What vehicle would you buy with a budget of 10-20K?

What is “street appeal”?

Lotus Elise, used of course.

a used golf gti

VW Golf/Rabbit. I bought a 2009 in January, and love it. Consumer Reports gave them a great rating too.

A used Prius or a Mini-Cooper.

or a Dacia Sandero, lol

Reliable = Toyota, Honda, Mazda.

I bought a used ford focus a year ago and frequently go on trips roughly 1400 miles round trip, never had any problems with it. since i got it i’ve put almost 20K miles on. (Given that I’m military and those trips are visits to my grandparents back home) I think its a good car, great gas mileage too. (I’m biased though, I grew up on Fords)

Honda Fit or Civic. Maybe a Scion if you like the styling. But my instinct would be a Fit.

10–20k? You can buy cars with Lurve?

A Chevy Cobalt, VW Jetta, Ford Focus or Fusion, or maybe a Scion.

I bought a little 2 door Yaris. It’s by no means fancy, but I get excellent gas mileage and can park it anywhere. My other options were going to be a Honda Fit or a Nissan Versa. I also liked the Scion XD for the sporty-yet-practical factor.

just need to caveat on my earlier post…the ford focus is very much a chick car. Just a heads up.

mitsubishi lancer

Pre owned: new body style Nissan Altima coupe
Pre owned: Honda civic

*don’t waste money buying a new model when you can get the same thing just a model year older, pre-owned certified with a longer warranty than when brand new… and less expensive. Only if you have not-so-hot credit then sometimes you can squeak in for some special rates on new cars instead of being killed by used car rates.

you could also wait until 2013 when the vw l1 presumably hits the market.

You can get a new Honda Civic for under 20K. Very reliable. I bought a new 2007 Honda Accord for 18K, but don’t know if the prices on them have gone up by now.

Thanks everyone….

it’s not quite a car but the vespa is so awesome – depends on where you live and what you need it for, not so ideal for the ‘burbs.

@vicnav, Thought you were saving to buy a house? I would buy a $5000 car with minimal street appeal and bank the additional money. Most girls are not attracted to a guy’s car, unless they’re just after you to spend money on them.

I’d look at the Korean cars. The quality has escalated and the prices are still reasonable. Kia or Hyundai. Check Consumer Reports first.

VW Jetta TDI, Tiguan (hard to find used though), Mazda 3 (coupe or sedan-both nice), or even that new Kia Forte Coup is actually impressive!

European Honda Civic Type R. Previous model not the weird shaped current one.

I went shopping and ogled looked at young guys getting out of cars in the various parking lots. Honda Civics, the older ones, seem really popular with the 20 somethings, as were Camrys and Priuses.

Ford Fusions got really good reviews apparently, and I saw one today. I’ve always been attracted to the Ford Focus. Pontiac G6s look really nice, too.

<—— Saving up for a Mazda Atenza (second hand of course) but with the body kit :D

Mazda Atenza

Get thee to a pre-owned Honda!

You know those “I know someone who loves a Honda” commercials? Well, that’s me, my mom, my grandma, my step-dad, and both step-brothers. Seriously. The other cars that are owned by other family members are newer, but still run nicely.

My mom’s car (and mine, we share) is 12 years old and still runs like a dream. There have been very few issues.

A note on the Civics: if you are tall, make sure you test-drive it. The height of the car can be problematic for taller people.

Also, for “cool” factor, the Honda 2-door coupes are awesome and very cool looking. Here’s an 06 Accord Coupe.

If you want something sportier and don’t mind pre-owned, a 4 or 5 year old Nissan 350Z can be had for under $20k.