Need help with choosing a car in the US

Mpower · 25th May 2005, 04:36

Definetly not in the $5000 range. The car just came out a couple of years ago.

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 05:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic

Well, I've been driving the Mazda 6 sports sedan (220 HP) from the past 4 weeks and it feels great! Looks real good, has some great torque (it has 6 gears!) and has surprisingly reasonable FE too! Not driven any others cars mentioned below though.....so can't really compare and contrast! But I surely love the look and feel of this vehicle!!

Check it out: http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...ehicleCode=MZ6

~Sonic

Yep i have a Mazda6s (220hp) as well. Its gonna be sold later this year...if u are in California, i'd sell it to you if u want, because im moving to Bangalore for school this year. Its a great car, love to drive it everyday, definetly will put a smile on ur face everyday.

raihan · 25th May 2005, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

Yep i have a Mazda6s (220hp) as well. Its gonna be sold later this year...if u are in California, i'd sell it to you if u want, because im moving to Bangalore for school this year. Its a great car, love to drive it everyday, definetly will put a smile on ur face everyday.

Hey buddy what a coincedence am moving from BLR - CA & you the other way around
cheers,

P.S How much u want for ur car or better still I'll give you my zen to run about in Bangalore in exchange for ur mazda

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 11:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by raihan

Hey buddy what a coincedence am moving from BLR - CA & you the other way around
cheers,

P.S How much u want for ur car or better still I'll give you my zen to run about in Bangalore in exchange for ur mazda

wow...well the thing is, im in southern california, and what im asking for is out of ur price range (at least $17-18 grand). By the time i sell it the car will have prolly done about 30,000 miles. Its in excellent condition, fully loaded (its lowered, and it has a Cold Air Intake, i'll sell it to you with those on it, if u are interested). Thanks for the Zen offer, i really appreciate it, but i personally dont like the Zen..sorry :(, im looking for an imported car in blore to run about in

turbo_lover · 25th May 2005, 11:38

dude .... my advice would be a Civic Coupe SiG (i vtec) ...
bang for the buck ...great on mileage ...very quick ..you'll love it ...you should get a good deal in that budget .... if you have a 5000$ budget , am sure u'll look for a car low on running cost , civic is the only contender when it comes to that.. dont go for Probes and miatas ...

mazda 6 is way outta your budget ...so are the current gen Eclipses .. i'd say you pick up a car low on the clicks ..you should manage a good deal on the civic ..throw in a loud muffler ( 120 $ ) and you'll be set ..

btw what did you drive in india ?

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo_lover

dude .... my advice would be a Civic Coupe SiG (i vtec) ...
bang for the buck ...great on mileage ...very quick ..you'll love it ...you should get a good deal in that budget .... if you have a 5000$ budget , am sure u'll look for a car low on running cost , civic is the only contender when it comes to that.. dont go for Probes and miatas ...

mazda 6 is way outta your budget ...so are the current gen Eclipses .. i'd say you pick up a car low on the clicks ..you should manage a good deal on the civic ..throw in a loud muffler ( 120 $ ) and you'll be set ..

btw what did you drive in india ?

i dunno what $5,000 can get you..other than some old cars with a lot of miles...used cars are getting more expensive these days in the US, especially sports/sporty cars, as the market is picking back up. Yeah the Civic will prolly be the best bet..if you can stretch that budget to another $5000, than you are in better shape. What you could get, if u were gonna buy new, is a Scion, either xA, xB, or tC..but the tC is about $16,000. I dun think you can lease a car(that might only be for citizens or people with bank accounts in the US..talk to your company about it), but if u can, then lease is better since you wont be permanently in the US.

Steeroid · 25th May 2005, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mpower

Another new segment that was born out of the ashes of the sports car was the "sports sedan" segment. There are many 4 door sedans out there which simply will blow the so called sports cars out of the water. I would recomend a Maxima V6 with manual transmission...

I would second that recommendation. The Maxima can blow away quite a few wanna-be sportscars...AND some sportscars.

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 11:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I would second that recommendation. The Maxima can blow away quite a few wanna-be sportscars...AND some sportscars.

The maxima is a good choice..i just did a cursory search on Autotrader for Toyota MR2's around preety much all of southern california, u aint gonna get ANYTHING worthwhile for $5000 and unfortunetly not much for $10,000 either, so scratch that out. The thing is, insurance is gonna be a BIG hassle for a new driver in the States like yourself and a sporty/sports car isnt going to help that one bit.

raihan · 25th May 2005, 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo_lover

dude .... my advice would be a Civic Coupe SiG (i vtec) ...
bang for the buck ...great on mileage ...very quick ..you'll love it ...you should get a good deal in that budget .... if you have a 5000$ budget , am sure u'll look for a car low on running cost , civic is the only contender when it comes to that.. dont go for Probes and miatas ...

mazda 6 is way outta your budget ...so are the current gen Eclipses .. i'd say you pick up a car low on the clicks ..you should manage a good deal on the civic ..throw in a loud muffler ( 120 $ ) and you'll be set ..

btw what did you drive in india ?

Hey Turbo, the civic's bhp is like 110-115 right? I was looking at least at 140 bhp+. What about Integra's or older generation eclipse's??
I currently drive a zen & am tired of its lack of torque in city drives.

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by raihan

Hey Turbo, the civic's bhp is like 110-115 right? I was looking at least at 140 bhp+. What about Integra's or older generation eclipse's??
I currently drive a zen & am tired of its lack of torque in city drives.

The Integra's that have 140 bhp, are Integra LS's and GSR's (that has 170-180hp or so). Eclipses, the GS's have 140 or so. Look on Autotrader.com and see what you come up with, but definetly its gonna be high mileage cars, no doubt about that. The Civic EX is 127hp. If you want torque, ur gonna have to step up to the V6's; as mentioned before, a Maxima is a good choice. The Civic Si's power is 160 hp, but u'll have to rev the piss out of that, as the torque is low on that as well, but i think it should be ok for commuting. But remember though, ANY of these cars will be a drastic change from the Zen u have been driving.

raihan · 25th May 2005, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I would second that recommendation. The Maxima can blow away quite a few wanna-be sportscars...AND some sportscars.

IMO the maxima looks boring at best if not ugly & out of my budget. The car am looking for will be used by 2 people mostly so I was looking at a high performing I-4

. Any suggestions??

raihan · 25th May 2005, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

, ANY of these cars will be a drastic change from the Zen u have been driving.

Am v much aware of that dude, have driven/riden in quite a few cars in the US previously.

CaliAtenza · 25th May 2005, 12:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by raihan

IMO the maxima looks boring at best if not ugly & out of my budget. The car am looking for will be used by 2 people mostly so I was looking at a high performing I-4

. Any suggestions??

High Performing I-4's: Acura Integra GS-R, Civic Si, Eclipse GSX, GST, Toyota MR2 turbo, Nissan 240sx (not a turbo, but u might be able to buy a swapped car), Toyota Celica, Mazda Miata (this is actually low on power..but loads of fun), Mazdaspeed Protege, Mazda MP3 (Protege), Mazda RX8, etc. Actually, i found a great link for you: if u can swing 10,000 u can have this RX8: http://used-cars.autos.yahoo.com/use...VzZWQtY2Fycw--

raihan · 25th May 2005, 14:44

I checked that link, RX-8 what a car 238bhp from a 1.3 litre rotary engine, awesome. But out of budget.

turbo_lover · 25th May 2005, 16:53

RX-8's way outta reach dude !

and Civic Vtec is deceptively quick ... it come with a 127bhp motor

integras are wicked ...i used own a 98 Integra GS it was very quick ... but i dbout you can manage an i-vtec integra within 5g's ...unless its really beat up ...
my ex also has a Integra (non v-tec), she bought it for 5000 Canadian $ but it had 280k clicks on it ...and had no juice left in it ..

dude check out www.autotraders.com ...search within your area
get an insurance quote aswell..decide what kind of a car your looking for ..

american or Jap ?
coupe or sedan?
and how much insurance can you afford ?

like cali said ... at that budget you are looking at high mileage cars ..
but unlike indian scene .. 100ks on such cars are not as bad as we think ..
manual cars will be a better option to reduce the risk of drivetrain failures..

25th May 2005, 04:36	#31
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,730 Times View My Garage	Definetly not in the $5000 range. The car just came out a couple of years ago.
	() Thanks

25th May 2005, 11:38	#35
turbo_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,377 Thanked: 9 Times	dude .... my advice would be a Civic Coupe SiG (i vtec) ... bang for the buck ...great on mileage ...very quick ..you'll love it ...you should get a good deal in that budget .... if you have a 5000$ budget , am sure u'll look for a car low on running cost , civic is the only contender when it comes to that.. dont go for Probes and miatas ... mazda 6 is way outta your budget ...so are the current gen Eclipses .. i'd say you pick up a car low on the clicks ..you should manage a good deal on the civic ..throw in a loud muffler ( 120 $ ) and you'll be set .. btw what did you drive in india ?
	() Thanks

25th May 2005, 14:44	#44
raihan BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: CA/bangalore Posts: 271 Thanked: 112 Times	I checked that link, RX-8 what a car 238bhp from a 1.3 litre rotary engine, awesome. But out of budget.
	() Thanks

25th May 2005, 16:53	#45
turbo_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,377 Thanked: 9 Times	RX-8's way outta reach dude ! and Civic Vtec is deceptively quick ... it come with a 127bhp motor integras are wicked ...i used own a 98 Integra GS it was very quick ... but i dbout you can manage an i-vtec integra within 5g's ...unless its really beat up ... my ex also has a Integra (non v-tec), she bought it for 5000 Canadian $ but it had 280k clicks on it ...and had no juice left in it .. dude check out www.autotraders.com ...search within your area get an insurance quote aswell..decide what kind of a car your looking for .. american or Jap ? coupe or sedan? and how much insurance can you afford ? like cali said ... at that budget you are looking at high mileage cars .. but unlike indian scene .. 100ks on such cars are not as bad as we think .. manual cars will be a better option to reduce the risk of drivetrain failures.. Last edited by turbo_lover : 25th May 2005 at 17:11.
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