I love my G35c, but it has made me a nervous wreck so far. I work at Walmart and having to park it in one of the bussiest Walmarts in the world scares me to death. I already know 3 other people who have had their cars keyed or dented. On top of that, I live in a border town, and when i go to Mexico I park my car on the border.

All this has me convinced that I need a secondary car to get me to work and for when I go to Mexico. I am looking in the $5000 range and I am thinking a Hyundai Accent or Elantra would do the trick. I also considered a Civic, but even older models were pricey. I was wondering what you all thought, and what your experience was. When did Hyundai become a reliable builder of cars? Was it only after 2000 or are the late 90's models well built also?

Interestingly enough my insurence here in California went from $2900 for my Infiniti to $2600 for my Infiniti plus a 2000 Elantra. This was if I designated my elantra for work and my Infiniti for pleasure.

Thanks.

 

DONT TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY! Are you a super manager or something..??! Deffinately park that thing in the back away from everyone else. And don't take that thing to Mexico either ( if thats what you meant ) holy crap I won't even go there.. Teh Hyudai will do the job, better warranty/car than the Civic, imo.

 

Buy a early-mid 90's Accord or Acura Legend. I have a '93 Legend that has been very reliable through 110K miles.

 

Sounds like San Ysidro, Ca. Good luck, buddy. One time, I missed the last exit and wound up driving my BMW into Tijuana. Not a good feeling. Not that I have anything against Mexicans, it's the cops I worry about. I wouldn't even park at the border If I were you. Get a beater quick. The non-imposing, the better. Anything by Honda, but they tend to hold their value in Socal.

 

I bought a 1993 Nissan Sentra SE-R for a similar reason. I go to college where other people don't like young kids with expensive cars. My Sentra has close to 190,000 miles on it and it runs great. I just do basic maintenance on it and its not really that expensive. But I also have the advantage of having a college with several large garages with lifts to work on it. Insurance is also not that bad on it and the car is still reasonably fun to drive. I only paid around $1,200 for it. The best thing about having a beater car is that you don't even care about when it gets dents or scraped up. The only thing that I don't like about this is that the battery on my G35 gets really weak after a couple of months in the back of a garage. I'm actually flying home to Florida tomorrow for spring break, so the G will get a nice work out tomorrow night. Just as long as the battery isn't too weak to start the car.

 

imperial521

i bought a '94 saab for that same reason. buy the second car. you wont go wrong in the long run.

pros:
1- less miles on your G
2- less risk of damage to your G
3- you'll have 2nd car incase of emerg
4- less miles on your used car
5- every time you get in your G after driving the klunker, it's like the 1st day you picked it up. i drive my saab 3 days, my G 2 days (more in summer) plus weekends.

cons:
1- you'll need to spend about 3k on a used car
2- maint on the used car. if the car lasts for 2 yrs, you got your moneys worth.
3- higher ins however you might receive 'multi-car' discount(i have 3-cars).


tip: DONT say your car(s) is for work. say STRICTLY pleasure, and you dont need to prove that to any ins company.

good luck.

 

i have an 04 galant v6 for that same reason.. i suggest it also

 

I have a 04' CivicValuePackage im leasing for about $165/mn ($159+ tax) for
36months. about 2k down, total about $8k for the car at end of lease.
Insurance is a little high on these civic's (I pay $380/6mn) but not bad.
My modded G and modded Cooper-S are always safe from dings and
parking lot vandals...so totally worth it!

Actually, I got the Civic lease one week after I bought the G last
year. hehehe.

Honda's still advertising these for this same low price on TV so if you get a
chance, go lease one. it's super cheap and just pay out of your pocket.
It's less than $8 a day...how cheap is that?!

The best part is it's got a $1500 insurance coverage on all damages when
you return the car, plus in IL you get tax benefits when you return the
car as a trade-in.

 

My two cents would be to use some caution on what 2nd car you choose. The civics carry a premium due to the high rate of theft (my was stolen 1 week before X-Mas). After taking my civic off and putting my G on is was only ~$40 more a year, YES, only $40 more than the civic! I still keep my other two cars (miata for commute, and Durango to haul toys/family/friends/dogs...) I'm in SD as well, so the insurance may be about the same. Choose wisely.

 

yes buy a civic over a kia, gotta have a little enjoyment out of your beater right?

 

Buying a 2nd car is not that bad except you get a lot of disrespect from other drivers. I spent $2K for a beater, but when I sell the beater, I'd probaly get around $1.5K, or a little less. If you are driving your G35, you'll be hitting more mileage and more debris on the road especially freeways. Plus the more you drive the G, the more you find it boring. I believe the less you drive, the more you appreciate the car. IMO. Later!!

 

hehehe, yah, actually my civic handles pretty darn well for a cheepo
piece of crap. It rolls quite a bit during fast turns, but very predictable
and stable throughout the turn. The only drawback on these VP's are
that it has no power windows or locks so if you carry a lot of friends or
family on your beater this car could get a little annoying. It does come
with a CD player and AC.

I only use this for my solo commute and going to the stores so no issue
for me. I got less than 3k miles on it still and it's been over 6months since
i got it. even got a free oilchange at the dealer a couple months
back.

 

Just keep in mind, with a cheap commuter car you're not going to get anything back for it if/when you decide to sell it. Buy something while keeping that in mind, and don't put anything into it that you don't have to. Get something cheap and drive it into the ground.

Don't forget the proper bumper sticker either: My Other Car Isn't A Turd.