Jean Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I want to buy a car but my budget is pretty limited.. I estimate I can afford to spend C$3,000 or so on my car. I know I wont get the car of the year with that kind of $ but I only want something that will reliably get me from A to B. I dont really care about the rest. I heard than some good cars to look for in that price range are Toyota Tercel and Hyundai Accent. Any suggestions for this car n00b? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 try a corolla. mine has 210k and still runs smoothly..mind you its not a performance driven car but it'll get from point A to B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexstream Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I want to buy a car but my budget is pretty limited.. I estimate I can afford to spend C$3,000 or so on my car. I know I wont get the car of the year with that kind of $ but I only want something that will reliably get me from A to B. I dont really care about the rest. I heard than some good cars to look for in that price range are Toyota Tercel and Hyundai Accent. Any suggestions for this car n00b? Volvo. Any kind, any year. I NEVER get stuck in snow. It's just like a 4 X 4 I'd sell mine for $3000 if I wasn't addicted to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Look for Honda or Toyota they make a great car for cheap. I hate the Hyundai Accent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_Habs_Fan Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 i hate any Hyundai car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromage Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I have a 1998 Hyundai Elantra as my beater/daily driver car. It has 208k km on it. Bought it for $1500 last August. Never needed any repairs other than both tie rods/ball joints/brakes. Typical maintenance. Pluses: Powerful 1.8L engine ~130hp ~130 lbs/ft torque - faster than most Civics. good fuel economy ~600km for a ~40 liter tank when driving lightly mine has air conditioning clutch is very light and easy to drive. no problems whatsoever engine/powertrain Minuses: interior fell apart basically. Front manual window mechanism is piss-poorly designed. speedometer is inaccurate, it is 6-7km/h too fast. interior is not great quality. resell value, though I'm pretty sure I can get atleast $1000 for it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze53 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 www.kijiji.ca, you'll find a great car at the price you're looking for here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zowpeb Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I think the Accent is a pretty solid car if you can get one after 2001...my fiance bought one after my friend drove one for a few years. There's a lot of road noise on the highway, but it's great on gas, cheap on insurance and cheap on parts/maintenance. I'd recommend it after th 2001 year because that seems to be the point where Hyundai's quality started to really get a lot better. If I remember correctly their 2002 versions started to get the 5 year warranties... I drive a newer model Sonata and it's been great btw...and I've already put 85,000km on it after 1.5 years. Not sure how you can hate Hyundai right now. The quality is rated quite high...has been for a few years. They are probably one of the few companies out there that is positioned to actually start really taking market share from Toyota...who has been just gobbling up the domestic market share. Honda Civic's and Toyota Corolla's are good little cars too but they hold their value longer and you'll be stuck getting one that is older then you probably want...or has too many km's. I also think Honda's reputation is better then their quality history. Their dealers are also expensive on maintenance(not that you'd be using a dealer for used car maintenance...) If you can get into a car that has about 110,000km's, is about 4-5 years old, and still in your price range...then you'll have done very well. An Accent might allow you to do that. A Civic or Corolla will still probably be too pricey at that year and km's. It MIGHT even be worth your while to look into leasing a new car if you plan on driving under 20,000km's a year. You can get into an economy car lease for very little down and under $200/month. Maybe even as low as $150/month. If you buy privately you'll get a better deal then any lot BUT I'd really recommend getting a CarFax report on it's accident history. And look for something that doesn't need brake work, tires or body work...you don't want to get stuck shelling out $400-500 on a car you just bought. Have a mechanic, that you trust, look at it before you commit to buying. Let's face it, people don't sell cars privately unless it's at a point they probably need to dish out some sort of money on fixing it. Buying off a major auto dealership at least means they "certify" the car...but it costs you their premium. JMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyhasbeen Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Just picked up a 1992 Buick Roadmaster for $800. Great car, $40,000 back then. Hard on gas, but the $2200 you will save buys alot. Get a big old man car, they have been well maintained and cost very little to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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