Advice for my new car..
 

Being a student, I have a very limited budget. I've narrowed it down to a Mitsubishi Lancer ES. Nissan Sentra GXE, or a Hyundai Elantra GT.

All will cost me around the same. All come with great options. The motor of the Elantra is a tad more powerful than the other two.

I know Hyundai is known to make cheap cars, but the car is getting great ratings, and is an extremely safe car. I test drove all 3, and loves the Elantra..any advice ?

I would go for the Elantra. You seem to be leaning that way as well... so does it really matter what we say? :)

All thing being equal and you like the Elantra, might as well go with it. There are a lot of intangibles in car buying.

My mother has an elantra. I think it's a great car for the price, you can't go wrong with that one

www.edmunds.com they have reviews on all the cars. I hope this site is useful. It is what I used when I bought my car, and it steered me in the right direction. If it were me I'd buy the Lancer, because of power and I like the way it looks. Good Luck!

All three are great cars, but I'd have to go with the Elantra.... I have sort of a soft-spot for Hyundais and Kias. They're really turning around from "throw away car companies" to making really nice cars. And their deals are amazing....

More importantly, I need to sell my car before buying the new one. I'm selling a black 2-dr chev Z24, around 70000km on it. I posted it on Ebay, and autotrader, asking around 9500 $CAD

Is that too much....

Don't know about the Kias, Rolo, but Hyundai has turned out some relatively nice, inexpensive rides lately. I'm hearing good things about the Elantra.

I have a friend who has worked as a mechanic. One thing that he always keeps in mind is the cost of future repairs or even regular maint.

Phone a Chev dealer, he says, and ask what the book rate is for changing the spark plugs on an astro van.

Normally the kind of job that you would think would be routine and cheap. Or even an easy do it yourself.

I don't know where you can find that kind of info on the 3 cars in question here, but thought I'd mention it as a general tip.

i have an elantra gt (hatchback). great great car. i have very few complaints about it, and if i do, that sucker is warunteed for it. i don't think you're gonna find a better deal, it comes with so much that's standard, shit you'd be charged up the asshoe for on other cars... i may be a lil biased, but i really do like my gt.

go with what you feel you shoule but first, look up the vin numbers online at carfax.com. got to KBB.com and check the value of the cars. take a mechanically inclined friend with you when you go to look at the cars and have him check the seals on the vehicle. mostly on the tansmission. because if the tranny goes, then the car is fucked till you can come up with between 300 and 700 bucks, pending on make and model

answer: 1991 cadillac seville. 2,000 - no problems what soever.

i have an elantra gls 5-speed, basically the same as the gt. awesome car for the price. i managed to get into a head-on collision (my fault) and do about $4000 damage, but i emerged with no injuries. now i have to wait two more weeks to get my car back.

word to the wise: make sure you have rental insurance

Hyundai has definitely made big forward strides in their build quality and overall image. Personally, I'd get the Sentra. Nissan's are built solid, and offer good value, I think. Good luck on whatever you get.

Nissans, if something goes wrong, can be extremely expensive to repair. Any car you buy now will be fine for the next three years or so, but after that, Nissans will suck your pocketbook dry in the upkeep. Of course, if any car is painstakingly maintained, it will run problem-free for a long time, especially recent models.

Hyundais are becoming more reliable cars than they were a couple of years ago. However, most of the cars produced by Hyundai are made using lower-grade materials than most cars on the market from other makers. (i.e. trim, belts, hoses, etc.)

Mitsubishis have also had problems with reliability. However, the one car they've been producing the last 20 years, the Lancer, keeps getting better and more reliable. They corner great, and beat a good deal of much higher-priced cars in road tests. Plus, they look pretty good.

I bought a dodge SX 2.0
Its the new Canadian version of the neon. Except with more power under the hood, and an entirely new facelift. I love it. It has the best basic and powertrain warranty out, and it was cheap.