MichaelL

I am a newly licensed 16 year old male and I am looking for a car I can take with me through life until I reach 23 or so. I have been searching around on craigslist and autotrader and have narrowed my search down to 3 different cars:

2004/05 Hyundai Tiburon

2004 Mazda RX-8

2003/07 Mitsubishi Eclipse

I clearly know that this is an RX-8 fan club website, but I believe that there are some knowledgeable people here on cars in general. I understand that many view that teen drivers are "unable to handle these cars" and am willing to accept the risk. I currently have saved 4500$ to date. With insurance being paid for by my amazing parents all I have to supply is maintenance and gasoline. I would like for this thread to be a discussion between the pros and cons of each car. I understand that there will be bias on every reply. Any charts or spreadsheets comparing quantitative data would be amazing and helpful.

A side tip, I will be purchasing (if any of these vehicles) in 5 or 6 speed manual transmission.

Eldragon0

Honestly.... I'm assuming most here will agree with me. At 16, with NO prior driving experience, most likely not making a large sum of money, and no backup plan. I'd say go with the newest car you can that has the cleanest record. And yes the topic of teen drivers being a bad idea is a very valid point. My best friend here owns an 07 Eclipse and I love it. The cars fast, pretty quick, with a lot of forgiveness. It also doesn't eat the 93 all day long. Really your financial situation will be driving your choice as much as your ability to drive the car. If you can afford the 91 (bad bad bad ) or 93 (yes) every fill up, the oil ever 1-1.5k miles never going over on an oil change. And all the tedious maintenance. Then keep it in consideration.

HOWEVER !!!!! I will make a request of you. IF you settle on the 8, I will ask you have both ( if possible) of your parents to read this thread :https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

You may have went through it already, but I still ask that they are aware of what they are committing to. At any point in time, if something happens to your 8 and you can't afford the fix, they will want to be informed as well.

Venko

Hiya, I have to agree with Eldragon0.

I mean, it must suck to hear this but an rx8 isnt ideal for a first car. To be able to appreciate it, you need to try other cars first. Plus you either need lots of disposable income or not being afraid to poke under the hood every few days. I guess it would be fair to say that it is for someone who likes spending a lot of time researching their car and messing around it.

I think it is one of the worst cars to buy used, simply because most people don't know how to take care of it and then you end up being stuck with their problems... Especially since most rx8 are out of their warranties. There were a few recalls and TSBs that should of been taken care of and could be a major annoyance...

The first car I have ever purchased myself was a 2003 Tiburon, the i4 version. It was real fun to drive, sporty and decent on fuel. It was easy to maintain and DIY fixes. Plus, its just a cheap car, so it is not the end of the world if you mess it up. Since it is your first time driving, you are likely to make mistakes with it until you gain experience. I mean, experience comes from bad situations. Myself, I hit the curb a few times with my tiburon while trying to shift with one hand and the other stayed on the wheel. It took me a while to co ordinate both hands separately. I'm glad that i learned that on my tiburon and not on my rx8.

Out of the 3 cars, I would say that the rx8 is the one that will cost you the most in maintenance, gas, parts, repairs. Tiburons and Eclipses are more common on the streets, parts for them are more widely available and are less expensive. Same goes for tuning parts.

Every few days, you gotta check ur oil and fluids.. Every time u start the car, u gotta be careful not to stall it, to properly warm it up, to keep the rpm high enough to help remove carbon buildup, but low enough so your wallet doesnt commit suicide from gas cost. Plus if u want to have a decent mpg, everything in ur car has to be in perfect working condition, otherwise your mpg will drop fast.

Like you said yourself, you want a car that will last for a few yrs before you are ready for a real car. for about 4.5k, you would be able to get a way better tiburon or eclipse than an rx8. If you do find some, I'm sure there will be so many issues with them, that it won't be worth it. I bought my tiburon for 4k, it had 105k KM (approx 63k miles), was a 5 spd manual tranny. It had less probs than my rx8 that I bought for 4x the price and half the mileage. If Ii could start over, I would buy a new rx8 so i dont gotta deal with the negligence of the previous owner.

I've pretty much said what advice I had from my experiences. In the end it is your decision. I hope that you will be happy with whatever choice you make. Best of luck and you're actually pretty smart to seek other peoples advice instead of buying on impulse. Hope it all turns out ok for u.



Venko

Stephen T

Listen to what the last 2 guys have said, at the very least, you will be broke. At the worst, so will your parents, and no matter how nice they are, they will get pissed off with it and you.
They are great cars if you can afford to run them but for now, show your parents you are mature enough to take advice and walk away.
There is always another time, maybe if there is an RX 9?????
I hope this helps. Cheers.

monchie

I used to have a 97 Eclipse GS, and it never gave me serious problems whatsoever. It lasted me up to 120K miles until I sold it to my neighbor. My neighbor still has it and it still runs. The last time I checked, it is 150k + miles and it's still running strong. Anyway, whichever you choose, good luck and let us know.

Slidin8

Im sorry but if that's all you have saved for the car itself, your not gonna have the funds required for when its new engine time.

As much as I love this car, I would not recommend any rotary to someone who is not financially secure.

Oh and your 16 and will prob "hit VTEC" and wrap it around a tree in an attempt at showing your friends your the next Drift King

MichaelL

Thanks alot for all the insight. I am going to continue to do more research and try and find a job.

Venko

Heya, I'm glad to hear that you are looking to gain more information to be able to make a smart purchase. I really hope that you find something that you will like and be able to afford and maintain.


Great forum to help learn about the Tiburon: New Tiburon Forum : Hyundai Tiburon Forums - Powered by vBulletin

I imagine that there is a similar site for the eclipse. http://mitsubishiforum.com/forum/



The more you find out about the car you want, the better you will be able to negociate with the seller. Knowing what to look out for and the weak points in each car for the specific year will put you miles ahead anyone trying to pull a fast one on you. Just by taking all these steps and getting info shows that you're no average 16yr old.