So I need a new car...

[Revvik]

...and like everything else in life, there's people out there who know more about this stuff than I do.
I'd like to get this car soon, seeing as how I blew the transmission on my last car about 4 hours ago.  No love lost, that car wanted death a long time ago.

Anyhoo, I figure I have more options than just these, but here's along the lines I'm thinking:

1999 Taurus SHO

1996 Thunderbird

Beyond that, there's several mid-late '90s Honda Accords I was looking into, and a car dealer made me fall in love with this 2000 Buick Regal.  It has 102,000 miles on it, but I know several people whose parents drive them, and they are choice automobiles (as far as my budget goes, anyways).  Also, the dealer and I have the price down to $6200 instead of the full $8k.  I don't want to spend more than $6k on a new (to me) car.  And I definitely don't want to buy yet another POS four-cylinder, since I just destroyed my third one in four years.

[Juggernaut GO]

I would never spend more then 7000 dollars on a vehicle withover 100k miles.  Too many stupid little problems always start to pop up around that mark.  I am also in the process of buying a new vehicle and I found that www.autotrader.com  is one of the best places to look.  for 6200 you can easily find a grand prix or grand am with 60-70k on it.

[Jim Sardonic]

I'd go with the SHO or one of the Hondas.

As a little bit of background, I work as a Service Manager of a Firestone, so I see these things in all the time. Here's what I can tell you without looking at the cars:

The Thunderbird is a bad idea. Most commonly, the springs break on them -- and it's a fairly costly repair. More often than not, broken springs blow out the struts, and when you stick an alignment on top it's big bucks. The suspension isn't the greatest, as Ford always seems to have problems with tie rod ends, idler/pitman arms, and the like. If you know what particular engine is in it, I can give you more details on that -- but I haven't seen a Ford engine I've been impressed with in years.

The SHO is a sort of a gamble. The cars are a blast to drive, and though they come with similar suspension problems it's rare that they blow out springs. This route is best if you're some form of car enthusiast looking for a car that you can work on to pimp out. (Just think -- foil everything!)

Hondas, as much as I hate to say it, kick the ass of most domestic cars. The biggest fault is the interference engine (which the SHO may even have), which requires a timing belt replacement every 60-90 thousand miles. Beyond that, with basic maintenance (and a few unforeseeable repairs), they're solid. If I'm not mistaken, the most common problem with the early 90's Accords was that the body didn't last as long as the rest of the car.

Buy some Bondo

 - Jim

Edit: In regards to Juggy's Grand Prix or Grand Am -- do not buy one with a 3.1 or 3.8 engine unless the lower intake manifold gasket has been replaced. It's a very common problem, a 6 hour job to repair, and has been going on for a LONG time. This same problem happens in the 3.4's, but I don't believe either of the Pontiacs come with that engine.

[absolute]

I say the Honda or Regal, not really knowing much about the SHO.

The V6 accords are fun to drive, and hondas are extremely reliable cars. At the time I looked into buying cars, the mid 90's and latest accords were among the top cars on my list, and after owning a civic, I love hondas reliability. As for the regal, I distinctly remember tooling around with one of my friends and noticing how nice the car was. Granted it was his parents, I know they never had a problem with it, and loved how the car drove year round.

P.S. Tell Antes to bring your library tuesday.... and good luck with whatever you decide to buy.

[MoxMonkey]

Honda is the most reliable and most likely not to shit out on you and are easy to maintain and they have a nice ride.  Honda's also can have a ton of parts that can go into it so if something big happens the parts on it don't cost as much as say a Ford would to replace.  I own a 02 Accord and my friends have a ton of different cars Fords, Jetta's, other Honda's, and some other random crap.  Fords are crap.  I have never seen a Ford last long, be reliable or do anything that great, and they cost a shit load to repair half the time.  Jetta's are a joke, My cousin owns one and says everyday it was the biggest mistake buying one and my friend bought a use done and it was in the shop every week for something.  The Honda's sat there got driven beaten on and still drove fine.  No matter what you do don't sped over 7k on a car with 100k + miles cause they are ripping you off.

[Kowal]

Fords have a tendency to fall apart.  I can't wait till I have the dough to ditch my shitty Ford and get a real car.

[JACO]

Coming from a household in which my father loved Buicks and Oldmobiles, I can say without question that you should NOT buy one. Like most other American manufactured cars, I think they are designed specifically so the transmission goes out right at about 70-90K miles, or right after the warranty period.

If you have $5-7K to spend, I would recommend a late 90's Honda Civic. If you get a stick, it will be just as sporty as these bogus American cars you have mentioned, you'll be able to get it with less miles, you'll have less problems with it, and you'll get 33-39 miles per gallon. I've owned 2 Hondas, a Toyota, an Oldsmobile, and a Chevy, and I would never buy anything other than a Honda again (with the exception of a 60's era muscle car if I had money to blow).

[Tha Gunslinga]

My mom put over 200k miles on her 91 Toyota Corolla; those things never die.

[cssamerican]

My first car was 1982 Chevy Malibu that my parents handed down to me. The automatic transmission blew up at 80k miles, and the car started burning more oil than gas at 82K miles. I then bought a used 1985 automatic V6 Chevy Camaro with 120k miles, and I had constant mechanical problems. At 150K miles the chassis broke in half when I hit a puddle of water at 55 mph. I was told that it was unrepairable. I bought a used 1984 Toyota Supra with a manual transmission that had 295k miles on it for $1500.00 in my second year of college. When I traded it in back in 2000 for my new Jetta it had 360K miles on it. I never replaced anything but oil. My Jetta with a manual transmission now has 145k miles and the only thing I have ever replaced other than the oil is a timing belt. And it wasn't because I had to, it was just time to according to the manufacture. My best friend has had similar experiences except he owned junk Fords with an automatic transmissions and solid Hondas with sticks. His brother owns a Cottman's Transmission shop and says pretty much the same thing, buy foreign and buy a stick if you want to keep repairs down to a minimum. My advice is, buy the Honda Accord and look into gtting a manual transmission if it doesn't bother you to drive one.

[nataz]

Buy a Honda, and don't worry about what kind of transmission you get as long as its after 97.

good gas milage and reliable. V-tec is fun to if you really were interested in the SHO.

Only thing is they are kind of expensive to get work done on. But, like I said, if you get one in good condition, and follow the basic matinace schedule, you should be waaaay better off then an older American model car.

[smeagol]

I've got a 93 Thunderbird, and the thing has been nothing but fantastic to me. I've put a fair amount of highway miles on it over the last 4 years at college, and cruising along at 90 mph is no problem for the car. Overall I've been very satisfied with the Thunderbird.

If you're not used to rear-wheel drive, it can be a hassle in the rain and snow.

[Godder]

Here in New Zealand, Japanese cars are very common, with Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas commonly winning reliability surveys. Therefore, I recommend one of the following three options:

1. Honda Civic (their autos are very good) or Hybrid (if you can afford one - compare payments to fuel savings)
2. Toyota Corolla
3. The cheapest new car you can find. New cars are expensive here, with the NZ$ and shipping costs/distance having a lot to do with that, but in a country where that's not an issue, a brand new car will seriously save on maintenance (warranty) and fuel, and will last a good 3 years without any real issues. If you can afford it, buying a new car every three years is the way to go, but that does require a reasonable income and budgeting skills.

[Revvik]

Here's what I've heard lately about the cars I've been looking at:

The Accords are an excellent choice.  My girlfriend recently bought one.  However, I'm seeing them with 130,000 to 140,000 miles on them in my price range, and while that's not terrible for an Accord, it doesn't justify buying one at $5995.

Thunderbird: I originally thought this would have been a great choice, were it not for rear-wheel drive in Michigan weather, and the fact that it was "built Ford tough."  It has, by the way, the 4.6 Liter V8.  I figure it might even be at the mileage where major problems need to be prevented or even fixed.

The Taurus SHO is currently one of the two top contenders.  It's fairly new, and has an average of 10,000 miles on it per year.  Price tag is a little much.  Also, it's a Ford.  But despite all this, I've never heard an unkind word uttered about the SHO, and it's been a car that's always on the back of my mind when I think about getting a new car.  Always.

The Regal, finally, is the other top choice.  $6,200.  Both Regal owners I've talked to have been immensely happy with their purchases, and have driven them past 100,000 miles.  And even though it's a Buick, according to reviews its engine is put together much better than any import sedan sporting the Toyota or Nissan nametag of the same year, and it has 20-40 more horsepower at a realistically attained RPM (~3500 instead of, say, 6000).  All thanks to the supercharger, which brings me my biggest fear: superchargers can wear engines down.  Granted, engines with superchargers are more solidly built because of this, but if the previous owner exercised it every day then the engine may be wearing out very soon.  Combine this with the two other downsides, Premium gasoline and upped insurance rates, and it almost outweighs the pros of the entire car.  Almost.
102,000 miles is also a LOT of miles for an American car that's only six years old.  Now, I've heard a lot of great things about the 3.8L Buick engine, but I'm still  a LITTLE worried.  At what mileage do these things start to nickel & dime to death?

As far as Pontiacs - I'm currently borrowing my girlfriend's old '93 Grand Prix, and it's a blast, but I just think I can get a better deal for any price tag they put on one.  For instance, if either the SHO or the Regal turns out to be a bust, I could get a better Accord for the price of a decent Pontiac.  Also, I hate the body styling.

By the way, the transmission that blew belonged to my '95 Ford Escort, so I'm basically in the same camp as everyone else booing the Ford Motor Company's fine automobiles, at least their economy cars.  While the thing did run forever with only gasoline, when something big breaks, throw it away.  Who wants to be driving an Escort forever anyways.

[Jim Sardonic]

Whatever you choose to buy, check out this link (the best I could find):

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/

It'll give you a searchable database of TSB's (Technical Service Bulletins). Essentially, it's a database of known/common problems on any car. Often times a technician will go to the TSB's in the event of a tough problem to solve -- but they work just as well for predictions of what may come. Don't let it scare you, as not every problem will happen on every car... but it's good stuff to know.

In regards to what you've updated with, the Supercharger doesn't sound so bad, but it is a lot of miles. I'd still go Honda. Any idea what engine the SHO has? A few, as I understand, came with Yamaha engines that are pretty solid. The 4.6 isn't a horrible engine, but has common oil leak problems with age (a bit worse than could be expected of most cars).

Good luck with the hunt, if you should stumble across anything that I might prove helpful with -- don't hesitate to ask.

[Saucemaster]

The Accords are an excellent choice.  My girlfriend recently bought one.  However, I'm seeing them with 130,000 to 140,000 miles on them in my price range, and while that's not terrible for an Accord, it doesn't justify buying one at $5995.

Dude, seriously, an Accord with 140k miles is the equivalent of a Ford with 30k miles on it.  No joke, Hondas last absolutely forever.  Get a Honda with a stick, don't ride your clutch, and that thing's got who knows how much life left in it.

My $0.02.

[Moxlotus]

My mom put over 200k miles on her 91 Toyota Corolla; those things never die.

QTF.  My mom has had 3 Camrys (2 with 130k+ miles) and I am on my second Corolla and the only thing we've ever had to do is to replace spark plugs, batteries, and oil.  They never die.  Find a Corolla or Camry-they will never need to be repaired.

[Revvik]

In regards to what you've updated with, the Supercharger doesn't sound so bad, but it is a lot of miles. I'd still go Honda. Any idea what engine the SHO has? A few, as I understand, came with Yamaha engines that are pretty solid. The 4.6 isn't a horrible engine, but has common oil leak problems with age (a bit worse than could be expected of most cars).

3.4L Yamaha-built V8.

[Jim Sardonic]

Yeah, that would be the solid engine.

And, it's a helluva good time to drive. I'm still going for the Honda, as far as value/longevity -- but for pure fun, the SHO will be the right call.

[MoxMonkey]

I Don't like Camry's esp used ones.  They last long if taken care of and most of the time they were beaten on and will need repairs done to them.  A Honda is your best buy, since they go 200k+ Easy and they don't cost anything to have shit fixed unlike say a ford.  The SHO isn't bad but once again it comes down to the Ford problem of Americans suck at building cars.  I have seen Honda's with 300k Miles and still being used.  If you take care of the Honda and have the regular stuff done even if you buy it at 120k you can get 80k-100k out of the car.  Buying any other car in your price range will probably just get up around that milage if not lower bu the end of it.  A Honda taken care of never dies.  Driving mine since its been new and only have Transmition replaced cause of a factory defect that screwed it up.  No matter what you pick just remember that shit happens and even the best of cars have problems at times.

[MarkPharaoh]

My dad's Ford Festiva lasted over 300k, I guess he was super lucky

[Revvik]

I had a Ford Festiva, sir, and I can tell you that I wouldn't consider myself lucky if mine lasted 300,000 miles

I'm currently on the verge of getting the Buick,  It is in immaculate condition, and drives far better than anything else I've considered so far, despite 102,000 miles.  I'm pretty sure if I care for it well, it'll last until 160,000 miles or more.