First Car

Evanuel9 said:

I'm excited and will keep the forum updated though I'm sure it's probably pretty boring compared to some of the epic stuff on here!

Dude, you've got a 5 page thread ( HA! 6 Page!) going on your first posting.  You're killing it here.  Keep it up and keep taking us along for your adventures!  

In reply to Placemotorsports :

I've only ever heard good things about them. They seem pretty fun

Of the list you've pared it down to I think 2 of your best bets are Yaris and Accent as they seem to be owned by people who just want a simple and cheap car to get around in.

In reply to John Welsh :

Haha well thank you. I will be sure to, and I can't wait for my first build thread. It actually may come fairly soon as I have found a dream car (Isuzu impulse rs) that may cause me to ignored everyone's advice. In my defense it's fairly reliable (Isuzu), fairly safe, and has minimal rust. And it'll be a fun adventure with my mom as it's in Colorado. 

In reply to clutchsmoke :

Wouldn't that make it harder to find a decent one as they'd be driven hard and put away wet (and salty depending on the area)

Evanuel9 said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Haha well thank you. I will be sure to, and I can't wait for my first build thread. It actually may come fairly soon as I have found a dream car (Isuzu impulse rs) that may cause me to ignored everyone's advice. In my defense it's fairly reliable (Isuzu), fairly safe, and has minimal rust. And it'll be a fun adventure with my mom as it's in Colorado. 

And this is still your first GRM thread????  Because, this might be the most GRM thing to ever been GRM'ed.    Ask a sensible question, receive sensible advice and then come back with...I'm going with an Isuzu.  

But, just to be clear, I'm not totally discouraging this.  After all...handling by Lotus!  

I did once buy a 25 year old Infiniti out of Colorado and it was the most rust free vehicle I've ever owned (and that includes new cars.)  

I now further wonder....I'm old enough to be your father so I'll ask...  Did your mom every spend summers around the islands of Lake Erie?  The village of Put-In-Bay?  A quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem?  Did she ever mention any sailboat racers?   

Evanuel9 said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Haha well thank you. I will be sure to, and I can't wait for my first build thread. It actually may come fairly soon as I have found a dream car (Isuzu impulse rs) that may cause me to ignored everyone's advice. In my defense it's fairly reliable (Isuzu), fairly safe, and has minimal rust. And it'll be a fun adventure with my mom as it's in Colorado. 

Dude, don't. With all the things you said you want to do, you will be disappointed with the impulse. I agree it's cool and quirky, but as performance goes it sucks.

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

My first car was an 85 Volvo 244GL with of course an automatic.  I was majorly disappointed at looking in and seeing an auto.  A day later I was happy as hell because it gave me my freedom.  First cars don't have to be cool.  They have to be first cars.

In reply to Stampie :

I definitely can't disagree with that. You are completely right. My first car was a 1988 Chevy Nova, with an automatic. 80 horsepower, three speed automatic, and I thought it was awesome.

I hear there is a budget, but didn't see a specific number mentioned in this thread.

Your 2 door, manual, and AWD criteria  applies to a Porsche 911 Carrera 4. Even if budget is not an issue, I somehow doubt it would get the parental seal of approval.

All crazy suggestions aside, a car you get at 17 is probably going to be replaced by  something else by the time you reach 25. There have been a lot of good suggestions given by others that would make for a fun start to your automotive journey.

My real advice is to find something that you can acquire locally and that has decent parts availability where you live. Having the only Saab in a small town is going to suck when you need a simple, but specific part like a coolant hose.  There may not be one waiting on the shelf for you at the local parts store, and you can get a lot of stuff delivered fast these days, but your car is still down while you wait.

I can personally vouch for the Mazda3 recommendations. I bought one as my first brand new car (5th car since buying my first car at age 17) in 2007 at the age of 26. It was a very fun car to own for the next 7 years.

In reply to John Welsh :

Haha yeah I think I'll fit right in here. I know I sound like your standard idiot teenager who thinks he knwos everything, and why did I ask for advice if I wasn't going to take it but when a once in a lifetime chance to buy a dream car that's incredily rare (800 in north america only 130 still registered) turned up, and it fits your requirements you don't have much choice. There is a bad rust spot he just send me. It's the front of the rear passenger side fender and into the rocker panels. There's a bit of a hole. However, it doesn't look too difficult to fix, there isn't any other bad rust, and when a car is this rare you can't have it all. Especially at the price it's offered for. It's got a short shifter, starion intercooler, and coilovers and comes with another engine. For about half my budget. I can find another sensible car with the other half if need be (how GRM is having two cars at 17 :D). 

Unfortunately my dad isn't a car guy, and the answer is no. Though we do love sailing and I used to race optis

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

I have to ask why. I'm not expecting great performance but more nimble, fun, and cool factor. Is it really that bad for what it is, a lightweight, manual, tuned, awd econobox?

With the added benefit of a front end reminiscent of the Montreal

In reply to BAMF :

Oh yeah, I wish I could get a 911. Something tells me you're right, the answer would be an immediate "NO!!!" as soon as "por-" left my mouth. The budget is $5k though I suppose if I want speed parts or there is stuff to fix it'd be lower. 

That sounds like super sensible advice. I realized a while ago, when I was helping a friend fix his ford ranger, it's way easy when you can just run down to autozone and grab the parts you need. My one saving grace, however, would be that I'm in Chicago (so can take the bus everywhere), and it wouldn't be my only form of transport (mom's got a car). Still, it is something I will take into consideration.

The 3 sounds like a ton of fun. It's gotten lots of votes so I'll make sure to try to find one to check out.

In reply to Stampie :

an 80s volvo 240 sounds like an absolutely epic first car, though I can't imagine you were thrilled with it at first. 

This has been a great thread to read through! Youre definitely in the right place at GRM!

Having done this twice for my kids, find the best rust free or low-rust car you can locally in budget, that meets or is close to meeting your check boxes. Particularly if you dont have a ton of support in terms of workspace and tools, the cool older stuff like the Impulse will be more of a challenge to deal with, find parts, etc.    With something newer and more mainstream, you can find parts anywhere and have more options for mods.  You can then get started on basic maintenance and cosmetics/detailing for starters, then start to do basic bolt on mods as you gain experience and tools. A first car is just the gateway drug, not a lifetime commitment.

I think several GRMers have joined their school's formula SAE teams; something to look into as you look at colleges.  Also, look around for TireRack street survival classes near you; it's a one day class to get teens to learn basic maneuvering/ situational awareness/ vehicle dynamics. 

FWIW, both of my kids' first cars were Civics. 22 y/o son s car was a 98 Civic I got from a co worker for 250 that only needed a coil to get running. My 18 y/o daughter has a 2011 Civic coupe with a 5 spd we got for 3500 because manual. She has opted to go with a unicorn/anime route of mods for now, but I get her involved in maintenance, repainting the wheels, wiper arms and detailing.

I was given a 1975 Opel Kadett 1900 when I was 15. I put a bitchin stereo in it made from house speakers. I could only get it to run for about 30 seconds and could not figure out the mechanical FI.

More importantly, I bought a Chilton's manual for it. At the beginning of each chapter there was a different Opel model. I grew up in a Corvette family so when I got to the chapter that had an Opel GT I fell in love. I found a "barn find" GT a couple years later.

I did almost a 3/4 restore to the car. Engine in refresh, bearings etc. Re-did the interior. Pretty much fixed everything except a dent in the front. Hell of a cool car to be driving at 19.

I ended up killing it by straddling a manhole in a construction zone that was taller than I was low. Destroyed more than I could afford to fix so I junked it. This was in Pittsburgh, PA.

Apparently someone fixed it because I bought the same car 30 years later in 2020. This was in Campton, NH.

The look on my face when I realized it was the same one must have been epic.

In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you, I love it here. 

I am definitely looking for low rust cars. There aren't too many near here but looking a bit futher afield, Tn and Ky as some commenters suggested or even georgia, the carolinas, and some of the southwest as a fun road trip with my mom. I absolutely understand the sense and the fact that, by any objective measure, I should go with a newer more common car. And, as an idiot teenager, the isuzu overrides that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ignoring anyone's advice and if this falls through it's back to the more sensible options. But as dream car as a first car at this price (it's about 2.5k and pretty rough) is a very very hard thing to pass up. Like I said if it falls through it's back to the the mazda3, civic, yaris, focus, or sentra. But if I don't at least go after it, it will always be the one that got away. And I don't want to be writing those stories on Bringatrailer about how I always wished I went after it. 

I am definitely committed to doing FSAE in college. In fact I'm already sort of involved. Much of my free time is spent reading thei rengineering papers and such. Absolute treasure troves of knowledge on chassis and suspension design and they have been helping me pursue my dream of eventually engineering and building a carbon monocoque.

I've also looked into the street survival/teen driving classes. There's actually a decent class at autobahn country club near me that I've asked for as a birthday gift, but may just get myself. However, I've always wondered how much you can really learn, and how much actually sticks in your head from a simple one day class. Wouldn't you need more days of instruction and practice? 

I like the civic hatches and ep3 si. Lots of mod options, pretty cool, got the enthusiast cred, lightweight, and known for being fun. And incredibly plentiful though if you want one that's not had a cheap ricer catalog shat all over it, and then covered in rust, it's harder to find. Not as huge a fan of the newer ones but I've heard they're certainly fun. And I'm definitely interested in doing myself. A few years ago I was begging mom to let me buy a junkyard KLZE (i love small, low displacement versions of higher cylinder count engines) to strip, rebuild with speed parts, and, as I put it, "have it ready for my first project car." Needless to say my mom had the sensibility to say no but the point is I love screwing around with mechanicals, have always wanted to learn, and have no fear of learning on the fly. The only thing that scares me a bit is rust repair/bodywork because I would only want to do it right (read: no bondo), yet I've read that getting good at welding is very hard, takes lots of practice, and is expensive. Plus stripping a car to por-15 it after you've done the rust repair seems like an absolutely pain. 

In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :

I would kill for a 70s wagon like that as a first car. Or did you have a coupe? They are even cooler. The gt is also awesome. Dreamed of one as a first car before parents sobered me up a bit. That is such an awesome story as well, though a shame your adventure with it had to pause the way it did. Do you have a build thread or pictures?

Evanuel9 said:

Focus SVT

Hyundai Accent 

GC8 Impreza

Dodge Neon 

EP3 Civic Si

The 90s hondas (civic, prelude, crx, integra, del sol )

Mk4 Gti

Maza3 and Mazda2

Sentra Se-r, I love the b13 but they are impossible to find, and the next gen is also pretty cool

Yaris

'yota matrix xrs

There's lots of fun to be had with this list of cars, but lets talk brass tax of owning them.

Focus SVT

Marks against: uses specialized parts in the intake manifold and even in non SVT guise the focus hatch wasn't super common.. replacement parts may be very difficult here. IMHO Steer clear

Hyundai Accent 

Bobzilla knows these best, I'd have some part availablity concerns. but overall these will probably be solid E36 M3boxes and fun as long as whatever you get has good gearing.

GC8 Impreza

These come with a fairly solid enthusiast tax and I'd never encourage anyone on my life to buy any subaru.

Dodge Neon 

Parts availability will be terrible.. but these are fun. go in eyes wide open about headaches you may find later down the road.

EP3 Civic Si

The unloved civic... this and the 7th gen civic sedan and coupe all ride on the same godawful front suspension. These cars have major bump steer issues and can be fun.. but know that the platform has huge flaws for performance applications.

The 90s hondas (civic, prelude, crx, integra, del sol )

Stick to the 92-99 sedan civics and you'll have no issues with part availability these are in junkyards everywhere... and the aftermarket is as ripe as can be. these are great as long as you realize they're 23-30 years old.

Mk4 Gti

Fun, but can you actually afford to keep a 20 year old turbo VW on the road?

Maza3 and Mazda2

great cars, but i know rust has been a major issue on the first gen Mazda3. The Mazda 2 is a great car if you can find one in your budget.

Sentra Se-r, I love the b13 but they are impossible to find, and the next gen is also pretty cool

Pretty sure these had oil burn issues that killed cats and then killed motors on the vast majority of them.

Yaris

If you can find a manual one.. you'll have fun.

'yota matrix xrs

Very rare and are very quick.. would be great if you found one in your budget.




I'll heavily throw my favor towards a Honda Fit.

$5k budget nationwide will find you a clean non rusty fit nearly anywhere.. |

I spent under that to buy my Fit and I've spent almost that much again in modifications but I didn't have to. 



Since you're in Greater chicago, you should definitely come to a Gridlife event and come talk to us in Sundae Cup. I'll be at all the greater Chicago events this spring ( Trackday Picnic @Blackhawk Farms, Midwest Festival@Gingerman Raceway and Gridlife Chicago @Autobahn CC and will happily talk through why I think these are the best budget track cars around. Bobzilla will also be at a bunch of those and would throw in the Kia rio as another contender of the same formula.

I did one thousand track miles on my car last year and drove 18k street miles all over the country.

Bobzilla's Rio



 

Something I didn't think of earlier.

So not very easy to find these days, but that KLDE V6 in the GT... yum.

And definitely something different.

Edit: Gotta decide if you just want a cool and interesting car to auto cross/track occasionally, or if your first priority is a budget track car that you can beat on over and over again every other weekend.

Cool & interesting usually don't overlap with a basic bulletproof budget track rat.

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

As a SVT Focus owner you nailed the biggest risk with this car. I do like it but worry about about the part in won't find. But the Duratec motors are solid. Swap in some suspension and rear disks you have a solid simple ride. 

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

FWIW, I didn't have any issues finding parts when I recently had a Neon. The local junkyard even had a few first gen coupes if I needed anything.

Also, it helps that if you break a motor the 2.4 swap is easy and those were put in everything.

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Something I didn't think of earlier.

So not very easy to find these days, but that KLDE V6 in the GT... yum.

And definitely something different.

Edit: Gotta decide if you just want a cool and interesting car to auto cross/track occasionally, or if your first priority is a budget track car that you can beat on over and over again every other weekend.

Cool & interesting usually don't overlap with a basic bulletproof budget track rat.

Those were cool, but it's fraternal twin is even better....

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

But... pop up headlights.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

Touche...well played sir