Under 10k car

[ATF_Syris]

im looking for an overall great car more along the lines of performance, styling, and reliability. Dont want to look at anything much over 10k unless it is a just a little over. Something preferably new at least in the 90's. Some of the cars that I have been lookin at is Toyota Celicas, Honda Preludes, Acura RSX.

[illmatik]

I would go with an accord over a prelude for tuning (you can swap in prelude engines and pay lower insurance)

I'd also look for an impreza RS or my old favorite (man I miss this car) the eclipse GSX (the DSM AWD turbo monster)

[ATF_Syris]

I know hondas are good for reliability but how do the subarus and eclipse stands stand towards that more or less meaning can they take a beating and still keep kickin?

[illmatik]

I never owned a subaru, but my good friend had an older legacy (96 i think) and his little sister abused the hell out of it and it's still going..

As for the GSX, the one I had in texas was rock solid after a couple of recalls were repaired... I was doing 120 in 3rd gear on the I-20 in dallas during an ice storm

[Nut]

Steer clear on any Volkswagen vehicles. The shop I work at started taking those in 2 years ago and I have never seen a car manufactor with more problems than these.

The Subaru may get you better rates on insurance and have really become a very good car company. Honda (Acura) rates are going up because of the "performance" revolution. We have at least one fatal accident around the DC area every week involving a young driver and his/her Honda where speed is a factor. Put a fart can on it and you quadruple the chances of it getting broken into or stolen. I have a co-worker with a Interga Type-R, he got a reckless driving ticket for speeding 81 in a 55. His insurance went from $1200 a year to $6000 a year. He had to put the car in storage and got a Jeep Cherokee to drive around. Although Hondas are probably the most dependable and least troublesome car out there (unless you mess around with it). The Toyotas are probably second best.

[Player0]

Any Toyota, Honda, Subaru will be a great car. The Subarus have very high resale value and will probably cost more per year/mile than the Toyotas/Hondas. Plus certain work on Subarus can cost more.

I bought a 94 Honda Accord for $2400 a couple years ago and have put about $30,000 miles on it. Super reliable, and repairs are quite cheap. Any Volkswagon, Saab, other EU cars can be expensive to repair in the states. At least according to some friends. American cars generally fall completely apart in their mid-lives lol. Ive had plenty of Chevy's and Fords and they're all rust buckets ;)

On the other hand, you want to spend $10,000 which is more than ive ever spent on a used car. You can probably get something very nice, though it depends on what your after. Most of the guys here will steer you towards performance, although IM not sure where you want to go.

You might do well buying a $5000-$6000 car which might be a better value and then put $1000-$2000 in to initial repairs and pocket $2000 for a nice stereo or something.