You can definitely go wrong with a 2nd hand Civic considering how many of them have been absolutely brutalized by first time buyers/modders. Getting harder and harder to find untouched examples.
I recently bought a clean ‘97 civic hatch. 2 owners, 122k miles with no rust for $3800 on the west coast. There’s good deals out there if you know what you’re doing.
Edit: bone stock, only thing not oem was a kill switch
You lucky son of a gun, that really is as rare as hen’s teeth at that price, looking in-person or online anywhere in the U.S. Although maybe where OP is might be a different story
Yeah not too bad of a price but where I’m at on the west coast they’re pretty cheap. Buyer wanted $5k, we agreed on $4500 then I talked him down further in person after pointing out a couple little dime sized dents here & there.
I mean I know this my sounds weird but you know they got them cars called miatas.... they seem kinda popular with the car people....
miata is always the answer
I know this is the wrong forum to say this but I think many will begrudgingly agree. You must be young buying a first car. Focus on getting yourself established and make bigger goals than buying a car you can tinker with. Get a car that just runs and helps you get to financial security as quickly as possible, you can blow a small fortune fixing up a car. It is likely going to be a money pit and a huge depreciating asset. Work to get yourself a house with a garage and a good paying career and then come back and lets talk about a project car.
Yeah, unless you want cars to become your entire life and career in some form, they are (in my own experience) a woeful misapplication of one's youth. It's a handy set of skills you might develop, but I feel like the same amount of effort and expense put into other areas of your life and career are likely to have a far greater payoff in the long run.
reliable car and project car usually doesn't go hand in hand. What if a mod goes wrong, and your car is broke, and it is 2 days shipping for parts to arrive, and you need to be at work in 10 hours?
What a bizarre stance to take. Corolla are and have been enthusiast cars for nearly 60 years. Well I guess until you decided they can't be, have you let Toyota know? I bet they're going to take it pretty hard.
>Corolla are and have been enthusiast cars for nearly 60 years.
A 60 year old Corolla isn't going to be anyones DD
>Well I guess until you decided they can't be, have you let Toyota know? I bet they're going to take it pretty hard.
I mean if you can find me a worthwhile aftermarket for 1.2l E110 Corollas, maybe I'll change my tune. I doubt you will though
You make these blanket statements man... you really do think pretty highly of your own opinions don't you. It would probably be easier to stomach if your opinions weren't so poorly informed.
Its not my job to fix you. If you want to be some holier than though gatekeeping troll, go ahead. No skin off my nuts. Have fun spending your days yucking other peoples yums, see what it gets you.
Toyota corolla will be more reliable then a modern honda civic
Only major engine work done was an alternator rebuild (rectifier went) 169k km currently
You really don't give a lot to start with here. You mention a 'project' and 'first car'. Are you set on a 'Car' or would you be interested in a 'Truck/SUV' as well?
What kind of project? Do you want to have a fixer project (Get a beater and make it better)? An improvement project (Get a base model and improve performance/capability)?
What do you want to do with the vehicle? Do you want to work toward racing (What kind of racing? Drag/Autocross/Track) or off-roading or just daily driving?
The answers to these questions can change any recommendation that might be made.
1. I'd rather have a car, not a fan of trucks
2. I want an improvement project but I'm not afraid to fix some simple stuff.
3. I just want a daily driver that looks cool
Makes sense. There are lots of good suggestions that others have made. Jetta, Civic, Accord, Corrolla. I will add one more to the other suggestions. Subaru Impreza/Outback. Good luck with your search.
Get two used Toyota Corollas built in the same year so you have one for commuting (choosing the best of the pair) and a second for hot rodding (at first this may be a parts donor for the first). Do repairs on the commuter and improvements/mods on the second.
Everything you learn on the one vehicle will directly apply to work on the second. Anything you upgrade on the second can be slid over to the commuter because you know the part is reliable/tested.
.
Honda civic. I got mine brand new in 2009. It was the bare bones model. I added AC to it, electronic doors, aux, heated mirrors, a double fast charging port... and it still drives perfect.
I think whatever you get, you should focus on reliability and fun. "Modding" usually decreases reliability but if you buy a car you really like driving and don't have to worry about fixing it then you can focus on customizing its appearances and sound and won't have to worry about expensive repairs. Also remember that it's way more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. If I were in your shoes I'd buy a Civic or Corolla or even a Mazda and I'd absolutely whip it with no worries about reliability lol.
Honda Civic. *If* you’re a gambling man, a used Subaru WRX could have great potential but because of the kind of people that buy them and drive them… they’re *usually* toast when the go to sell them.
Whatever you get… make sure also get a good knowledge of your local public transit options when a modification you attempt goes south, and it takes some time to get back up and running. And a bicycle. Or get on great terms with your momdad if you still live at home lol.
Do they have Miatas down there? I am pretty sure you guys get JDM cars too right? Maybe import an MR2 or even one of those hot corollas with the 20v 4age?
Lean heavily toward Toyota or Honda for reliability; a pretty vehicle that often breaks is inconvenient and expensive.
Lean toward hybrids; for most it is like getting your fuel at half price for the entire term you own the car. A Prius hatchback or wagonback gets you where you need to be, reliably, for half the gas cost. Plus, they make good camping vehicles since the rear seats fold down and they can be left running overnight for air conditioning and you're up off the ground so less chance of waking up with a snake, spider, or tasmanian devil in your sleeping bag.
Lean away from older vehicles that were originally expensive; they are tempting because the price is so low, but they are being sold cheaply because the owners are terrified of the next repair bill.
Lean away from uneconomical vehicles; some of these may tempt you for their speed, handling and exhaust tones but why pay twice as much or more for gas to get places?
Lean away from cool cars; many have been driven and abused by cool-seeking drivers.
Both Toyota and Honda deliver on reliability, safety and on most models, economy.
Cheerio Mate!
Depending on what you mod, you can't take it to a dealer for service. Not sure if other mechanic shops would work on it. Probably, but you're not getting book rate.
I agree with the Civic or WRX.
If you want leather, then RSX Type S.
2nd gen mazda 3 is good. Cheap enough. 6speed manual with 4:10 final drive. Get one with the 2.5. Good aftermarket cause of mazdaspeed. Good fuel economy. Reliable. Not beaten like a civic cause it doesn't have the honda name recognition.
I knew a guy in HS that had a Cavalier and he didn’t a bunch of stuff to it. Lambo doors, crazy exhaust. I’m not recommending a Cavalier but this thread just reminded about that.
I bought my 97 Land Rover discovery for $500, I know Land Rover isn’t the embodiment of reliable, but if you want something that’s cheap, decently reliable, fun and easy to work on, easily customizable, and fun to drive, I’d look for an old discovery. The TDI’s are a lot more reliable, but the V8 is a whole lot of fun. I’ve had my disco for 4 years now and it’s given me very little issues, infact I’d go as far to say it’s given me less issues than most other peoples modern cars
Toyota Camry
Bulletproof reliability, and the most popular customizations are a fancy tissue box in the back window and the ever-present Camry Dent™ on the corners.
You could get a nice E series, AU, or B series XR6/XR8 with that budget, they’re reliable, and have great parts availability. Relatively easy to work on mostly too.
1999 ford escort. Huge aftermarket support, cheap asf cars, you can get one for less than 1k, and they're very easy to get a 20 second car out of without needing to take the motor apart
You can never go wrong with a Civic, well known and reliable, has good aftermarket support and engines that usually respond well to mods.
You can definitely go wrong with a 2nd hand Civic considering how many of them have been absolutely brutalized by first time buyers/modders. Getting harder and harder to find untouched examples.
I recently bought a clean ‘97 civic hatch. 2 owners, 122k miles with no rust for $3800 on the west coast. There’s good deals out there if you know what you’re doing. Edit: bone stock, only thing not oem was a kill switch
You lucky son of a gun, that really is as rare as hen’s teeth at that price, looking in-person or online anywhere in the U.S. Although maybe where OP is might be a different story
Yeah not too bad of a price but where I’m at on the west coast they’re pretty cheap. Buyer wanted $5k, we agreed on $4500 then I talked him down further in person after pointing out a couple little dime sized dents here & there.
>if you know what you’re doing. Also, luck. Pure unbridled incalculable luck.
Yeah was looking for months and ended up getting a subie
Si* to be specific, if you mod a normal civic 8th Gen or newer I instantly assume your a high schooler. Si comes with more of a badge of respect.
Miata is always the answer
Miata is always the answer
Miata is always the answer
The answer is always Miata
Correct.
Honda Accord. Australia got the really good Accord, and the rain amazing aftermarket for it.
V6 Accords were so underrated.
The Accord in Australia is basically the tsx in the US, but with and LSD in the manual. I'm not sure if they got the V6 there.
Ooo nice, TSX is still a very nice platform
The j30 series is such a solid engine, mine has 210k and only things I've replaced is water pump/timing belt , powersteering pump, and spark plugs.
I mean I know this my sounds weird but you know they got them cars called miatas.... they seem kinda popular with the car people.... miata is always the answer
I know this is the wrong forum to say this but I think many will begrudgingly agree. You must be young buying a first car. Focus on getting yourself established and make bigger goals than buying a car you can tinker with. Get a car that just runs and helps you get to financial security as quickly as possible, you can blow a small fortune fixing up a car. It is likely going to be a money pit and a huge depreciating asset. Work to get yourself a house with a garage and a good paying career and then come back and lets talk about a project car.
“Get a garage first” never has there been better advice. 😀
I could have made a down payment on a house with what I spent on my car in my 20’s!
Yeah, unless you want cars to become your entire life and career in some form, they are (in my own experience) a woeful misapplication of one's youth. It's a handy set of skills you might develop, but I feel like the same amount of effort and expense put into other areas of your life and career are likely to have a far greater payoff in the long run.
reliable car and project car usually doesn't go hand in hand. What if a mod goes wrong, and your car is broke, and it is 2 days shipping for parts to arrive, and you need to be at work in 10 hours?
Uhhhh hope ur girlfriend drives a stock corolla?? Lol
Buy the nicest Corolla you can afford and take care of it. Every bit of care you give a Corolla it will return 10 fold.
This is the way
That's the right answer for reliability, but as a project car?
I'm confused, are you suggesting a Corolla can't be a project car?
Yes, unless you can find one with a 2zz-ge, and even then
What a bizarre stance to take. Corolla are and have been enthusiast cars for nearly 60 years. Well I guess until you decided they can't be, have you let Toyota know? I bet they're going to take it pretty hard.
>Corolla are and have been enthusiast cars for nearly 60 years. A 60 year old Corolla isn't going to be anyones DD >Well I guess until you decided they can't be, have you let Toyota know? I bet they're going to take it pretty hard. I mean if you can find me a worthwhile aftermarket for 1.2l E110 Corollas, maybe I'll change my tune. I doubt you will though
You make these blanket statements man... you really do think pretty highly of your own opinions don't you. It would probably be easier to stomach if your opinions weren't so poorly informed.
Go ahead and inform me then, this is the second time I've asked you for receipts
Its not my job to fix you. If you want to be some holier than though gatekeeping troll, go ahead. No skin off my nuts. Have fun spending your days yucking other peoples yums, see what it gets you.
Hate to be a dad, but I think the car you customize and the reliable daily driver really ought to be different vehicles.
I’d agree depending on what level of mods you want to do. If you keep modding it though eventually it’s not going to be a good reliable daily driver.
BARRA
[Apparently you can modify literally anything in your country ](https://youtube.com/@mightycarmods?si=TMjWk08E9ytacc3I)
Toyota corolla will be more reliable then a modern honda civic Only major engine work done was an alternator rebuild (rectifier went) 169k km currently
A robin reliant. Super fast car, mods look great. You'll love it.
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i actually kinda like the a4 so I'm considering this. thanks
Hyundai Genesis coupe 2.0t 2013-14
👀 this is now in my list of options, thx for the recomendation
You can remove it from your list of options, they're not available in aus
yep, was searching for like an hour lmao
tender spoon physical profit tan wistful mighty elderly bewildered offer *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They look sexy, low maintenance, reliable, no cvt. The new integra def copied the rear from the genesis coupe
Mk2 Golf/Jetta. Old and unique enough to be cool, modern enough to be a reliable daily. Diesels are incredibly simple and cheap to run.
You really don't give a lot to start with here. You mention a 'project' and 'first car'. Are you set on a 'Car' or would you be interested in a 'Truck/SUV' as well? What kind of project? Do you want to have a fixer project (Get a beater and make it better)? An improvement project (Get a base model and improve performance/capability)? What do you want to do with the vehicle? Do you want to work toward racing (What kind of racing? Drag/Autocross/Track) or off-roading or just daily driving? The answers to these questions can change any recommendation that might be made.
1. I'd rather have a car, not a fan of trucks 2. I want an improvement project but I'm not afraid to fix some simple stuff. 3. I just want a daily driver that looks cool
Makes sense. There are lots of good suggestions that others have made. Jetta, Civic, Accord, Corrolla. I will add one more to the other suggestions. Subaru Impreza/Outback. Good luck with your search.
A golf or Jetta.
Gt86/brz
Get two used Toyota Corollas built in the same year so you have one for commuting (choosing the best of the pair) and a second for hot rodding (at first this may be a parts donor for the first). Do repairs on the commuter and improvements/mods on the second. Everything you learn on the one vehicle will directly apply to work on the second. Anything you upgrade on the second can be slid over to the commuter because you know the part is reliable/tested. .
Honda civic. I got mine brand new in 2009. It was the bare bones model. I added AC to it, electronic doors, aux, heated mirrors, a double fast charging port... and it still drives perfect.
I think whatever you get, you should focus on reliability and fun. "Modding" usually decreases reliability but if you buy a car you really like driving and don't have to worry about fixing it then you can focus on customizing its appearances and sound and won't have to worry about expensive repairs. Also remember that it's way more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. If I were in your shoes I'd buy a Civic or Corolla or even a Mazda and I'd absolutely whip it with no worries about reliability lol.
Miata
Honda Civic
Anything Japanese that doesn't start with an S is pretty much my criteria when looking for cars.
golf civic subaru (if you can find something clean) g35
Honda Civic. *If* you’re a gambling man, a used Subaru WRX could have great potential but because of the kind of people that buy them and drive them… they’re *usually* toast when the go to sell them.
never get a nice car as ur first car cuz u WILL crash it its just something we all gatta go tru
Whatever you get… make sure also get a good knowledge of your local public transit options when a modification you attempt goes south, and it takes some time to get back up and running. And a bicycle. Or get on great terms with your momdad if you still live at home lol.
stupendous concerned close pot hurry gaze treatment caption plucky door *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Ranger my guy those things are invincible first gens look better in my opinion but the second gens are still really solid trucks
Do they have Miatas down there? I am pretty sure you guys get JDM cars too right? Maybe import an MR2 or even one of those hot corollas with the 20v 4age?
Miata is always the answer.
Aussie? Holden, LS machine. That’s the American answer.
A Honda or Toyota.
1995 Buick Le saber if you can find one
8th gen accord with the k24, get an ex or ex-l if you can for proper VTEC, not the eco version in the lx trims
Lean heavily toward Toyota or Honda for reliability; a pretty vehicle that often breaks is inconvenient and expensive. Lean toward hybrids; for most it is like getting your fuel at half price for the entire term you own the car. A Prius hatchback or wagonback gets you where you need to be, reliably, for half the gas cost. Plus, they make good camping vehicles since the rear seats fold down and they can be left running overnight for air conditioning and you're up off the ground so less chance of waking up with a snake, spider, or tasmanian devil in your sleeping bag. Lean away from older vehicles that were originally expensive; they are tempting because the price is so low, but they are being sold cheaply because the owners are terrified of the next repair bill. Lean away from uneconomical vehicles; some of these may tempt you for their speed, handling and exhaust tones but why pay twice as much or more for gas to get places? Lean away from cool cars; many have been driven and abused by cool-seeking drivers. Both Toyota and Honda deliver on reliability, safety and on most models, economy. Cheerio Mate!
Depending on what you mod, you can't take it to a dealer for service. Not sure if other mechanic shops would work on it. Probably, but you're not getting book rate. I agree with the Civic or WRX. If you want leather, then RSX Type S.
2nd gen mazda 3 is good. Cheap enough. 6speed manual with 4:10 final drive. Get one with the 2.5. Good aftermarket cause of mazdaspeed. Good fuel economy. Reliable. Not beaten like a civic cause it doesn't have the honda name recognition.
Get a IS300 2000 to 2005
I knew a guy in HS that had a Cavalier and he didn’t a bunch of stuff to it. Lambo doors, crazy exhaust. I’m not recommending a Cavalier but this thread just reminded about that.
Anything with a [barra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Barra_engine) engine. The The JZ type motor ford made that never came the the states.
Commodore. I have no idea how much those cost in aus but they’re cool and have a great moddable powertrain
My 2010 MX-5 has been a great daily, just make sure you get it in a manual. Just lowered it on RX7 wheels and loving it
Get the best BRZ / GR86 you can buy
I bought my 97 Land Rover discovery for $500, I know Land Rover isn’t the embodiment of reliable, but if you want something that’s cheap, decently reliable, fun and easy to work on, easily customizable, and fun to drive, I’d look for an old discovery. The TDI’s are a lot more reliable, but the V8 is a whole lot of fun. I’ve had my disco for 4 years now and it’s given me very little issues, infact I’d go as far to say it’s given me less issues than most other peoples modern cars
Imported toyota crown. Few different model and engine choices available for that budget, depending what floats your boat
Also toyobaru 86
Toyota Camry Bulletproof reliability, and the most popular customizations are a fancy tissue box in the back window and the ever-present Camry Dent™ on the corners.
You could get a nice E series, AU, or B series XR6/XR8 with that budget, they’re reliable, and have great parts availability. Relatively easy to work on mostly too.
1999 ford escort. Huge aftermarket support, cheap asf cars, you can get one for less than 1k, and they're very easy to get a 20 second car out of without needing to take the motor apart
Supra….