Oppopinions?

"touring the brook - now with ZHP!" (touringthebrook) 09/29/2015 at 21:44 • Filed to: None

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Yet again! Another young person on Oppo! A big part of every young Jalop/Oppo’s life is obtaining your drivers license and getting your first car. I am beginning my serious search for a car, and that has led me to many different options. However, few stick out as ones I would like to own for a while. This is one of those options: the facelift Volvo C30 R-Design. What does Oppo think of this as a first car? Are they safe? Also, the car must be automatic (not my choice).

EDIT: In my rush to post, I may have forgotten the parameters. Budget is around $22,000 (please refrain from saying how that is a LOT of money, I realize that) Automatic, and within 200 miles of ZIP 35213. Search away!

random001 > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:46

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I feel so old...

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:47

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(paging volvo oppo’s)

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:49

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Congrats on the DL! I just obtained mine about a two months ago and am also beginning my search for a car. What are you looking for in your car? I love doing research on things like this, so give me some criteria and I’ll vomit out suggestions!

boxrocket > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:50

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Great choice! V50 R-Designs are also good; essentially the same car but longer and more practical. I recommend getting one with a good warranty (e.g. Doug DeMuro's favored CarMax), and waiting at least six months before shopping for upgrades and such on sites like ipdusa, Heico Sportiv, and the Polestar options.

Slant6 > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:54

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That’s so new. 90s or bust for a first car. My first 5 were all 2000 or older.

Tohru > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:55

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A safe automatic transmission car that’s Oppo approved?

1992-2011 Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis; or 1991-1996 Chevy Caprice, Buick Roadmaster, or Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser.

Nothing is safer than body on frame construction. I crashed a Caprice into a tree at 60mph when I was 17. I walked away, and all of the doors still opened and closed.

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. 09/29/2015 at 21:56

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Sadly I have not obtained the license yet :( I’m 15 and beginning the search.

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:56

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What’s your profile pic? Can’t tell incredibly well, but I’m guessing Audi/VW wagon.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:57

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Also, the car must be automatic (not my choice)

Hmm good save, but I’m watching you...

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. 09/29/2015 at 21:57

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I’m just looking at cars that are somewhat practical and fun to drive!

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:57

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Oh well, enjoy the search though. It in itself is a great time. I’ve been searching for my first car since I acquired my Permit at 14, and now I’ve decided to hold off on the purchase until I’m 17.

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 21:58

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Got to be hatches or wagons then, no way around it. And you can never go amiss with AWD....

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Slant6 09/29/2015 at 21:58

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I was leaning there, but my parents are convinced that all 90’s cars are crap buckets and those that aren’t are my mother’s MR2.

EDIT: I didn’t notice the last half of your comment! My requirements are:

1. Somewhat practical

2. Fun to drive

3. Somewhat reliable

4. Safe!

Slant6 > Tohru 09/29/2015 at 21:59

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I’m always baffled by how many young oppos drive newish cars. My first car was 13 years old when I bought it (emphasis on the I).

Your boy, BJR > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:01

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Get a Northstar Cadillac. 2003 DeVille DTS. Magneride, night vision, heads up display, 3 zone climate control, and a 300hp DOHC V8 that Jeremy Clarkson said “Alfa Romeo and the London Symphony orchestra couldn’t make something that sounds this good”

Slant6 > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:03

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Get an MR2 then. Or at least something from before 2005. Your first car will get scratches just from being in a highschool parking lot. It’s also humbling. Bonus points if you buy it yourself. I bought my first car in 2013 for $400. A Saab wagon with 168,000 miles. Great first car. My brother drives it now. Due to hit 200k any day now.

FromCanadaWithLove > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:03

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My girlfriend has an ‘07 with the 2.4i. It’s still new to her, and very low milage for its age, but so far it’s been great. One of the best deals out there.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:05

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Lexus LS, Acura legend.

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. 09/29/2015 at 22:06

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Permit at 14? Oh, and coupes and sedans aren’t out of the search! Because one of the other family vehicles is a BMW X5 I just need some room for when I leave for college.

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Slant6 09/29/2015 at 22:06

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Oh ignore that edit! I was responding to the wrong person!

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Slant6 09/29/2015 at 22:08

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Hmmm... You bring up a very good point.

Tohru > Slant6 09/29/2015 at 22:09

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Yeah, I don’t get it either. My Caprice was 10 years old when I got it. After I wrecked it the Bronco I bought to replace it was 13 years old.

I can’t picture a high schooler driving something that new and nice and I’m almost 30 and driving a 1998 Bonneville. Clearly I’ve fucked up somewhere.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:10

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What's your budget?

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. 09/29/2015 at 22:10

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Its a 2011 BMW 328i Wagon. I found the picture on google.

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:11

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Yep, the “Learner’s Permit”. I would suggest a sedan over a coupe, because space is limited, and often times used sedans have had the living hell hooned out of them by people like us. But hey, I’m pretty new to the car buying scene, so don’t rely on what I say 100%.

Party-vi > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:11

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Every Volvo R on Oppositelock tries relentlessly to murder and or otherwise incapacitate the owner’s wallet. Bad juju.

Bandit > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:12

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Buy a beater. I had my trans am and junky truck. It doesn’t matter how careful you are with your car, some other asshole in the high school parking lot will crash into your pride and joy... it happened to me. Twice.

-signed someone who had a beater in high school and is thankful

But yeah, volvos are pretty notorious for being safe.

Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S. > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:15

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Sharp car!

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 22:25

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I always say Mk5/Mk6 GTI with a DSG.

they’re cheap

there’s more aftermarket than most other cars

the DSG box is amazing

I’ve driven one with 210K miles, and it was perfect.

OR

2005-2010 Mustang GT

300hp 4.6 V8, with BIG aftermarket

mustang badge

good safety rating

no special auto, but it's a powerful car

Slant6 > Tohru 09/29/2015 at 22:42

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I guess at some point these newer cars fall into highschool service. I do remember the transition from freshman year of high school when everyone drove volvo 240s or dodge neons to my senior year when everyone had 2nd Gen prius or ford escapes.

yamahog > Tohru 09/29/2015 at 22:58

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Some parents with the means to make sure their child is driving newer/safer/warrantied vehicles prefer to do so and save some of the hassle that tends to come with older cars, especially with kids who are just learning about car maintenance. I’ve never been in that situation since I had a 11-year-old hand me down Mercury as a teen and I don’t have kids myself, but it makes sense. In fact, one of my fellow interns was bewildered by how little my parents cared about me by letting me drive a car more than four years old because apparently older cars are death traps and if they really loved me they would’ve bought me a new Civic si like his did. Guess it’s just perspective *shrug*

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 23:02

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As a high school teacher, get off my lawn!, Most student’s I have had over the years simply drove their parents “old” car that was intentionally not traded in. Some parents just put their child in new car after new car as they are wrecked, I don’t understand the logic but it is not my money. The parent I aspire to be is the one who wrenches with their child on a car and their child appreciates it.

Interestingly enough at my current school there is a collection of older German steel in the student parking lot that falls under the last category, a number parents must like to get their hands dirty.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Party-vi 09/29/2015 at 23:22

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Im hoping the modern R design is a safer bet...but I avoided that too

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 23:27

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Howdy. 2008 (pre facelift) C30 owner here.

That car is my baby and I love it dearly, but it does have quirks. The doors are stupidly massive and heavy. If you are dead center in a spot your fully extended door is more than a quarter way into the next space. The automatic is pretty good but the manumatic mode is kinda weak.

Car sounds amazing. The t5 is one of my favorite engines ever. More than enough power for a teenager.

Back seats are spacious once you get back there..its just kinda hard to get there,

Oh and dont think because its a volvo hatch itll be practical. The hatch is weird, with funky angles a high load floor and little space. My civic had a bigger trunk.

Personally I wouldn’t get an R design. Just save money and get a lower trim. They all have the same engine and drivetrain. My base model has the spoiler and im getting lowering springs on soon. The R has mostly two tone leather which stains so easily and doesnt look very nice after a little use.

Any more questions please ask away.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/29/2015 at 23:40

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We need parameters....

budget?

location? (and any other information that will stop us suggesting something needlessly)

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > yamahog 09/29/2015 at 23:42

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I wish I was so lucky... My brothers and I were stuck with late 80s/early 90s Toyota and Mitsubishi 4x4s........

It was more a matter of necessity than what my parents wanted ideally

Tohru > yamahog 09/29/2015 at 23:56

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The newest car I’ve ever owned was 8 years old, in 2007.

Sam > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/30/2015 at 00:12

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NB Miata was my first car 3 years ago. Great car, but you wouldn’t want one in auto.

yamahog > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/30/2015 at 06:55

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Yea, I’m sure every parent wants the best for their kids, but when it comes to cars us normals end up getting the best we can afford. At one point my sister had a $200 Jetta formerly owned by an escort... lol

yamahog > Tohru 09/30/2015 at 06:59

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Yea I know the feeling. Before the Camaro, I’d never owned a car less than 10 years old. Still bought a rusty 92 Blazer for my winter car because I’m just not used to nice things.

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/30/2015 at 08:12

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I’ll add parameters to the post.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > touring the brook - now with ZHP! 09/30/2015 at 09:36

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Are you opposed to an Accord Sport? I’m sure a 1 or 2 year old can be found under that price point.

Maybe a MK6 GTI with the DSG? I’ve driven those and they’re quite nice cars overall with the DSG

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > yamahog 09/30/2015 at 09:38

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ohhh, the human kind of escort..... not the car!

I like to think such things gave me more character. I’m not afraid to buy old bimmers and whatnot and do (most of) everything myself, or bribing my friends for help with beer and pizza

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/30/2015 at 16:43

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I am in favor of an Accord Sport, I see some around and I am really impressed with them. Reviews are good as well.

As for the GTI, MK6 isn’t my favorite, but definitely not out of the picture.