which car to get? USED toyota tercel, corolla, camry, honda civic or nissan sentra?

I've owned a 92 Civic, 3 Corollas (89, 92, 95), and 90 Tercel, but not Sentra or Camry. And I am a college student, AND I bought all of these cars for $1000 or under. I also bought all of them with my own hard earned money, so I know the value of a reliable and easy to maintain car. I am also training to be a mechanic so I know which is easier to get parts for, etc...

The most enjoyable, reliable, and best overall car would be the Corolla. I had a 95 Corolla and currently drive a 92 Civic. They both are cars that can run up to 200k miles and can still be good. The Corolla has a little more room and a little more power. The Civic does cost much, much less for parts. Though overall the Corolla faired me the best, and was the most reliable. It also sold for the most. It is the easiest car I have ever worked on, and thats between hundreds.

I think you should focus on these two cars, the Civic and Corolla. They are equal all around, its just availability. Matter of fact I am selling my 93 Honda Civic and getting a newer 2000 Civic to finish out this last year of College to get my bachelors degree. They are really good cars.

BTW, Tercels are okay, just I find the engines weak, and sometimes they cost within 2 or 3 hundred of the Corolla which is way better. But if you get the Tercel its okay too.

Good luck.

1997 Toyota Tercel Parts

Civic is the best for sure... My parents used to have a Honda, like 15 years and they swore by it... The Civic is what I'm going to get when I go to college, but my parents are offering me their Toyota highlander... LOL. i think Honda is a more predictable and reliable vehicle, and the extra costs will probably pay off. Hope That Helps

for what your looking for reliability and all the other stuff combined id have to say go with a Nissan sentra,those are real good cars they last well beyond the 200 k mark on mileage,and are very dependable,and you can find the sentra,s priced good also,and parts for them are easy to get and cheaper than most of the other ones are,i own a sentra,and i put well over 165 thousand on the original clutch in it,and its still good,there good cars though,look around and most of the ones built in the past ten years are still on the road ,and doing good,i like mine though,its been a problem free car for about 5 strait years now,good luck with it hope this helps.

I like your choice of vehicles, and your factors to consider shows me your an exception that really wants to have done some homework prior to purchase, and I really like that as most people today don't find the time to study and if anything goes wrong its the dealers at fault.

From the vehicles you have chosen you main concern will be CONDITION in your price range, forget , Mfg make - model - Miles, the key will be which one will outlast your investment.

I have been appraising and buying for over 30 years, retired and as a hobby build a website and I would like for you to follow my step #1 choosing whats right for you being a poor college student and get your bucks worth , I dont expect you to become an expert overnight, but you will make the right choice, go to this link on my website http://www.usedcartips.org/TESTDRI.html

Toyota's are really reliable and parts are cheap. My fiance has a 96 Camry Le and it's lasted quite some time. It's good on gas mileage, another thing about parts, they're really easy to find. I would suggest anything Toyota, they're great cars.

Avoid Nissan. I had a Nissan once. Within the initial warranty period, I had to replace the radio. Airconditioner compressor developed a leak and had to be replaced. At 90,000 miles and 5 years, the engine had to be replaced. It was downhill after that and I am glad I donated it to charity when the transmission also gave problems. I was not willing to invest more money down the bottomless drain.

the honda.

i had a 99 camry with 99K miles on it, and the air conditioner crapped out in summer (and i live in phoenix)

it was horrible it cost 1K to fix, and that was the good guy price at lou grubb chevy.

oh yea, and it liked to overheat, so id be blasting the heater (also in summer) to get the engine to cool off. haha

we (my friends and i) have some good memories, but wouldnt want to relive any of it

if you know what i mean!

ive had friends with hondas, and they still drive up to 250K

thats pretty much amazing.

i would definitely go with honda especially since youre buying an older car, and plan on driving it for a few years!

good luck!

I have a 95 Tercel that has over 180,000 miles on it, It runs great and gets a solid 40 MPG!

comry, very reliable vhea to maintin and easy to afford because there are so many of the out there. i=and will last you quite a long time