well i know this is totally off topic but im in a stumper here. ok well im buying a new (well used) car, and ive narrowed it down to 2 cars with pros and cons to both.any opinions of anyother car, i have a price range of 5 to 7 thousand

car #1
chevy cavalier
-domestic (cheaper parts)
-cheaper
-cool 2dr model

-2dr higher on insurance
-heard not the most reliable

car #2
volkswagen jetta
-4dr but still cool
-4dr cheaper insurance
-more power
-heard there reliable

-import (exspensive parts/labor)
-not cheap

What years?

My impulse would be to get the Jetta.

with those two choices...JETTA

I have a couple of civics....they don't break
wif's car has 196,000 doesn't burn ANY!!!! oil

my del sol has 278,000 and leaks oil
clutch died at 210k....
drive it every day

well the jettas are on the exspensive side so the year on the jetta would be around 97 or 98 and the cavalier 97-00. now i was guessing the jetta is cheaper on insurance, think it would be?

I think the jetta would make you happier than the cavalier would.  They are just all around nicer cars in general.

Quote from: mes_423
chevy cavalier
-cool 2dr model

Aint nothin cool about a cavalier.

QuoteAint nothin cool about a cavalier

been there, sure as heck wont go there again :x ,vw man  

My wife had a sunfire (same as cavalier) they are total junk.  If you get into any kind of a fender bender it will completely ruin the car, chevy built that car cheaply and it shows when it gets more than about 50,000 miles on it.  Go with the Jetta.

jetta will last longer but parts are NOT cheap as the chevy nor is it that easy to work on.  the 2.5 L 4 cyl wasnt a bad engine in the chevy, some down right peppy. but most folks i have seen with them Beat the piss out of them, dont maintain them at all, and then Buddha Loves You and complain when something goes. i did the top end on Inlaws chevy, only went due to drunkard driving on blown heater core.  once i got done that little car boogied,  that was 5 years ago and its racked up 65k on it since, started with 58k.    parts are cheap and its not a hard car to workon. also not a car thats very high on the theft list.  since fast and furiest, jetta has been getting popular around here. lots of them ending up missing, or found later missing parts.

On my sample of 4 co-workers, 3 have returned their 99/00 jetta (lemon law) for electrical problems.  From what I've _read_, VW Mexico (where they are manufactured, except for the Wolfsburg Editions... of course) has cleaned up their act and the electrical problems have subsided.

Cavaliers on the other hand, I don't know much about their later models.  (Owned 2 during college: 87 Z24 and 91 RS Cavalier)  And they proved reliable.

That said, VW should be the more fun car.

Quote from: mes_423well the jettas are on the exspensive side so the year on the jetta would be around 97 or 98 and the cavalier 97-00. now i was guessing the jetta is cheaper on insurance, think it would be?

The A3 Jettas (93-98?) aren't my personal favorite... but still way better than a GM trying-to-be-sporty-but-destined-to-be-a-rental-car car... or was that the Neon....  

The 2.0 4 cylinder engines in the Golfs/Jettas are bullet proof - very reliable.  Not very fast, though... something around 115 HP, but they're relatively torquey, so they're fun to drive.  Drop in a chip and they might  even be peppy.  Transmissions seem solid as well.  Then, of course there's the vr6...

The thing about vw's is that little stuff goes wrong, like say, a window crank, power door lock, electrical switch, or a/c.  And watch out for metallic paint, cause VW likes to use some shitty clear coat on them that gets cloudy and flakes off.

There's a fairly large boy-racer contingent for vw's, so there's tons of mods available and lots of online know-it-alls (try vwvortex.com).

Buy American.

Why dun you take a look at a bimmer the E30 series say like a 325es or 325i. A blast to drive and you can DIY yourself, runs like a charm and its engine is solid. Trust me I know...I owned one.

We don't see many american cars here in the UK so I can't really comment on the Chevy.

However, Volkswagens are some or the best put together cars on the planet (the Germans don't mess around when it comes to engineering) and will, without doubt, last longer than you could possibly wish to own the car.

I will not buy either. Cavalier is a piece of junk. Many of my friends have bought some and regret expending the money. The Jettas are little higher on price and parts , also defective. If I were you I will grab a Consumer Reports and check their list of Used Car to buy. They have a really goodwed site www.consumerreports.com . You have to be a member though. (Or go by the library or a bookstore and check them out) They do not accept any adds in their Mag so you can trust them.

Alos go to this web site:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/

It is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In this web site will see customer comments in alll type of cars. Also you wil find Recalls on any car sold in the US. Recalls give you a lot of info and what can be wrong with the car and most of the time applies no moatter how old the cars are.

I am a patriot, I am serving my nation as we speak but in term of cars I will think twice before I buy an american car again. I went to college with my Dad's Chevy Nova and those were good american cars. Since then I bought Jappannesse until recent years. We bought a Ford Windstar (gone by now) and F-150 ( On sale) and I am very dissapointed.

So there my two cents!!!!!!

Gino

jetta      

ive got an 01 golf and an 01 gs -    i  love em both equally.    you just can't beat a vehicle that you love to drive.   ibet you'd have way more fun in a jetta.

I've rented a Cavilier and the ergos were horrible. Once of the most uncomfortable cars I've ever been in (for me at least). Handling wasn't that great for such a light car either. By the end of the week I ended up hating it.

Parts aren't that cheap either. Old domestic cars or ones with huge production numbers (like my Jeep Cherokee) have cheap parts but the Jetta will likely require fewer repairs so it all ballences out in that department.

If you haven't figured it out yet, my vote is for the Jetta.

Jetta- a friend of mine had one... It could have gone 200K miles +.

I guess they are evenly split so far...however if you ever were picking up any one...not just hotties...stay away from the Mattel Cavalier... Aka never get laid mobile (to quote Leno)...OTOH...if you looked like Matt Damon it may not matter...
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: RedFuelDlux Buy American.

Uhm, you mean like the GS-500?

The Cavalier is made out of the stuff you collect off the barn floor.

Go with the Jetta.