I just checked my bank account and realized I'm up to nearly $5000 cash at this point. This makes a lot of things possible.
Well, I could technically pillage my trust fund for a F30 3-Series, but having money does not mean you need to spend it.
Well what I mean is, half the reason I was looking at financing is because everything I could afford in cash was either A. beat to death, B. horrible to drive, or C. B because of A. But now I'm starting to get up to the level where I could buy something relatively decent in cash, still have enough money left over to live on, and tell the banks and their 5.whatever% interest rates to go milk someone else's vehicular emergency. That's the paradox I'm in right now. I'm driving around in my mother's car, she's going stir-crazy (here in Alaska, Corona is basically a non thing, though the state gov't has been doing a lot of annoying lockdowny junk anyway), and I've basically crossed over into bicyclist levels of selfishness driving it this long. On the other hand, the longer it takes me to find a car, the better car I can afford since I'm still working at two essential jobs (Half the reason it's taking me so long to find a car is that I'm working 6-7 days a week as is, usually long either long shifts or late into the night). When I first started looking for a car, I was finding a lot of junk that I would have had to try very hard to talk myself into buying. Now I'm finding cars near or within budget that I'm having to talk myself out of buying. Someone on Facebook has a 1991 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin Turbo for $6750, here I go again longing after cars that are guaranteed to break my heart. I've heard Mitsubishis have parts-availability problems here in Alaska; I wonder if that's the case for a Mitsubishi with a Dodge badge?
People before: Gangsta rap is horrible! It's just hideous non-music about drugs, sex, and violence! There's no way music could get any worse than this! Mumble rappers: Hold my autotune
We live in a world where this was released as a single by one of the world's biggest bands back in 1973...
Dodge Neon SITREP: 7 owner car, dealer got it from an auction so no documentation on who did the mods or even what they are. However, it did, according to them, pass a mechanical inspection with no defects, they're not sure if they have the paper documentation for it as that "only gets dropped off at the end of the week", however they are emailing me a carfax and if they have the inspection report they will send that as well.
The starter pack person you were talking about in that picture I quoted. @Shotgun Chuck, I have a question for you. What do you think of Dodge Neons?
Further Neon sitrep. Carfax lists an insane 7 owners, though the situation may not be as bad as that implies. Car was originally sold in Pahrump, Nevada, which sounds to me like it may have been where the mods were done (Pahrump has some kind of enthusiast-culture association, though the only ones I can remember at this moment would probably exclude a Neon). It was auctioned several times earlier in its life, and more recently ended up in the Fairbanks/Healy area of Alaska, which is probably the sketchiest thing on the report as people from there, for whatever reason, tend to use cars up. The last owner before it came its current dealer was a soldier from Anchorages Army/Air Force joint base, which puts my mind at ease since, while soldiers can be kind of hard on cars as well, at least I know that it was sold because the owner had to move and not because it was broken.
Why buy a Neon, when you can have Grandpa on Wheels? https://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/d/anchorage-great-car-for-great-price/7112664261.html In a more serious note, these are pretty dependable and fun to drive with a stick. Even I am considering buying one, as my aging Suzuki XL-7 is having some irks due to sitting for some time and I lack the time to put up with it, and I really need something dependable for my commute to university. https://anchorage.craigslist.org/ctd/d/anchorage-2008-suzuki-sx4-4cyl-awd/7124359325.html
The 3.1 in the Buick is not that good of an engine. They experience head gasket issues IIRC due to the engine block and heads being made of different materials. That Suzuki looks ok, but I would say it is overpriced. I don't know much about reliability on those and I also don't see a lot of them so parts might be difficult to find.
You need a car for uni? Well, I present to you. The Top Gear Geoff. The perfect car for going on uni campuses. It only goes 10 miles an hour. Instead of having to walk like the rest of the college kids. You can go 10 miles an hour in your Geoff. Whether you're going to uni just to learn or to get a good job. The Geoff can get you to class, so that way. You don't have to walk. Buy the Geoff today to make your uni experience better. Seriously though, I don't know what kind of car would be dependable for uni stuff, but I hope you find a good one. Anyways, goodnight everybody.
Interesting suggestion on the Suzuki, but I've already driven a 2004ish Mazda 3 at that dealership and it was one of the worst cars I've ever driven. Interior trashed, creaky steering, severe shake at speed (wheel out of balance or out of round), just horrible. They obviously made zero effort to make it presentable for sale and judging by the shake they probably never drove it over 25 MPH. Anything from that schlock peddler is very low on my list for now.
Yeah, I most likely will end up with a used Honda Civic, Scion Tc or a Mazda 3 as those are my top choices, but I will have to wait until it is safe to go outside and I finish this semester so I can dedicate my time to test drive and make up my thoughts. I will consider the Geoff, but first I have to buy a hammer for repairs . I would certainly avoid any Ford-era Mazda products, as the quality of them at that time was dubious at best, especially the JATCO transmission equipped ones. My father owned a 2004 Mazda 3 automatic that he later sold to my aunt, and after 16 years I have to say the car is a mess. The car rattles like no tomorrow, and the transmission seems like it has a mind of its own. I linked the Suzuki as a general option, I agree with Harkin that the car is overpriced, you could find a better deal elsewhere. As for parts, you could check your local parts store or look at Rockauto if you have a tough time. Cheers in your search!