new cars under $20k

[Stee Flo]

The Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS is a good car. I used to own one. It handled nicely and looked ok. Gotta love the boxer sound! But if I was to get one it would be the older model 2.5 rs. Looks much nicer and is a bit lighter.

[C-Kwik]

First off....

1. THe neon srt-4 "or whatever the call it" just like everyone said...too much boost=boom!!!, not to mention it will be unreliable in other areas also, mark my words!!!!!

2. The mazdaspeed prot. is worthless, it handles well for a fwd, but just like Jezter said 170horse for a turbo is embarrassing "but still not as much as my spelling is, lol"

3. If I were you I would look again at the SE-R, I love the very agreesive front bumper, I love it! Not to mention 170ish horse and 180ft.lbs-ish of torque, lsd, 6spd!!!

4. If you want room but the altima, since a sport compact is just that, a COMPACT!!!! No matter how many doors you got, its gonna be a tight squeeze regardless.

Hope this helps. Hell, just go buy a s14!

1. That's a rather poor generalization coming from people who really have no experience with these motors. Keep in mind a turbo version of this motor has been available in Mexico already. And why is a turbo on any motor but an import must go boom? It's not as if this is the first turbo motor Dodge has built. While I am skeptical of Dodge Reliability, it's still a fast car for under $20K. And the turbo upgrades offered through Mopar will not void the warranty. Extend the warranty and you have much less to worry about.

2. Beats the Hyundai Scoupe - 115 HP with turbo. haha.

3. The SE-R is pretty nice, but the bang for the buck is not exactly there compared to the Dodge.

[jEzTeR]

It seems that most of the people here are doubting the Neons durability with boost.Id say that up untill now that Dodge has been very skimpy whaen it comes to quality as far as noens go.No one can deny that the Viper V10 can handle as much air as you can force into it.Just ask Jack Hennessey... http://www.hennesseymotorsports.com/ Now we will just have to wait and see if the Neon will hold up to.Mopar has gotten a bad rap over the years for making motors that dont hold up over time.Im a bit skeptical about it myself.I guess we will just have to wait it out.

[Former_240_s14]

1. That's a rather poor generalization coming from people who really have no experience with these motors. Keep in mind a turbo version of this motor has been available in Mexico already. And why is a turbo on any motor but an import must go boom? It's not as if this is the first turbo motor Dodge has built. While I am skeptical of Dodge Reliability, it's still a fast car for under $20K. And the turbo upgrades offered through Mopar will not void the warranty. Extend the warranty and you have much less to worry about.

2. Beats the Hyundai Scoupe - 115 HP with turbo. haha.

3. The SE-R is pretty nice, but the bang for the buck is not exactly there compared to the Dodge.

Pretty poor generalizations huh????

1. Its not a dodge motor, its a mitsu motor more than likely. And if you want to talk about going boom. Many of my friends, not to mention girlfriend has the 2.0 na motor that has broken down more than 4 times in a year, not to mention electrical problems. The neon headgaskets go out quite regularly without forced induction so adding more power isn't going to help matters any.

2. The neon still even though I can't stand saying this is fast, but again it is going to break down just as fast as it can get up to 60mph.

[C-Kwik]

The Turbo neon uses much beefier internals. The PT Cruisers use the same 2.4L motor, and in the NA form, it is built quite minimally. Small amounts of detonation have been known to destry the rods. They are quite thin. The Turbo rods are much thicker. I don't know what year Neon you are comparing it to, but the new Neons are based on a 2.4L motor, not a 2.0. I am around PT Cruiser's quite often as I help out with my friend's business, and a few of them have superchargers and Turbos on the NA motors. So far I have not heard of one headgasket failure.

I would admit that Chrysler has not had the best track record for reliability, but it's a bit presumptuous to say if the New Turbo Neons will have any problems since it is so new. It's not like they just slapped on a turbo on the 2.4 NA motor. It was built with having a turbo in mind. I doubt you or anyone else here has much experience with them. So far, I have had the opportunity to check out a few of the Turbo PT's and speak to the owners. I've heard of no problems yet. It would be different if you said that you've actually had experience with a Turbo Neon and/or have actual statistics showing that there are problems. I'm not arguing that the Turbo Neon is reliable, or that it is not. There is just not enough hard facts to determine this yet. I'm just saying that it is a poor generalization to make without hard facts. Only time will tell.

[Former_240_s14]

Under that assumption I would have to agree totally with you, but keeping past track record in mind, you won't see me spending my 20k on it, doubt you will see many serious import guys spending it either. Props on your research though.

[midnight brother]

You should buy a Hyundai if you are looking for a newer / new car.

If you want space the Hyundai Elantra, the 2003 or the GT are great. The GT is a hatchback and more "sport tuned suspension." It handles pretty well for what everyone wants to think of the company. Also it has the beta engine, which is more or less a copy of the 4g63. It loves to be boosted and there are kits for it. High horsepower numbers isnt a hard thing to reach. 400HP 4 door sedan thats better almost EVERY car it competes with. With a retail of 12k and an assload of options that you wont get in civics, corollas, etc etc its a great buy. It won't hold its retail value is a problem but you get a 10year warranty. They sales are increasing every year and quicky becoming a hot company.

For a sportier car you could get the Tiburon which is still under 20k. If you are wanting to make less than 300hp...around 250 get the V6. Supercharger applications are already out and the v6 is perfect for it. At SEMA a Tiburon VS. an RSX Type-S with both cars having "APC intimidator mufflers" the Tiburon beat in 1/4 mile. If yo are wanting higher horsepower numbers, get the i4. The interior of the Tiburon is great. Backseat space I couldn't tell you though because i've never had to rid eback there. The aftermarket for the tib is great and will be getting bigger.

About "Hyundais are **** quality" yes the Pony was **** quality but they have learned from their mistakes. My grandmother is still riding hard in her 93 Elantra without any problems. I think comparing the big company Honda to Hyundai, look at how long they have both been selling in America. Hyundai to me has accomplished more than this "big great company" has in its little years.

Those are 2 good cars under 20k that are great, and definantly not crap. For the options you get with the cars compared to what they are competing with the price is great.

[Bubba1]

Midnight bro, You get what you pay for, my friend. Hyundai's are not bad cars. They're cheap and there is a cost to quality. Snce Hyundai's are made more cheaply, in 5 years, the Hyundai is much more likely to encounter problems than a higher quality car, like a Corrolla or Civic. It's resale price will also be much lower than a Civic/Corrolla because the general buying public knows the car is cheap. Why do you think Hyundai offers such a long warranty? Same reason. Heck, you even said their quality is "****". People buy Nissans/Toyotas/Honda that have much shorter warranties than Hyundai because they know Nissan/Honda/Toyota's are more likely to last longer. Lower sticker price doesn't mean cheaper to own over the long haul.

As far as Chryslers go, I've have had 4 of them so I speak from experience. (my last one was a 300M). Chryslers arethougtfullyl designed, well engineered, good performing, good handling comfortable cars. BUT, Daimler Chrysler skimps on the quality of parts they use and the fit/finish is mediocre at best. So you have wonderful cars that disintegrate after 60,000 miles. Sure there are owners that have had good luck with their cars and they'll brag about them, but I have had more problems with each one of my Chrylsers than I did with all of my Nissans/Toyotas combined. That's just the way it is. If you look at Consumer reports, which tracks reliablility among its subscribers and tests the cars, My arguments are not far off. You won't see many Chryslers or Hyundai's at the tops of their recommendations both as new/used. When talking about inexpensive cars, you get what you pay for....Regards

[PalmerWMD]

I like the Sentra SER Spec V's quite bit.The interior is sporty but not too wild and still tasteful.Roomoeir and torquier than all th otehr NA choices.

Fred..

PS: Some one mentioned the 26k WRX, I used to like them a lot, but now the base G35 is just 2k more, so I never consider a WRX again, the G35 is just soo much nicer even in the base than 2k.In a couple of years, Used G35's will be a great deal.

[nismokid]

the neon is definately not one of the cars on the top of my list being that reliability is a top priority and dodge has not been that great when it comes to reliability issues, especially when it comes to the noen. on the other hand companies like toyota, honda, and nissan have long traditions of being reliable cars and i don't see spending $20k of my hard earned money on something that has a poor past. i don't care how fast that car is, its not like someone is handing me the money for this car so i have to make the best decision possible by weighing in all the pos and neg aspects of the car. this car is going to be one that gets me around and with me driving about 500miles a week going to school and work i need something reliable. the car doesnt have to be screaming fast straight from the factory being that i already have another car for that (honda crx). my crx is already yellow so i think a black or silver ser would look nice.

[jEzTeR]

If your deciding between Black and Silver go with Silver!I have a Black Altima and Silver Spec v.The Black looks great clean but this time of year with rain and snow its imposiable to keep clean and looks dirty all the time. The Silver on the other hand if you clean the wheelks and tires and windows it looks clean eveen if its not.

[Bubba1]

In the March 03 edition of Consumer Reports, they tested $20K and under cars. The cars they recommend in descedning order:

Honduh Civic EX $18,320toYOta Corolla LE $$17051Subi Impreza 2.5 RS $20420Zoom Zoom Protege LX $16965Nissan Sentra GXE $16517

Neon was the second worst choice, Only the mighty Cavalier tested worse. Furd Focus actually scored the highest marks for their tests, but it's bad reliability and record # of recalls prevented them from recommending it. The Hyundai Elantra GLS tested better than the Subi, but CU didn't recommend it either. The Hyundai Accent was 4th worst. Saturn Ion was third worst. Others in the middle of the group werew Suzuki Aerio and Mitsui Lancer LS. Hope that helps...

[r34 gtr]

mug some old lady and buy a 350z

[nismokid]

good idea, i wouldn't mind a black one with the track package