theholycow's considering looking for a car/truck to buy thread

[theholycow]

I'm considering replacing my Rabbit with something cheaper. When I chose it, I needed a new car, I was new in my job and afraid to be late or miss days due to a broken car; that concern is significantly reduced now, I'm comfortable here and they're very tolerant. Looking at the costs to get out of the car and its value, now may be a good time for me to get a different car.

So, I'm looking for a manual transmission car with cheaper insurance, cheaper purchase price, and not terrible reliability. Insurance is a big worthless cost for me (I never have to make a claim and it's very expensive due to my homeowner's insurance requirement that I carry high liability coverage) so it especially needs to be cheap to insure.

...well, after a bunch of quotes, it doesn't look like I'll reduce my insurance cost, but at least I need to avoid increasing it and get a car that's cheaper.

It doesn't need to be as dependable as a brand new car, but it does need to be newer than a VX (and I want OBDII anyway).

Any suggestions for what's a good deal? Besides the insurance being higher, Hondas and Toyotas tend to have higher resale value -- in other words, inflated price to try to buy used.

[dkjones96]

Got a specific price range in mind?

[cems70]

THC,

My 1998 Honda Civic HX is still for sale. See more info in these posts:

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=9950
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=10268

Nothing has changed since those original posts. I only drive it once every week or two for 20 - 50 miles (b/c my '95 Civic DX h/b is my regular driver), so I've only put a couple of hundred miles on it since last December. Lifetime fuel economy is almost 45 mpg.

I'm asking $4,500, and as you know, I'm right here in RI.

[theholycow]

cems70, your craigslist post is expired. Can you repost it or post more info? I'm not really interested in a Honda or Toyota, because of their great resale value (which means high price for me) and high insurance costs, but after running some quotes, the 1998 Civic isn't too awful. Just a couple years newer and they get really expensive to insure. Other cars don't change insurance cost so much between 1996 and 2002 models.

As for price range, that $4500 is probably in the right area. I'm just dabbling in the idea, not really sure where I'd go with the whole thing, so I'm not 100% sure where my price range is.

[dkjones96]

You can pick up a really decent Neon in that price range and those are plenty cheap to insure!

[R.I.D.E.]

1158628088 Norfolk Va craigslist.
1998 Civic HX with 62 k miles.
Asking $4700 OBO.

regards
gary

[dkjones96]

http://providence.craigslist.org/ctd/1155473552.html

2002 Neon SXT 56k miles.

Moon roof, CD player, and very clean except for a scuff on the center console lid and it's only $4,495. I kinda want it but it's too far.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

what about your lease???

also, maybe consider a cavalier. I got mine 5 years ago and it was 2k

(mine's not for sale though)

[bowtieguy]

this is a nation wide search for 5 speed chevy prizms. they're really toyotas, as you know, just less expensive...

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search...=1241732282220

edit: did a providence area check...http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search...=1241733219777

[Jay2TheRescue]

I would recommend a Ford Focus with a 5 speed. My dad has an 08 Focus sedan with everything but leather seats and its really nice. I wouldn't mind having one myself, and that's saying a lot because I hate driving small cars, but the Focus is fun, reasonably comfortable, and gets great mileage. Its not that expensive to insure either.

-Jay