HELP ME OUT!! (car question)

[extra]

okay, so i sold my car, i'm now going to get something cheaper and quicker and more fun (hopefully)
my budget is $4k, but i'd LIKE to keep it around $3500 or less....i want a sports car/sports coupe....
car hasta be 2 door, no if's/and's/but's...heh

i'm looking for the fun factor more than anything else.

what i'm considering right now is:

MK1 Toyota MR2
Turbo Eclipse/Talon/Laser (probably the AWD model)

i think the MR2 would be much more fun even though they are pretty slow...there are just soooo many eclipses around too...plus i can get a used mr2 for under 3 grand leaving me money for rims and stereo or whatever.

any other suggestions or cars that i should look into? what about old supra's and rx7's?
i don't really care about the age of the car...

EDIT: also, i'll be passing through seattle/spokane/missoula this winter if anyone has somethign that they wanna give me a hell of a deal on..*cough**cough*

 

[XeonTux]

Dude, unless you purchase a warrenty or are very handy and have cheap parts in reach, don't buy a used car with a turbo. Especially an older used turbo which would be in that price range.

Maybe a F-Body like a Camero or Trans-Am? A 350 would be nicer than a four cylinder jap crap, no? Plus you wont get laughed at.

 

[Stallion]

I agree with XeonTux. Look for and older Camaro/Trans Am. I had a 87 IROC that I sold for 4K a few years ago, 305/5 speed so there might be some around for 35 or so. Turbos go bad and MR2 are a little over rated in my opinion.

I'm in the Seattle area also. Go to Auburn and drive down Auburn Way North. There are over 15 different car dealers on the one street there, new and used.

 

[extra]

k...hmm...i never really considered a camaro before....

 

[Stallion]

Mustangs also, can't beleive I said that , you can probably find a nice 89-93 GT for a reasonable price or even an LX model with a 5.0 and 5 speed

 

[Tominator]

Go with the 'Stang. Although a close second would be a Camero. You'll be buying a car with a few miles on it and the injection system on GM V8s is more problamatic than the Ford equivilent. Good luck!

 

[Stallion]

Tominator, I thought that in the early 80s GM had the Mass air flow and ford did the speed density but then went to the mass air flow also. Or did you mean that the GM version of the MAF was not as good as the ford set-up.

 

[MajesticMoose]

If you don't want to spend so much on gas (like you will with the 5L or 350) then go for a VW corrado. Very fast and cheap too.

Moose

 

[bigbootydaddy]

i dont think you can get an AWD eclipse/talon for 3k-4k...i know the eclipse gsx are very hard to come by..i was looking for one a while back

'stang sounds good

 

[StageLeft]

You could fit into a used RX7 for that price (non-turbo), but the engine repairs may cost you a lung.

I am not very experienced in the area but my impressions would be that for $3500-4000 its going to be hard to fit into a fast car that is going to be cheap enough not to cost you an arm and leg in repairs.

 

[lupin]

I really don't recommend buying a sports car when your budget is limited to $4000.

Sure, you can get a car for that price. But sports car tend to have high repair bills.

My advice is, go get a civic or some sort... buy a sports car when you have at least ~$10,000 to spend.

 

[vi edit]

If you are on such a tight budget, have you thought about what your insurance is going to be for one of those "sports coupes"?

For that price range, you might be able to find a well maintained 92-94 Chevy Berreta GT w/ the 3.1 in it. Also, you could find a 92-94 2dr Pontiac Grand AM.

 

[TrevorK]

Buy a 89 Daytona Turbo ES. Then you get a cheap car, where there are a TONNE of parts available for it. I went to a wreckers for a turbo once, and they had three piles. One was Dodge 2.2's, one was Dodge 2.5's and the other pile was everything else. If I had to do it again, with that kind of money, a turbo Daytona would be perfect, low insurance and doesn't cost much..


------
Trevor
90 Talon
90 Laser

 

[Soybomb]

I'll venture to say that XeonTux isn't familiar with turbo cars, but just has heard they're bad. I happen to have 3 of them, with the newest being an 88......all on the original turbo. I will agree with the other poster that says go for a turbo dodge. For your price I'll recommend a Daytona as well, except the ES model is just the "luxury" model for the old folks. If you want fun look for a 87-88 Daytona Shelby Z. It'll leave the 80's camaro's and mustangs in the dust...

 

[geno]

Don't go for the F bodies. They're not too solid and about 90% of them have been beat to hell. Either go for an older Prelude/Integra or go for a Daytona. You can find some with the CS (Shelby) package, which are very fast. The great thing is the parts are plentiful and relatively cheap. They come from anywhere between 93 horses and 224 horses. If I were you I'd try to find one with the Turbo 2 setup (174 horses). The TII setup is available from '87 to '90 so you should be able to find one in good shape. These cars are very solid, my step sister has one, she got rear ended by a Daewoo that was going at least 20. The Daewoo's front end was smashed pretty good, and her right-rear didn't have so much as a dent on it.

The problem with most other domestic turbo cars is just that they're not reliable. With the exception of a 90-94 Mustang, I wouldn't buy any other car but a Dodge. I haven't seen anything from Chevy, Pontiac, or Ford from around those years that would interest me.

 

[Soybomb]

genocide, actually CS is most commonly thought of as being "competition series" since it was mainly a handling package

 

[geno]

My fault, you're right. The CS does stand for Comp Series even though Shelby had an influence on the car (from what I've heard), not directly, but they still mention his name with the car for some reason. I stand corrected If I'm not mistaken, it was replaced with the Shelby Z after 87 right? I know my P Bodies much more than the Daytonas so don't mind me

 

[SuperGroove]

MK.1 MR2.

Good choice, my man. Does well enough in the snow, loads of fun when the roads are dry.

Paul

 

[XeonTux]

I'll venture to say that XeonTux isn't familiar with turbo cars

I had one, a 1988 Dodge Daytona Pacifica Turbo 2.2L. The Pacifica was the "luxury sport" model. Bright red with gray leather, power everything, and the in-dash computer. I loved it, and it was a good car for me when I was in high school cause it was cheaper insurance than the trans ams I really wanted. The turbo did go out shortly after I got it in '92, luckilly I had a warrenty.

I was mostly speaking from experiences of people I've known. I am not a mechanic, pretty far from it actually. I do have a number of friends who are mechanics who have stated the same...including one from a mopar dealer. You can get whatever you want, but I know if I was getting a 10 year old car I would opt for a naturally-aspirated one.


If you want fun look for a 87-88 Daytona Shelby Z. It'll leave the 80's camaro's and mustangs in the dust...

Maybe the early 80's camaros and mustangs made before they figured out how to make cars both emissions-compliant AND fast. I think the only Daytona that would run with a 89 Mustang 5.0 would be the 92-93 Daytona IROC R/T with the 224hp turbo 2.2L jointly developed by Lotus. The Shelby Z was not as powerful as the R/T was it?


VW corrado. Very fast and cheap too.
fast compared to what ?!?!? When I think of VW, the word fast does not come to mind. Just slow and ugly. I'll agree with cheap out of blind faith.



If you were to get a mustang you want to get a 89+ 5.0, the first year with mass-air

If you were to get a camero or t/a you want TPI not TBI. Or get a loan for a couple grand and get a 93 350 LT1 (LT1 rocks)

Thunderbirds can come with the 5.0 too. I think the coolest body was 94-95, which would be out of your price range. (95=4.6?)

Or if you want something small like a mr2, maybe slap a 350 in a fiero..hehe, it has been done but its a deathtrap.

One thing to take into consideration is whether you want FWD or RWD. I like RWD best, even in the Chicago snowstorms. Call me crazy but it still handles better. Here's the sportier american FWD cars in this price range:

Lebaron: the Chrysler version of the Daytona, quite cheap nowadays, best in convertible form

Grand Prix GTP: you might be able to get a early 90's GTP w/ 3.4L 220hp v6 close to your price range. I think somewhere around 92-93 was the first year of the styling identical to 96 models. I was close to buying one of these once but got another mustang instead.

Lumina Z34: Cool on the outside and quick but seriously crappy interior IMO. Usually cheaper than the Grand Prixs which are on the same platform. Another car on the same platform is the Olds Cutlass Supreme which I think has a cool sleek style. All are avail with 3.4 which you will want.

Beretta: in addition to the 3.1 v6 (Z31?) and slow 4-bangers, there was also a high-performance quad 4 (GTU or GTZ? cant remember) for a couple years

Grand Ams: some years were cool but others were just plain ugly. A v6 GT would be somewhat sporty.

Cavaliers: early 90's Z24's looked pretty sporty and are pretty cheap, but pretty slow too

Probe GT: with a v6 these are cool little cars

Escort GT: don't even go there.

 

[Thegonagle]

You won't go wrong with a Celica GT or Prelude Si. They're both lots of fun, get up to 30 mpg and should be relatively cheap to fix/maintain and will last a long time. Overall condition is much more important than age/mileage when talking about used cars in your range. I have an '89 Celica GT coupe for delivering pizzas and as a winter beater, and insurance is very reasonable for such a fun little car. I'd guess that every other car mentioned in this thread is more expensive to insure. Mine has no rust and was only $1600.

The '90 to '93 hatchbachs are my favorite form of Celica. Wait for the right one (nice/cheap, esp. from a private seller) and you'll have a fun ride for $3,500. Oops, you sold your old car, guess you can't wait too long.

EDIT: Not cheaper to insure than some of the cars mentioned by XeonTux . Or a Daewoo.

 

[extra]

thanks a ton for the ideas guys....yes i definately want rear wheel drive, even though it's snows and is icy a lot up here. right now i'm driving my mum's car (old 70's peice of crap, and it's rear wheel drive, and i can handle it fine on the snow)...and insurance isn't an issue, i'm keeping the car cheap so that i'll have way more htan enough left over for any problems that should come up.

 

[tweekah]

Mister 2 is a great choice...I was going to say a CRX Si. But you wanted RWD.

Then I was going to recommend a Miata first gen. But then snow is a factor, so I dunno how many sunny days you have. Maybe you'd get lucky and score one for 4k.

I had the same problem over the summer...

Wanted a 2 seater sporty car

 

[extra]

yeah i was thinking MR2 because i've driven one before and LOVED it, and it's mid engine so it wouldn't be too bad in the snow..but then everyone is suggestion a used mustang/camaro so i'm gonna hafta drive one of them and see what i think.....also i duno about feiro's and what they are like i'm kinda interested in them too...(benefit of only having two seats==no one asks you to be their taxi service!)

 

[HotRadeon]

Get a 1993 Nissan Sentra SE-R! They are fast and fun to drive. You can easily mod it. Think about it.

 

[tweekah]

I'm 99% sure SE-R's are FWD. But they have a nice gear ratio...40mph in first gear...redline at a tad over 7k. doesn't look too sporty though...imho