Hm, i've got a choice: Pontiac vs. Toyota...

[madking411]

Which should i choose to keep? The 1989 Toyota corolla, with over 200,000 miles on it, and is VERY basically modded (intake, exhaust, tail lights, wheels...) and is still running strong and may need a carb rebuild soon, and will basically be a project car. To get it totally fixed up and upgraded, etc. may cost ~$6 - $700 TOTAL.

OR...

The 1996 Pontiac Sunfire with 90,000 miles on it, and has no mods whatsoever and is totally stock. It just had the transmission go out on it, so thats being re-built, and its not a problem anymore. I kinda want to mod it, but i keep hearing about how its a ''girl's car'', and whenever people talk about upgrading it, the 1st thing they talk about doing is the body kit and neons etc....Its also been in an accident with its previous owner that resulted in over $1,000 in damage to the car...For some reason, i just cant picture the Pontiac as being a ''fun project car''...If i do make it a project, then i'll probably put all the money into building the engine, even though its an auto trans....

Can anyone offer suggestions or advice or input???

[DRFTR]

ummm...do you have any other options? how much do you have to play with?
-dave

[madking411]

I have no other options right now because my parents are going to sell ONE of the cars, and i get to keep one, and its between the sunfire and the corolla. I'll have ~6 or $700 to work with as far as upgrades etc.

[Evil Goat]

if that was the case then id go sunfire, reliability is a must at your age....fun cant be had in a car that doesnt run

[SampaGuy]

keep the corolla. twice as many miles, older, and i would still trust it to be more reliable.

[cactusEG]

none of the above

[madking411]

uh-oh, it looks like im torn again.....lol. I reallly like JDM style too though, and for SURE, if i keep the corolla i think an engine swap will be pretty much manditory at some point.... And we've had both the cars inspected by mechanics, and the engines were both given clean bills of health....But, how much longer will they both last? I've heard that American cars usually dont last much longer than 130,000...is it true or not?

[OneSlow5pt0]

sadly im gonna say find something like a CRX or civic....or maybe get 5th gen celica..or just get lucky on a local deal,like i did

[redrumracer]

get the sunfire and trade it for something else.

[Shawna]

umm that sunfire is worth less than 1500...and my cavalier that I had years ago has been through 4 trannys I think was the last count ( I know the person that bought it) I traded it in with 99k on it and the tranny went out the day the girl bought it...not to mention all of the electrical problems both sunfires and cavaliers have...you will spend more money trying to keep the thing running that what it is worth in the long run

[madking411]

umm that sunfire is worth less than 1500...and my cavalier that I had years ago has been through 4 trannys I think was the last count ( I know the person that bought it) I traded it in with 99k on it and the tranny went out the day the girl bought it...not to mention all of the electrical problems both sunfires and cavaliers have...you will spend more money trying to keep the thing running that what it is worth in the long run

GOOD LORD!!!!! DANGGGGGGGG....well, we got the sunfire for only $500...

soooo........i guess we'd be better off gettin rid of it eh?
Oh well. I dont think i want a civvic though....I dont see whats so great about them, and in my area, they're alllllllllll loud, and farty RICEEE cars.....

[OneSlow5pt0]

GOOD LORD!!!!! DANGGGGGGGG....well, we got the sunfire for only $500...

soooo........i guess we'd be better off gettin rid of it eh?
Oh well. I dont think i want a civvic though....I dont see whats so great about them, and in my area, they're alllllllllll loud, and farty RICEEE cars.....

but if u dont have alot of $$ to work with,hondas are probbly best thing to build....this is coming from someone that doesnt like hondas.

[Kamikaze]

My advice to you would be get a job (if you don't have one already) and drive the Corolla until you've saved enough money to get something more reliable.

[Tinton]

I've heard that American cars usually dont last much longer than 130,000...is it true or not?

Meh, 1 of my Fieros is sitting right at 160,000 miles, original engine and transmission. I think its on the 2nd clutch though.

What does the Corolla have? If its a 5-speed I'd go with that, manual transmissions are just more fun. Otherwise, I would go for the Sunfire. The auto transmission is the only bad part, but you're getting it rebuilt/replaced right? That car just has so many less miles on it.

[Hektik]

GOOD LORD!!!!! DANGGGGGGGG....well, we got the sunfire for only $500...

soooo........i guess we'd be better off gettin rid of it eh?
Oh well. I dont think i want a civvic though....I dont see whats so great about them, and in my area, they're alllllllllll loud, and farty RICEEE cars.....

yeeeeaaa but a jdm sunfire is much less rice....

i agree with the other post about keeping eiher and getting a job or saving until u can get something decent. truthfully either way you go you really dont have much of a platform to start modifying anyways... so i would just leave it stock until you can afford to modify something PROPERLY....

[madking411]

alright then....well, i'll be gettin a job soon, and i cant drive the rolla to work every day, cuz the carb is STILL a little strange as far as sputtering goes....So, i guess when it gets out of the shop, the pont. is what i'll be drivin to save up for something else. Now, what should i save up for.....??? I dont like civics, but theres something about the Integra that just draws me to it....:idb:

[Hektik]

alright then....well, i'll be gettin a job soon, and i cant drive the rolla to work every day, cuz the carb is STILL a little strange as far as sputtering goes....So, i guess when it gets out of the shop, the pont. is what i'll be drivin to save up for something else. Now, what should i save up for.....??? I dont like civics, but theres something about the Integra that just draws me to it....:idb:

you answered your own question... it doesnt matter what anyone else thinks aslong as you are content with what you have.... integras are relatively cheap cars to purchase and modify depending on what route you plan on taking...
G/L

[Tinton]

I'm guessing that its just a base-model Sunfire? If it was a Sunfire GT it'd be worthwhile to mod it, since it'd come with a LD9 DOHC (updated Quad-4 engine) with 150 hp. I've heard those can take a turbo pretty well. If you've just got a base-model its not worthwhile, it would only be like... a pushrod 2.2L 4-cylinder. I wouldn't touch that motor with a 10-foot pole, lol. So, I'd go with the Sunfire and save your money for a better car.

BTW, that Corolla is carbed? I didn't know that companies kept using carburetors that long, 1989 eh? Both of my cars are older than that and are fuel-injected.

[madking411]

I'm guessing that its just a base-model Sunfire? If it was a Sunfire GT it'd be worthwhile to mod it, since it'd come with a LD9 DOHC (updated Quad-4 engine) with 150 hp. I've heard those can take a turbo pretty well. If you've just got a base-model its not worthwhile, it would only be like... a pushrod 2.2L 4-cylinder. I wouldn't touch that motor with a 10-foot pole, lol. So, I'd go with the Sunfire and save your money for a better car.

BTW, that Corolla is carbed? I didn't know that companies kept using carburetors that long, 1989 eh? Both of my cars are older than that and are fuel-injected.

hehh, yeah, its the base model. But hey, we got it for only $500!

And, yep, the rolla is carbed. Well, that's just the difference in car makers, lol.
Can't wait either, tomorrow im gonna go down to the junkyard and try to find a carb from another corolla and rip it out and put it in mine . Just How hard is it to install a carb? I heard from my mechanic that the hardest part of it is hooking up all the vacuum lines correctly. He doesnt REALLY want to touch the corolla either because of it being carbed..

[Bballjamal]

I don't know of all these problems people are talking about.....

any abused car will take a shit on you.....nuff said!

I've had no problems with my car, yet, I know how to spot shit going wrong with it before it happens!

Also, to Tinton, the 2.2 pushrod can handle boost just as well as the other engines! You just have to build the bottom end to take it! 2.4's have oiling issues and spin bearings easily, Ecotecs have a slight problem throwing rods depending on which year you get.....

But they all can handle boost pretty well ; )

I'd still just use the car as an Econo and save up for something better than any of the 4cyl cars mentioned in this post....

[JDMJAYDC2]

i say keep the sunfire just cause you could trade it in for more money than you could the rolla for a better car you mentioned you liked tegs. Depending on what year and trim level you get will depend on how much your pocket is gonna take a beating. Go for a 94 or 95 ls with lots of miles and swap in a gsr or a newer ls that way you save money and get cheap insurance.
As the integra is a hatchback and not a sports car!!

[takume]

Never like the sunfire. I would rather keep the old corolla.

[compufreak21]

Keep the most reliable. Dont do anything to it that costs money. Get job. Save up another $500 and buy a decent 240sx or integra or w/e that needs a paint job. With low funds the best thing to do is buy a chilton and a car that needs a little work and fix it yourself. s13 240sx prob ur best bet. They can be had for about a grand with very little needed and parts are cheap and they have tons of potential.

[WTF?]

toyota all the way