search for my next car

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Ebay is OK, as long as you inspect/drive the car before you bid. My nephew wanted to bid on a 2000 Civic DX hatchback, but I told him lets look at the car before he bids. We drove 3 hours to Tampa only to find out the car had a clean CARFAX with lots of passenger side damage. I don't trust CARFAX at all.

Have you considered a 5 speed base 160 hp RSX ?

That car has a timing chain and is all around a much more fun car than a base Civic and they get pretty decent gas mileage. My sister up in Orlando has a 2002 base RSX and and it has been extremely reliable. If you lived closer I could teach you to drive stick.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette

Have you considered a 5 speed base 160 hp RSX ?

That car has a timing chain and is all around a much more fun car than a base Civic and they get pretty decent gas mileage. My sister up in Orlando has a 2002 base RSX and and it has been extremely reliable. If you lived closer I could teach you to drive stick.

Agreed. Even an automatic one would be a good idea:

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/ctd/952677420.html
 
Thats what I'm talking about, but I would prefer 5 speed trans and cloth seats.
You can find an RSX for $8000 if you take time and look. I would rather have a base RSX over a Civic EX.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Thats what I'm talking about, but I would prefer 5 speed trans and cloth seats.
You can find an RSX for $8000 if you take time and look. I would rather have a base RSX over a Civic EX.

I wonder how much the insurance for a RSX is going to be. Now that he has an at-fault incident on his record, his rates are probably going to increase significantly.
 
Originally Posted By: firemachine69
Took me about a month to really get it down. Mind you, that 2.0 in my dad's 2000 Jetta was completely inadequate for the heft of that car...

You don't need much power to learn how to drive stick. Actually, IMO, the more power, the more difficult it is to learn stick/engage smoothly. B5 Jetta is relatively light... it does just fine with a 2-liter engine and a manual transmission.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Thats what I'm talking about, but I would prefer 5 speed trans and cloth seats.
You can find an RSX for $8000 if you take time and look. I would rather have a base RSX over a Civic EX.

I wonder how much the insurance for a RSX is going to be. Now that he has an at-fault incident on his record, his rates are probably going to increase significantly.


The insurance investigator told me he determined the accident as no-fault but I'm sure the rates will go up since they're ponying up the money.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Thats what I'm talking about, but I would prefer 5 speed trans and cloth seats.
You can find an RSX for $8000 if you take time and look. I would rather have a base RSX over a Civic EX.


Yeah, I sat in an RSX yesterday and I really liked it. The outside isn't in the condition that I would like though.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette

Have you considered a 5 speed base 160 hp RSX ?

That car has a timing chain and is all around a much more fun car than a base Civic and they get pretty decent gas mileage. My sister up in Orlando has a 2002 base RSX and and it has been extremely reliable. If you lived closer I could teach you to drive stick.

Agreed. Even an automatic one would be a good idea:

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/ctd/952677420.html


Looks nice
 
Okay the car search continues.

The dealer person is still looking for me at the auctions he goes to but it seems like there aren't many Accords in good condition.

Several other cars that I've looked at haven't worked out either.

I'm getting the feeling that it would be hard to find an Accord in good condition in my price range (which is what is limiting me). Most of them are high mileage.

So I'm considering other cars and the Jetta/Golf is one of them. I've read a few things and they seem to be good cars as long as they are maintained. So how high maintenance are these things?

I know there are VW specs that oils have to meet, but are they typically expensive synthetic? OCI?

How difficult is it to drain & fill the transmission? How long do they last with good maintenance?

Timing belt? Interference or non-interference?

What year were the windows falling into the door problem fixed?

1.8t or 2.0 engine?

Any known quirks?
 
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Trying to find late model imports with low mileage will be fruitless.

Would you consider something like the last year Cavalier or an older Chevrolet Cobalt, both with the 2.2L Ecotec engine? Great drive trains, somewhat sporty, and you can easily find them with under 50,000 miles for less then 8 grand.
 
Definitely not the Cavalier. Not worried about the drive train, but the rest of the car is atrocious aesthetically, especially the interior. And the build quality seems questionable.

The Cobalt is okay but it's not at the top of my list.

A domestic that's on my short list is the Fusion. Some stuff on the inside seems cheap and the engine is a bit harsh, but overall it's a decent car. Looks good and the inside is spacious. I would take a low mileage base model. Same for the Mazda 6.

Funny thing is I found 3 cars within my price range but all three cars were sold when I went to look at them. All at 3 at different dealers.
 
The Legend is one of my favorite cars (I have a lot of them). I want something newer than 2002 though. I need it to last at least ten years without major problems.
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Okay the car search continues.

The dealer person is still looking for me at the auctions he goes to but it seems like there aren't many Accords in good condition.

Several other cars that I've looked at haven't worked out either.

I'm getting the feeling that it would be hard to find an Accord in good condition in my price range (which is what is limiting me). Most of them are high mileage.

So I'm considering other cars and the Jetta/Golf is one of them. I've read a few things and they seem to be good cars as long as they are maintained. So how high maintenance are these things?

I know there are VW specs that oils have to meet, but are they typically expensive synthetic? OCI?

How difficult is it to drain & fill the transmission? How long do they last with good maintenance?

Timing belt? Interference or non-interference?

What year were the windows falling into the door problem fixed?

1.8t or 2.0 engine?

Any known quirks?


There has to be a resident VW enthusiast here
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac


There has to be a resident VW enthusiast here


Usually owning one for a while cures a person of that particular form of insanity.

My college-student-residing-with-us nephew had a Jetta I was pretty well forced to maintain. I would never put myself in that situation voluntarily after that experience. On the other hand, I loved working on the old air cooled bug engines.
 
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A friend has a 2008 Jetta and it seems to be a pretty solid car, I like it and personally would consider one of the newer ones, but that might be out of your price range. The older ones (pre 2005.5) were just a headache and the more complex you go, automatics, turbos, the worse they were.

The newer 2.5 NA ones seem pretty solid. I think the newer autos are actually Aisins so they should be decent too.

I think the window falling into the door thing was fixed in the 2005.5 refresh also.
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
So I'm considering other cars and the Jetta/Golf is one of them. I've read a few things and they seem to be good cars as long as they are maintained. So how high maintenance are these things?

On a used VW, maintenance has probably been bungled, especially if the vehicle was ever serviced at the dealer. A VW, as most Euro cars, will require some preventive maintenance. Driving and neglecting the car until stuff breaks, as is commonly done in NA, will result in high cost and (deserved) frustration.

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I know there are VW specs that oils have to meet, but are they typically expensive synthetic? OCI?

Expect to pay around $7 a quart. You can easily pay more, if you choose to do so.


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How difficult is it to drain & fill the transmission? How long do they last with good maintenance?

Draining is easy with the right socket. Filling requires a special socket also. In case of an auto transmission, specialized equipment for filling may be needed -- it's unfortunately a job for the dealer. Don't get auto. An MT can last a few hundred thousand miles. The first gear is traditionally weak on VW MTs -- don't abuse it.

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Timing belt? Interference or non-interference?

I believe all VW gas engines available in NA are interference engines. Timing belt service intervals should be rigorously observed.

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What year were the windows falling into the door problem fixed?

I have no idea.

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1.8t or 2.0 engine?

I'd go with the 2.0.

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Any known quirks?

Owning a VW, many forum members will regard you like you were a leper. Kwirki enuff fer ya?
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
On a used VW, maintenance has probably been bungled, especially if the vehicle was ever serviced at the dealer. A VW, as most Euro cars, will require some preventive maintenance. Driving and neglecting the car until stuff breaks, as is commonly done in NA, will result in high cost and (deserved) frustration.

I guess what worries me most when buying a used car is its maintenance history. More so for fussy cars than ones that tolerate neglect slightly better. As long as preventative means fluids, brakes, and t-belt then I think that's doable.

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Expect to pay around $7 a quart. You can easily pay more, if you choose to do so.

So let's say a diy change is $45-50 a pop, is this done every 5k or 10k? Can't imagine spending $50 per oil change every 5k. But of course the Civic wasn't fussy about oil so I'm used to that.


Quote:
Draining is easy with the right socket. Filling requires a special socket also. In case of an auto transmission, specialized equipment for filling may be needed -- it's unfortunately a job for the dealer. Don't get auto. An MT can last a few hundred thousand miles. The first gear is traditionally weak on VW MTs -- don't abuse it.

I originally planned on getting a manual but I'm still iffy so I thought I better get an auto instead. I do really want a manual though. I guess I should pick a nice long weekend to get a car and practice.

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I believe all VW gas engines available in NA are interference engines. Timing belt service intervals should be rigorously observed.

I heard somewhere that it should be changed every 60k. How much does it cost? I hope it's not $1000 each time.

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I'd go with the 2.0.

I think that's easy enough with half of them being 2.0s. But the turbo sounds like fun.

Quote:
Owning a VW, many forum members will regard you like you were a leper. Kwirki enuff fer ya?
grin2.gif


Well, a good percentage of the people here regard anyone who doesn't own a domestic as a leper. So if I end up with a VW I guess people won't touch any of the threads with the heading 'what's wrong with my car?' with a 10ft pole.
 
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The 1.8T is a much better choice than the 2.0.

The intervals are every 10k for the 2.0, 2.5 and 2.0t, but every 5k for the 1.8t.

The transmissions seem to blow about every 150k or so (from what I was told) regardless of maintenance on the 2.0s, so that's about average.

The timing belt needs to be done every 80k ont he 2.0, but a kit only costs $150 and I'm sure you can do it yourself, or pay someone a few hours labor to do it. The 1.8T's kit runs a bit more and the first job should be done around 60k, but subsequent timing belt changes can be extended once you have the updated parts.

Also, VW brake jobs require the pads and rotors to be changed at the same time. The rotors are usually below minimum thickness when the pads are worn out.
 
The 1.8t must be brutal on oil if it needs 5k synthetic oil changes.

Sounds like the manual would be best for this car.

Many of the ones for sale are around the 60k miles mark +/- 10k. I'm assuming the previous owners dumped them because a major maintenance is required. The price for parts for the t-belt sounds fair. Looked through a diy and it looks kind of tedious though.

I hope the brakes last a while then.

Maybe if I get lucky I'll end up with a low mileage, 7th gen Accord with the 2.4 liter engine.
 
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