Need a car before August 22nd. HELP
 

Alright, I'm starting college on the 22nd of August, and it appears that one of my classes will be at a campus that's a 15 minute ride from my house. I need a car, and I need it within a month or so. I got $10K to spend on a car. Two things. It cannot be older than 3-4 years, and it can't be a Dodge. Can somebody suggest something reliable/nice for that money? Thanks.

Go with a Toyota. If your looking for a car you can the Corolla, its affordable and very reliable. They get great gas mileage too.

Any volkswagen with the tdi engine...you can easily put 500k on the engine if you do timing belts every 80k. Also excellent gas mileage.

Not a Dodge because of a bad experience, or because you don't want the rotting corpse smell if you leave it in the sun on a hot day?

VW Polo

Ford Fiesta

Nissan Micra

All cheap, all little (so low running costs).

I have never heard of the above mentioned cars. Are they even on the US market?

And no Dodge, because of countless horror stories. One of which happened not too long ago. My firend's co-worker bought a brand new Dodge Neon. As she went to open the door to get into the car, the door fell off. She dodged it and got out of the situation scratch free. A brand new Dodge...driver's door falls off.

The Polo is a Jetta, the Fiesta is a mini-Focus hatchback, and the Micra is some sort of hideous car which, as its name suggests, is extraordinarily small, that would ensure that you'd die if you got in an accident with one of the countless SUVs in the US.

Gee, thanks for the choices, Daniel. The Polo looks like a Golf to me...(I Googled it).

European cars are not made for the US roads. Unless they are specifically made for the American market.

As mentioned before...I'd give my vote to a VW. Very nice and affordable plus they run forever.

plenty of Hondas and Toyotas within 30 miles of you that fit your criteria.

Depending on the cost per month you can pay for inshurance (sp?) I just bought a 2000 Mustang for 7995, total after taxes and everything close to 9 grand. But I'm also in FL and also talked cash up front, so no financeing. But the story is that I got a nice farily new car for under 10 grand.

And unfortunately, if you buy anything made by them om the last 10 or 12 years, you'll find yourself in the midst of some of the most puzzling and illogical electrical problems you've ever seen. I understand that you have probably had good experiences with them, but I would never buy a car (previous generation Jettas and Passats) after hearing horror stories from owners of those models. Some of my favorites that I have heard from at least two people each include:
-Central locking control dying on humid days
-Shift lock mechanism on automatic transmission shorting out and preventing the car from shifting out of neutral
and my favorite, the implications of which have marred my judgement of VW to the point that I would never buy a car of theirs until relatively several problem-free years have passed:
-EPC opening turbo wastegate and reducing power (also done via electronic throttle controls on a non-turbo Passat) due to a burned-out taillight.

a honda civic is a nice little car that gets awesome mileage.

Just to counter the horror stories about VW a little, although I've no doubt their true - I drive a '94 Golf III, 1.8. Have had no electronic problems. On the other hand i have no central locking, manual shift, manual windows. Only workshop visits have been self inflicted or parts wearing out, that are expected to wear out of 220000 kms... i highly recommend it, although I have no idea how the US spec cars are. I live and drive in Europe :)

Honda Civic
Acura Integra
Volkswagen Golf
Subaru Impreza
Mercedes 300D
Mazda Miata
Pontiac Fiero
Pontiac Firebird
Ford Mustang
Chevrolet Camaro

I found a 2003 Mazda6 in Autofocus car ad magazine for 13K. Anybody has good experiences with that car? I'm going to call them today as well as go to some dealerships after work.

Anyone at all?

As a guy who likes cars with decent reputations I was very suprised when I got to drive a Kia Spectra 5. It was fast, handled well, and from the factory came with interesting options like factory turbo which I was suprised to say the least. You can get a used one that is like 1 or so years old for like $10K give or take. They also have very good warentees on them. Other cars I would suggest would be:

94-01 (DC) Acura Integra
96-01 (EK) Honda Civic
01-05 (EP3) Honda Civic Si (SiR) Hatch
Mazda Protege 5
Honda CRV
Toyota Camry
Nissan Altima
01+ Toyota Celica (Sorta a girly car IMO)
Toyota Rav4
Toyota Matrix
Ford Mustang (1 generation before the newest)

Any of those should be decent.

CRX Forum

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I got the car a little over a week ago. Here's a thread about it. http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=92730