help finding a car
Here are the criteria:
sub $5000 Manual 30+ mpg highway leather reliable This should be easy but I am having difficutly finding a car. I was thinking the older 95 or so integra, what do you all think? |
a 01-05 civic manual would be great (avoid the time bomb auto trans) or a 03+ corolla stick (with high miles tho) i see them on craigslist for a tad bit over 5000, but after negotiating you can bring it to around 5.
your criteria and mines are almost the same, mines is 150k or under japanese (honda or toyota) stick has to average over 30 mpg, auto over 28 rounded shape (not a box) $5000 or less has at least dual airbags 4 cylinder 1.9 liters or under little rust/sun damage seats 5 i'm really towards japanese cars, its just that i had really bad experiences with domestic cars. im not hating on domestics though :) |
Infiniti G20 is a possible candidate..
If you drive reasonably they are quite good on gas although I'm not positive the offical mileage figure is over 30.. |
Does the civic have leather?
I am really leaning towards something with a little luxury. The problem with new luxury cars is they are huge and heavy, I mean even the new 1 series BMW has a curb weight of 3500 pounds!!! I will look into the G20, that might be up my alley... |
Why leather?
There are so many cars to choose from that get over 30mpg, a friend just picked up an '88 Acura Integura and was impressed to find that it gets 36mpg with the automatic, no leather in that model but I think it was an option. I just looked at a 2001 Saab 9-3 turbo that was for sale for around $4,000 and the 5 speed model has an epa highway rating of 27-29mpg depending on year. |
I think MX-3 Precidias came with leather seats.
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Leather really narrows your options down...you could probably get:
BMW 318 i/is/ti Mazda Miata Acura Integra Honda Accord (4-cyl, avoid auto trans) Nissan Altima (4-cyl, questionable reliability) Nissan 240SX Infiniti G20 (hard to find manual) Toyota Camry (4-cyl, hard to find manual) Subaru Legacy (4-cyl, hard to find manual) A lot of the above cars almost get >30 mpg highway, and probably could with a few mods. |
...or you could get a non-leather car and replace the seats with leather seats. Just find someone who has leather but, like me, hates leather...they'll be happy to trade.
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I just want a small lightweight car with a small engine but that actually has some interior luxury. It does not seem like any new cars have this to offer so I am looking at the old ones... |
I think you could get the G20, I really like the 99-02 and they get 30-31 mpg highway.
I forgot, the Toyota Celica...The 94-99 1.8 ST models got 34 mpg highway whereas the 2.2 GT models got about 28 mpg highway. The ST was lighter, though, so performance won't suffer too much. Maybe you could afford a 00-05 Celica GT, gets around 34 mpg highway. |
1993-1997 Eagle Vision TSi.
You can easily get 30 mpg on the highway. All TSi's come with leather seats, overhead console, and plenty of other "luxury" features. Later model TSi's come with tiptronic transmissions. The downside is that none of them have manual transmissions. You could easily get one for under 5k. Mine was $7,800 7 or 8 years ago. It has been a very reliable car, with plenty of horsepower and sportiness, but at the same time very fuel efficient for a large sedan. If you are having a hard time finding one of them, you could also look for a Chrysler Concorde. |
Something I have been noticing in my junkyard trips: Look at a 10-20 year old car with leather upholstery, and then look at a 10-20 year old car with fabric upholstery (at least in the "nicer" cars...) and usually the leather is toast. The fabric seats are still usually in good condition.
In any event, if you do get leather, you will probably want to use some sort of leather conditioner (I like Lexol) because most likely the previous owner(s) haven't. |
Try looking on www.craigslist.com
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