Stupid. The only real choice is a used Maserati Gibbles at 25k

What ? It’s unreliable? Hey shaddup
What it’s bad on gas ? Hey shaddup
What ? It’s a terrible choice for a first car ? What the fuck did I just say ?

That's pretty profound :p.

But yeah, you're right about that. I remember having the engine in my '86 MR2 cut out on me a couple nights driving home from SFU. Not ideal that I was losing the brake boost, going down the mountain in the dark. And swapping spark plugs on the side of the road in pouring rain, by the light of a street lamp wasn't super great.

Doing maintenance on that old car, everything was rusted: bolts would constantly round off and break. Luckily, plenty of stuff was also missing by the time I owned it. Can't struggle replacing something if it was never there! :lol.

Lots of upsides: do your own wrenching, learn about mechanical systems, build character, save money, etc. But would I wish this on someone who wasn't a car enthusiast? Man, I really wouldn't.

I guess your case is pretty different. She'd have someone who knows what they're doing to help out, and that is big. I was going off printed-out threads from the forums: 20 years ago you assholes were not very clear with instructions. And hopefully a Mazda3 won't have been beaten on like my 5th-owner MR2 was :D.

I would 100% go with a reliable used car as anyone's first. Have it inspected by a mechanic you trust and at least gauge what kind of work might be necessary/upcoming. If the current owner is against having the car inspected then you already know to move on.

Obviously I'm biased towards civics but that's because the golden era ones were basically bulletproof with basic maintenance. Some people think my 34 year old daily probably breaks down all the time and costs a lot to maintain. They're wrong lol. I have almost never been stranded by my EFs or my EK and the only time I ever was it was due to my own negligence with maintenance :lol

Learning how to fix minor things and replace consumables on a car should be a skillset everyone has. It benefits yourself and also your friends/family/anyone in need. Look at how many of us made friends just by having this common hobby!

I’d buy a 15 year old civic over most 5 year old BMW’s lol

I've bought 1 new car in my whole life... since then the most I've ever spent on a car was $12,000 on my MR2 Turbo. Everything else has been under $10,000. Even IS300 Lexi were $7,500 and faultless for daily driving for 5+ years. Nothing has ever left me stranded or broke down ever except blowing an axle out of my K20 swapped Civic racing and engine oil starvation on Celica 1zz also at racing lol

That said, I've never ventured onto the wild side of euros ie: older BMW's and stuff. I do have an E30, but I've driven it very little time and I think those are mostly regarded as pretty reliable by BMW standards.

We got my buddy’s wife a 2011 328xi as her first car. We all told her to get a Corolla or something but she wanted the “image conscious” choice of bmw ownership.

The damn thing had like 130,000kms on it and a few small accidents. I recall she paid like 8 grand for it.

So far she needed valve cover gasket, new tires, a new rim due to the old one being cracked and myriad of small issues like windshield wiper tank leaking, HIDs going out, angel eyes failing, air conditioner leaking Freon, and mysterious oil leaks that require 1qt of oil every month.

Yeah, she still doesn’t regret it. Instead she says she can’t drive anything else now as they all lack power and handling. Trololololololol.

you don't need power and handling to curb your wheels....

I have never agreed with the stupidity of flaunting status/wealth with vehicles (or anything else really). It's shallow and pathetic in nature but that's just how some people operate. Give me something that's reliable and enjoyable to drive any day of the week! Everyone can keep their shitty new vehicles lol. How many people even understand driving feel anymore? Know how to drive manual? Know how to park their car without camera assist? The more automation there is, the worse people get at driving.

That's exactly my line of thinking as well. Perhaps the golden era of old Corolla / Civic / Camcord and maybe even Mazda3 spoiled me, but for the most part, basic Japanese transportation has been very reliable for me with only regular scheduled maintenance performed on the car. With all the past Japanese vehicles that my family has gone through, the Toyotas / Hondas / Mazdas rarely ever had required any unscheduled maintenance. The same cannot be said about the several Nissans that we also had lol~

it's for the gf?! ...she should definitely transit/uber for work and call on bf with Corvette and be that passenger princess!

Even scheduled maintenance is not cheap these days! :p

I'm due for my 8000km or 6 month oil change next month.
Oil - $30 odd dollars
Filter - $8 or so
Crush washer - Less than $1.00 (whatever it is, throw in a number)
Doing it myself - $10,000/hour
Cost of losing face (because Asian) - priceless

Stupid Toyota. So expensive. Should have just leased a base model BMW or Benz. Toyota so unreliable nowadays! :peek:

Joking aside. Hard to go wrong with your usual run of Japanese commuters. Just be mindful of cars like the Civic since insurance can get brutal.

I just realized you can't even buy a Yaris anymore. The cheapest Toyota you can now buy new is $26k CAD, for a base Corolla :/.

...wtf, for $6k more you get a GR86!! Seems like a comparative bargain.

That's assuming they have an allocation for you plus all the extra stuff they "suggest" you buy.

Yes doing your own oil changes is quite shameful.

My mom showed my cousins in shanghai and they were like OMG, he must be doing terribly. What a ba zi 巴子

I've had someone sell their new BMW because it was unreliable. He needed new new tires, light bulb died and A/C leak / recharge.

I did my brakes but always coughed up $30 for an oil change .

We have a Fit as the runabout gf/dog car. It's cheap and basic maintenance. I don't really get how this car forum always opines that anything out of warranty = massive maintenance for any of these threads but I digress since it's evident a lot of folks here have never turned a wrench before.

What's a wrench? :suspicious:

They're not aware of our lord and savior Mitsubishi Mirage

^ werent those things 9,995$ and came with a 10 year warranty?

I remember reading or watching some video where a dude leased a bunch of those cars for 45/mo and then put them on Turo for 30/day, dude was making bank

you guys ever drop 10mm sockets / extensions into your older cars and then just give up trying to fish them out? its lost to the car gods now

It doesn't make as much sense now as it used to because cool used cars are so expensive.
Back when I got my 13k e36 m3, the thing was it was just as exciting (or more) than the 60k new m3. Slower, yeah for sure, but it still provided a 40k+ driving experience and left 25k in the budget for mods and maintenance to still provide a value. Now I really get why people are like fuck that I'll just go buy a golf R under warranty, when both are pretty much going to cost the same to purchase.

Where you going for $30 changes? I wanna go too.
Canadian Tire sale right now. $33 for oil and $15 for filter before tax!

That's not nice to call your gf a dog. :concentrate:

I think NVM was talking about like 2012 days.....

Thats the last i remember of 35$ oil changes

Corvette costs me 220-260 depending where i go lol
Diy is like 110$ :okay: (might try the badhobz kirkland oil method since its "the same shit" and 1/2 the price)

I use Walmart Supertech oil. $28 for $5L when on sale, but I change my oil twice a year as per manufacturer's recommendation, so your mileage may vary.

back in the day.