Dirt on the 1997 Toyota Corolla? It's for a school debate coming up?

Our school is having a debate between three cars. The first is the 1997 Toyota Corolla. This is priced at $2000 dollars on the road with 174,000 miles. The second is a 2009 Hyundai Sonata, priced at $9500 on the road with 95,000 miles (this is the debate team I'm in). And the Third is a 2015 Honda Civic priced at $2100 on the road with 0 miles on it.

The person that is buying the car has $2000 dollars cash and can qualify for all available loans. They drive 15,000 to 20,000 miles each year. Gas is currently $2.10/gallon. This person makes enough money that they can put (after car insurance) $500/month towards the car (car payment, repairs, gas).

Each of these cars is a more basic model, so there's nothing extra fancy about any of the vehicles.

Our group already has fine disadvantages to the civic, but we can't seem to find many for the Corolla. Anything you guys have would be great.

"2015 Honda Civic priced at $2100 on the road with 0 miles on it".

No. No, it's not. This would be ten times that price.

Go to the car wash

That corolla was a pretty solid car! The best disadvantage would be that it is the oldest out of the group. But I honestly don't know its an pretty great car.

I would take a car with 0 miles on it, over one with 174K any day.

Scott is right. They left a 0 off that price.

I will take a few dozen of these… And pay you a finders fee.

"2015 Honda Civic priced at $2100 on the road with 0 miles on it".

It really depends on what your budget and needs are. If you want to minimize depreciation (which costs you more than bad gas mileage) and debt, the Corolla is the obvious choice. Provided you like messing around with cars and that the car came with full maintenance records, repair costs should be manageable and the overall operating costs should be dirt cheap. So many 90s Corollas were produced to the point my local junkyard is full of them. The only downside I can think of is having to deal with any potential electrical issues and that the car is living on borrowed time with the amount of mileage on the engine and transmission which will need rebuilding sooner or later. But in terms of overall value and peace of mind, the Sonata would be the best buy.