My Mission to Find a College Car

"Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna" (lukielauxd)
10/01/2013 at 00:46 • Filed to: college problems

I go to school in Oklahoma as a Californian and it rained this week and I was already amazed enough and worried that I was going to melt because it never rains in California, but one of the main problems of going out of state is the fact that now I am lacking a car and it'll never make sense to buy a car for three years and then sell it back at the loss and my 13 year old car at home is soon to die and the last thing I would want is for it to die in Oklahoma of all places. (No offense Oklahomans.)

So I guess if anyone bothers to read this, or rather I just need a place to keep it all together, this will be where I write my rants on what cars seem financially sound for this situation and to get your guys' opinions on whether it'll make sense from a father's point of view I guess.

I've wanted to write this for a while now, last week actually, and the first few cars I have on my list is a Mercedes 500E, Volvo 850R, and I'm just looking at random wagons at the moment. Any opinions?

Oh and I found this while I was looking at station wagons from 1981-2000 since I do love me a station wagon.

Registered in Florida of course. 1984 Defender. God bless Florida.

DISCUSSION (15)

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 00:54

A 500E, while incredibly awesome, is also an incredibly bad idea if you don't have an income stream.

Clown Shoe Pilot > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 00:59

college in oklahoma? hit craigslist, buy beater volvo. if you don't already own one, hit sears and buy decent starter tool set. self maintain volvo for 3 years. sell to another college student on way out of hellhole state.

DailyTurismo > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 01:08

So, I'm guess you'll need a car to drive in the winter when it snows, right? I've never been to the Sooner state as I'd sooner live anywhere else, but can I suggest any number of crappy front-wheel-drive econobox hatches (fwd is supposed to be 'safer' in the snow right?) that are a few years old like

an SVT Focus.

V6 swapped Z24 cavalier ?

A bit more fancy, but infinitely crappier — an Infiniti j30 ?

What is your budget? Does it need to be rear, all or front wheel drive?

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > DailyTurismo
10/01/2013 at 01:10

I'm looking for something that's best AWD, but it's not mandatory. And my budget is around $15,000. My main problem is that I have to also be able to carry a lot of stuff and the hatchbacks that are in that price range are tiny.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 02:19

defenders are awesome!
I posted a week or so ago about a woman who has one near me. It turns out this woman is the mom of a girl im my school who I have classes with! And, she's getting that car as her first car!

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 05:51

You have to be extremely careful with buying Defenders in this country. There are all kinds of scam artists trying to rip people off. If that is the picture of the Defender in question it doesn't look like a '84. The big issue here is that guys import 94-00'ish defenders and change the Vin numbers so when you try to sell it you end up with it getting crushed or if you are in an accident your insurance company refuses to cover you.

Not saying don't buy it, but if you're a broke college student and are looking at a $25k+ vehicle you'd probably be better off buying a D1 for a couple of grand and putting money into getting it running properly. D1 had the same running gear as a Defender but comes with leather seats and parts are cheaper.

Also things to look at to see if it passes the sniff:
If it's a diesel make sure it's not a 300Tdi but a 200Tdi. If it's a 300Tdi then it's not an 84 and you don't want to touch it with a barge poll, also look at how the bed sits on the chassis. Some guys take a series truck and then put it on a 110 chassis and it just didn't look right on the back wheels. If there are more photos please post them, also ask the guy for photos of the interior if there aren't any.

Grindintosecond > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 07:05

I can't believe a college student has a $15k budget for a car. I had a $2000 volvo through college. I was constantly broke. In college you should never ever have mores stuff than your volvo sedan...yes sedan...can hold filling all seats and trunk. You will live likely in a new place every year. My recommendation? Mid 00's Subaru Legacy or impreza wagon. Not for weather but for outright bulletproof reliability...actually a decent forrester of that time would be ore awesome for its utility. The old volvos are getting seriously old and rusty. They will still be running but the rust by now...cancerous. The 5 cylinder ones are still not as durable as the 2, 7, 9 series cars were. Go for the best car that covers your needs that you can expect to be maintenance free....subie, toyota, honda...etc. but save as much of that $15k as possible...you will need copious ammounts of beer.

Oklahoma winter will be snow but more ice than anything.

UserNotFound > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 08:03

Find yourself a 2nd gen Subaru Forester Sports XT and never, ever sell it.

UserNotFound > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 08:21

Find yourself a 2nd gen Subaru Forester Sports XT and never, ever sell it.

Dunnik > Grindintosecond
10/01/2013 at 09:10

I second the notion. A late model Legacy wagon, either a low mileage 2nd generation (1994-1999) or a 3rd gen (1998-2003), or hell, for your budget, get the 4th gen (2003-2009).

You can find them with a manual, and with AWD, while it costs more in terms of fuel economy, it's excellent for winter. Tons and tons of cargo room.

Bruno Martini > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 10:18

If you want cheap, get a focus station wagon from the early 2000's. They are reliable and easy to work on. Parts are dirt cheap as well. The whole car in great condition should cost no more than 3k. 1k you get a fixerupper that you dump 500bux into and get going for the next 3 years. Just my thoughts on the subject.

nappyheadflo > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 10:47

I am in a similar position. I just graduated from college and I am in need of a car. I have about 2000 saved now and I plan to have 5000 saved by December. From looking at jalopnik I have learned that VW are kinda shitty along with other things.

I am looking for something reliable that can go at least 75k-100k to last until I get a better job. I do not mind buying a car with 100k on it but it has to be taken care of.

I guess my point is, what cars should I look at? I am looking towards GM because my family has a good experience with their reliability. My bro had a 2002-4 (forgot the year but it was 2 models ago) impala and it last him a long time and he drove ALOT. The only issue he had was the catalytic converter, and the only reason why he is not driving it now is because he got into an accident. I have another family member had a blazer she bought with 100k on it and lasted another 100k and is still going strong actually.

For my price range I am looking at a grand am/prix (2002-2007), trailblazer, a honda (my brother's suggestion), or an old Malibu. Absolute nos in my book are anything Chrysler and cavaliers and cobalts (maybe a ss). Please help!

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
10/01/2013 at 11:07

Oh no, I wasn't looking at Defenders. I was just looking at older wagons on Autotrader and this was one of the listings and I had to give a shoutout to Florida for registering anything with four wheels. But in that list I was mainly looking at the old Accord Wagons, Legacy GT wagons.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/01/2013 at 11:11

Ah okay, well then good luck.

911e46z06 > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
10/04/2013 at 03:35

Get you a good e39 dude. That was my college rig, and it never let me down. Also available in sexy wagonny form. Warning: owning one will likely lead to an unhealthy BMW addiction.

You may need a couple more drive wheels in Oklahoma though.