HELP!! The $4000 Question?

tyl763

Hello,

One of my friends is in a dire situation. He is a recent college grad without a car. However a family member is offering to sell him a mid 90' Firebird for about $1800. My advice as been firmly against this as a) it's a 90' American car which isn't a buy word of quality. b) the car has over 200,000miles. If he were not to buy this car his budget would be $4000 after taxes. So two questions 1) Should he buy the firebird? 2) What would be a suggestion to look for?

Please help!! I don't want to see my friend stuck in a car which will fail him

Kirstie_H

@tyl763

Personally, I'd pass on the Firebird. Older cars can be hard to get parts for, and it sounds pretty miled-up and past its useful lifetime. My son recently bought a late 90's Honda Accord for around $3600. Lots of those still on the road, and the few repairs he's had to make have been cheap & easy to find parts for. I'd recommend something lower maintenance and hassle like that - a Civic of that vintage should be even cheaper, or he could get a later model year for his budget.

Whatever he chooses, he should try to stick with a used vehicle that was a high-volume model. That helps with parts availability, even from salvage yards. A rare bird is not a vehicle you want to own as it ages, unless you have the time, ability, and inclination to tinker on it yourself.

tyl763

I would tend to agree. The main issue I see is I have worked on that vintage of car, an anything from the big three runs into major issues.