazda Miata (its called the Roadster here)

reasons:

its got one of the best stick/peddal positions in the world for any car, so its great to learn to drive maual.
its got very little power, but you learn to use the full range of gears, engine and performance
its cheap, and can easily be modded to do a lot more
its not a turbo-charged engine - so you don't have to learn about the pitfalls of 'fake' power
its a convertable so its a joy to drive
its a proper roadster, so its actually a lot of fun to drive
it has good resale value for a car. . .which is actually not saying much

I raced a Miata here in Japan 5 years ago in Rokko, it had some changes, a roll cage, fatter tires, totally changed exaust and air-intake, nice racing wheel, bucket seats and a few ither goodies - it was a good deal of fun because I could really push the car and learned its limits quickly.  it was good to learn heal&toe tricks and other 'basic' race stuff. . . I then sold that and changed to the S2000 which is also a great car and I still drive the s2000 (it needs a lot of weight loss. . .) but I remember my Miata with fond memories.  It died on the 'Uji Line' a race area with a cliff on one side and a mountain wall on the other. . .busted my head open, but the car was a gonner. 
thats my suggestion.

forgot about these miatas. might try running it by my mom quickly tonight.

Babylonian, i plan on going with what i want, and not with my moms choice of an suv, your 1st sentence made me chuckle.

sorry for double post