What car would you buy with a $13,000 budget?

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

The Optima looks nice, but its a piece of junk. There's always something wrong with them, and they loosen up and get old fast. I'm a factory authorized tech for a several brands. Here's some general comments based on what I've seen working on them.
Hyundai/Kia - As you go up the line, the worse the car gets. They're just trying to do way too much all at once. Each time a new version of a car comes out, there's usually massive upgrades that are not fully tested. The Elantra/Forte is actually a much better car than the Optima/Sonata.

Mazda - The new 6 is probably the best car Mazda ever made. There were a few small recalls when it first came out, but overall, the car is built like a tank. Its not a race car, but the trade off is 185 horsepower motor that gets 38 mpg on the highway. There's hybrids that don't get that kind of mileage.

Infiniti - Practically indestructible. For some reason, the G37/Q40 sell for very reasonable prices on the used market. If you want a fast mid size sedan, this is the one to get. Needless to say, you won't get the best gas milage. Also, and this is important, Infiniti doesn't use CVT transmissions like Nissan does. I wouldn't buy a CVT regardless of brand. They drive like crap and they don't hold up.

Ford - Walk. You don't need a car that bad.

my lil beater is a optima. 2008 with 150K miles never even tuned it up..

 

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

My bro-n-law ran his optima into the ground. Never broke down once. He sold it a tick over 200k miles still running good. Not turbo tho. I wasnt aware the higher models had issues

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Buy a Honda

 

[Ridinhi 5,000+ posts]

dont do trunks. Do a hatchback car. like a subaru hatchback or mazda 3 hatch. Those cars will smoke a camry and an altima in every way possible along with MUCH better sounding bass as well if you decide to put a system in it.
If you have to have a trunk car, honda over camry any day of the week. drove both, honda accord is way faster, more responsive and smoother quieter drive not to mention a bit better on gas mileage. The V4 accord smoked my friend's v6 camry when eco mode is off in sport drive. Altima is yuck in general lmao slow, loses to a civic and not to mention sound bass sounds like sh*t in those cars, they dont get loud unless you spend waaay more money than ever necessary. The amount of brute forcing your way into higher spl ranges with your wallet is normal in those cars.

is the V4 Accord that much better than the v6 camry? wow! Any particular year honda I should focus on?

 

[youdoofus]

[quote name='Ridinhi']is the V4 Accord that much better than the v6 camry? wow! Any particular year honda I should focus on?[/QUOTE]

4 pot honda engines arent in a v configuration, rather an inline. The newer honda 4s are pretty decently powerful and economical to boot. The 2012 and up accords are very nice. @keep_hope_alive did a build on a '12 or '14 (cant remember which), so you can take some tips from him and his build

 

[Pav26]

thing is a twin turbo 370z eats there lunch in most situations. 325s in hte rear and a revamped suspension its a VERY capable track car for 60k. I'm talking big dog status.
the G37 isn't really designed to be a true track car the trans and suspension etc.. it does decent on hte track with some mods(can keep up with all the M3s etc etc) and it a great daily.

not to mention for 13 grand you can get a 09 and drop a intake and fulls exhaust system and tuned for 3k and have a car eats stangs and camaros while have some serious class and style. hehe

Are you saying a modified (twin turbo equipped) 370z "eats" a stock R35 GT-R?

 

[youdoofus]

Are you saying a modified (twin turbo equipped) 370z "eats" a stock R35 GT-R?

i can see this topic spiraling quickly. Ive seen track ready 2nd gen eclipses that run 9's and only have about 40 g's wrapped up in them, but the GTR has such a lore about it for a reason. I will say that Nissan is resting on its laurels with the GTR as of late. 7 years ago, no car buffs eyebrows werent raised about 3 inches after seeing its capability. Now, its in need of a more aggressive facelift and performance revamp. At one point, the GTR was faster than a 911 turbo. Not so much anymore.

To remove any ambiguity, i LOVE the GTR

 

[Pav26]

i can see this topic spiraling quickly. Ive seen track ready 2nd gen eclipses that run 9's and only have about 40 g's wrapped up in them, but the GTR has such a lore about it for a reason. I will say that Nissan is resting on its laurels with the GTR as of late. 7 years ago, no car buffs eyebrows werent raised about 3 inches after seeing its capability. Now, its in need of a more aggressive facelift and performance revamp. At one point, the GTR was faster than a 911 turbo. Not so much anymore.
To remove any ambiguity, i LOVE the GTR

I definitely didn't/don't mean to derail this thread, but I thought I'd seek clarification regarding that statement because it's a specious argument. To make such a claim is analogous to concluding that "a 2000w rated 4" VC driver will eat a 1000w rated 3" driver". There is so much more going that we must establish before a conclusion like that can be made. What size turbos are we talking (inducer/exducer diameters, turbine side housings), what kind of boost pressure, how has it been mapped, what diameter exhaust system, and so on. "Twin turbos" in itself means nothing. I may have misunderstood papermaker's post, though.

The 90s JDM cars were, in my opinion, the era of greatness for Japan. They aren't doing a whole lot these days (not just Nissan), as you say.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

is the V4 Accord that much better than the v6 camry? wow! Any particular year honda I should focus on?

dont get 2012.

Look for 2013 and up thats the latest gen which offers more horse power and waaay better fuel economy not to mention faster response. On sport mode, you step on the gas, you fly, while the v6 camry has a delayed reaction and sluggish acceleration in comparison. You'll smoke any stock camry(minus the SE) on a redlight with a v4 accord.

177 horse power and 23 mpg city 34hwy with 2012 and under

185 horse power and 27 mpg city 36hwy with 2013 and up.

Even the 2016 civic can smoke camrys on redlight wars lol but it has a major weight advantage. I fully turned a toyota family into a honda family when i had them test drive both cars. For everything you get along with the performance and overall superior drive, there's no comparison. HOWEVER if you wanna run a 3.5k amp + with a high output alt, you might want to look up how to do an ELD bypass for the alt charging.

if you do go altima get the 2014 version thats more horsepower than the 2013 one.

If you do get camry, the 2012 hybrid is actually faster and more responsive than the regular camry by far along with 43 mpg city, 39 hwy.

just like car audio, the year, make and model matters because performance varies a lot depending on what you buy. its just like guys thinking a pioneer head unit is a pioneer and totally disregarded that its a junk model with horrible audio features.

 

[youdoofus]

I definitely didn't/don't mean to derail this thread, but I thought I'd seek clarification regarding that statement because it's a specious argument. To make such a claim is analogous to concluding that "a 2000w rated 4" VC driver will eat a 1000w rated 3" driver". There is so much more going that we must establish before a conclusion like that can be made. What size turbos are we talking (inducer/exducer diameters, turbine side housings), what kind of boost pressure, how has it been mapped, what diameter exhaust system, and so on. "Twin turbos" in itself means nothing. I may have misunderstood papermaker's post, though.
The 90s JDM cars were, in my opinion, the era of greatness for Japan. They aren't doing a whole lot these days (not just Nissan), as you say.

I completely concur. The last statement is sadly correct too. What did Japan offer for pure insanity after the LFA? Not a lot. The supra is supposedly making a comeback, but will Toyota take another decade before it's released? I say that because the LFA was delayed because they scrapped the whole thing due to them deciding to use a different material. Japan, you have the ability, make the supercars!!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

also things to take into consideration, is it a twin sequential turbo? are they variable vane turbos? whats the compression ratio? intercooler?

 

[youdoofus]

dont get 2012.
Look for 2013 and up thats the latest gen which offers more horse power and waaay better fuel economy not to mention faster response. On sport mode, you step on the gas, you fly, while the v6 camry has a delayed reaction and sluggish acceleration in comparison. You'll smoke any stock camry(minus the SE) on a redlight with a v4 accord.

177 horse power and 23 mpg city 34hwy with 2012 and under

185 horse power and 27 mpg city 36hwy with 2013 and up.

Even the 2016 civic can smoke camrys on redlight wars lol but it has a major weight advantage. I fully turned a toyota family into a honda family when i had them test drive both cars. For everything you get along with the performance and overall superior drive, there's no comparison. HOWEVER if you wanna run a 3.5k amp + with a high output alt, you might want to look up how to do an ELD bypass for the alt charging.

youll never get off the light in a v4 accord, since they dont exist. Theyre I4's

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

youll never get off the light in a v4 accord, since they dont exist. Theyre I4's

2.4 liter v6 my bad. lmao always thought they were v4 for some reason...

 

[yahhhyahhh]

what year car you speak of?

Stay away from dodge

Kenwood X301& Sundown E-15 v3 5.8 CF Ported @34hz on PPI ICE2600

 

[Ridinhi 5,000+ posts]

dont get 2012.
Look for 2013 and up thats the latest gen which offers more horse power and waaay better fuel economy not to mention faster response. On sport mode, you step on the gas, you fly, while the v6 camry has a delayed reaction and sluggish acceleration in comparison. You'll smoke any stock camry(minus the SE) on a redlight with a v4 accord.

177 horse power and 23 mpg city 34hwy with 2012 and under

185 horse power and 27 mpg city 36hwy with 2013 and up.

Even the 2016 civic can smoke camrys on redlight wars lol but it has a major weight advantage. I fully turned a toyota family into a honda family when i had them test drive both cars. For everything you get along with the performance and overall superior drive, there's no comparison. HOWEVER if you wanna run a 3.5k amp + with a high output alt, you might want to look up how to do an ELD bypass for the alt charging.

if you do go altima get the 2014 version thats more horsepower than the 2013 one.

If you do get camry, the 2012 hybrid is actually faster and more responsive than the regular camry by far along with 43 mpg city, 39 hwy.

just like car audio, the year, make and model matters because performance varies a lot depending on what you buy. its just like guys thinking a pioneer head unit is a pioneer and totally disregarded that its a junk model with horrible audio features.

ok, been searching and the look promising. I do see that they also have the CVT transmission. Do the Hondas not have the same problems as the Nissan Altimas with the CVT?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

ok, been searching and the look promising. I do see that they also have the CVT transmission. Do the Hondas not have the same problems as the Nissan Altimas with the CVT?

in the long run after 150k miles then yeah probably some transmission issues will arise. Every car will have some sort of issues after awhile.