You gotta be kidding. I’m sure you can find an R32 for something near $12K in JAPAN, but there’s no way you’re going to find one here, post-Motorex or RB Motoring for that much, not after the $20K conversion fee Motorex slaps on them. I’d be surprised, if there were any for sale right now in the US, if you could find one under $25K. Someone who paid the price for one knows what it’s worth, and isn’t going to dump it.
Although, if someone out there with a black R32 wants to trade for a pristine 3rd Gen Rx7, let me know and we can do a swap.
Suprisingly, I do find some Mazdaspeed Proteges on Autotrader for prices nearing $12K, as long as you don’t mind orange.
And the OP is going to be in college, and has $12K to spend on a car. There’s no way she’s going to want an ACR. Too bare-bones for a daily driver, but I agree, awesome autox car.
Now, for $12K…you can do some interesting things. How about picking up a cherry S14 240SX and paying someone to do an SR20DET swap into it? You should be able to get away with that for under $10K, and you’ll have an awesome RWD fun car.
I wouldn’t worry anywhere near as much about mileage as I would about condition. Do a very thorough check on the ENTIRE car when you see it. If they won’t let you hook up the compression tester, walk on. These aren’t rare cars.
Things to check:
Paint/Body Repairs. These cars might be as little as 3 years old. The paint should be all but perfect. Anything less suggests that the car may have been wrecked at some point. If in doubt, take a closer look. If almost convinced that it’s fine, take a tape measure and measure the ride height. If both lefts aren’t identical to their respective right, leave. These cars are almost new. If my 15-year-old CRX can look like it rolled off the line yesterday (if the paint shop tooled up for the nonstandard color), then you can expect a car that’s a quarter of its age to do so as well.
General maintenence habits. Did the owner at least bother to clean the car and get it aligned? If the alignment is off that’s probably not the only thing wrong with the car. Have the tires worn evenly? Are the oil and coolant topped off? What does the gear oil look like? Is the clutch heavy? Is the engine’s compression within 10 PSI on all cylinders? If you don’t like the answer to any of these questions, leave.
Driving feel. These are some of the best drivers’ cars in the world. If it doesn’t feel absolutely terrific, there’s something wrong here. There should be no slack in the steering - at all. There should be no sloppiness in the gear lever, especially in a Miata. The car should go where you point it and should change directions like a cat on carpet.
You’re spending either 6 or 12 thousand dollars. The first amount should get you a very good example of these cars (save the Mazda6). The second should get you a car that can’t be told from a new one without looking at the odometer.
Here’s how I think a $12000 Skyline could happen in the states. Improbable but not impossible.
Starting with a then $25000 three-year-old R32, Motorex converts the car in 1992 for $20000. This brings the car’s value up to $45000. It suffers depreciation like any other highly-desirable $45000 car. Thirteen years later, the car’s gone through 5 owners in the States. The last of them bought the car with Daddy’s money after “2Fast 2Furious” It is now cursed with a very dubious bodykit and an olive green paintjob.
I think she really is serious enough about this to drive a Neon ACR on the streets. Beyond anything else, the ACR was stripped of all the unnecessary gadgetry that’s the curse of most Neons. She was also looking at Integra Type Rs and those have to be just as compromised as the ACR.
I don’t know about the project car idea. If her parents are objecting to dead-stock two-seat sportscars they’d throw any project car out the window.
$12k would do a LOT of interesting projects. I’d like to try to build an all-catalog Civic, or a V8 Volvo, or a 1984 Corvette stripped out with the V8 and automatic pitched in favor of the new 2.8 liter four-cylinder truck motor and matching five-speed, or a first-gen RX7 with a Renesis. I bet I could get any of those projects finished and flying for that money.
I guess anything’s possible, but Motorex didn’t import R32s in 1992. AFAIK, they didn’t actually start importing them before probably 2000. You will see an R32, 33 or 34 all depreciate at the same rapidity as a MKIV Supra, which is, none at all.
A Type R isn’t anywhere near as compromised as an ACR. A Type R will still have power windows, locks, air conditioning, ABS, etc. And cost $17K+ for a decent example.
Ok, the Skyline idea wasn’t to be. I guess it’s destined to be as overpriced as the Supra. I just don’t get how those cars are still worth that much - a good C4 Corvette will match both of them on track (and a $8000 300ZX turbo won’t be far behind). For Skyline/Supra money you could probably have one of the C5 Z06es that are still sitting on a dealer lot.
I’d rather not have Dodge’s versions of power windows, power locks, ABS, or a radio… The Americans can build a car whose mechanical components can last as long as anyone else’s but I’d really rather not put up with much electrical complication on a mid-90s domestic.
I actually already tried the project car idea. Not a car in horrible condition, just one that needed some work. A 1972 Datsun and a 1969 mustang/camaro were the cars that came up, and before I could even start my argument they were thrown out the window.
Once I have the car, any mods I do are fine by my parents, since it will be my car alone. I don’t think they would automatically veto a car that had already been modded.
And Necros, as long as the car has all the seats, any of the other stuff doesnt really matter. I would trade comfort for speed without a shred of doubt. I will say though, the 240SX looks like a nice car, and I could probably coerce my BF into doing the swap for me. Hes smart enough to know when he’s out of his league when it comes to cars.
Also, myskepticsight, from what ive noticed looking at car prices, the more you improve on/modify a car, besides a turbo kit, lowers the price instead of raising it. A car with tons of decals, custom interior, exc. will either go for showcar prices, or bare bottom.
As Dag Otto said, college students have to cram all their worldly goods in a car twice a year, so don’t go with something dinky. Something like the Miata, says the old joke, has “room for your ass and a gallon of gas, and if your balls hung low, well, you lost 'em.”
Hey, now there’s an idea. How about a 2000-2001 Civic Si? Reasonably fun, with the VTEC kick, roomy, and ultra-reliable. Still FR, but you can’t have everything.
A 240SX with an SR20 swap will own a lot of stuff on the streets. And the swap is so common, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Of course, if you want to really go grazy, I know people who have thrown RB25DETs (Skyline GTS motor) into them, and there are probably even some RB26DETT (Skyline GTR) swaps running around. Of course, any swapped motor car isn’t going to be Honda reliable, but the good thing about an SR20 swap is that you’re not going to see your car decrease in value, because they are desirable.
The problem with any Honda-based idea is that she lives in the third ward of Houston where any decent Honda will vanish quickly.
My father has a 2000 Civic Si (I suspect you’re talking about the '99-00 version with the B16). It’s a great car and meets all of her criteria very effectively. It’s dead reliable and gets 35+ miles per gallon. Unfortunately, it is also a very, very good theft target as Honda parts are valuable and very easy to steal.
The problem is that stupid Honda people will buy anything and everything, and not care when it comes from. If they’d stop buying stolten parts, people would stop stealing them. We don’t have stolen car problem in the rotary community for just this reason.
Anyway, if she lives in such a craphole where people are stealing cars left and right, then I have only one recommendation: 1986 Buick Grand National! Faster than most stuff on the road, looks all sorts of subdued, people have no idea what it is. Mmmm 4.3L turbo… It’s not going to be able to turn, but it sure will go fast in a straight line!
It’s a 3.8 turbo, and yeah, that’s the car we were missing all along… just make sure you get a good one and put an actual u-joint in the steering to replace the rag joint.
Save your money. Buy a cheap used car or use the bus. It’s a rare college town that doesn’t have a bus system.
It’s fun to play “fantasy car”, but I assure you that when you graduate, at least for a while, your most likely going to be playing “fantasy dinner.” You have NO IDEA how hard life is out of college. It’s not a booming economy out there. Most people find themselves unemployed and “living” on zero income for months- most my friends averaged four to six months of zero income- even those that majored in good stuff like computer engineering. A few thousand bucks could mean the difference between “I have to move out of my home next week because I can’t pay my upcoming rent” and having a little time to look for a job before everything starts going to shit.
A nice car will make you ineligable for food stamps. It may be hard to comtemplate, but if you are unemployed foodstamps are the difference between “rice and beans” for dinner and “Rice and beans and tortillas” for dinner.
And if it doesn’t end up that way and you end up with a great job- great! Then get your dream car.
My bad, it IS a 3.8L turbo. Still fun.
And even sven who the hell cares what her job prospects are like after college? It’s not like she’s cracking open her piggy bank to buy thr car. Her parents are saying, “What kind of car do you want? Here’s $12K to buy one”. They are not saying, “Here’s $12K, do what you want with it” and she’s deciding to buy a car with the money.
And what kind of crappy school did you go to where everyone just out college is living on freakin’ food stamps? I didn’t go to college, but my younger siblings all did, (are either in college or just graduated) and none of them are living in poverty. Must be that expensive-ass Cali rent bringing you guys down…
Hes smart enough to know when he’s out of his league when it comes to cars.