I really need advice on buying a car. Please help?

Question

I am a 20 yr old college student who will have to drive 30 miles from my home every day to attend school. I will only be able to work part time and I need a car that is safe and dependable and that can fit my budget. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Answer 1

For someone such as yourself a VW Jetta TDI (diesel) will be economical, dependable and inexpensive. You can fine a 2000 model usually for under $10,000. and as a diesel, should be able to drive it with nominal maintenance to 250,000+ miles and get 33 mpg city and 45+ hi-way (depending on driving habits). Even if diesel costs a few cents more than gas you'll still save $$ as comparable gas engine cars typically will average less than 40 mpg. VW builds a great engine but does have some weakness in electrical. If the glow plugs go bad make the tech check each with an ohm meter, and it they show as good, the wiring at the glow plug is the culprit and that will need replaced, cost not bad. I bought mine new and sold it with 90K trouble free miles. My wife drove it to 75K miles then my daughter 90K, then she bought her own car and I sold it as an excess vehicle- 2 drivers and 3 cars. The Jetta was comfortable on trips (I'm 6'2" 250 lbs) and my having driven it from Nashville to Miami and New Orleans among other trips and back I think qualifies my ability to state that.

Answer 2

what your budget is has a lot to do with what to buy.
Driving 30 miles isn't an issue. Even a pice of junk will do that. Any decent car driven and cared for responsibly will do that and a whole lot more..
To start with, try to get a small to medium sized, front wheel drive, four cylinder automobile. If you drive responsibly they tend to be good on gas, tires and brakes.
Preferably, but not exclusively, most Japanese or a Korean Hyundai's would be your best bet. With care they'll last forever.
Condition of a vehicle, more than mileage, counts most.
Small, lighter weight, front wheel drives, driven with care, will get you home in inclement weather.
Generally speaking, smaller cars come with smaller maintenance and repair bills. Always check your oil and coolant levels. Neglected, they can and will turn even the best cars into flower boxes.
Light color cars stay cleaner looking, red ones get ticketed and are accident prone.
I've driven more than a few thru 4-6 inch's of snow with little trouble.
If you have to pay a little more for a better car, do it. Believe me you'll make up for it in repair bills.
I hope I helped. Good Luck

Answer 3

if your top priority is fitting in your budget, get a mid 90's Chevy Geo Metro. Get one with the 1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine. For the car you should pay no more than 2500, probably less, and youll get better millage than most cars on the road, high 30's MPG in city, and high 40's MPG on highway depending on the year and condition of car. The older ones are not as safe as the newer ones were, but the older ones tend to get the best millage. The XFi version of the Chevy Geo Metro could get 58 MPG highway with the manual transmission, that was the no fluff version of the Metro.

Answer 4

You will have to search really hard to find a cheap good car. I would stay with american made fuel injected,the parts are cheaper and with the V6 or small V8s most of them get 30 miles per gallon hwy. and last much longer than 4 cyl. cars. Also the front wheel drives have lots of expensive parts that wear out regularly. The foreign car parts are very high if you can find them

Answer 5

Hope this helps you regarding purchasing a car. Depending on where you live and the type of weather you may get also if you have to drive on a freeway, expressway, highway to get to school. If you drive freeway ect you will need to get a 6 cyl car so you have some get up and go when you get on. if you don't then a 4 cyl is just fine to help you save money on gas and you can also car pool. If it gets very hot or cold in your area you will need air conditioning for sure and a 6cyl is better than 4cyl. Try to buy from a private seller first who is a one owner of the car & usually older people take very good care of their cars. Don't buy for looks, instead just for dependability & preformance. if you live where the weather is mild you may want to try a motorcycle or scooter. They really save on money and you can save up for a good car with the money you save on gas. Hope that helps you out. Frances

Answer 6

Go look at the new Kia Rio. I know what your thinking "Kia..your joking right?" Nope. Kia is getting up there in quality, along with hyundai. They are well price and alot of car for the money. Heres a list of cars you should go look at:

1 - Kia Rio
2 - Hyundai Accent
3 - Toyota Yaris
4 - Honda Civic
5 - Mazda 3

Thats about all I can think of, good luck! Drive as many as you can, dont just choose the first one.

Answer 7

if you really want to save money on gas get a motorcycle but a good used 4 cylider car like a carrola or dogde neon will work and be cheap you could probably afford a brand new kia some kia even come with free gas for a year and no payments for six month where i life only like $99 down and 200 a month with good credit

Answer 8

Yeah, I'd say go with an older Toyota. They're not the safest cars in the world, but they'll have better gas mileage than most everything else.

Answer 9

i was a service manager for 29 years.. mazda GLC, or a 626 seems like then had the least repairs, and cheap to work on. General mortors has the cheapest parts, depends on your preference.

Answer 10

foreign cars are the best. Get something with good gas mileage. Try searching for cars in your area at craigslist.com. you might find something in your price range. you can also use kbb.com to see if you're getting a good deal on the car you want to buy.