Splak.net

Figured I would post this here (and some other forums) since I know Cole and a few others are really in to cars here. If you aren't, just ignore this thread or something I guess haha.
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Alright, so I've always just driven/shared my parents' cars since I was about 16 or 17 (I'm 19 now), and never bought my own car because I didn't see much of a point before. Before anyone says anything like "OMG LOL U HAV $30k 2 SPND ON UR FURST CAR U SO SPOILED OMGGG!!1111one" - I have the money to do this because I sold some 18-year-old stocks that were completely tanking and I work full time during the summer (will be paying insurance on my own as well).

With that out of the way... I'm basically looking for a car that is very reliable and gets at least 25 mpg overall. Don't care too much about acceleration but its always nice to have something fun to drive. But yeah, bottom line, I don't race cars and essentially need this to transport a bunch of bulky shit to and from college (think dorm items + guitar and amp) and to get me to/from work. I say under $30k but I'd really prefer under $25k or closer to $20k just so I can save the extra money in case I need it for something else later.

I've basically narrowed my selection down to a few midsize sedans but I'm still kinda lost as to what to test-drive even (all automatic/CVT trans, I can't drive shift...):
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 2010 (seems like it gives the best performance and has good fuel economy, not to mention #1 pick by ConsumerReports...but consumerreports says it only has a "good" customer satisfaction while most other comparable cars have "very good" or "best" on their scale..makes me wonder.)
Ford Fusion SE 2010 (has some pretty cool features and decent fuel econ...too bad the Hybrid trim is expensive and doesn't have folding rear seats though)
Honda Accord LX 2010
Toyota Prius 2010 (just for the fuel economy and the storage space. Other than those 2 redeeming qualities, it looks like a speed bump and doesn't drive too well on the highway from what my dad told me.)

...and some smaller cars I was looking at:
Honda Civic EX 2010 (great fuel economy and reliability, but it pisses me off how you have to buy the leather option to get the stability control which puts it at the same price as midsized car...probably won't buy this for that reason)
Hyundai Elantra SE 2010 (great fuel economy, standard stability control, and you can make it fully loaded with navigation and XM radio for under $20k..WOW! But not so reliable? I heard Hyundais are much better now but I don't know...)
Toyota Corolla S 2010 (don't know about this one, seems like most people don't like it because of drifting steering and poor performance...I only like how it looks)

Can anyone give some advice on this? I'm thinking about either the Fusion, Altima, or Elantra, but I feel like I should get some opinions on all the cars I mentioned as I don't have much experience w/ cars. Also looking for suggestions of other cars to look at as I feel like I overlooked some good ones possibly.
Thanks for reading my wall of text!

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.:Skeet|Bensky

Are you only looking for 2010 models or would you want to buy an older car?

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.:Splak|VexeD

Don't buy a new car, unless that is 100% what you want. A car loses a large chunk of its value in the first 2-4yrs. Look a the mileage and the condition of the car, not the year. I got a 40k car, with 43,000 miles on it for $18,000, so I see it as I paid half price for the car, for it being about 1/4 "worn out." .

I bet you can find (search autotrader, craigslist, and local dealerships) the same cars you listed, with about 20-40k miles on them for around $15-20k, in 5 years from now you will be happy you saved yourself $10,000.

As for what car to get, get the one you like.

P.S. I have also have a 2006 Honda Accord for sale :P
http://jackson.craigslist.org/cto/1703473667.html

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-- .:Splak|StackableNut --

I would recommend a lightly used Honda Civic, or an accord.

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.:Splak|JamesBond

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE my Nissan Maxima. The maxima is the Accord of Nissans as the Altima is the Civic of Nissan. My year is 2000 but it still feels new. Nissan has an interior that makes your car feel pretty luxurious. Gas mileage is okay. It's no Honda Civic on gas but cheap enough I can afford it. I honestly wouldn't get a brand new anything myself. Especially not American.

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If I were you I would save that money and just pick up a used Accord or Civic. It will get you good gas mileage and get you from point A to point B easily. They are also easy to maintain.

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.:Splak|VexeD

Been checking out some used stuff.

This looks really interesting -- it's a 2010 altima, "not a demo", for 16 grand: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ ... 95872.html\
I wonder what the deal is with this. Too bad I'm not in the NOVA area right now to go check the car out.

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.:Skeet|Bensky

scooters for the whole clan!!! yeeaa!!

Sounds about right, keep in mind that car is going to be the MOST stripped down car you can get, but hey, its a car. Also keep in mind that it says "EXCEPT,tax, tags and fees" so you will need about $2000 on top of that for those things.

If you buy from a dealership they will give you a price, what you want is the "out the door price" which is about 10% the cost of the car on top of the price. Plus you will then have to get a tag, the newer (and pricier) the car is, the more the tag will be, every year it will drop, so expect to pay (no clue) maybe 600 for the tag (once the car is 4+ yrs old it will be like 150 or less).

If you buy from a person, keep in mind you WILL have to pay taxes when you go to get your tag, so if you paid 15,000 for the car, the tax office is going to tell you 200 for tag + another 1,500, so keep this in mind.

Taxes, tag, and insurance are all (much) cheaper on a used car, these are the hidden things that cost you another 1,000 or more a year until the car is like 3yrs old.

Again, I would shop around for the car YOU like, then try to find a deal out there, sometimes picking up a car with only 20,000-40,000 miles for like a savings of 1/4-1/2 the total cost of the car new, plus you then save every year on tag and insurance. Any modern car is going to be a reliable ride for well over 150,000 miles, if you take care of it you can get 200,000 good miles out of a car before it really becomes a pile of crap.... that being said, I understand why you want to buy a new car, I really do, but is that first 20,000 miles really worth $6000 to you?

So, what stocks did you play around with? I have been investing for the past two years and had money in AIG, AMD, SIRI, CTDBQ (up 1,000% right now), NVDA, INTC, and a few other tech stocks, with a total return of about 50% per year after taxes. I don't know what stocks you are in, but literally EVERYTHING has been booming for me.

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-- .:Splak|StackableNut --

I actually don't think that's the stripped down model -- the base one doesn't have a CD player or anything. But I see your point about extra costs, I will keep that in mind.

Can't recall which 3 stocks I sold right now...I had a pretty decent amount of shares in some junk companies since I was a baby (I believe the stocks were given to me by some relative for whatever reason), and when I looked on the internet they were really going downhill over time, and my dad was like "you should just sell these and buy a car since they're not gonna go back up" so that's what I did haha.

I do have some shares in Intel, Intel is doing pretty damn good right now. I don't have any in any of the other companies you listed though.

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.:Skeet|Bensky

Cole hit the nail on the head. Buy yourself a nice used car and save or reinvest what is left. When I got back from Afghanistan I bought a nice new (but cheap) car and used it for 11 months until my orders were changed to Belgium. Once I got to Belgium I bought a used 96 VW passat for real cheap. I have vowed to never buy a new car ever again, because a used one is just as good. I've saved a lot of money with my decisions in buying cars. Plus the insurance could be lower. On a side note If I ever have a wreck my heart won't be broken at all, I'll just buy another one. Don't be like some of my buddies that came back from deployment with over 30,000 dollars and ended up broke after 5 months.

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UMM id say horse and buggy.

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.:Splak|ACE

Dude why get that when you can get this:
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ ... 83051.html

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.:Skeet|Bensky

do iiiiitt

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.:Skeet|RoMoDaNn AKA .:Skeet|Gotwrong

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