DOOZY

Hey what's up everybody? I've been thinking about trying to sell my current car and look for something that is less expensive to maintain and mod.

Here is my current car 1999 BMW 323i 5 speed manual

I love it, but i'm tired of the high cost in maintenance and extremely high price of parts.









So as that BMW was pretty much my first car (I drove the family 1980 Volvo 240dl first for a while) I never spent much time trying to learn about other cars (like honda accords).

I'm going to fix the few things that are wrong with my car and put a for sale sign on it until someone buys it.

The cars i'm thinking about trying to get are:

1. Honda Accord



2. Nissan Kouki





3. Subaru WRX





4. VW Jetta MK4







5. Acura Integra



6. Mazda Miata







And then in the future, my goal car. BMW E46 M3







The amount of money that I would want to spend purchasing the car would be around $6k

So are any of those that I listed far out of my price range?

As of right now i'm leaning towards the honda accord because of how good it looks with only a few simple mods. (Lowering, front lip, wheels)

If i'm wrong about anything please let me know, I do not think I now everything. (I think I barely know anything and need help)

kidcool1977

Accord.

MAD_MIKE

Well, all the cars you have shown have their issues.
The BMWs biggest issues is the plastic cooling system parts. From waterpump to reservoirs, I have no idea why they used such crap plastic, or why so much of it. If those parts have already been replaced and you have not hammered on the car, it would be more economical to keep your current vehicle.

90-97 Accords are dead nuts reliable, more of a normal car with easy maintenance. However it may not have the power you desire.
98-02 models, if you avoid the automatics, are well made as well.

97/98 240SX are fun cars, but the driftor scene has made them a bit of a target for bad reputation, being stolen, and outright abused. Best bet, find a creme puff from an original owner.

'02-'07 WRXs are also a fun car, but the four main concerns.
Front wheel bearings and hubs, it eats these. The design of the front wheel bearing/hub/axle interface makes this an even bigger PITA. Even if the wheel bearing/hub are initially fine, if you have to replace the axle do yourself a favor and replace the wheel bearing and hub at the same time. Simply a few hundred miles down the road you will notice that your new axle seems to be making noise, nope the axle is fine, its the bearing and hub that have now failed.
With the new axle the hub becomes distorted and the bearing no longer fits on the hub. This causes for all sorts of noises and funkiness. What's worse is it is damn near impossible to check. Tell tale signs will be the woomping noise and the inner tread block of the tire will be evenly scalloped.
The 5spd transmission, if abused, will need a total rebuild. This is another thing there is no getting around. If the tranmission is damaged the best bet is to just get a unit directly from Subaru. That'll be $3500. You can try piece mealing the parts but each component is uber pricey.
The front subframe loosens up over time, which leads to vague steering, odd moans and creaks, tramlining, and if your really lucky will activate the knock sensor. Simply retorquing the bolts fixes the issue.
The rear subrrame needs the 'locking bolts'. Without these the car has a tendency to snap oversteer. Kartboy has those for ~$40.

VW anything build in the past decade. Well forget it if you are really trying to avoid the high cost of maintenance.

Integra. Like the 240SX buy from an older/original owner. Not one that is on it's 20th engine because the owner cannot conceive what a redline is.

Miata. Probably the cheapest of the bunch to purchase and maintain. The B6/BP is a bulletproof engine. If the car was driven hard it will need new bushings. Biggest concern is if the car was ever in a bad accident. They can look straight but the tub could be easily tweaked. Make sure to ask if it has been in an accident, if so either walk away or verify with a frame shop it is straight. This car will teach you momentum, and how to maintain it.

You need to figure out what you need the car for. I doubt a Miata would make a good kayak hauler.

DOOZY

Woah, what a bunch of information! Thank you man

You are saying that all VW's are expensive to maintain?

As of right now I want to get a 98-02 honda accord but I have some questions. I seem to have noticed that certain accords in that time frame have different tail lights? Which year has which tail lights?

I would like to get the tail lights that look like this....



Thank you