I do not own a car at the moment, but I want people's opinions on what kind of car I should buy. I would prefer either a used luxury car, or a new small car or truck. Anything that is cheap on gas. It may even take a year or two on what to buy. If you think of any cars maybe you own or highly recommend please tell me. I'd like to read your opinion.

This all depends on how much you are willing to pay.

>> A Honda Civic (just about any year model and good on gas) is always a good starter car.

>> A Ford Ranger (From about the 2000 – On year model, and the "Edge" trim level is quite appealing) is a decent starter truck. (The Chevrolet S-10 is also a nice alternative)

>> If want a used luxury car, an older BMW 3-Seires or perhaps a Volvo may keep you content.

I think BMW would be something related to Mercedes with reliability problems at old age, but if I buy one i would like an E36 3 series.

After all the fuss done in comments of the site abound Mercedes better than BMWs, you would buy a BMW rather than a Mercedes?

Volvo is always a good choice
for example 850 is not as big as the older ones, the 2,5 litre engine is enough powerful (170 BHP is more than enough I think) and the spare parts are really cheap - just check out Ebay. I have 131000 miles on mine currently and it is still ticking like new - these engines have no problem with 300.000 miles and more.
And it's safe.

Well, when I meant "a used luxury car", something with style, leather seats, and cheap maintenance, which is what I need the most. With a luxury car I thought about a Lexus, Acura, or Infiniti. I plan to buy a Mercedes or BMW in the next 10-20 years though.

An older Lexus ES300.

Yep, a 2001 model. I have considered that too.

Just out of interest, how old are you? And will this be your first car? Basically your choice of car is down to how much money you have and what you're prepared to spend. If you don't have that much money, maybe you're a college student, and you want something that'll be cheap to buy and run, Neptune's suggustion of a Honda Civic is a good idea, especially if you want something that's cheap on gas.

I don't want to reveal myself, so please don't ask me personal questions.

Don't worry, just telling us your age isn't going to allow anyone to track you down or anything, I'm not asking what your full name is or where you live. Some people on this site have revealed a few personal facts like what city they live, whether they are married etc. But if you'd rather not say much and remain relatively anonymous, I totally understand.

Thanks for understanding G-MANN. Anyway right now if I bought a new car or truck, I'd like:

-any Toyota Model with no more than a V6
-Honda Civic EX, or Si coupe
-Mitsubishi Lancer/Raider V6
-Isuzu I290/I370

For used cars:
-1997 Infiniti J30t
-1997 Acura 3.5RL that my grandparents own
-2004 Infiniti I35
-any small or mid-sized Lexus

What do you think?

Buy something old and simple. Buy a shop manual for it. Buy a simple tool set and add more as you need them. Learn to work on it yourself. Its fun, gives great bragging rights and you will save many thousands of dollars over the years.

So you're saying that I should buy an older automobile and work on it myself? I could do that. It won't be bad but I don't want to invest a lot of money and time into it. Working on it would be fun but if I don't have a lot of time with schooling and working I'd go for it.

Is it really cheaper to keep an old car running than buying newer ones? One day I'd like to buy an older car and work on it, I'd like to learn more about how cars work and how to fix them. My dad said that I should go for an old Triumph or MG rather than a Merc or Jaguar (this is what I'd prefer to be honest), because they are much less complex and cheaper to fix. He said start with something small and work your way up after you've learnt the basics. What are the most affordable classics that are the easiest to live with? By the way, remember I live in England, so British and European cars are best for me. Although at the moment I only need my next car to be anything that's reliable and won't need money spent on it, I'll probably just get an ordinary car that isn't too old, but one day I'd like to get a classic. But the way I'm using the word classic in a fairly loose sense, I'm not talking about E-Types and Porsche Speedsters (those are only for the wealthy), just older cars that have a special quality to them.

The difficulty with doing serious mechanical work on anything built in the last 10-15 years or so is due to the electronic controls and extensive use of computers. They are not difficult to work on but the problem is finding the fault so you know what to fix.

You can save serious money by doing your own work, even simple stuff. I can do a brake job in 2 hours or so for $25 or less and a garage will generally charge over 200.

If you have an official shop manual you can do practically any repair that is required.

I have been driving my MG for 10+ years and have never had it to a mechanic. I don't keep a record but I would guess that I have saved enough by working on it myelf to buy 2 of them.

You do need to treat it as a hobby and you have to be willing to spend the time and get dirty. But it is a hobby that will pay for itself very rapidly even if all you can save is labor costs. The last time I looked garages in my area charge anywhere from $50 to $75 per hour for labor. This means that you can have a rewarding hobby that pays you $50 or more for the time you spend on it - a pretty good deal.

Your dad gives good advice if you want to work on a car to learn. The mid to late 1970's MG and Triumph are very simple machines, do not require a lot of special tools and they are somewhat classic. The advantage (for me) of an MG is that there is a merchant in the US (Moss Motors - they have an online catalog) that sells practically anything you will ever need for MG at reasonable prices. Don't know about parts in the UK.

Edit:

Note that front wheel drive cars can be a real challenge. Front engine/rear drive is much, much easier and old type 1 VWs are extremely easy to work on - you can remove the engine with 4 bolts and a floor jack (or strong buddy) and carry it to the work bench.

I know, that's why I want to learn. Garages can charge so much money to fix what can easily be done by yourself, providing you know what to do. Although nowadays, as you say, most cars have so much electronic equipment you still need to go to a garage to fix some things, they use special equipment to fix things like engine management systems and Anti-lock brakes that you couldn't buy yourself. Car engines are becoming so sophisticated you can't work on them the way you used to be able to. I look the prices of used Merc S-Classes and things like that and they seem really cheap compared to what they were new, but then they have so many gadgets on board that can go wrong and they do once the car gets to a certain age.

Yes, buying an older car with a lot of electronics/computers is a real gamble. Its not that the basic engines are more complicated rather all the electronic sensors and controls that are needed to make it run properly. The electronic stuff can be hard to find and expensive to buy.

that is the main reason why current models will never be oldtimers - their electronics will kill them sooner or later

The more technology, the more likely...