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[Roger Austin <raustin3 AT nc.rr.com>]

uzoma nwosu wrote:
> I planning on purchasing my first car in the next couple of weeks.  I'll
> probably sign up for consumer reports and some other sites as well.  I'm
> looking at new as opposed to used but that's not written in stone.  I'm
> looking for something under 16k, with good mileage and moderate pimpability
> factor.

 I assume you mean $16,000. For that, I would go for a used car. The
secret to purchasing a used vehicle is to avoid one that was a problem
for the seller. Nileen and I both have purchased excellent used cars
from people I work with. She got a nice Nissan Maxima from a fellow
(in tears) who had to purchase a minivan due to family obligations.

 The best way to purchase a car is to buy it from someone who will
tell you the truth. I purchased my last vehicle from a posting on
our company newsletter. I went to the fellows office to talk about it
and it turns out he was a retired submariner. His office was spotless
and his desks were completely polished. All his stacks of papers were
in perfect alignment and possibly all faced North (but I didn't have
a compass with me.) Needless to say, I wanted that guys car. It is a
Honda Accord which now has 190k miles on it and is running very
nicely to this day. I hope to get 250k from it as my commuter. It
is a '89 and still gets about 32 mpg.

 I wish I had a pickup truck and may end up buying one as an alternate
vehicle. It is unfortunate that Honda doesn't really make a pickup yet,
but I am looking at the Ridgeline(?) as a possibility. The $30k+ for
it just sucks. Toyota Tundra is probably in my future.

 I don't think there is a vehicle that couldn't be pimped, but IANAP.
It would seem that pimping vehicles has more to do with the quality
of the pimper than from pimpee, but that is just from my observation
on I-40 each day. A pimped Tercel just seems more quaint than cool.
If you really want a pimp-mobile, go American and go big. You should
be able to get a 4-5 year old American sedan in good shape for about
$5-6k which would leave you about $10k for pimping.

 Good luck and send us photos. Enjoy, Roger
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