hey!
I'm buying a car now too and I'm deciding between the 2001 Civic EX and the Altima SE. I looked at the corolla and, for the money, was not too impressed by it. i could get an altima (a much better car!) for the same price! plus toyota's get stolen more than any other car in America (the sales lady told me that!).
I love the Civic and I think you can't do wrong with it. Have you looked at the VP? if you haven't, just know that it is a very "basic" car. It doesn't come with most "luxury" items such as air conditioning, power locks or windows, ABS, etc... The next step up is the LX (i think) and that has A LOT more to offer for the money. (but if you're like me and are buying your first car and INSIST on a sunroof...go with the EX)
if you are looking at the 2001 corolla ($19000 by me!), then the Civic LX and EX are DEFINITELY in your price range! that corolla is expensive for a little car! another car you might want to look at is the nissan sentra. a VERY good car for a good price. and the nissan's have this chip thing in the keys where the car can't be hotwired. that's a very nice feature! i'm looking at the sentra too...
my sister has a 2000 ford escort and she loves it! it was only about $13000 for a brand new car almost fully loaded!
hope this helped! this whole car buying nonsense is endless!
oh, i'm in new york where everything is more expensive than anywhere else in the world so the prices might be WAY different by you!
