I Need to buy an Automobile

[rzi]

It's time for me to buy my first personal automobile. I have around 12,000usd to maximum 15 to spend.

I'm leaning towards a early 2000's 3 series BMW.

Any suggestions as to what cars I should look into? Where to purchase, what to look for etc?

 

[BrianVarick]

I'm in the same boat, I need to spend under $13k, so I've been looking at the 2003 Honda Accord Coupe, 2001 BMW 3 series, 2003 Audi A4, and so on. I've been looking at ebay, and some are salvage, so I was looking at better cars.

 

[LSeca]

Originally Posted by rzi

Any suggestions as to what cars I should look into? Where to purchase, what to look for etc?

Get what you want, but I would advise you buy a used Asian import. Something like an older Accord, Camry, etc. They may be plain vanilla, but they will be a lot easier on your pocket book than a 7- 8 year old BMW.

 

[farfisa23]

spend a little more and buy a new Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa. The BMW will break down a lot making your 13K car more like a 18k car. Trust me.

 

[DNW]

If that's all the money you have, then you should stay away from any BMW before 2003. The maintenance alone will put a hole in your wallet. If I were to spend about $15k right now, I'd get a late model Subaru WRX. They're reliable, relatively cheap to maintain, and fun to drive. Just make sure it's a stick.

 

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by LSeca

Get what you want, but I would advise you buy a used Asian import. Something like an older Accord, Camry, etc. They may be plain vanilla, but they will be a lot easier on your pocket book than a 7- 8 year old BMW.

+1

As soon as BMWs get past the first 3 or 4 years, things start going wrong and they definitely become a lot more expensive to run. They are still good cars, but you need to factor in the cost of maintenance.

If you just want reliable, economical transport, then a used Honda or Toyota is the way to go.

 

[Tiranis]

BMW is going to be expensive for maintenance, but it won't be nearly as much pain ********** as VW, Audi, or Mercedes. Still, I would recommend an older asian import—preferrably not Toyota, since that's a boooooring car, unless you don't mind that.

 

[Journeyman]

Impractical but great fun to drive - Mazda Miata

Still not bad to drive but more practical - Honda Integra or Prelude

Not good to drive but much more practical - Honda Accord or Civic

Very practical - Toyota Corolla, Camry or really anything else by Toyota.

As others have said, buying out-of-warranty European cars can be a risky business. Nothing may go wrong - but if it does, it will usually end up costing quite a bit.

As a rather pointless anecdote, in 2000 a friend of mine bought a 1995 BMW 318 coupe. Lovely car - drove very nicely and had an upgraded sound system, leather seats with fleece covers for the front seats, moonroof, and factory alloys. Less than a year after he purchased it, as he was driving home one afternoon, the car made a sickening noise , lost all power and ground to a halt. The reason? One snapped timing belt. The cost? Several thousands of dollars due to various internal engine parts having gone awry.

If you're going to get a used car more than a few years old, try to ensure that it has been serviced religiously.

For those ultra-cautious car purchasers out there, Toyota and Mazda use "non-interference" engines, so that if your timing belt breaks, your engine does not self-destruct as happened to my friend's car. I'm not sure about Honda, however.

 

[Tiranis]

If this happened somewhere in North America, I'm not surprised... people over here don't service their cars what-so-ever and as such when you know something about cars it's pain ********** buying an old one. Most older automatics in Canada have a completely ruined transmission...

If you were to buy an older European car back in Europe it would be far more reliable since most people actually get their cars serviced properly.

 

[rzi]

I live outside of NYC, though I have no interest in buying a camry ;(

Not my style.

 

[moosy]

For that money you can get a new Mazda 3, cheap, fun to drive, and very reliable - but it's no BMW

 

[LabelKing]

A BMW 3.0cs.

 

[LSeca]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

A BMW 3.0cs.

LK, I am starting to think you are becoming a BMW fanboy. This is a good thing.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by LSeca

LK, I am starting to think you are becoming a BMW fanboy. This is a good thing.

I've always liked certain BMWs. But I also like Porsche and Mercedes with equal fanfare.

 

[LSeca]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I've always liked certain BMWs. But I also like Porsche and Mercedes with equal fanfare.


I happen to like vintage Porsche and Merc a lot more than BMW, for new cars the other way around. Btw, the paint and detail on the inside of your Mercedes looked very good. I could tell you take excellent care of it.