Pick an econobox for the misses..

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Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Ford Focus
if you get a FOCUS , make sure you have good tread on tires , we had a rental with low tread on tires and that car was horrible in rain . A co-worker had a FOCUS and let her tires go and she endend up loosing control ( spun out ) on an interstate during a rain storm and ended up on the grassy median . We had an 2000 Prizm bought used with low tread and that car performed much better than the FOCUS , got new COOPER Trendsetter SE's on PRIZM that week after purchase , better to be safe than sorry . GOOD LUCK
 
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I'd get a '99 > '02 FORD ESCORT ( MAZDA ) before the FOCUS or an '99 > '02 CHEVY Prizm ( Corolla ) as well . Had both nad very little trouble and very good gas mileage , both were 5 speed manuals .
 
Get the Saturn. They are good, basic cars. That one probably has a lot of life left. 42K miles is nothing. I'd get that car before someone else does.
 
Originally Posted By: smokey1
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Ford Focus
if you get a FOCUS , make sure you have good tread on tires , we had a rental with low tread on tires and that car was horrible in rain . A co-worker had a FOCUS and let her tires go and she endend up loosing control ( spun out ) on an interstate during a rain storm and ended up on the grassy median . We had an 2000 Prizm bought used with low tread and that car performed much better than the FOCUS , got new COOPER Trendsetter SE's on PRIZM that week after purchase , better to be safe than sorry . GOOD LUCK


I think that probably has more to do with the tires on the car rather than the car itself.
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: smokey1
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Ford Focus
if you get a FOCUS , make sure you have good tread on tires , we had a rental with low tread on tires and that car was horrible in rain . A co-worker had a FOCUS and let her tires go and she endend up loosing control ( spun out ) on an interstate during a rain storm and ended up on the grassy median . We had an 2000 Prizm bought used with low tread and that car performed much better than the FOCUS , got new COOPER Trendsetter SE's on PRIZM that week after purchase , better to be safe than sorry . GOOD LUCK


I think that probably has more to do with the tires on the car rather than the car itself.
the FOCUS is lean and taller , thus possible instability . Hard to overlook both incidents . The PRIZM and ESCORT have wider wheelbase .
 
It's real hard to find a saturn s-car with under 130k miles. People who buy econocars (or those who bought them in the sane 90's) did so for long commutes.

I know it frosts you the wrong way how it's so expensive; the resale used to be bad on s-cars but has improved lately. Incidentally the SL1s with SOHCs/automatics can get 36-40 mpg while the peppier SL2s are low-30s with stick shifts and even worse (28-ish) with automatics.

Can you get downstate a couple hours and out of the lake effect region? Might be able to find a NY licensed dealer in the middle of nowhere with a dirt lot (low overhead) so you'll get all the NY consumer protections etc. I use various internet searches like autotrader when I'm assigned the task of finding a nice used car for someone else then make a day of going south to NH/MA where the rust is less and the income is better-- making used cars nicer and cheaper.
 
Yeah we are not opposed to driving to get the car.

Does that 1.9L saturn motor have a timing belt or chain?

Anyone know the interval?

Thanks,
Justin
 
s-car= chain.

Lasts forever, but you have to check the oil once in a while as they burn it.

00-02s are better in this regard.
 
Here's another thought. You've taken the depreciation hit on the Neon. It only has 91K. You know the basic maintenance has been done on it (you're a BITOGer after all!). If you sell it for 2 grand and get something for 5 grand, your out 3 grand - easily enough to fix the things that need fixing on the Neon.

If you get anything domestic for 5 grand, in a couple years, you'll eat another 3 grand in depreciation and that car will need maintenance just like the Neon.

If you must get out of the Neon, I'd get a Cavalier with the Ecotech. Powerful, reliable, and solid fuel economy. I believe the first year for the Ecotech in the Cavi was 2003. I see many 03 and 04s with around 50K for $5K
 
Well, Drew..

The car doesn't owe her a dime.

She paid 6 grand for it 5 years ago.

The neon will need a timing belt at 100k, and who knows how long the trans is going to last..

It already needs struts, etc.

And the air doesn't work.

She wants out of this thing.

Yeah I'll check the ecotech for sure, I have a ecotech saturn ion.

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Here's another thought. You've taken the depreciation hit on the Neon. It only has 91K. You know the basic maintenance has been done on it (you're a BITOGer after all!). If you sell it for 2 grand and get something for 5 grand, your out 3 grand - easily enough to fix the things that need fixing on the Neon.

If you get anything domestic for 5 grand, in a couple years, you'll eat another 3 grand in depreciation and that car will need maintenance just like the Neon.

If you must get out of the Neon, I'd get a Cavalier with the Ecotech. Powerful, reliable, and solid fuel economy. I believe the first year for the Ecotech in the Cavi was 2003. I see many 03 and 04s with around 50K for $5K
 
Get a Saturn. Mine has 98k miles on it and nothing has every been repaired on it except maintenance items. You can get 40mpg with these cars easily. Parts are laughably cheap for this car, and it's easy as cake to work on.

Teach her to drive stick. To me, an economy car and an automatic transmission don't mix. Sticks are so much more reliable. Even if you need a clutch down the road...that's a max of $800 compared to a rebuilt $3000 automatic transmission.
 
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Originally Posted By: GMFan
Get a Saturn. Mine has 98k miles on it and nothing has every been repaired on it except maintenance items. You can get 40mpg with these cars easily. Parts are laughably cheap for this car, and it's easy as cake to work on.

Teach her to drive stick. To me, an economy car and an automatic transmission don't mix. Sticks are so much more reliable. Even if you need a clutch down the road...that's a max of $800 compared to a rebuilt $3000 automatic transmission.


I have to agree about the reliability of these cars. A good friend of mine had a mid-90's SC1 with the 1.9L SOHC.

That car went through literal [censored]. It had MAYBE 3 oil changes in 5 years (he hated the car, it was his wife's and he wanted her to buy a V6 F-Body) and 100,000Km.

Yet it kept going.

one of the flywheel bolts came off and punctured the transmission (manual) and it was driven dry for two years with only the occasion bottle of Lucas trans junk to keep the noise down. Clutch was fried, engine had 300+ thousand on it, burned a litre of oil a week but still knocked down ridiculous gas mileage and still passed an E-test!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNREAL the abuse that car took.
 
Ecotec Cavalier/Sunfire.

Depreciation makes them killer deals, they are bulletproof reliable, and parts/service are still cheap.

Even though they are 'econo cars' they aren't very popular, and you will be able to get a really nice one for your price range.
 
I don't see why she doesn't put 1/2 of that amount into the existing car to fix the issues, and maybe add something she might like, like satellite radio or something.

I guess if she hates it, she hates it.

But I wonder how much of the hate is because of all the things that need fixing?

Any used car is going to need thing fixed, especially at the $5K price point.

While I understand this is probably largely an emotional issue with her (not saying it's good or bad, just saying what it is, some treat the idea of emotional issues as if they had a bad connotation.) It may not make good sense fiscally to get out of the Neon.

Of course, the flip side is folks are paying stupid money for fuel efficient cars, so if you guys plan to sell it, you may get 1/2 or more of the $5K or so you're looking to spend if you sell the Neon.

Or does the ~ $5K include what you expect to get selling the Neon?
 
Here's a follow up guys.

Tonight we are going to put the down payment on a 2001 Saturn SC1 3 door coupe.

Automatic with 45k miles, car was from the south, brought up here for a year.

The person decided that they didn't like NY, and wanted to move back down south, pronto..

Was able to negotiate it down to 5200 cash, down from 6000.

Photos to follow once I get this deal done.

Going to put her little neon up on ebay as is and see if someone wants it.

Thanks.
 
Justin, good choice. Even my Chrysler colleague - much as it pained him - admitted these are great cars. Saturns are underappreciated cars that are built well and get good gas mileage. I'm guessing they have a bad rep because people don't maintain them as they would their luxury cars.
 
Wow how things have changed. $5200 for a 7+yr old Saturn 2 door!?! It wasn't all that long ago that same car would barely get you half of that. A good call though. Reliability will probably be better. Woohoo!! My Econo Cobalt is gaining more value than my 401K!

Joel
 
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