924Board.org

ProudGecko · Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Posts: 129 Location: Indiana

I'm seriously giving consideration to selling my '88 924S before going off to college in the fall

Hopefully I'll just be able to sell it to my dad or something so it's not totally out of my life. Anyway I'm selling it because I need something that is going to be a little more reliable. Does anyone have any good suggestions for a good car for a college student? I would really like to have another European car but I'm not particular. I'm looking for something kind of sporty or something with good tuning potential. If possible I'd like to stick with a rear wheel drive car because it has been my experience that they are a lot easier to work on and since I do all of my own work that is a big consideration of mine as well. And really it doesn't have to be sporty so much as something a little different and interesting, i'm a sucker for uncommon cars

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1988 Porsche 924S
1986 Kawasaki Concurs ZG1000
1984 Mercedes 190D
1973 Honda CB500

Khal · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 11:12 am Post subject:

Mate, anything with "character" is going to be less than perfectly reliable.

My two cents;

Obvious stuff: Most cars are reliable, as long as they're in good condition to start with (and I mean everything is in good condition) and the proper maintenance is carried out.
Generally speaking, the older the car, the more maintenance it will require, usually simply due age/wear. But that doesn't necessarily make it any less reliable, only more expensive

Yes, yes, I know some cars are (or are at least considered) more reliable than others. Mercedes Benz are one I can think of off the top of my head that are considered very reliable, as long as they're in good condition, regardless of the age of the car.

Down here, two cars that have a reputation as being virtually bulletproof are early-80's and onwards Toyota Corolla's and Honda Civic's.
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'80 924 Turbo

Stu2j · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 11:12 am Post subject:

Here is my recommendation:

I drove my 82 924 to Williamsburg and back every single day (about 45 minutes each way) while I was in grad school and making very little money.

I can't think of a car I would have rather driven. Very reliable and low maintenance. (Drove a ford as an undergraduate. Damn thing was in the shop all the time).

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-Stu
924 owner since 1988
924S owner since 2002
Click here to view them:

Paul · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:45 pm Post subject:

TOYOTA

Any model!

Sleykin · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject:

I have to second Paul on that

Toys seem to just run forever. My kids did kill a couple but three of the four had over 300K miles on them and it was what they hit with em that did em in. A celica is not a 4X4 and a 4X4 is not a submarine

I have never seen a vehicle take the kind of abuse those did and just keep on going. I can't imagine how long they would have gone if a little TLC had been applied.
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Glenn Neff
Medford, OR
87' 924S

kaffine · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 644 Location: Las Vegas

CBass · Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 2807 Location: Vancouver, Canada

A 924, AE86 Corolla GTS, or an RA60 Celica GTS.

The Toyotas have the 4A-GE and 22R engines, respectively, and both are optioned with limited slip differentials. Lot's of character

Oh year, the Celica GTS comes with 8" wide wheels stock.

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'81 931 in various states of assembly

5150 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:50 pm Post subject:

What about an oldish VW Golf GTi? (Rabbit to you guys i think?)... I presume the GTi made it to the US, I like the early models and they seem fairly rugged aswell as being pretty quick and looking okay...
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Mars Red '78 Euro 924 n/a
http://www.cardomain.com/id/5150_uk

Graphite? Grey Metallic '85 (late model) 944 2.5

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

I would think that the perfect college car would be one that requires little maintenance, has little value when written off, is perfectly reliable with lower than average care.

A car like this would have commuter class tires, (no expensive low profile slicks, I am talking 70-80 series), steel wheels, or inexpensive alloys, and a timing chain, and a timing belt, only if the engine is non-interference. Good gas mileage, and a killer alarm system since the car is going to be parked 90% of the time.

How about an older Mustang or Escort with 2.3L 4-cylinder engine, or a A1 or A2 VW Rabbit, Golf, or Jetta with the 1.7L solid lifter, or 1.8L hydraulic lifter engine with 9:1, or an older Honda Accord or Civic 1.6L-2.0L, or an older Toyota Corolla, Corona, or Celica 1.6L-2.2L 4-cylinder engine? Manual tranny would be the way to go with these cars.

My daughter will be able to start driving later this year, and combined with the anticipation of the gas price run up this summer (they are talking $3.00-$3.50 a gallon for regular this summer here in CA), I recently purchased an 86 VW Jetta to drive. The car only cost me $200, and it needed some work, but it's almost there (still need to get new tires and shocks onto the car). It didn't run when I bought it (the person that donated had the top of the engine dismantled, and the camshaft and ignition timing seriously screwed up). The body is in very good shape (it could use a fender, and I am considering replacing the driver's door to avoid having to repair/weld the lower hinge). Most parts are available new, or I could go used. I can get most any body part on the car from one of the local Pick A Part salvage yards for $35 or less (doors, fenders, hoods, bumpers), or $17.50 on the numerous 1/2 off weekends.

I am going to go PL/PD on the insurance. If we crash it, or someone without insurance (probably the case) crashes into it, it will be a total anyway. Full coverage insurance would cost cost more per year, then I paid for the whole car.

Dez · Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Posts: 189 Location: Wokingham, UK

What about that blue car that Wayne drives around in? ( Waynes World), i've always thought that car was naff enough to be cool.

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1982 Porsche nine two four with Carrera GT conversion - people think i'm slow cos it's an X plate!!
http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/dez

5150 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 5:51 pm Post subject:

"the Mirth Mobile"

AMC Pacer i think? though i'm not really up on american cars....
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Mars Red '78 Euro 924 n/a
http://www.cardomain.com/id/5150_uk

Graphite? Grey Metallic '85 (late model) 944 2.5

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

Dez · Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Posts: 189 Location: Wokingham, UK

Found it !!

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1982 Porsche nine two four with Carrera GT conversion - people think i'm slow cos it's an X plate!!
http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/dez

Redwitch · Joined: 05 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: england

Damn, that is HIDEOUS.......

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Life is an illusion brought on by lack of alcohol.......

The Fife · Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 241 Location: San Antonio, Texas

Good luck finding one of those, I think they're about at that point where people are starting to buy and fix them up.

I'll second what some said earlier about the Camrys and Civics. Especially the Civics from the late '80s - early '90s. Very cheap and I haven't seen a lot of them broken down except for when the owner did something really stupid.

Edit: I see that you wanted a European car. The older BMWs I've come across (see: mid - late '80s models) have been pretty reliable. But the computer is an expensive part when it goes out. I'll second what was said about Mercedes. Not much else I'd go with. On a side note, I came across an early '90s Merkur for the first time in a long while the other day. I think it was a running one, rare indeed.

Alex Roy · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 3:32 am Post subject:

I'd say Toyota or Nissan. I'd avoid the Honda Civic and Accord, they are currently the most stolen car out there and have VERY high insurance rates for younger people. When I was buying a car a couple years ago I called my insurance agent (alstate at the time) to get a quote on any prospective car I had found that I was interested in, the insurance rate for a 1992 civic hatchback was $160 a month!, I then had them lookup my nissan axxess (which is what I bought) and the insurance rate with exactly the same coverage was $58.