Which to buy for a college car???

Definetly look at the Grand Prix, not a great car by any standards, but much better then the other 3 with more room and bigger engine and probably nicer features. I wouldn't buy a Hyundai that old, they are not as reliable as they are now and the Accent is very small. Sunfire is not very good and very weak. It is just another ugly body over a Chevy Cavalier. The Tracker should not be even on your list. Slow, not much room at all (even luggage space), could roll over easy and they tend to rust.

jaguar1 wrote:

Totally forgot.... get an alarm system, and a CD player in the trunk would be preferable. I went to a college in the city, and car break-ins were prolific and widespread!!!! In fact, a girl, who's car was right next to mine, had her car stolen! It was sitting right outside her apartment window. Fortunately, my car went untouched, probably due to my car alarm. The extra cost is worth it.

Yes, car alarms keep determined theives away all the time...

This guys is in Mt. Pleasant...all he needs to worry about is how to drive home from the bar. Notice none of the cars were manual transmissions...

4.5 hrs one way 4.5 hrs back when you going to study? 9 hrs on the road 6 hrs in classes if no labs 3 hrs to run that gives 6 hrs to study and sleep and eat and wash. I think you will never come close to lasting 4 years.. Buy the car so you can deliver pizza to my house.

Flagpole Willy wrote:

Cheap and reliable is what a college student needs, and of that list, only the Hyundai fits both bills.

Second is the Grand Prix. I wouldn't touch those other two cars with a 10-foot pole.

I agree with this, but the Sunfire is the only one that fits the bill. I've never drove a Sunfire but I had a cavalier & they're about as reliable as you can get. Plus any mechanic will work on them so that's a big plus compared to the hyundai. Sunfire will have the best gas mileage & insurance will be cheap. Only thing is it may lack in power, but who cares as long as it gets you there.

Oops scratch that. Just looked it up and the hyundai gets better gas mileage, but it's only a 1.5 L and has 95 horsepower!

then you should have seen that a sunfire is the same as a cavalier!

Flagpole Willy wrote:

Cheap and reliable is what a college student needs, and of that list, only the Hyundai fits both bills.

Second is the Grand Prix. I wouldn't touch those other two cars with a 10-foot pole.

would you touch it with a 10 foot flagpole ;)

a girl on my college team has a GP i think, same year and it does her well.. i'd say that would be my choice of those 4. honestly though if you could get a honda civic or a accord for 3k that would be great, as those are very reliable and good cars, even quite used.

id go this the geo tracker.. that way you can park in the small spots when people park liek asswhole and there is no parking. and there is alwaysd no parking on college campuses

silver wrote:

Flagpole Willy wrote:

Cheap and reliable is what a college student needs, and of that list, only the Hyundai fits both bills.

Second is the Grand Prix. I wouldn't touch those other two cars with a 10-foot pole.

I agree with this, but the Sunfire is the only one that fits the bill. I've never drove a Sunfire but I had a cavalier & they're about as reliable as you can get. Plus any mechanic will work on them so that's a big plus compared to the hyundai. Sunfire will have the best gas mileage & insurance will be cheap. Only thing is it may lack in power, but who cares as long as it gets you there.

The Sunfire has never had good reliablity ratings. Hyundai on the other hand has done extremely well. Add the fact that the Sunfire he's looking at is a year older and the Hyundai is a better bet. You make a good point about more mechanics willing to work on the Sunfire, but hopefully he won't need too many repairs on the Hyundai. As you mentioned later, Hyundai wins with the gas mileage, and insurance will still be cheap for this car. Hyundai has that 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty for a reason. They are very well built inexpensive cars.

Dude, take advantage of the GMC employee discount prices and find yourself a better car.

I'd compare prices on Edmunds.com

Better yet, move closer to campus.

There is a catch to the Hyundai warranty, it is a limited powertrain warranty! So only a few parts are under warranty, it means dick. Also it is not transferable to a new owner of the car. I would not buy it.

1) How much does it cost to drive 9 hours per day?

Probably, alot more than renting a shack on campus or living in the dorms. Don't tell us you are driving 9 hours a day to community college.

I know many Civic that dont last that long. And whats so special about 150000 or 200000 miles. My parents have had several Taurus models last that long, great car and cheap to fix, which didnt happen that often at all.

But who would wanna be seen driving a Taurus for 15 years.

1) What is your major?

2) Why waste 9 hours per day driving? Let alone driving inside a crappy car?

3) Do you have any social life?

4) Are you doing this to save money or do you enjoy driving 9 hours per day?

how do you drive 4.5 hours to school and 4.5 back again?

honestly, i can't figure out how you do this trip daily when most people with more than misfiring synapses would assume you mean back and forth a few times a year.

wow, 9 hours a day on the road is pretty excessive. you must go to a great school and have pretty understanding parents to pay for all the gas.

goddamn, making fun of some of these idiots gives me wood.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the dude doesn't drive 4.5 hours each way, every day.

If he does, he's got bigger issues than finding a car.