Alright here's the deal. I bought my Evo IX three years ago, which was about a year after I graduated from high school. I've been working full time for Sprint since the day of graduation, so I have had no issues affording the car. However, I decided it was time to go back to school last fall, so I enrolled at the local community college. I'm almost finished with my associates degree, and plan on transferring to a college in Florida to earn my Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering. With that being said, I will no longer be working full time as I feel that my education is much more important than wasting my life away in a dead-end retail job, especially with a poorly managed company such as Sprint.

My issue is this. I'm trying to figure out what kind of car to "downgrade" to. More than likely, I will be driving 1k miles at the beginning and end of each semester from Maryland to Florida, so I need a fairly reliable car. I still want something that will be fun to drive though. I know I'm going to get some flammage for this, but I have been looking at the 2003-2005 Jetta GLI. It's a four door, looks decent, and still has a turbo, even if it is a baby one. If there are any VW guys out there that now own an Evo I'm looking for some advice. Would this be a decent car, or are they a headache when it comes to reliability?

It's going to be really hard to sell my Evo

 

yeah dude.. i have been thinking the same thing!!! Still debating...

 

Its a tough decision to make, but I figure that I can always buy another one after I graduate.

 

I'll be going back to school very soon as well so I'll be in the same boat.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your budget? I'm assuming you're looking for something that has 4-door and practical?

You said you've owned the car for ~3 yrs? You should be almost done paying it off, if you haven't already. Another option, you could always refinance the amount you owe to reduce the monthly payments.

IMO, I'd stay away from VW's. They're really nice cars but are high maintenance; even if you take car of it.

 

College is important. Because you can always get another Evo. Who knows, you might even get a better one later on. I would seriously suggest a cheap Civic or something for a DD. Save the money for other things, like rent, books and food.

 

Stay away from VW period. Relianle and VW dont belong in the same sentence. I had a 99 Jetta and it was a total POS. I boyght it years ago for like 9,000 and easily within about 10months of ownership put about 5 or 6 grand in it so it could run. Needless to say, I will never buy a VW ever again! Thanksfully I only owned it about a year but still it was in the shop more than on the road no doubt.
Check out the 06+ civic si's. My boy has one it's a blast to shift at 8200 rpm.
Plus k20's sound sexy with an intake.

 

My budget will be whatever I have left over after selling the car and paying off the loan that I took out for it. I still have 3 years left of payments on it, and have already taken a look at refinancing it. The only way to save money off my monthly payments would be to extend the term of the loan even more, which I don't think is a good idea.

 

I was going to suggest an RSX-S... it's what I got rid of when I came to the X (like many others). I wish I still had one as a DD. Thinkin about tryin to pick another one up... The k20 is a lot of fun. I say RSX-S or Civic-SI...

 

good decision. finishing school is important.

is300. 4 doors and fun to drive. you dont need awd in FL.

or downgrade to a WRX. they are fairly cheap, 4 door, turbo.

glws.

 

this guy is right one of these two cars rsx or civic si for sure you can still mod them huge aftermarket and hondas are built to last for sure. If you have to get rid of the evo do it then no since in drowning in a note you cant afford just remember the state of the economy now could be difficult to sell it when you dont own it and still make money off of it.

 

my vote is a honda whatever one fits your budget i also love is300 but they are underpowerd and not fun to drive also hard to find 5spds any problems you ever have with the car you will be able to fix yourself if you have a honda prolly one of the simplest cars to own as for the vw my mom has two of them both of them need about 2k in work right now so shes driving a buick right now in my book any car you need special tools just to change the oil in is not worth having.

 

VW's are hit and miss on reliability but they are always really expensive to fix. You can get a high mileage IS300 and even though its a lexus and its expensive to repair at times the likelihood of repairs being needed are far and few between. My wife's IS has been a soldier.....Toyota makes a damn good solid car.

Last vote is for Honda....anything 4 cylinder, TSX, RSX type S, Accord, Civic. You can try a mazda 3 (the turbo version) or try to catch a used MP5 (First turbo 4 cylinder for Mazda in the US a few years abo. That car was deceptively fast.

SRT 4 Neon if you cna stand the American car schtick and if you LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE. My sisters was no issues for the 2 years she owned it...mine was a PITA for the 2 years I owned it.

 

I agree with you on toyota making a damn good car my gf ls430 is expensive to repair but it has 160k of girl abuse its been up the coast and never not started once so toyota or honda

 

Hey, a srt-4 is a cheap car that you can still mod. and from what i have seen are pretty reliable...my brother daily drove one with a 60trim on it for 50k miles with no problems, you will deff. miss the AWD though lol. If you are selling the evo let me know i have a buddy who is in the market. Hope all goes well with school.

 

I would go with something that probably isn't mod friendly just so you don't get tempted to spend money on it.