Which car would you get?
 

If you had a 16,000 budget and you we're looking for a car with an automatic, what would you buy? My friend's brother is looking for a car, and I'm not a good car shopper with a budget that big. :eek:

it all depends on what he's interested in doing. With only a 16k budget i'd rather build a dream car =). My favorite autos start at 20k and isn't the hybrid model (2013 fusion).

A Prius C and make up the difference through financing over several years. :p

I'm currently trying to convince him to buy a geo metro, learn how drive stick, and learn to fix it himself. Literally, for $2,000 in car and $1000 in tools, he could have a car that's cheap to repair and he could teach himself how to fix a car which is a life's worth of knowledge. But not everyone is a car person, so we'll see how it goes.

Hopefully we have a future ecomodder on our hands :thumbup:

Trying to steer him towards a cheap car that is easy to fix sounds like a good idea, but I think a Metro would be a hard sell to most people. Maybe look at a '96-'00 Civic. The Civic is popular because they are solid little cars that handle well (for a wrong wheel drive) and get good mileage. The efficient HX gets packaged with some upgrades over the base model, so even that wouldn't be hard to get him to go for.

If he is set on spending a bunch of cash on a newer car, it is hard to even recommend something without having some idea what he would be interested in.

I ended up getting the 04-05 Civic, dollars at the pump aren't everything.

These Civics have very good crash test ratings
They're comfortable to drive long distance
They're surprisingly roomy, and with the seats folded down to pass through the trunk, versatile for cargo
I think they look great
They're very reliable and well built, just get down and look up at the rear suspension parts, very solid compared to Toyotas & such.
They hold their resale value
I get 36.5 mpg with only a little effort in driving techniques over the long haul.
Nice medium mileage 04-05's can be had for $7-9K (60-80K miles)
Having lived with mine now for 65K miles and 2 1/2 years, I'm crazy about the thing. I don't think you can get a cheaper, safe, better quality car for the money.

My 2¢.

http://i47.tinypic.com/30myanl.jpg

Bigger Pic

Honda CRZ!

Tied for my favorite car right now, sporty while fuel efficient. Standard, or the CVT.
Saw one under 14k, 75 under 16k within 500 miles of me. Pretty big after market for them, too.

Buy this for right at 10k.

regards
Mech

16 G's? how about 8-10 cheap used cars? When he gets tired of one or it starts giving him a lot of trouble, just sell it for scrap value and move on to the next. :D I could have bought my daily driver (93 Saturn SL2) almost 23 times over for 16 large. :rolleyes:

In all seriousness though, it's impossible to recommend a car choice without knowing his particular needs in a vehicle. Kids, cargo carrying, towing, typical driving conditions; all these can have a very profound effect on what would be the "best" car choice. There's also his mechainical aptitude as well. An old cheap car may be a great option for someone like me that can turn their own wrenches but I know people that would quickly tire of paying a mechanic for every little thing as they have NO mechanical ability what-so-ever.

Personally, I don't think there's anything worthwhile in the new car market for $16000 but your options are WIDE open in the used car market for that or much less. IMHO, a new car is just about the worst investment you can make with your money and paying as little as possible for a used vehicle that fits your needs is always the best policy. Individual Results May Vary though. ;)

Not knowing what the OP's friend is looking for in a car, I second this as a good all-around choice. Plus, these 7th-gens are easier to find non-riced-out since they're not as well-regarded in the tuning community as earlier Civics. And, with some aerodynamic modification, it's easy to see high 40s-low 50s mpg.