i'm getting a car what kind should i buy

[KillerKat]

Yep Honda anything. Great company. Great cars.

[ladypanther]

 VW Sport Wagon TDI (diesel)

 

Awesome gas mileage. Diesel engines will go forever.

[PhillyB]

 VW Sport Wagon TDI (diesel)

 

Awesome gas mileage. Diesel engines will go forever.

 

looks frighteningly close to a minivan

[Mother Grabber]

love my WRX (I have a Saab 92x, but it's a Subaru WRX with a moonroof and a Saab logo on the steering wheel).  2005 with 135K on it, still drives like the day I drove it out of the dealership in Greensboro.

[Herbert The Love Bug]

'91 aerostar

Sent from my SCH-I545 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[the butch]

Toyota Yaris? I had to rent one on a trip to Baton Rouge once. Not sure if they offer a manual transmission, though.

You are a rare breed, by the way. Most people don't have the discipline you do to limit yourself to sub-10k car.

[pstall]

don't do mini cooper due to maint costs.

 

can't go wrong with a honda.

 

i'm also in the market and not sure what i want. my wife's old cobalt is paid but costs are adding up. great mpg of around 36.

[ladypanther]

I am in the car biz.  Let me know what you are looking for.  I can get some inside info on pricing. 

[PhillyB]

don't do mini cooper due to maint costs.

 

i have heard this too. the maintenance records themselves aren't terrible but they're also pretty damn expensive when you actually have to go out and get them done.

[sunbunny]

Chiming in on the don't buy a mini unless you want the expenses. That being said, they're really fun to drive.

[Panthro]

Actually I can see you driving a diesel or a Subaru. Subarus go for decades, manual, all wheel drive. A thinkers car.

[mr beauxjangles]

I would echo pstall's comment. I owned a 2003 Mini Cooper S. Fantastic car and very fun to drive but too expensive in terms of maintenance (it is a BMW after all). Just too many issues in my opinion. Many places (except dealers) will not even touch a Mini and often do not carry the most basic parts like oil filters. 

 

I have also owned a Honda Civic and leased two different VW Jettas. Never had a TDI, but as mentioned, they get great gas mileage. Honda is a more reliable car in my opinion. In my experience with two Jettas, one Audi, and family members with VWs, everything starts breaking on VW/Audi at 100K miles. I've seen or driven Hondas with 150-200K miles and no major maintenance (I'd consider anything over $1K to be a major repair). Plenty of anecdotal evidence of 250K+ out there. That being said, every car I've had was a manual except for the two Jettas, so I can't speak to the manual trans. there. I was maniac teenage driver that put a Civic through absolute hell. Transmission, clutch, engine, rotors, everything....I abused it and that car handled it all. Never a single problem.

 

Panthro makes a good point too about Subaru's and longevity.

[Johnny Rockets]

i have heard this too. the maintenance records themselves aren't terrible but they're also pretty damn expensive when you actually have to go out and get them done.

My GF was thinking about trading in Her 350z and going to a mini cooper (I have no idea why) and then I came across this a couple of days ago:

 

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/car-dealer-scientific-guide-10-worst-used-vehicles-222709616.html

 

Mini Cooper is #3 on the worst used cars to own list.

[frash.exe]

Really you can't rely on brand names too much because you never know what the previous owner(s) did with it. A 98 Honda is still a 16 year old car and it's going to need some maintenance regardless, not to mention the civic and accord models from that year are one of the most commonly stolen vehicles right now. Obviously they're a better, lower risk option than a 98 Malibu but don't go in to this thinking buying a certain brand is going to give you the convenience of not having to put in new spark plugs or replacing a rusted out muffler. There are thousands of individual parts on a car and at any point one of them can just fail or they wear out.