Assuming you are not one of the lucky few that gets a brand new car for your sixteenth birthday, you might be thinking of buying a good used car for back to school either for yourself or your child. Buying a car is a big expense. When you are a student you need to be especially careful in making such a big purchase. You need to find a car that not only fits a meager budget but also potentially diverse needs. Here are three great cars that are score big points in versatility, reliability and are easy on the budget all clocking at around $5k according to the Kelly Blue Book price.
2000-2002 Suzuki Esteem Wagon
The Suzuki Esteem wagon, reviewed by 123auto.com, is a great little car that hands down wins for versatility. The Esteem is great on gas with a rating of 26mpg city and 33mpg highway. Suzuki isn’t one of the major Japanese manufactures in North America and as a result, these cars depreciate faster than Toyota or Honda which means you can score a good deal on a used one without sacrificing reliability. The Esteem scores points for reliability too and is pretty cheap to maintain and insure, mainly because of the wagon configuration. The Esteem sports a 1.8 liter 122 horsepower 4 cylinder engine with either a 5 speed manual transmission or a 4 speed auto.
2003 Pontiac Vibe
The Pontiac Vibe is the product of the GM Toyota joint venture. The Vibe is sold by Toyota under a similar skin as the Matrix. With the discontinuation of Pontiac, it is easy to score one of these at a reasonable price without having to worry about getting parts for a car from a defunct manufacturer. The Vibe has a Toyota made DOHC 1.8 L four-cylinder that put out 130 hp that is mated to either a 5spd manual or 4 speed auto transmission. Look to pay more for the AWD version but does add greatly to the cars ability in bad weather conditions. The Vibe hatchback design of the Vibe adds a lot of cargo flexibility to this car.
2001-2002 Nissan Sentra
The Nissan Sentra is the least versatile of the three cars reviewed. The Sentra made the cut because it scores high on comfort. The front seats in the Sentra are quite generous and make it a contender for any student that has a long commute. Rear seat room is sacrificed as a result but this isn’t much of an issue if it is only one or two people routinely using the car. The Sentra is a sedan configuration so, although the trunk is ample for a small car, it doesn’t have the cargo capacity of the other two cars. The Sentra has 1.8 liter DOHC four cylinder engine which produced 126 horsepower mated to either a 5 speed manual or a 4 speed auto.
As a final note, when shopping for a used car don’t let your heart do the picking. Look for a car in the best condition you can afford with the lowest mileage you can find. Do be wooed by a pretty color or some fancy gadget. Any of these three standouts should serve you well and cater nicely to the often diverse needs of students.