Need Advice Picking a Car

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redoc

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Hi All,

I'm trying to pick a car for this summer, and I was wondering if any of you could recommend an affordable car (considering our budget as MD/Ph.Ds) that is relatively sturdy and functions well. Any input would be great. 🙂

Thanks,
Redoc
 
For great reliability and pricing, I would recommend the Honda Fit or any of the Scion cars. They are great, albeit, a tad small. If you want larger cars, I would recommend either the Honda Element, or a Toyota Camry.
 
redoc said:
Hi All,

I'm trying to pick a car for this summer, and I was wondering if any of you could recommend an affordable car (considering our budget as MD/Ph.Ds) that is relatively sturdy and functions well. Any input would be great. 🙂

Thanks,
Redoc
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depends on where you live, how much housing will cost you, and how much you will need to drive.
 
You can get an online subscription to consumer reports for something like $15, I think. They have pretty detailed ratings of used and new cars, including reliability, safety, all that good stuff.
 
Buy a Toyota or a Honda. They last forever with no maintenance, and they're great all-around.
 
redoc said:
Hi All,

I'm trying to pick a car for this summer, and I was wondering if any of you could recommend an affordable car (considering our budget as MD/Ph.Ds) that is relatively sturdy and functions well. Any input would be great. 🙂

Thanks,
Redoc
Click to expand...

I swear by my 1996 Volvo 850 GLT and would highly recommend any other mid-90's Volvo with under 150K miles. I think the balance the Swedes strike between efficiency and safety is superb (mine gets around 25 mpg for highway/city mix AND you literally feel like you're driving a solid piece of metal hewn by a Scandinavian glacier!); finally, the cool features that AREN'T on most similarly priced Hondas or Toyotas (heated leather, power sunroof, SWEET stereo, etc.) seal the deal.
 
Base Toyota corolla is a great car. You can get the base CE for around 14k. Good resale, good on gas, and low maintenance. The only problem is that I think it looks like butt.
 
Thank you all for your input. I'm going to look into Honda, Toyota, and the Volvo. The Jetta seems pretty cheap and nice, too.
 
Yay! A topic I know about. Someone mentioned a Scion. That is a good car but I would be a little careful. The target market for Scion's is pretty much teenagers. If you are keeping the car for the 7 years you might start to feel silly driving it. Id prefer the Honda Fit over the Scion. The issue with the Fit is that its pretty low in power. I mean you arent racing the car or anything but like accelerating comes in handy sometimes in emergencies or when getting through traffic. If I had to recommend a car I would say that you can't go wrong with a Honda Civic. They are pretty affordable, there are plenty of used ones out there if that is what you are going for. They are big enough to carry stuff, they are pretty gas efficient (you can get a hybrid civic too) and I would be money you could get at least 150k out of the car with just proper maintainance.

A Civic is a good all around car. You can use it almost anywhere. If you are going somewhere that you will have to drive in the snow and you have never done so before driving a Civic can be an experience. If you have to drive ALOT in the snow def get a 4 wheel drive/all wheel drive car.
 
I am the opposite of you. I love my car to death but I have to sell my car before I go off to med school and I have to pass up my father's offer to buy me my dream car...sigh.....
 
notlikethat said:
If you are going somewhere that you will have to drive in the snow and you have never done so before driving a Civic can be an experience. If you have to drive ALOT in the snow def get a 4 wheel drive/all wheel drive car.
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I know very little about cars, but I DO know about driving in the snow. While it can be nice to have four wheel drive, it is actually far more essential to have a good set of tires! Four wheel drive + bad tires = disaster. It's pretty common to see SUVs in the ditch because the vehicle operator thinks his/her four wheel drive creates invincibility to the road conditions. I get around quite nicely in this '07-'08 Madison winter (with the most snow on record) with my two wheel drive car and new tires.
 
iveshchmive said:
While it can be nice to have four wheel drive, it is actually far more essential to have a good set of tires!
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I complete agree! After growing up in Wisconsin and now living in Iowa, I can attest that the most important new, all-weather tires are all you need to drive well in snow/ice. In HS, I drove a Neon and ended up spinning through in a intersection after an inch of snow. We got new tires...no problem after that. I just purchased a new car back in April. While driving back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, I ended up spinning into a concrete barrier in Madison after just some light rain. Yeah no good. I got new tires and haven't slipped at all despite all the snow and ice this winter.
 
I will put my vote behind the Jetta, since you mentioned it. I drive about 400 miles a week in my '03 and I've had to put very little money into the maintainence. I haven't needed any work that wasn't covered under warrenty except expected consumable parts (new battery, new spark plugs, new tires, that sort of thing). I get really AMAZING gas mileage, and it's kind of fun to drive (if you're a stick shift kind of person). It's certainly worth checking out.
 
2nd for the jetta. i drive a '99 diesel tdi, and i LOVE it. no problems.
 
meowkat444 said:
2nd for the jetta. i drive a '99 diesel tdi, and i LOVE it. no problems.
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I've heard bad things about the newer volkswagens - as in they aren't made like they used to be
 
I still say anything that's a Toyota or Honda is the best bet. Great safety and great reliability. They can last over 6-7 years easily without major repairs. Compare that to an American car that breaks down after 2 years and requires you to overhaul the engine 😡

And if you want to buy a Toyota or Honda, check under the hood and look at the serial number of the engine. Try to find ones that begin with a "J." That means the engine was assembled in Japan, and are typically higher quality than the ones assembled in America.
 
Make sure you take off your winter tires when it warms up. They are made of a softer rubber and will wear out significantly faster in non-freezing temperatures.
 
Just get an all weather/season tire then you don't have to switch them on and off. Plus in the Midwest you never know when its going to snow.
 
seraph524 said:
And if you want to buy a Toyota or Honda, check under the hood and look at the serial number of the engine. Try to find ones that begin with a "J." That means the engine was assembled in Japan, and are typically higher quality than the ones assembled in America.
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Due to US quota restrictions on how many cars can be imported into the US the ones manufactured in Japan are usually the rarer cars. I don't think Civics, Accords, Corollas, or Camry's are manufactured in Japan. Maybe the hybrids, but not the pure gasoline ones.
 
iveshchmive said:
I know very little about cars, but I DO know about driving in the snow. While it can be nice to have four wheel drive, it is actually far more essential to have a good set of tires!
Click to expand...

Good tires are important any season, but for the most part you can change tires to all seasons no prob. Its never a good idea to let them wear down too much. Tires equal tho, 4wd is still better in snow than either fwd or rwd.
 
notlikethat said:
Due to US quota restrictions on how many cars can be imported into the US the ones manufactured in Japan are usually the rarer cars. I don't think Civics, Accords, Corollas, or Camry's are manufactured in Japan. Maybe the hybrids, but not the pure gasoline ones.
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Hmm...that I don't know so much about... All I know is our family's Toyota 4Runner and my Honda Pilot, as well as my PI's Honda Fit are all Js - manufactured in Japan. You are most likely right that they are rare. I think my PI was able to find one real fast since he picked up the Fit real early on, when it was 100% imported.
 
I drive a Hyundai, and the warranty is incredible - 10 years, 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
 
redoc said:
Hi All,

I'm trying to pick a car for this summer, and I was wondering if any of you could recommend an affordable car (considering our budget as MD/Ph.Ds) that is relatively sturdy and functions well. Any input would be great. 🙂

Thanks,
Redoc
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd play some devil's advocate...

First off- the Jetta. It's a great car- if you're a girl. Definite femininity to that car (actually all Volkswagons except maybe the Passat). And whoever said that they are poorly made is dead-on- when I was last car-shopping they had the worst rate of problems with new cars (that needed to be replaced at the dealer).

Toyotas and Hondas are great- if you don't mind not being able to find you car in a crowded parking lot because all the other cars there are the same as yours. They do have great reputations- probably better than they deserve. You'll get a decent car for a decent price that's reliable, but nothing more.

Are you going for a new car or a used one? If you're going for a used car, you probably have a lot of options besides what's been mentioned. Just find your price range, decide what's important for you (are you an aggressive driver that needs HP? are you more worried about gas mileage? Safety for kids in the back?) Then think about the specific car.
 
*trying to decide if I should move to a place where I would need a car or not*
 
Personally, I think the Lamborghini Diablo is wicked.
 
Aston_Martin_DB_ONE_Concept_4.jpg


Do you think I could afford an Aston Martin on my stipend?
 
sure....just add together your stipend for all 8 years of the mdphd program and there you go 🙂
 
I don't think i have to worry too much about tires and 4WD, considering I plan on going to Emory in Atlanta. So far, Toyota and Honda sounds good. I drive like an old lady. I'm not much of a racer. Quite frankly, if I could have a sturdy box on four wheels with an engine that is cheap and lasts me a while, I would buy it. haha I'll look into the Honda and Toyota. Civic looks nice so does the Camry.
 
redoc said:
I don't think i have to worry too much about tires and 4WD, considering I plan on going to Emory in Atlanta. So far, Toyota and Honda sounds good. I drive like an old lady. I'm not much of a racer. Quite frankly, if I could have a sturdy box on four wheels with an engine that is cheap and lasts me a while, I would buy it. haha I'll look into the Honda and Toyota. Civic looks nice so does the Camry.
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Yea, if you are going to Emory, then you can certainly pass up the 4-wheel drive models...that means the Honda Pilot and Toyota 4Runners are going to be a waste. If you still like the SUV type...the Honda CRV or the Toyota Highlander are pretty good choices - pretty compact SUVs. If not, you can like you said, go the sedan route... the Civic and Camry (or Corolla) are great choices. If you want to be hip and get like 50+ MPG, Honda Fit or Toyota Echo.
 
MNIkid87 said:
sure....just add together your stipend for all 8 years of the mdphd program and there you go 🙂
Click to expand...

haha, more like add together your stipend and tuition for all 8 years of the program 😀
 
It's a Zonda...but why does it have a Benz logo on its engine? 😕
 
They aren't a big enough company to build their own engines so they buy them from Mercedes Benz.

It would probably be a good car in the snow--I does have 335's in the back...haha
 
Hey, I just went through all of the car shopping. In the end (and in my price range) I was deciding between a Chevy Cobalt, a Honda Civic 2-door, a Scion TC (Toyota) and a Mazda 3. I went with a Mazda 3 S Sport after reading tons of reviews. Toyota just had huge lawsuits because of their engines, the Civic's new design is funky inside and it is high in price now compared to how it used to be (but the Civic engine is Honda, so it is sturdy), the Cobalt was not very good (small engine etc) and the Mazda 3 seemed to be the best of all of them. So..I got the Mazda 3! Good luck!
 
haha, more like add together your stipend and tuition for all 8 years of the program 😀
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Oh, you are talking about a new one....I was rather talking about a used one...those you can probably already get for 160 or 180k. Where I grew up there was a car dealership like 20 minutes away selling ferraris, aston martins, lamborghinis, rolls royce and I think lotus, and I am pretty sure you could get an older Ferrari (maybe used) for about 100k Euros, which should be in the 160k-180k DOllar range 🙂

So in the worst case all you have to do is fly to Germany, buy the car there and drive it back to North America 😀
 
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