Help with a new car

[fisetdavid26]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy a car at the end of the summer. My father is willing to loan me $10,000 CDN to purchase one. I have searched used cars on the internet and found a couple of interesting ones. My knowledge with cars is rather limited and is even worst about used ones. I would like you guys to help me and tell me what you think about them. I would prefer a manual one over automatic, but it's not absolute. All prices I give are Canadian dollars. I only found two for now because there's so many used cars I don't know where to start. If you have other suggestions I will gladly take them.

Interesting Car #1: 1997 Honda Prelude

Automatic, brand new brakes and tires, complete electric group (power windows, etc.), high quality CD player, sunroof, etc. The car as only 60,000 km. Owner is asking $8800.

Interesting Car #2: 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS

Manual and power windows are the only highlights. The car has 187,153 km and the owner asks $9450. My interest on this one lies in the fact that it's 4WD and will help a lot during our long and painful winters here.

Sorry about the low quality of the pictures, they're the only one provided. I have other pictures of the Impreza if needed.

Thanks in advance!

[Bob]

My friend has a impreza used to have the 2.5, but it recently blew up on him for no apparent reason. That being said, he loves the car and says its great. Personally I'd go for the sportier impreza, with 4wd being a plus, we've had some bad snow storms here, and all I can say is that multiseason tires + rwd sucks

[Waugh-terfall]

My friend has a impreza used to have the 2.5, but it recently blew up on him for no apparent reason. That being said, he loves the car and says its great. Personally I'd go for the sportier impreza, with 4wd being a plus, we've had some bad snow storms here, and all I can say is that multiseason tires + rwd sucks

Yeah... I know someone who had one and on the way home from the Nurburgring it blew up and a guy I used to work with had a Legcy 2.5 and after driving it fairly hard that blew up too...:S

[NSXType-R]

I personally would go with the Prelude just because it should be more reliable than the Subaru (it's a Honda, how could it go wrong? ), but I'm not familiar with either product. However, it should definitely be better with gas. Although the 4WD should be real handy. I dunno, it's up to you in the end to decide.

[Ferrer]

Weren't Subarus supposed to be ultra reliable too?

[fisetdavid26]

Weren't Subarus supposed to be ultra reliable too?

That's what I thought too... thank you for your inputs so far guys! I was leaning toward the Scooby but the mileage makes me feel very unsure. Any other comments appreciated!

[NSXType-R]

Weren't Subarus supposed to be ultra reliable too?

As I said, I'm not familiar with the product. Other members did say that the Subaru exploded somehow? Care to go more in depth? Which part exploded?

[h00t_h00t]

Exploded through hard use is my guess. Considering just how powerful a Subaru engine is they are VERY reliable, the only problem is that they never have an easy life and the don't always get proper maintenance.

Out of those two cars I'd get the Honda, the low mileage suggests that its going to be more reliable whereas the Subaru would be at the end of its life.

You should get a vehicle inspection done before buying. In this country breakdown companies such as the AA and RAC offer this service and are very good and finding things that go wrong (so they can sell you the replacement parts). Worth it if you are worried about the cars condition.

[Vindesh17]

Go for the prelude, a friend of mine has one. Its a very good car but watch out for the automatics, some of them have problems so make sure you test drive the car for a good while before buying it and just look for the odd noise that you think shouldnt be there.

[Birdman]

I'd go with the Prelude. It sounds like it will be in better condition and I've heard that it is also quite reliable, but get them checked out before you buy.

[clutch-monkey]

try find a prelude in manual, they're pretty good fun (well the previous gen was, at any rate)

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Find an older, prettier manual Prelude with 4-wheel steer. Very nice car.

[kingofthering]

Prelude for 2 reasons.
1. Lower mileage- self-explainatory

2. AWD = probably a very large gas bill.

[clutch-monkey]

Find an older, prettier manual Prelude with 4-wheel steer. Very nice car.

i agree. friend just got one, it's quite nice to drive.

[fisetdavid26]

As I see the Impreza is pretty much out of the competition, so I'll look forward for the Prelude, with manual transmission. After a quick search I found a 1996 one, SR-V VTEC, fully loaded for $7995. Problem is, mileage is unknown... the car seems to be in perfect condition however. If I decide to buy it I'll do as you suggested, test drive it and ask for the full maintenance history. The car has only one owner. Anyway, I'm not buying until the end of summer, so maybe good deals will appear until then.

Find an older, prettier manual Prelude with 4-wheel steer. Very nice car.

What do you mean 4-wheel steer?