Well, here's the story: My brother is looking for an inexpensive car (1K-6K), but it's been pretty difficult to pick one.

1994 Ford Escort GT
Pros: Cheapest of the lot. It's a Ford. Cheap parts
Cons: FWD. The slowest of the lot. It's not the Euro Escort

1993 Nissan 240SX
Pros: RWD. Easy, cheap turbo engine swap. inexpensive mods.
Cons: Hard to find one with low miles.

1991 Mazda RX-7
Pros: RWD. Rotary Engine. dual exhaust
Cons: Rotary Engine. Costly parts.

1993 Toyota MR2
Pros: RWD. Mid-Engine. Reliable. dual exhaust
Cons: Mid-Engine. Costly maintanence. Costly repairs. 2 seater

1991 BMW 3-series Coupe
pros: rwd. reliable. good handling
cons: costly repairs. Might be most expensive

1986 Toyota Corolla
Pros: RWD. Lightweight. Easy mods. Good handling
Cons: Hard to find. Initial D craze. Oldest car.

1990 Toyota Supra
Pros: RWD. Inline-6
Cons: haven't really researched this car

1992 Nissan 300zx
Pros: RWD. V-6. 2nd Most powerful stock
Cons: One of the most costly. Heavy. Most are 2-seaters

1996 Ford Mustang GT
Pros: RWD. V-8. Cheap parts. easy mods. Most HP. newest of the lot.
Cons: heavy. gas. many on the road.

Choose with reasons why!
I'm hoping this poll doesn't become skewed

 

First of all, how much of an income does he have? Cause if you can afford the gas and insurance the mustang would be the best bang for the buck. All the japanese sports car are probably gonna be more expensive to repair. Of course youre gonna ge t a lot of people on her saying Stang, but id go with an earlier one for the 5.0, more torquey. (Biased maybe ). The RX7 and 240 could probably be had for pretty cheap too though, and the Supra and 300ZX too, unless they are the turbo models.

 

Passed the idea of a fox by him... he didn't bite.
Yea... he doesn't have too much of an income. Works part time at a Yoshinoya while going to school full time. He has about 2K saved up so far. Mustang insurance and gas is a big no-no, and the repairs on the imports is going to be costly. The Escort looks good, but we have heard horror stories about their reliability. It;s difficult

 

Escort should have cheapest maintenance, but its junk, I used to have 1992 Escort 1.8L (mine was base model, not GT). Nothing but trouble.

 

so I've heard My Brother's g/f's mom had a gt... she had a terrible time with it.

 

I'd say the Mustang GT if he could afford it of course.

I have a friend that had 1995 Escort GT and it lasted forever (157,954 miles, I was with him when he traded it in ) with only wear and tear items needing replaced. I think the newer models are a lot better than the older ones. He's since upgraded to a 2004 Explorer XLT V6.

The Escort ZX2's were also very nice too and can be had in that range.

What you have to remember is that you get what you pay for. The 1995 and 1996 Escorts have recieved pretty good consumer reviews and were really quite good in the safety end of things.

The thing with used cars is that you need to check everything out, especially when getting into a vehicle that is 10 years old too. Take the car to a mechanic and have them look at it to make sure it looks good.

Good luck Lalo

 

Thanks Andy! Finally a good story about the Escort
I'll make sure my uncle takes a good look before my brother takes the plunge

 

It all depends on how the previous owner maintains the car. Some people have no concept of routine maintenance and just beat the heck out of cars. Just don't get stuck with one of those

I've seen some cars come in here on trade that have been whooped. Off to the auction with them

 

My advice to your brother would be a Saturn, Sentra, or Corolla. Any car that is fast or was fast has a good chance of being a few miles away from major and costly repairs.

 

Oh what does an old fogie like you know George!?!?!

Pfft...

 

I have had a 240sx they are very fun cars. Just watch out for rust the frame rails under the floor pans rust out super easy.

FC RX7 would be nice and a rotary is extremely reliable if you knwo how to use it.

96 Mustang would be awesome and can be fast with a PI head intake swap.

Those would be my choices.

 

Or Civic, check 1992-1995 model, they're pretty cheap and reliable. I know its not anything special, but its not so bad for a first car.

 

RX7!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

my gawd i love those cars. i guarantee you, if i wasnt addicted to TMS and 'stangs in general, i'd be off driving other ppl insane on an RX7 forum lol. and driving an RX7 for that matter lol

i really love that car. maybe someday, when im not in my "first and only car" stage, ill be able to get a nice one... i hope

i love those cars...

its my all time favorite non american car

AND its my #2 all time favorite car that isnt a super car

 

The only thing I've ever liked about Saleens is their slogan Power in the hands of a few... I've got a slogan of my own my money, my power.

I gave my oldest son a Sentra, the two younger ones got Saturns, sporty but no power. If they had deciced to show off they would have been embarrassed.

Just in case you didn't know, I was once young which equates to being restless, undiciplined, irresponsible, naive, ignorant, cocky...
Should I go on, or do you get it by now?

 

I'm driving a 97 Escort wagon right now and it runs very well for its age. I have about 160,000 miles on it and I know I can get plenty more out of her. The only problems I've had are the normal wear and tear. It was originally a NY car so it has some rust but thats it.

I also owned a 99 Escort and it ran just as well.

 

I've got an 88 Escort wagon with 140,000 miles on it. I just drove it 577 miles from San Diego to Grass valley and it got 34 mpg on 87. It's not fast, and it's not exciting but it works as a daily driver/beater for around town.

I had an 85 MR2. 37 mpg on the freeway and it was as solid as an anvil. Nothing ever broke on that car in the 70,000 miles I had it. But as an only car it's not very practical. No space in it, and it's a 2 seater. Same for the RX-7, but they tend to need a lot more maintenance, and I suspect insurance costs will be high. The Mustang GT would be ridiculously expensive to insure.

If he wants simple transportatio, tell him to look at the Escort and any Toyota. I'd take the Toyota first.

 

Thanks for all of the help!!!
I've been relaying all of the info from you guys to him

 

GASP :shock: You mean you were young once too? Wow! Was Abe Lincoln really a nice guy?

I keed, I keed

I agree with you on those cars :yes: The Saturn SC2 is a nice sporty looking car. We have a silver one on the lot right now. I really like those den resistant doors, very neat.

I started out with 1986 Mustang LX (2.3L)

 

I don't know how it is in the states, but being 18 years old theres no way i could afford collision on my car, i beleive it would've been about $400/month. So i've just got p/l and p/d on it (minimum coverage) plus theft and its $140/month. He could afford probably afford a stang if he got it without collision coverage. With part-time amounts of money (like me) there's no way to afford full coverage. In Canada anyways.

 

I agree with geroge

If you buy a used sporty car you will get something that has had the living daylights beaten out of it. I am sure the suspension and engine will be tired and worn.

Since he doesn't have a lot of money to burn, I also suggest getting a low-miles econobox.

Cavaliers are dirt-cheap and so are the parts, he can get to learn to fix them as well. Stay away from the 2.2 OHV motor with the porous head gasket.

Otherwise, if he can find an unmolested civic, that is also a good car.