First car for a 18 year old teenager

Does it matter if you drive a small SUV?

Suzuki Sidekick?

Why can't it be American? Their car's don't suck as much as people say. Unless it's Chrysler.
 
No, most American cars really did suck that bad.

You just got one of the few that they seem to have put together properly, but I have no doubt that even it will start crumbling soon.
 
I will never do offroad so i dont need a small suv and i also think any suv are useless if you dont do half of your mileage offroad.so no small suv for me and for american car,even if i found one that would be extremely well maintenained and that wont break every 1000km( well atleast its better than a alfa romeo but a alfa romeo have something that american car will never have)And spectre,Top gear said that now cock drive audi so instead of going for a audi a4 i might look for a bmw 318.But if i go for the bmw I think it will be for my fun car instead of my winter beater.And what is the problem of being quebecois ?
 
Get a Nissan S13 or an S14 :) You can find one really cheap and the engines are fairly bulletproof if you dont go apeshit on them.
 
Get a Nissan S13 or an S14 :) You can find one really cheap and the engines are fairly bulletproof if you dont go apeshit on them.

Probably not where he lives.
S1x's are charged both ricer tax and dorifto/initial d tax.
 
1986-Renault-Alliance-DL-Pr.jpg
:thumbsup:
 
Ford Fiesta? or maybe a Corolla of some sort.. anything that can't go fast or isn't fun to drive is good for few first years. with BMW he would get into trouble as soon as temps go below zero at night.
 
Ford Fiesta? or maybe a Corolla of some sort.. anything that can't go fast or isn't fun to drive is good for few first years. with BMW he would get into trouble as soon as temps go below zero at night.

The Fiestas over here predate the dawn of time.

I do agree that a sporty RWD car won't last long with an inexperienced driver.

If you want to learn how to drive a RWD properly, buy some big land yacht. It will scare the shit out of you before getting anywhere near the limit. You will learn the quirks of RWD and be more prepared for when you do get a more sporty car.

I drove a Mustang GT for years and now drive a not so stock MG Midget. I am glad I spent a significant amount of time driving an old Lincoln back in High School. If you can't react quickly to oversteer you will have problems.
 
well for the moment,rwd car are not what i am seeking for.first i need a good winter beater that is comfortable,that isnt american,that isnt a econobox from japan that every other teenager own and that wont shout : WARNING THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY A COCK OR SOMEONE WHO HAVE A REALLY SMALL JOHN THOMAS!!.so i think i am pretty much stuck with the volvo s70 and also thanks american love for european car, canadian( since everyone think that we are the same as american)we dont have renault,peugeot,citroen, nice ford, alfa romeo( it is really hard to find one but its easier than to find a peugeot) and fiat.After, when i got my winter beater, now i can think of having a nice rwd car that i wont bother if it has to stay 3 month in the garage cause the diff is broken.
 
well for the moment,rwd car are not what i am seeking for.first i need a good winter beater that is comfortable,that isnt american,that isnt a econobox from japan that every other teenager own and that wont shout : WARNING THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY A COCK OR SOMEONE WHO HAVE A REALLY SMALL JOHN THOMAS!!.so i think i am pretty much stuck with the volvo s70 and also thanks american love for european car, canadian( since everyone think that we are the same as american)we dont have renault,peugeot,citroen, nice ford, alfa romeo( it is really hard to find one but its easier than to find a peugeot) and fiat.After, when i got my winter beater, now i can think of having a nice rwd car that i wont bother if it has to stay 3 month in the garage cause the diff is broken.

You can get a Renault Alliance in Canada... they were imported into the USA in the 80's. :lol: :thumbsup:
 
well i tried to find a w124 and i didnt find one in the whole province so i think i will scrap this idea but i starting to look more and more a mercedes,might go for a volvo s70 1997-2001 or a nice mercedes from 1990-1995.
 
nice mercedes from 1990-1995.

I might get some hate for this, but try looking around for a W202. Those seem to be doing fine all around india. Hell, my dad even almost got a 230 Kompressor over his ML back in the day
 
well for the moment,rwd car are not what i am seeking for.first i need a good winter beater that is comfortable,that isnt american,that isnt a econobox from japan that every other teenager own and that wont shout : WARNING THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY A COCK OR SOMEONE WHO HAVE A REALLY SMALL JOHN THOMAS!!
Have you considered a Subaru Impreza? I wouldn't call them an econobox, they're not all that common and I would think that they're cheaper to maintain than a late model Volvo.
 
Yes, but you might run into the "WARNING THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY A COCK OR SOMEONE WHO HAVE A REALLY SMALL JOHN THOMAS!!" factor.
 
Having gone through this same crisis - "What car do I get that won't completely suck?!" - I can tell you that no matter what you get, there are going to be issues. If it's your first car, especially, because trust me, no one's first car is ever perfect. Unless you're rich and your first car is expensive and new...*grumble*

That aside, the car I ended up with was my mom's old car, a '95 Pontiac Sunfire. Yes, it is American. But it's hardly given us any trouble at all. And, for a small family car it has decent space; the rear seats fold down, giving more trunk room - hell, even without folding the seats down it's got a considerable sized trunk. It's pretty much perfect for what I do, which is haul loads of junk - props, costumes, my backpack, the like.

It's not exactly perfect, though. Sunny has her problems. Like one, I'd rather have a manual as opposed to an automatic. Since I got this car and didn't get to buy my own, I haven't been able to learn to drive manual because we still don't have one for me to learn on. My car also has broken air conditioning. Other than that, for a 14 year old car, it's in better condition than a lot of other cars that old that I've seen.

All I can suggest is, if you can, test drive a car before you buy it. Usually you'll know right away if it's something you'll like to drive around constantly just by the first drive - when I first drove Sunny I knew that, regardless of whether or not mom and dad were going to give her to me, she was going to be mine eventually.

And, try not to be so picky, especially since it's your first car and 5K is a pretty mediocre budget to be able to find exactly what you want. So what if one car fits all the criteria but happens to be American? Some older American cars weren't all that bad. I speak from experience; all my life we've had nothing but American cars (a 1984 Jeep Cherokee, 1987 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, 2006 Ford Mustang, and recently a 1995 Cadillac Sedan DeVille), and with the proper care (read: DO NOT OVER-ABUSE) they'll hardly give you any trouble at all. :D

If you're really set on something not American, though, sift through what you can. Like I said, try and test drive something before you make up your mind. And don't rule out the possibility of a FWD car; after AWD and 4WD, they're the next best thing for wintry-weather. It just depends on what FWD car it is. Some were rubbish, others were alright.

Just make sure you do your research and you should be okay. :)
 
If you search for a fairly spacious European car and don't mind FWD: Have a look at the '94 to '97 VW Passat (B4 or Mk.IV). They practically run forever, especially the 4 cylinder petrol engines. Sure, nothing fancy, but a very practical car indeed. It should be in your price range, but I don't know anything about the Canadian market, so I might be wrong. ;)
 
Having gone through this same crisis - "What car do I get that won't completely suck?!" - I can tell you that no matter what you get, there are going to be issues. If it's your first car, especially, because trust me, no one's first car is ever perfect. Unless you're rich and your first car is expensive and new...*grumble*

That aside, the car I ended up with was my mom's old car, a '95 Pontiac Sunfire. Yes, it is American. But it's hardly given us any trouble at all. And, for a small family car it has decent space; the rear seats fold down, giving more trunk room - hell, even without folding the seats down it's got a considerable sized trunk. It's pretty much perfect for what I do, which is haul loads of junk - props, costumes, my backpack, the like.

It's not exactly perfect, though. Sunny has her problems. Like one, I'd rather have a manual as opposed to an automatic. Since I got this car and didn't get to buy my own, I haven't been able to learn to drive manual because we still don't have one for me to learn on. My car also has broken air conditioning. Other than that, for a 14 year old car, it's in better condition than a lot of other cars that old that I've seen.

All I can suggest is, if you can, test drive a car before you buy it. Usually you'll know right away if it's something you'll like to drive around constantly just by the first drive - when I first drove Sunny I knew that, regardless of whether or not mom and dad were going to give her to me, she was going to be mine eventually.

And, try not to be so picky, especially since it's your first car and 5K is a pretty mediocre budget to be able to find exactly what you want. So what if one car fits all the criteria but happens to be American? Some older American cars weren't all that bad. I speak from experience; all my life we've had nothing but American cars (a 1984 Jeep Cherokee, 1987 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, 2006 Ford Mustang, and recently a 1995 Cadillac Sedan DeVille), and with the proper care (read: DO NOT OVER-ABUSE) they'll hardly give you any trouble at all. :D

If you're really set on something not American, though, sift through what you can. Like I said, try and test drive something before you make up your mind. And don't rule out the possibility of a FWD car; after AWD and 4WD, they're the next best thing for wintry-weather. It just depends on what FWD car it is. Some were rubbish, others were alright.

Just make sure you do your research and you should be okay. :)

I can attest to some of the older American cars too.
I drive a 1992 Grand Am 3.3L. It's lasted 17 Canadian winters, with next to no rust. Engine is fine. I only this week replaced the factory original rear wheel hubs. The V6 Grand Am's are somewhat fun to drive, if you don't mind catastrophic understeer under power. also, any W body (Grand Prix/Regal/Bonneville) is a pretty solid bet for reliability. The 3800 isn't the best V6 of all time for nothing.
 
If you search for a fairly spacious European car and don't mind FWD: Have a look at the '94 to '97 VW Passat (B4 or Mk.IV). They practically run forever, especially the 4 cylinder petrol engines. Sure, nothing fancy, but a very practical car indeed. It should be in your price range, but I don't know anything about the Canadian market, so I might be wrong. ;)
A lot of VWs here suffer from deferred maintenance due to the poor dealership network here and/or how expensive they are to fix. The experience with VWs seem to be remarkably different in Europe than it is in North America.

I'd personally take a car that is inexpensive to run meaning a not so interesting Japanese economy car and wait until you have more money to get something you want that you think is good. Ontario and Quebec are not ideal provinces to get great used cars.
 
yeah i am seeing that.i have alot of problem finding a nice car and when its a nice one,well it have all sort of problem or it is owned by a cock who dont give a fuck about his car
 
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