O/T but still a question about cars, just not traditional

cougar would be my choice, cant beat a 351.

if it must be new, i would opt either for a light toyota truck (because they fucking rock) or check out hyundais and kias - both have 5000 mile/5 year full warranties and 10000 mile/10 year (!!) powertrain warranties, the best in the business, and they sell for 8 or 9 grand. shit, even used ones are probably worth it, the warrany transfers i think.

 

My paretns drive hondas exclusivaly and my dad has racked up 110000 mile son the van in a short time and it takes a good beating. Drove 2 other hondas deep into the 100000 mile mark.

The big v8 suv's and trucks drink gas.

My 04 f150 is getting about 14-16 mpg now. 65 bucks to fill it all the way up...

Toyata pickups are supposed to be real good trucks. Good mpg and reliable as anything...

 

Thank God I have a company truck I drive everywhere, with a company gas card no less. It's an 05 Silverado with about 27000 miles on it, yes I drive a shitload. Nothing has gone wrong with the truck so far, but the tranny does seem to clunk in and out of 1st when cold. I used to work for GM and honestly I wouldn't touch anything GM has made since the 70's, nor would I mess with the SOHC that Ford has been putting out. Get yourself an early 90's small japanese suv (don't want them drums getting wet). I have a friend that plays drums for a few bands here in Austin and he has a 90 or so Honda civic hatch that he beats the crap out of, all his equipment fits in there, and he didn't pay shit for it.

Just my $.02 though.

 

55ford- Drive whatever you feel is going to be the most dependible while your in school. i graduated from ITT with my CADD degree about 10 years ago (I'm now 31). When I was attending, they were very strict about attendance. I was driving a 1979 Toyota Celica. It had a carb, was rear-wheel drive and i could drive that car anywhere. Between going to school full-time and working full-time, that car served it's purpose. After I finished school, I "upgraded" to a 1988 Honda CRX due to my commute to work. And then picked up a 1963 Nova which turned into a daily driver. 10 years later my daily ride is a 1966 Caprice Wagon, I have a 29 Model A project in the garage and I'm a Design/Engineer for an Architectural Millwork Company which is about a 1 mile round-trip commute from my house(I'm living the dream baby!!).
Most important thing is to focus on your education. The cars(and the money to buy the cars) will still be there when your done with school........trust me.

 

I'd go with a 4 banger stick shift small pickup, like an s10 or ranger, but make sure it's pretty new and wasn't abused and it won't give you trouble. Gas milage will be decent, and with a project car you'll need a parts hauler. The stick shifts do pretty decent with performance when theres no load in the bed.

Explorers and Blazers are pretty nice too, and can still handle most of your parts hauling needs. A little less basic than the pickups I mentioned, which is nice, but milage will be worse.

I'd skip 4x4 on all of them, unless you need it for snow. It's just going to make your insurance higher.

 

Yep Doctor your right.
Alot of Toyotas are built in Cali too. My Tacoma was.
I just wish they were American owned.
Spending 20 years in the quality field and looking at things from my prospective..
I've come to the realization that it all comes down to components. And the money spent on life tests of these items.
Many American owned companies are so strapped with competition that their only incentive can be cost. Lifetesting is not even a consideration.
Reason?? Their management doesn't want some technician telling them the manufacturer and/or part they've designed with time constraints is not to the needed quality standards. Competition and greed is eating Amercan owned industy up.

Back to lifestyle vs hobby.
I will argue till I'm blue in the face about reliabllity of new vs old cars.
Only when you totally replace every single component with a new one on an old car can you even come close to that ideology.
I put 20,000 miles a year on every 4th owned Tacoma I've had for my work.
I have never put any money or had any breakdown that was quality related for any of these cars.
I'm glad these cars aren't my lifestyle.... I would have been burnt out many years ago. I love them too much to want it any other way.

 

My daily driver is a 90 chevy 1500 stepside bought brand new 5.7,700r 3.08 gear. it gets 20mpg. 396,000 miles and the only major repair was (knock on wood) the a/c 3 years ago and the rear end this past july.

Take that Japan.

Besides Im 6'3" and cant pack my ass in a small truck.

 

Thanks Everyone, Sorry I just realized last night before I went to shower that there had been more posts. I added 2 more cars to the list I am looking at. A 1996 range rover at $9,000. And This

http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com/caddetail.html?/ad-cache/10/4/2/80479842.htm

a 1963 GMC Jimmy, stepside, I figure if it has a rebuilt engine that must be like new. and I could paint it red or something. But it and the Cougar are big on the list right now. I went used shopping and saw nothing under 14 thousand, Ill have hopefully 8500 to spend. And I need automatic transmission, Is there such thing as a manual trans on the column? cause it seems like it would be really hard on the column itself, shifting and all that. Thanks Again Everyone!!!

 

I've caught flak from almost everyone I know for it, but I traded a 2000 Chevy 1500 Ext. Cab long box 4X4 5.3l for a Hyundai Santa Fe, also AWD and a V6.

I haven't had a lick of problems from it either. We got close to 30k on it now and it hasn't been to the dealer once! The Chevy needed 4 front end alignments (before 10k miles), a new exhaust (after 5800 miles) a new alternator (before 20k miles) and a new steering rack (after 30k miles, that's why I got rid of it, out of warranty, didn't wanna pay for it...the truck was just over 3 years old too!)

The Santa Fe gets the same mileage (about 24, highway, 20+city, if I'm driving(not the wife )) and has room for both kids.

Now that they are being built in Alabama, I don't feel as bad, cuz I'm from a UAW family thru and thru, but when it comes to my hard earned money... I've owned Chevy's and seen what I went thru...

That said, I'd still opt for something older if SWMBO would let me. There's this 57 Bel Air in town for sale...

It's all about what you can make work within your budget. With gas at almost $3 a gallon here in the "D" I wouldn't go for a V8 powered older car, unless I had a really short commute...

Just my .02.

Jay

 

I wouldn't go with a 70 anything if you want reliable. I drive a 67 ford daily, it's honestly a pain in the ass to deal with. I like the car, it's just that it's nearly 40 years old, and a lifetime of hard driving has taken it's toll. It would be ok if I didn't have to have it to get to work every day. Had to replace the rearend bearings, front suspension, added disk brakes because the stock manual drums are suicidal. Windshield leaks, no heater controls, no a/c, windows won't stay up, doors shut hard... etc. If you want something old to be reliable, get a creampuff or something that's already had the work done. My opinion, from my experience.

 

Yep, it's usually referred to as three on the tree. My '40 Chrysler, '46 Chevy and '66 Suburban all have three on the tree. And you're right about it being hard on the column, the shifters tend to wear out on them and stick if you shift it real fast. My 'burban will jam between first and second if I shift up real fast, and it's only got 60K miles on it.

As far as needing an automatic, I understand you want other members of the family to be able to drive it, but keep in mind that (in general, not in every situation but in most) a stick shift car will get better gas mileage than an automatic. Also, you can push-start a stick if the battery is dead, and it's a good skill to know if you haven't learned to drive a stick yet.

 

Thanks all, sorry its been so long, I have been to busy to post lately, I still been reading though, Just got back from my birthday trip to Disneyland, I love it soooo much there, and now I am 17!!!

SixGunner- My mom's Santa Fe hasn't been back to the dealer but once so far and she has had it for about a year. It went to the dealer cause the battery died, it was under warranty so they did it for free. Thats quite a bit of stuff to be done on a car in under 3 years!!! Whats SWMBO? Thanks.

Mojo- Im gunna sound supid here, but what is a creampuff? I pretty much am not looking at the cougar anymore, mainly because, it only gets 6mpg, thats not enough for me. What about something that old if the engine has been rebuilt? Just adding another dimension to it. Thank You.

Squablow- I want automatic cause no one in my family drives manual, so I need them to teach me how to drive, plus I am in Vegas, I have been told that the kind of driving encountered here is not the best for manual, since it is stop and go. Thanks.

I have added another couple of cars to my list, these are there, but I am not dead set on them.
First one: 1951 GMC Stepside, rebuilt 350. Heres the link.
http://adcache.collectorcartraderonline.com/10/2/6/80761226.htm

Second ones: any 64 1/2 - 67 mustang, I like the look of them, even though they don't fit here.

Now if I were to go with the truck, its 5000, that leave extra for me to pay first year of insurance, take it to a mechanic to look at, and here it comes...Start a hot rod!!! Yayyyyy!!! I can't wait for that.

Thanks A Ton Everyone