Selling the Cobra. What should I get next?

[ian7654]

So i'm having to sell my 96 cobra due to school commuting/being a poor college student. It's over in the classifieds if you want to give it a look. Now i need something fairly cheap and easy on gas. I'm thinking a sentra or protege or something along those lines, but really it's hard to make a critical judgment because i'm not excited about getting rid of the mustang. it will be nice to get better mileage, but it will be lame to drive an appliance

any ideas on a fun, cheap, reliable car? or better, anything i should avoid?

 

[EPIK]

IMO, if I were looking for a cheap, good on gas, but relatively fun car, I would look into an early 90's 240SX. They are 4 cylinder, so they are good on gas, but they are RWD so they are still fun... Plus some of them look cool IMO...

 

[ian7654]

i would like a 240 but they are impossible to find with less than 8 billion miles on the clock. i don't know why, but it seems like used nissans have more miles than the average used car. 240's, sentras, altimas, maximas, whatever. most of the ones i come across have well over 100k, and i'm looking for less than that.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

honda civic

 

[Rasikajay]

I have the same problem...I can't afford to drive my stang to school, so I drive my dad's truck which is a 1996 2.3-liter 4-cylinder Ford Ranger. Its really good on gas. It has about 212,000 miles and runs great. The only problem is that when I see my stang sitting in the driveway, I feel bad and decide to drive it to school. Then I end up being broke for the week....lol

 

[stangman11]

Here are just a few cool little cars that should be pretty good on gas but fun to drive......
SVT Contour (that is if you can find a nice one)
Escort zx2 with a 5 speed are not bad
Honda prelude (early to mid 90s)
BMW E30 lots of fun to drive and you cant kill them
x2 on the 240sx
Old nissan maxima

Just a few ideas............sucks you gotta let the stang go though I drove one all through college but it was not easy.

 

[GettinThere]

Subaru WRX

 

[sneaky98gt]

Just watch out for the Toyotas. The gas pedal might get stuck....

 

[SjStang00]

Maybe a VW? A few months back I was attempting to sell my stang and I was looking at some early 2000 GTI's and GLI'S. The GLI's get kinda pricey, but the wolfsburg editions are a nice 4cyl tubro that would be good on gas and fun to drive around it.

 

[ian7654]

i was thinking about a ranger, but i'd want a 4 cyl. extended cab and those are hard to find it seems.

stangman11 - i like just about all of those. however i don't think i can ever get a zx2. i remember reading reviews when they first came out that were pretty positive. then in high school a friend of mine asked what kind of car i was going to get. i told her i was thinking about a zx2. in a disappointed tone she said "isn't that car kind of girly?" when a cheerleader says a car is girly that pretty much ruins it.

i'd forgotten about E30's. off to craigslist!

 

[ian7654]

Maybe a VW? A few months back I was attempting to sell my stang and I was looking at some early 2000 GTI's and GLI'S. The GLI's get kinda pricey, but the wolfsburg editions are a nice 4cyl tubro that would be good on gas and fun to drive around it.

that's tempting because they have nice interiors and are supposed to drive nice, but i've only ever heard nightmares about late-model VW reliability and repair costs. anyone have first-hand experience with a 2000s golf or jetta?

 

[billfisher]

a 2011 GT... it has ~100rwhp more stock than your cobra cam with.

 

[billfisher]

and about 75 more than your cobra with bolt-ons.

 

[stangman11]

Haha true i guess it is kinda a chick car although at this point even if you get a civic for gas to thats a chick car. And you can find a ton of e30 with a stick rear wheel drive and they are a blast to drive and the drivetrain is bullet proof.

 

[iMTB]

I went Galant for the gas saver:

Galants look sick with a little bit of OEM parts from Japan and Europe:
View attachment 231428
and some other things:

View attachment 231432

Or go all out:
View attachment 231433

It drives really nice, handles decent, reliable, win.

 

[TheSalad]

I was in your same situation. I went with a 2000 Ford Escort ZX2 with a manual transmission. 35MPG, was "peppy" enough, and got the job done.

 

[trombonedemon]

honda civic

+10,
If your short on cash, see if you can use your fathers truck to help people move out of there dorms and or houses, charge them somthing reasonable, you might can keep your stang. People always need a truck for some reason or another!

 

[deftsound]

You realize if you sell your cobra you're just going to regret it and buy another one a year down the road...

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

How bad of mileage does your car get? Book value a 96 Cobra isnt exactly worth a ton so I guess that sorta depends on how much you can actually sell it for and it seems the last few years the values on the pre 05 cars have tanked at a pretty good clip.

Imo you already have a cheap and reliable car with descent mileage. Sure its not 30 like a civic but it should get 25 on the highway I would imagine.

 

[SjStang00]

that's tempting because they have nice interiors and are supposed to drive nice, but i've only ever heard nightmares about late-model VW reliability and repair costs. anyone have first-hand experience with a 2000s golf or jetta?

Yea Ive heard the same thing, i ended up not selling my car, and ive been happy ever since . Where i go to college i do very minimal driving, the only long trips I take are home and in that case my parents would pay for gas.