/ot/ - off-topic

i keep hearing that japanese cars are good. toyota corolla, honda civic, etc. reliable and cheap.

Good for you, hope you get the best car. My mom gave me her old car a few years ago so I don't have any real advice, but a guy once told me it's best to buy "in between" series. So, not to buy the first series that gets out, but the second that has had everything fixed and a face lift or something. Hth lol :D

Twingo is all you need.

>>213783
MERCI TWINGO

>>213783
Fuck off, Twingo. You're a thing of the past, all hail Peugeot.

>>213783
I unironically love these. I've always had a thing for tiny 'ugly' cars though. My dream car is pic related, 2nd gen Golf.

Right now I have a jetta and it's nice, but it was a grad present so I can't say much about the buying process as I wasn't involved. I've always heard that if you are in a tight spot financially not to buy German cars because the upkeep and repairs are so expensive. Not looking forward to that, but so far I haven't had an issue with it and it gets amazing MPG.

Like >>213778 I've always heard that Mazdas and Toyotas are very reliable and last forever, so I think they are recommended as first cars a lot.

I just bought a new car a few months ago
I love it!!!!
It's a civic sport, so I love using sport mode to zip past slow drivers.

I learned that I should look online first before heading to the dealership.
Using Kelly blue book got me my car in my price range which was geat….and I'm talking like several thousand off

Bought a BMW 328i a few years ago, my dad co-signed the loan for it. It’s nice and all, and i’ve been fortunate enough to not hav eto do any major repairs since buying it. But as a first time car, it’s probably not the best choice. My dad’s had BMWs since I was a kid, and I know first hand the second you get into even a minor accident, insurance skyrockets.

I have a 2016 Civic, very nice car.
Always shop around for insurance, it's crazy how much variance in quotes you'll get from different companies.

Does anybody drive a Tesla? I'm really interested in what the experience of purchasing/owning/maintaining one is like. The whole process seems a bit impractical and the brand seems a little bit..unstable sometimes. But it's hard not to get excited about the idea of them.

(Not that I could even afford one tbh.)

Bought a 2017 Honda Civic EX back in October. It's a really nice car; great for commuting and I don't pay as much at the pump. My first experience at a dealership was fucking awful though; but I guess it was worth it in the end!

Thanks for all the replies, anons <3 I'm happy that some people noticed this thread!

Anyway, I have about $6000 saved up that is set aside just for a car. I'm going to keep saving, of course. No one in my family drives really, or sees a purpose in it (NYC) so I won't be getting help from them, but that's ok.

I would really love a Subaru (any Subaru)…

I hear also that it's also not good to get a car that's too old (in terms of having a lot of miles & being an old make/model). What do you guys think?

>>213969
That's good that you're saving up anon! Do you plan on applying for a car loan? Are you going through a dealership or Craigslist?
Subaru's are great cars but very expensive, and can't be taken to any mechanic (so it will cost a bit more to get it fixed). Also it's better to buy a car with less mileage; cars start to have more problems once it gets near or reaches 100,000 miles.

>>213972
I'm not sure about loans, but I guess I will have to if I want one sooner rather than later, right? I was on KBB and looking through dealerships in my area. I feel a bit uncomfortable looking through CL for used cars. I guess I have heard enough CL horror stories, you know?

I didn't know that about Subarus, thanks for letting me know! Maybe I will look into getting a Honda Civic? That is what everyone is recommending IRL as a first car.

>>213954

I drove teslas at my old valet job. They're interesting (feels like a space car), but super touchy. You can't lean too far out of your seat when you reverse (to look over your shoulder or whatever), because they instantly halt if they don't sense driver pressure. Also I've noticed they have really iffy shifting controls. I've tried to put the car in reverse and drive, and it'll just shift into neutral or park instead. Really fast … doesnt take any time at all to accelerate, super quiet… I don't know anything about maintenance or owning one though…

>>213783
This is the correct answer.

>>213969
Since Americans can't legally drive Twingos for another month, I suggest buying an old bugeye WRX. It won't need premium fuel like the STI and it's a solid car with lights similar to the Twingo. Also you'll impress people with your patrician choice in cars.
/o/ on 4chan has a craigslist thread with good advice on what to avoid.

>>216185
Pic related: The 2nd greatest non-STI after the GC8 coupe.

>>213687
take a mechanic or someone knowledgeable about vehicles with you

>Any advice to people buying cars for the first time?

Kelley fucking Blue Book that shit. Check the tires, wiper blades, air filters, fluids, and open everything. Turn A/C and heat on high to see if it works.

>Traps newbies should avoid?

Don’t sign anything you haven’t read or don’t understand. If the person trying to sell you the car can’t tell you everything about it, bring a mechanic to look at it. Also if you buy a car from a dealership and it fucks up within a certain amount of time, you can take it back and get your money back. It’s called the Lemon Law And it’s great.

Also service records are worth their weight in gold as your mileage goes up and the car changes hands. I suggest making a basic spreadsheet for oil change and fluid service records to keep in your car.

>>216305

Also check the battery if you can. If it looks dirty or old, take it for a test dive to a car parts store and get the battery, starter, alternator, and whatever else they can check tested.

I'm no car expert, but here's my personal experience dump:

I have a Toyota Matrix S, 2009, which I got in 2013-2014 with 79k miles on it. Drive it around 70 miles 4-5 days a week and have put tens of thousands of miles on it. Haven't had any major problems beyond needing to change the battery (make sure the dealership isn't selling you a car with a nearly dead battery yall, those places and a lot of car mechanics/whatever absolutely take advantage of assuming women having no car expertise. If you have someone knowledgeable about car mechanics in the family, take them with you to check the engine out and other things before settling) and I'm pretty sure we overpaid some considering the price of it online now, idk. but it's been good to me.

My family members have always told me that Japanese made are the best (Toyota and Honda specifically) and you can drive them well above 200k miles with regular care. I think most American made cars are supposed to be notorious for being made from shitty, cheap parts and are always having issues, nor can they handle high mileage. We had a Chevy Malibu before, the thing stalled on red lights multiple times. There's a reason why they're cheaper than Toyotas and Hondas.

If you buy a car that has a lot of miles (I think over 100k) on it, make sure to use high mileage oil. This oil change place ripped me off by not letting me know they're putting regular oil in and my car was depleted of it very quickly and almost ruined the engine. Of course after I came back and asked they said "oh, we don't carry high mileage oil." You should also know you can top off your own oil without paying triple the amount to have some scammer do it every 5000-7500 miles. Check your oil amount regularly because the car dashboard indicators aren't always accurate.

Something else I think would be good advice now is to not get a super compact car if you're going to be driving on freeways often. If some idiot in an Escalade-size car crashes into you (there are so many people with huge cars who don't know how to drive properly), you're toast. I know someone who had an old VW golf model and nearly died in a crash.

>>216576
>You should also know you can top off your own oil without paying triple the amount to have some scammer do it every 5000-7500 miles.

Don’t top off your oil unless you check the oil level yourself and it’s low, overfilling your engine is bad. Also, adding new oil to old oil doesn’t “add miles” to your oil so you can put off changing it, and the oil filter still needs to be changed as well. Waiting too long to change the oil filter can cause it to start breaking down or getting clogged which can fuck up your engine.

>Check your oil amount regularly because the car dashboard indicators aren't always accurate.

Seconding this.

>>216653
Yeah, I meant to say you can top it off if you know how much you need by checking it before filling it up. Good point about the oil filter.

>>216576

No worries, I knew what you meant but I also work at a service center and some of the questions people ask me about their cars make me cringe. I only mentioned the oil thing because one time a lady came in with almost 2 full quarts of extra oil in her engine because she thought adding new oil would “give her more miles”.